Film Production Reel/Pages

IB Film Standard Level

M2019

001065-0097

GPZ474

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSoJusx5yWo&t=396s

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Table of Contents

Production Role #1: Sound Editor Page 3

Clip 1: Dinner With

Clip 2: Better Late Than Never

Film Production Role #2: Cinematographer Page 6

Clip 1: Horror

Clip 2: Diegetic/Non-diegetic

Clip 3: Experimental

Film Production Role #3: Director Page 9

Clip 1: Hi, My Name Is…

Works Cited Page 11

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Film Production Role #1 Sound Editor

The name of this clip is “Dinner With,” and was made as a cautionary tale. The point was

to make people more aware of their surroundings. For this film I took the role of sound editor

and I intend to add music to the film that allows their to be no dialogue, but the pace remains

constant.

When my group and I decided the plot of this film, I knew that I wanted to make the

music more complex than previous projects. Instead of one thing going on at a time, I wanted to

take the opportunity of being able to layer instruments and create the music that way. Going into

this project I knew that there would be no dialogue, so I really wanted the music to standout.

Going into this project, for the sounds I was going to produce I wasn’t really inspired by anyone.

I was genuinely trying to do my own thing and do what I thought sounded right.

While we set up the storyboards and were filming, I was trying to think about what types

of sounds that I could implement. I knew that I wanted something that kept the action moving

forwards. I used the application for a long time until I found the perfect drums. They kept the

pace while also sounding good. Once I had an idea of what instruments and sounds I was going

to try to implement I started mixing things together and seeing what sounded right. Once I felt

that I had the perfect combination, I got the edited footage and began to match the music with the

action.

After finishing this project, I hope to have made everyone who viewed it a little bit more

open-minded and aware of their surroundings in such a crazy world. As for myself, I think that

the making of this project helped me become more knowledgeable about sound editing. I’d even

go as far to say it made me feel as if it is okay to not know how to do something, but then going

and learning how to do that thing. This project did that for me. I never saw myself being able to

do something like this, but after working and becoming more familiar with the software I feel as

if anything is possible.

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Clip One: Dinner With INSERT TIME STAMPS

A screenshot of some of the research completed prior to creating the first clip.

Film Production Role #1 Sound Editor

The title of this chase sequence is “Better Late Than Never.” The purpose of this film

was to portray the struggles of managing and staying on top of work in an exaggerating manner.

The role that I took for this film was sound editor and I was inspired by Peter Segal’s choice of

music used in a chase sequence in his film “The Longest Yard.” My hope is to learn to produce

music that not only adds something gets the audience’s attention but also adds meaning to the

clip or scene.

When the idea of the film was proposed, I immediately thought back to when I saw “The

Longest Yard,” directed by Segal and the chase sequence that takes place near the beginning of

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Clip Two: Better Late Than Never INSERT TIME STAMPS

the film. The music used in the movie not only added emphasis to what was taking place, but it

also caught the audience’s attention. This was something that my team and I thought would be a

good addition to our own chase sequence. The director and I talked about it and we made it

official that this was the type of music that we wanted to add to our film.

This made me incredibly happy to be able to test what I have learned so far and it was the

first time that I had something to base making the music off of besides the film. I started working

on replicating this sound during our pre-production time period. I had to be flexible though

because I had no content to base the music on. This means that I would have to change the music

so that it aligns during post-production. I thought this would be easier than procrastinating until

the film was completed. When the recording was finally done there was very little dialogue, so

checking to make sure that everything lined up was very simple but still important. Once this

check was completed and we all felt that nothing needed to be re-recorded or cut out of the film,

I sat down and started aligning the clip to the music. In this time, I tried to ensure that when the

actor was running the drums were going to add a beat to keep the tempo fast as well as trying to

try to make the audience connect with the character in the chase.

Now that the production is over and I am getting ready to submit it, I have reflected and I

am incredibly proud of this film and the things that I have learned from making it. Looking back

on it, I feel as if the making of this film opened my mind to all of the things that films can do to a

person. This film also showed me that with such a powerful hold on people, a caring person

could use this as an outlet to show that everything will work out and everything will be okay.

That is the type of filmmaker I want to be. I want to make people feel better through film

making.

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In this clip, during the elevator scene and the toilet flushing, the director put in music as a filler and the toilet flush as a filler until I recreated those sounds. When I presented the sounds, the director preferred the creative commons that he found instead. They were kept in the film.

My work as sound editor for this production!

Production Role #2 Cinematographer

Before jumping into cinematography was interesting because at first I thought that it

would be the easiest role. I felt that research was unnecessary because I wasn’t going to use it. I

think the best thing that could have happened for my production reel was the research completed

throughout the journey that was my second production role.

I started with thinking of some of the movies that I found interesting and then widened

my research into cinematographers from movies I had never heard of. After doing such, one of

the first cinematographers I discovered was Reed Morano, an Emmy-winning director and

producer. I found a quote from her that said, “A lot of cinematography is intuition. It’s an art, not

a formula.” To a student who is given formulas all the time, this was like music to my ears.

Throughout my time as cinematographer I would become more and more familiar with Morano,

her work, and most importantly her quote about what cinematography is.

The first clip under cinematographer is a snippet of the Three Genre film I created

alongside my group. My influence for this clip was Morano and her quote. I intended to create a

clip that flowed and had purpose rather than try to show off and cram in as many elements that I

thought would raise my grade. This would be the same influence for the rest of my clips in this

production reel for cinematography.

Film Production Role #2 Cinematographer

The idea behind this film was to portray one story through three different genres. For this

film, my production role was cinematographer. In the clip shown, the horror genre is shown. To

create the film, I sat down with the director and worked on story boards. By the time we had

finished, the shots taken were mostly basic shots. The most complicated shot would’ve been an

over the shoulder shot. After recording it a few times to make sure that there were backups for

every story-boarded-scene. At the end of the recording, I had an idea of turning out the light that

I had set up to the camera to show that something had happened to the main character. Before

this, the character just ran away, but I felt that changing the lighting at the right moment would

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Clip One: Three Genre (Horror Clip)

add more emphasis on what was taking place within the clip. I remember actually getting on the

first try.

Part of Storyboard for the Horror Clip shown.

This clip portrays a student who thinks that class is a little too boring for them. They

decide to sneak away, but things go a little south. This was the second film created while I was

the cinematographer. The clip itself had incredibly basic shots, but in reality obtaining some of

the footage took way longer than expected. This would be the film that tested my ability to keep

something in the frame. I couldn’t move the camera because it would ruin the director’s idea so

every time the talent moved out of the shot I had to re-shoot the entire scene.

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Clip Two: Diegetic/Non-Diegetic

This is the last clip in this section of the reel and I believe that it shows my progress

throughout the journey. This was the film in which everything just seemed to connect in pre-

production and then there was more complex shots used. For example, in the clip, there is the use

of Dutch Tilt as well as the use of the Dolly zoom.

In consideration of the process of each of the clips created, I feel as if I not only

developed skills as a cinematographer, but as to be a more organized person. With my first

production role being sound editor, most of the workload was on the back end of the film and so

the transition into cinematographer was one with many milestones. For example, after creating

the first film I feel as if I became a little more open-minded to the power of teamwork that I

wasn’t quite exposed to. I also felt as if the division of work made me warier of being principled

and knowledgeable enough to stay on top of my work load because the production role was not

as easy to me as sound editor. I went from not knowing what a dolly zoom was to suggesting its

placement in the same film as a Dutch tilt.

Picture from myself practicing Dutch Tilt prior to recording the experimental.

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Clip Three: Experimental

Production Role #3 Director

For my first film as director, I drew inspiration from a personal favorite John G. Avildsen. He was

the director of both The Karate Kid and Rocky. In both of these movies they tell the stories of an

underdog who rises and not only affects their lives, but those around them. As a director, I wanted to

tell a similar story about a student who had insecurities and cared too much about what those around

them had to say. Through a presentation this student is given an opportunity to change the minds of

those around them, but it does not matter whether their minds are changed or not because this student

learns that they have more to offer than anyone on that campus will ever know. This hit close to home

and I imagine everyone who went to or goes to high school has experienced a similar feeling at some

point or another throughout those four years of the “best times of our lives.” To further this influence, I

wanted to show little glimpses of actions or posters that related back to these movies. I was unable to

do this, but the influence stayed strong. Instead of my main character fighting a physical battle, I decided

to have him fight a more mental battle. I felt as if these days all of the wrong things are glorified, so I

wanted to create something that shows that it is okay to not be okay, but everything will work out.

To put this idea into place I needed a cast. I thought this would be the easiest part, but it was

the complete opposite. I started with watching a video about how real directors do their casting. I tried

to replicate this strategy, but it did not work out. I eventually figured out a casting team and a found a

partner to produce this film with. The only negative aspect was I had to start over because this other

student was a cinematographer, so I could not use the footage I already had. This was not a problem at

first but would soon turn into one. We started getting footage and everything was going smoothly. The

actor I ended up using for the film was originally going to be a female because in Latin Iterum Nata

means born again, but the female actress’ schedule did not fit into what I needed to get this film

produced. I re-casted and tried starting again. Now that I had a cast, I could start filming and trying to

get my message across. The entire film is based on a presentation and I was very afraid that the

presentation would seem forced or memorized. In reality, a presentation like this is not easy to give. It is

hard to put yourself out there in front of peers. To avoid this, I waited to give the actor that part of the

script until the day of that recording session. I pulled him aside and told him how important this part

was and why I did it the way I did it. We sat down and discussed the presentation hours before

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Clip One: Hi, My Name Is….

recording and we added and took away things as we felt necessary. Before we started, I told him to

pretend there was no time limit and this was a point he was trying to get across in real life. If something

came to him as he performed, I told him to throw it in there and we will see what happens. After a few

recordings I was incredibly proud because I felt as if we really did it. The only sad part was how much

time the presentation took up. In a three-minute film, this took up 95% of it. I had to sit down with my

team and figure out our next move. We felt as if the presentation was important enough to change

around different things and try working it out.

Above is an image I created while trying to cast to attract students attention to try to get a

larger casting pool.

As mentioned above, the presentation was an important aspect of the film and looking back on

it, I hope that it will inspire those around them to not settle. After watching this film, I want people to

take a second and think about where they are in life and really be open-minded about if they are truly

happy or not. The cool thing is, is that no matter the thing, if you are unhappy with something, you can

change it. Sometimes you have to be a risktaker, but I want the audience to watch this short film and

just go for it. Reach for the moon and fall to the stars is something that I was always told and if I could

inspire at least one person to put in effort to something that they want to change, I would feel as if I

completed my goal. As a director I still have a lot to learn, but through this task I feel that in trying to tell

a story and inspire others, I also inspired myself to not just settle for what is around me but reach for

what I truly want. This is exactly what Nathan does in the film and what everyone should be doing.

Although this is just a high school film, made by a crew of students, I am quite positive that those

involved in the making could all agree that we are more open-minded now than before.

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Works Cited

Avildsen, John G., director. Rocky. MGM, 1976.

G., John, director. Karate Kid. Columbia Pictures Corporation, 1984.

MAGIX, director. YouTube. YouTube, YouTube, 26 Oct. 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?

v=AI6U1yoyRz0.

“NARRATIVE REEL.” REED MORANO, A.S.C., www.reedmorano.com/narrative-reel/.

New York Film Academy. “Film Producing: How to Cast the Right Actors in Your Film.”

Student Resources, 4 May 2018, www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/film-producing-how-to-

cast-the-right-actors-in-your-film/.

“Production Roles Defined: Sound Editor.”

“Reed Morano.” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/name/nm1543747/.

Salam, Maya. “John Avildsen, Director of 'Rocky' and 'The Karate Kid,' Dies at 81.” The New

York Times, The New York Times, 17 June 2017,

www.nytimes.com/2017/06/16/movies/john-avildsen-dead-director-rocky-karate-kid.html.

Savage, Tony, director. YouTube. YouTube, YouTube, 28 June 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?

v=PSm2Gm9ugKk.

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