Previsualization Materials

Arguably one of the most important, crucial parts of filmmaking is the preproduction process. The previsualization materials such as the storyboards, overheads, and budget help tremendously. I will serve as the gaffer for this project, so I believe that the overheads have helped me envision the different ways that I could set up the lights and help me think and decide what would be the best setup for the master shot. I think it will help me tremendously when it comes to production day because it allows me to save time while we set up and I might have some time to play around with the lighting equipment to make sure everything will look okay. There is one concern that I had while creating the overheads for this project. I was concerned about how strong the hanging lamp light will be and how this may affect what kinds of lights should be used in each shot.

The Master Shot Overhead

Previsualization of the Master Shot

For the master shot project, I have been assigned the gaffer and grip position, so I am in charge of the lighting on this project. So far, our group has come to a conclusion that we will use the provided Bran and Park script as an interrogation sequence. I feel that this could be done very well. I believe that lighting could play a crucial role in the making of this project. We are hoping that our location will have a hanging light, and if this may be the case then I think that this available light source could look very well on screen. Right now I think that the tone of the project is important for figuring out the type of lighting that we want for this project, and I believe that we are going for a more serious with subtle or no humor tone. If this is the case I believe that hard lighting is important to highlight the physical state of the characters, particularly Park.

Reflecting on Vox Pops and Expert Interview

We shot our vox pops two weeks ago I think they turned out great. I believe there were some solid interviewees that could be very useful to the project and they provided some good ideas for B-roll. For our vox pops, we went to downtown Wilmington and asked our questions to people walking down the street. Unfortunately, there were heavy gusts of wind blowing towards us, so that did create an obstacle for our filming, but we found a way to get over it.

Unfortunately our group ran into a little problem with landing our original expert interviewee, but I believe we found someone better. We held our expert interview for this project on this past Friday and we interviewed Ron, who is co-owner of a nice sandwich shop in downtown Wilmington called Wayfarer. I felt like Ron was a really good person to interview because he had a vibrant personality and he showed some great insight into his business and his life.

Documentary

Due to a problem with reaching our expert interview, we have changed our topic for the 2 minute documentary to discuss people's view of a perfect sandwich, focusing around the question "What is the perfect sandwich?" Listed below are our questions and information for our new topic.

Expert Interviewee: Dee Russell (Subway manager in Wrightsville Beach, NC)
Location of Shoot: Russell's house
Tone: Tongue-in-cheek

Expert Interview Questions:
1) How long have you been creating sandwiches professionally?
2) In your opinion, what constitutes a superior quality sandwich?
3) What steps do you take personally to ensure that the customer gets the best sandwich possible?
4) Have you ever had a happy customer do anything extraordinary because of how you made their sandwich, and explain.
5) Have you ever had an unhappy customer lash out because of their sandwich, and explain.
6) What is the strangest request you've ever had for a sandwich?
7) How specific do some customers get about their orders?
8) How non-specific do some customers get about their orders?
9) How confident do you feel in your sandwich making abilities?
10) What is your perfect sandwich, and why?

Vox Pop Questions:
1) In your opinion, what makes the perfect sandwich?
2) Which component is most important?
3) Describe a sandwich that made you want to die and go to heaven.


Production Schedule:

Monday, February 11th

1:00pm - Pick up equipment at Kenan
1:05pm - Leave for Russell's house
1:30pm - Arrive at Russell's house
1:35pm - Setup lights and camera
1:50pm - Begin interview
2:20pm - Finish interview and pack up equipment
2:45pm - Leave Russell's house and shoot B-roll


This is how we are planning to setup Dee Russell in front of the camera for the expert interview (Our storyboard).




This is how we plan on setting up the lighting equipment (Our overhead).

Comic Book Documentary

For the documentary interview, our group will be focusing on comic books and comic book films. We have chosen John Hitchcock, an owner of a comic book store in Greensboro, North Carolina, as our expert interviewee. We are also planning on shooting the documentary at his store in Greensboro. With this documentary, we are aiming to set a nostalgic tone. We are planning on recording our vox pop questions in downtown Wilmington.

10 Questions for Expert Interviewee:

            1) What drew you to comics?

            2) What inspired you to develop it into a career rather than a hobby?

            3) In your lifetime, how has the industry changed?

            4) How have the recent comic book films affected the comics?

            5) Where do you see comics in the next 10 years?

            6) Which book inspired you the most?

            7) What comic books do you recommend?

            8) What do you feel is the Golden Age of comics?

            9) Has your passion for comic books ever wavered over the years?

            10) How do you feel you have contributed to the comic book community?

Here is the list of vox pop questions we will be asking people in downtown Wilmington.

            1) Do you read comics?

                        if so, what do you like about them?

                        if not, do you watch any films based off of or influenced by comics?

            2) How did you get into comics?

            3) What has led you to watch the films but not read the source material?

            4) How have the films and TV shows affected your attitude towards reading

                        the source material or comics.

Light Observation: Part 2

Two nights ago I observed another instance in which lighting created this aesthetically pleasing scene. My roommates and I were in our apartment watching TV (half of us on either side of the room and the TV in the center of the room. The power went out and a few seconds later the power came back on; however, half of the light bulbs in the ceiling light remained powerless, creating this surprisingly stark contrast between the two sides of the room. What I found interesting was the effect that the lighting had on the TV screen. Half of the blank TV screen was dark and the other half of the TV screen displayed the reflections of us.