I INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH STUMBLED ONTO ANOTHER WRITTEN PIECE I DID WHILE IN THE MIDST OF PREPARING AND HOPING FOR SUCCESS IS SHOOTING MY FILM TITLED "THE WAY WE ARE", IN WHICH I DISCUSSED IN DEPTH IN MY ENTRY CALLED "MY GREATEST LOVE". SO THIS GOES RIGHT WITH WHAT I WAS THINKING ABOUT AND HOW IMPORTANT IT WAS TO ME TO MAKE THIS FILM WORK. A NICE EXAMPLE ON THE FEELINGS ONE HAS IN THE MIDST OF RUSHING AROUND AND HOPING FOR SUCCESS.
From: October 11, 2012
As some many know, especially those closest to me, I am embarking on my portfolio project towards my Digital Multimedia and Communications degree. This piece in essence will serve as a representation for all I have learned thus far. As many of you also know, I had recently spent the better part of six weeks prepping to shoot a film that I did a rough shoot on about a year ago called “My Inspiration”. I knew going in the piece was going to be a long one and a rather ambitious effort to try and complete over the course of ten weeks, and while the shoot began promisingly, it all fell apart after that. I couldn’t get in touch with people, one of my characters couldn’t get cast for the life of me, and finally after dragging my face in the mud for a week the lead female character bailed on the project. Despite what I had already invested into the piece I had to make the decision last week to cancel the project (at least until sometime down the road), leaving me eight weeks to try something else.
Scrambling for a new story I gathered all my resources together, including listing out a collection of ideas and partially written screenplays I have started in the past. Amidst them I uncovered a piece I had written maybe two years ago that I titled “The Way We Are”. The title was a reference to the manner in which some people live their lives, especially those who are struggling and just live with it as oppose to trying to handle it. This piece more focused on fear, and the way it grips us. The original idea was rather simple, following a woman who had recently been sexually assaulted and was suffering the fear and effects of that moment. It is around this time that an old friend of hers drops by and we see her reveal what has happened. Potentially gripping, yes, both nothing with a lot of grit and feel considering the subject matter. So shortly after writing it the first time I started a rewrite in which the lead female character is out for a drive and finds herself stranded with a stranger trying to help her out. While I felt that storyline was better I still felt it meandered. It was then that I found the major connection that would raise the emotional stakes of the piece. While maintaining the overall storyline of a woman who becomes stranded and must deal with a man coming to her aid, the lead male in the piece who comes to help is actually the same man who assaulted her years before. While she tries to do her best to handle the attacks of her past, he too has been dealing with demons as far as the guilt he has felt since he attacked her. This the emotion reaches it climax when they each realize who the other one is.
This is the crux of the story, taking two people who in two opposite and yet intersecting ways, have spent the past several years running from that one night. But I knew just having gripping subject matter and an intersecting storyline wouldn’t be all that it would take to make a great project. I had to remember that the film deals with very sensitive material and that in producing a fictional story on film it would be of the utmost importance that I did not create very the top characters or obscenely inaccurate portrayals of people who have experienced being assaulted. Having never been assaulted in my life I had to deal with this matter delicately and do a little research and reach back into my past for prior discussions I’ve had with people who could connect with the film’s lead female n a deep level. Using such delicate subject matter also has allowed me to create a rather distinctive visions (and shot list) for the film. Dealing with fear, along with mental and emotional turmoil, I definitely wanted t take a psychological route with this piece (which is what I was hoping to do with this project from day one). And shot listing is one of my favorite parts because it functions as that middle of the road wherein you are seeing the vision in your head coming out and moving one step closer to becoming a visual reality.
Being somewhat in a rush to play catch up now that we’re already two and half weeks into the term I have fortunately received some great feedback from various actors and actresses in the area interested in being cast in this two lead roles, so that just spikes my excitement towards this piece. Now that I am completing the preparation work and am just about prepped to move forward with the shoot I look forward to these next couple of weeks, getting my talent together and going out and shooting. I know lots of people want to break into the entertainment industry, be into music or get into movies, but unfortunately many people just want the glamour without the dedication, or the love or the practice towards these disciplines. And I know I have that love and this is what I want to do with my life, film work, in all its forms. For the first time in my near 27 years of existence I really know what I want to do! So with all that love, dedication and preparation I know this portfolio project will be fantastic. Keep the support coming! :)
From: October 11, 2012
As some many know, especially those closest to me, I am embarking on my portfolio project towards my Digital Multimedia and Communications degree. This piece in essence will serve as a representation for all I have learned thus far. As many of you also know, I had recently spent the better part of six weeks prepping to shoot a film that I did a rough shoot on about a year ago called “My Inspiration”. I knew going in the piece was going to be a long one and a rather ambitious effort to try and complete over the course of ten weeks, and while the shoot began promisingly, it all fell apart after that. I couldn’t get in touch with people, one of my characters couldn’t get cast for the life of me, and finally after dragging my face in the mud for a week the lead female character bailed on the project. Despite what I had already invested into the piece I had to make the decision last week to cancel the project (at least until sometime down the road), leaving me eight weeks to try something else.
Scrambling for a new story I gathered all my resources together, including listing out a collection of ideas and partially written screenplays I have started in the past. Amidst them I uncovered a piece I had written maybe two years ago that I titled “The Way We Are”. The title was a reference to the manner in which some people live their lives, especially those who are struggling and just live with it as oppose to trying to handle it. This piece more focused on fear, and the way it grips us. The original idea was rather simple, following a woman who had recently been sexually assaulted and was suffering the fear and effects of that moment. It is around this time that an old friend of hers drops by and we see her reveal what has happened. Potentially gripping, yes, both nothing with a lot of grit and feel considering the subject matter. So shortly after writing it the first time I started a rewrite in which the lead female character is out for a drive and finds herself stranded with a stranger trying to help her out. While I felt that storyline was better I still felt it meandered. It was then that I found the major connection that would raise the emotional stakes of the piece. While maintaining the overall storyline of a woman who becomes stranded and must deal with a man coming to her aid, the lead male in the piece who comes to help is actually the same man who assaulted her years before. While she tries to do her best to handle the attacks of her past, he too has been dealing with demons as far as the guilt he has felt since he attacked her. This the emotion reaches it climax when they each realize who the other one is.
This is the crux of the story, taking two people who in two opposite and yet intersecting ways, have spent the past several years running from that one night. But I knew just having gripping subject matter and an intersecting storyline wouldn’t be all that it would take to make a great project. I had to remember that the film deals with very sensitive material and that in producing a fictional story on film it would be of the utmost importance that I did not create very the top characters or obscenely inaccurate portrayals of people who have experienced being assaulted. Having never been assaulted in my life I had to deal with this matter delicately and do a little research and reach back into my past for prior discussions I’ve had with people who could connect with the film’s lead female n a deep level. Using such delicate subject matter also has allowed me to create a rather distinctive visions (and shot list) for the film. Dealing with fear, along with mental and emotional turmoil, I definitely wanted t take a psychological route with this piece (which is what I was hoping to do with this project from day one). And shot listing is one of my favorite parts because it functions as that middle of the road wherein you are seeing the vision in your head coming out and moving one step closer to becoming a visual reality.
Being somewhat in a rush to play catch up now that we’re already two and half weeks into the term I have fortunately received some great feedback from various actors and actresses in the area interested in being cast in this two lead roles, so that just spikes my excitement towards this piece. Now that I am completing the preparation work and am just about prepped to move forward with the shoot I look forward to these next couple of weeks, getting my talent together and going out and shooting. I know lots of people want to break into the entertainment industry, be into music or get into movies, but unfortunately many people just want the glamour without the dedication, or the love or the practice towards these disciplines. And I know I have that love and this is what I want to do with my life, film work, in all its forms. For the first time in my near 27 years of existence I really know what I want to do! So with all that love, dedication and preparation I know this portfolio project will be fantastic. Keep the support coming! :)
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