The Senior Narrative Film is arguably and according to Mr. Taylor the most straining project at Freestyle. This project used every film skill we have learned, through pre production, production, and post production. We learned knew skills such as screenwriting, lighting, sound design, and shot-listing.
Pre-production
Pitch
The first step of the process was pitching. We had to come into class with an idea to pitch in front of everyone, we all collectively critiqued each other to help develop each other’s ideas. We learned what loglines are and created our own. A logline is a brief one sentence run down of the movie.
A boy with a lesson to learn, turns into a monster.
Synopsis
While much of this has changed, this was our beginning synopsis, giving a summary of the film.
Acting Scene
To gain knowledge in directing actors, we prepared scenes with partners to act out in front of the class. Mr. T directed us to give us a taste of how that looks. It also gave us experience acting for those of us who act in each others films.
Dialogue Scene
Another important skill learned through this project was shooting with dialogue and the sound technique that goes with that. To practice that, as well as shooting a 3 camera set-up, we completed a dialogue scene in groups.
Screen play
Once we decided on our stories and partners, we were told to write our script, following 3-act structures and other story techniques we have learned. This was to be between 7-10 pages.
Lined Script
We then lined this script to help us visualize our filming. We had a lesson in how to do this and then applied it to our scripts. We mapped out each shot and the props and characters that went into each shot.
Shotlist
We then used our lined script as a basis for our shot list. A shot list is completed before filming and maps out every shot needed and allows you to designate estimated time for each shot and estimated number of takes to have a better understanding of how long each day of shooting will take. The below picture is just of one day of filming.
Schedule
My favorite part of this project, the part I want to focus on as a career was creating the schedule. We had to schedule the time and date of each scene in advance, and we had to include the locations. The most difficult part of course being trying to schedule with high-schoolers a month in advance.
Production
Lighting Scavenger Hunt
While last year we focused on using natural lighting, this year we spent a whole week learning about studio lighting and how to use this to a visual effect. To practice, we were given a lighting scavenger hunt and challenged to make a short video of all the findings.
Production Shots
And then… production began. Combining all the skills we had been learning. Including a new one I worked on…. fx makeup.
