Tuesday Nov. 18, 2014

Today is the last time we will meet before your rough cuts are due. Your rough cuts are due two weeks from today on Tuesday December 2, 2014. Your final cuts will be due Tuesday December 9. This is also the final due date for all revised work in this class. No extensions will be given beyond December 9, 2014.

A rough cut is an almost finished assembly of all of the footage you have shot. The purpose of the rough cut is to screen the structure of your piece, as well as all of the footage you have shot. There should be no major holes, but rather only "clean up" work left to do. "Clean up" may include fixing audio, color correction, or reshooting small scenes that need to be reshot (although, ideally, this will have already been done). Additionally, screening rough cuts is an excellent time to ask questions to your classmates about any struggles or clarification you might need or want. While you are away on break, your Lynda.com account may prove very helpful to you.

Next week we will not be meeting because of Thanksgiving break. However, I expect ALL OF YOU to have a viable rough cut upon your return on Tuesday. Please plan your time, shooting schedule, and editing responsibilities wisely. Your Rough Cut will be worth 33% of your final grade for this project. Please upload an exported version of your rough cut to the server, and bring your Premiere file with you to class on a laptop. If we have extra time, which we may, you will be able to use that time in class to work on your FINAL CUT. 


TODAY:
We will use class time in ways that are most beneficial to you. I know that the last few weeks have gone by very quickly, so I want to make sure that you feel that you have everything you need. Please speak up about what that might be.

Some in-class activies could include:
- Pitching your narrative videos to the class +
- Reviewing your footage
- Reviewing Camera Settings
- Setting Up Lights
- Practicing with Audio Recording
- Reviewing Premiere Pro
- Reviewing different kinds of shots and camera movements
- Finish Screening Rashomon
- Going over readings

NEXT WEEK (November 25, 2014):
NO CLASS

FOLLOWING WEEK (December 2, 2014):
ROUGH CUTS DUE

WEEK AFTER THAT (December 9, 2014):
FINAL CUTS DUE IN CLASS, AND ALL REVISED WORK DUE. 
All revised work must be posted to your blog by midnight. 

Today's class will include 1) your wonderful, impressive artist presentations and 2) workshopping ideas for your short, narrative video! Please see below. 

We can also spend some time talking about the student occupation of the administration building, and talk about ways to get involved.

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IN CLASS WORKSHOP:

WRITING FOR NARRATIVE VIDEO

After forming small groups based on interest (ie: the ideas from your notebooks), your group will now develop a common, basic structure for your narrative video. Remember to ground your scripts in an experience that is "true to you." It can definitely incorporate elements of fantasy, but it must always feel emotionally authentic. Starting from personal experience is often a good place to begin: 

BASIC STRUCTURE:

What has just happened?

Who is the main character?

Who are the secondary characters (there should be as many total characters in the video as there are in your group)?

Where is it all happening?

When is it happening? 

What is happening?

Define a simple narrative arc: introduction, building action, climax/point of no return, falling action, denouement. 

Now, each member of your group must take responsibility for one character. Independently, answer this character questionnaire:

CHARACTER QUESTIONNAIRE:

Who is your character?

Are they human, animal, inanimate, or something else?

How old are they?

Where do they see themselves in 5 years?

How would they describe themselves in 3-5 words?

How would their best friend describe them in 3-5 words?

Do they have any tattoos, piercings, or favorite accessories? What's the story behind them?

What is their favorite outfit?

How many people are in their family?

Do they have a conflict with anyone in their family?

Do they have a chosen family? Who are they?

Who is the person they are closest to?

Have they ever lied to that person?

Have they ever had their heart broken?

Have they ever been in love?

Do they have any pets?

What secrets do they hold?

Are they keeping a secret to protect someone? What is it? Does anyone else know the secret?

Do they have any simple, secret pleasures (old halloween candy under the bed, eating popcorn with red wine, drinking hot chocolate with a spoon, goofy socks, opposite gendered clothing,  embarrassing habits or music, etc)?

If your character could go anywhere and do anything, what would it be?

What is holding them back?

If you were to ask your character what they wanted out of life, what would they say?

HOMEWORK:

DUE NEXT WEEK (Nov 11)

READ:

The Long Take, Pier Paolo Pasolini

The Essence of Story, James Bonnett

WRITE:

After you agree upon a basic structure, a main character, and secondary characters; each member of your small group will write a different draft of the script from the different perspective of your respective characters. You should end up with as many scripts as you have people in your group. Each script should be between 3-5 pages. Bring these scripts, printed, to class next week.

Some notes on the script:

• Prior to writing your script, please complete the character questionnaire for each character. You may choose to do this with your group member, or not. 

• Your script should be simple and take place in one location (and ideally a location you would be able to shoot in for your project). You can move through multiple spaces within a location, but it must be one location. You should only have one main character, and as many secondary characters as you have group members. These short scripts will be the foundation for your final, narrative videos. We will continue to work and build on them throughout the coming weeks.

• Use a script writing software/platform. More below. 

HELPFUL, CINEMATIC REFERENCES:
Rashomon, 1950
The Affair, 2014
Palindromes, 2004 
Nine Lives, 2005

Script Writing Software: 

It will make your life easier. You are required to try out the free version or the free trial version of one of the two softwares below. You do not need to buy anything, but you must try it out:

Celtx is a media pre-production software, designed for creating and organizing media projects like screenplays, films, videos, stageplays, audio plays, documentaries, machinima, comics, games and podcasts. It offers a free, online writing platform which will automatically format your scripts. It also looks like this platform allows for collaboration. For when you begin larger projects, celtx also offers a robust suite of paid features, so it's worth checking out. It appears to work a lot like google drive, but specific to media pre-production. www.celtx.com 

Final Draft is the industry standard program for script writing, and costs $129. It is the best script writing program out there. There is a 30 day free trial, which I suggest you try out if you choose this route. It is a wonderful software, and if you intend on spending a lot of time writing scripts, may someday be worth the investment. Free Trial: http://trial.finaldraft.com/

DUE IN TWO WEEKS (Nov. 18):

Your group will decide on which script to begin shooting. Your group will be responsible for shooting one of your scripts, with footage to be screened as a rough cut, in class. on Nov. 17th. We will talk more about this next week. If you'd like to start before then, please set up time to meet with me.

Timeline for your short, narrative video:
Scripts due: Nov. 11
Screening of Single Shot Shoot from one of your scripts: Nov. 18
Thanksgiving: Nov. 25 (NO CLASS)
In Progress Crits (ALL FOOTAGE SHOULD BE SHOT, EDITING IS HAPPENING): Dec. 2
FINAL CRITS AND FINAL DUE DATE FOR ALL WORK: Dec. 9

As always, please contact me with questions or to schedule meetings outside of class.