I realized I forgot to post our script last week, so here it is:
file://localhost/Users/melaniecrete/Documents/hired_gun.doc
file://localhost/Users/melaniecrete/Documents/hired_gun.rtf
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Friday, April 18, 2014
Pre-visualisation Documents for Hired Gun
Our Storyboards & shot list:
file://localhost/Users/melaniecrete/Downloads/2014-04-17%2015-23.pdf
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Sound Recording Experience
Lydia, our director in our group, had the awesome idea to do some of our sound recording at the nearby bowling alley so we went there Tuesday morning to recording as many unique bowling and billiard-related sounds. Ten Pin Alley was extremely generous and courteous not only to allow us to do our recording there but gave us access to go behind the lanes where the machinery was, lent us some pins to create more sounds, and let us get up close by going down the alley and helping us however they could. I feel like we were able to get a lot of unique sounds and we were able to record the majority of the sound effects or clips that we needed that day. All of the extra sound recordings we needed my group was able to record individually at their homes and in the library Wednesday afternoon. Ethan and I learned that we needed to manually control the level at which we were recording a lot of the sounds at the bowling alley because the machinery was extremely loud and we would have blown out the levels. It was amazing (and a little bit annoying) realizing how much sound the mic can actually pick up. For example, when we were trying to isolate and record a few sounds away from the lanes in the other half of the building, the mic was still picking up the loud squeaking/screeching of a man sitting in one of the chairs in the bowling alley area, making it difficult to isolate the sound.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Editing the Master Shot Sequence
This being my first real experience editing a short film project (aside from the very small, silly video projects I had in high school) I was very anxious. I was excited to finally get my hands dirty and work hands-on on our master shot sequence, since this is what I am going to school for, to learn how to make films. Even more exciting was the fact that this was a narrative project and together our group had creative control to interpret the Bran & Park skeleton script however we wanted. I was also extremely nervous since is the first time or my first crack at serious film editing. I have never used Adobe Premiere and am still in the process of watching the Lynda.com tutorials. I feel very inexperienced but being kind of thrown into the program is helping me learn the program a little bit as well. Our first idea was really funny but we ran into too many issues with finding actors, props, etc. for our idea in such a short time. Not to mention two other of our peer groups had similar ideas. So we changed it to something completely different than our original idea (which was serial killer speed dating) yet kept a little bit of the quirky humor in it. Ours is now about two girls who play a prank on their friend while playing with a Ouija board. I haven't had much time working on the editing of our footage yet, but together Adrienne and I have been working on the organization of our shots, synchronizing the audio to the video, and now cutting down the scenes and fine tuning them to be cleaner and more concise. We are hoping to do more advanced editing today in our class in the lab, yet we still have to record some of the sound later today after class that we have to edit in to our dialogue sequences since it could not be recorded on set while we were filming.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
VOX pops & B-roll
Unfortunately because of my work schedule I could not go with my group downtown to the Cotton Exchange to shoot our B-roll and VOX pops but I was able to talk to my group members and we got some really good footage and some relatively long VOX pops. I'm excited to do our group interview on Saturday due to the positive response from my group members!
Production Schedule
We are planned to film our expert interview this Saturday (Feb. 22nd) at noon. Our expert interviewee is Lori who works at The Cotton Exchange in downtown Wilmington. Our original expert interview subject at The Black Cat Shoppe unfortunately fell through and we have moved on to a new subject, still keeping with the haunted ghost tours that take place in downtown Wilmington where we did our original photographs.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Documentary Film Plan
Our Documentary Film Plan:
As of right now, our groups plan is to interview one or both of the Black Cat Shoppe's owner(s) Kim and John Hirchak which is located in downtown Wilmington, right by the boardwalk/riverwalk area where they begin their Ghost Walk of Wilmington and Haunted Pub Crawl tours. We chose this place because we originally shot our still photographs on the boardwalk/riverwalk right near their shop and thought that they would have some interesting insight and knowledge about the area, having conducted tours here since 1999 and publishing their book, "Ghosts of Old Wilmington". Our photographs, taken during the last ice storm came out pretty dark and gloomy and pretty haunted looking, which would go right along with our theme and subject. Here are 10 questions I would like to ask our expert interview:
1.) How many employees do you have?
2.) Do you conduct the tours yourselves? Why/why not?
3.) What is your favorite "haunted" location?
4.) Do you have a personal experience or encounter with anything haunted or any ghost stories that have involved you or someone you know?
5.) Is the wizard really a wizard?
6.) What did you do before you opened the Shoppe and published your book?
7.) Did you get to meet any cast members of One Tree Hill and/or Dawson's Creek?
8.) Have you given any tours to any visiting celebrities/actors?
9.) Why Wilmington?
10.) Do you have any hopes of expanding your business someday? Whether it be the store or more tours?
We can do our VOX pops with customers in or around the shop and maybe any public walking on or around the boardwalk/market st. area. We can ask them if they have been on one of their tours or want to go on one of the tours. What is the scariest thing that has happened to you in Wilmington? What is your favorite horror/scary movie?
As of right now, our groups plan is to interview one or both of the Black Cat Shoppe's owner(s) Kim and John Hirchak which is located in downtown Wilmington, right by the boardwalk/riverwalk area where they begin their Ghost Walk of Wilmington and Haunted Pub Crawl tours. We chose this place because we originally shot our still photographs on the boardwalk/riverwalk right near their shop and thought that they would have some interesting insight and knowledge about the area, having conducted tours here since 1999 and publishing their book, "Ghosts of Old Wilmington". Our photographs, taken during the last ice storm came out pretty dark and gloomy and pretty haunted looking, which would go right along with our theme and subject. Here are 10 questions I would like to ask our expert interview:
1.) How many employees do you have?
2.) Do you conduct the tours yourselves? Why/why not?
3.) What is your favorite "haunted" location?
4.) Do you have a personal experience or encounter with anything haunted or any ghost stories that have involved you or someone you know?
5.) Is the wizard really a wizard?
6.) What did you do before you opened the Shoppe and published your book?
7.) Did you get to meet any cast members of One Tree Hill and/or Dawson's Creek?
8.) Have you given any tours to any visiting celebrities/actors?
9.) Why Wilmington?
10.) Do you have any hopes of expanding your business someday? Whether it be the store or more tours?
We can do our VOX pops with customers in or around the shop and maybe any public walking on or around the boardwalk/market st. area. We can ask them if they have been on one of their tours or want to go on one of the tours. What is the scariest thing that has happened to you in Wilmington? What is your favorite horror/scary movie?
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Light Observation 2: The living room
Light Observation 2: The living room
Like my bedroom, the overhead light is off and the only lights that are on is the table lamp beside the TV and next to the fireplace, which is still softly burning. It is not a big fire anymore, It is mostly just a dim orange glow next to the dominant soft yellow light of the lamp beside it. The windows have the shades drawn closed, so that no light from outside is let in, even if there were any. It is pretty dark with most of the furniture hardly visible, especially where I am sitting on the opposite side of the room.
Like my bedroom, the overhead light is off and the only lights that are on is the table lamp beside the TV and next to the fireplace, which is still softly burning. It is not a big fire anymore, It is mostly just a dim orange glow next to the dominant soft yellow light of the lamp beside it. The windows have the shades drawn closed, so that no light from outside is let in, even if there were any. It is pretty dark with most of the furniture hardly visible, especially where I am sitting on the opposite side of the room.
Light observation 1: My bedroom
There isn't much light in my bedroom, especially since I only have one window. I have blinds and a tapestry mostly covering that window, so light only comes in from the bottom half, with the blinds cutting into the light with thin black shadow. My overhead light is dull so I usually have my floor lamp on instead, with 5 light bulbs that you can adjust. It gives a nice soft, warm glow to the room, coming from the corner it's placed in. It casts long shadows on everything else in the room. I also like to have candles burning, which gives the room the most interesting lighting, because it is always moving, flickering and changing. It's amazing how much light a tiny candle can actually give off. It provides a soft orb of light around it, illuminating about a couple feet around. Essentially, everything in my room is visible, except for at the farthest corners where too many shadows are congregating.
There isn't much light in my bedroom, especially since I only have one window. I have blinds and a tapestry mostly covering that window, so light only comes in from the bottom half, with the blinds cutting into the light with thin black shadow. My overhead light is dull so I usually have my floor lamp on instead, with 5 light bulbs that you can adjust. It gives a nice soft, warm glow to the room, coming from the corner it's placed in. It casts long shadows on everything else in the room. I also like to have candles burning, which gives the room the most interesting lighting, because it is always moving, flickering and changing. It's amazing how much light a tiny candle can actually give off. It provides a soft orb of light around it, illuminating about a couple feet around. Essentially, everything in my room is visible, except for at the farthest corners where too many shadows are congregating.
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
About myself
A little bit about myself:
Name: Melanie Crete
Age: 21
Born and raised in the granite state aka New Hampshire, I've only lived down here in Wilmington for about 7 months now. I am a transfer student from the University of New Hampshire where I studied Art History and French and I'm technically a first semester junior here. I live off-campus with my older sister and her now fiancé who are due to be wed this October and their adorable pit bull, Zoe. I currently work two part-time jobs while enrolled as a full-time student at Rue21 and Port City Java in Porter's Neck. Thus said, I keep pretty busy but love to spend my free time watching movies.
I really don't have a sense of what I would like to do with a major in Film and a minor and French but i'm hoping to narrow down my focus after taking more classes and learning more about the industry. I am planning to study abroad next spring in Cannes, France if all things work out. I was fortunate enough to go on a high school trip to France and Spain my senior year of high school and I am determined to go back (background picture was taken on said trip).
I'm excited to get some hands-on experience in this class and learn more about the filmmaking process, as well as working with other film studies majors! :)
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