Senior Capstone Project

I’m in the home stretch of my short fictional film. It’s been a long and fun process that I’m glad I had the opportunity to do. I just need to finish a few more edits for the film and add the credits. I showed Dr. Williams (my director) a cut of the film and he said he like it and gave me a few ideas as well. There were a few things that I said I was going to do in the film that I thought would be better if I left them out. At first I wanted to make the film look like the movie Sin City, but I decided against that look while I was editing. It just didn’t have that the look or feeling I was going for. I also wanted to use one of the Line Art filters that Final Cut had to offer, but again during editing it didn’t set the right mood that I wanted to convey. I did however use some filters during the fight scene that Dr. Williams suggested that I think add some intensity to the atmosphere.

There are just a few more paper related deliverables that I have to finish up and I should be close to done. I’m sure I’ll go over everything once a day until we present it to the department.

The image to the left is what I’m considering for the movie poster.

Our First Studio Production Shoot

Our first studio production shoot went very well. We had everybody contribute in different ways. For the first day of the shoot I was out on the floor working with the lighting, sound, and camera setup. I was on the camera for a few shots and then let another person take over, and then I was roaming the floor assisting people if they wanted help. On the second day I was in the sound/monitor room. I worked on setting up the sound with Eric, and discussing possible shots with the acting director.

I learned that it’s important to expect contingencies when working with talent and to not let it effect the production. It’s also important to communicate with your colleagues/classmates for the best possible production. I think the class gets along very well. We all know each other from previous and current semesters, and have a good understanding of what people like to do.

I learned the importance of planning and preparing for a production shoot. The better you plan the more prepared you’ll be if something unexpected happens. I watched a really cool promotional video for Daytona State College; it’s a TV Studio Production Certificate they offer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDRL4tz_s2g

I’m sure our second studio shoot will go even better and with each shoot we’ll improve. I think the harder part will be postproduction and editing. Getting the right cut and look that we want to convey.