Progress 1

My film opening project has been moving slowly honestly. I created the script and idea in as short as a week. All the camera directions have been stated and the script is emoting feeling, which was easy to accomplish since my imagination took over. Yet the realistic details are more difficult to plan.

I have contacted my cast and people involved in the production since I am working solely on the project. Also, we have discussed the best time to film for all of us which will be in the middle of March, primarily spring break. I have learned more about editing software such as Davinci Resolve and how to maneuver the key aspects. However, the main challenge I am facing is with the location.

One of the regrets I have is not filming in India when I had gone for vacation during winter break. The picture-perfect location and yet I did not take advantage of it. The aesthetic of the entire scene could have been elevated by how green the fields are there and where the sun sets. But I cannot continue being regretful. So I will try and imitate the traditional mise-en-scene as close as possible. A possible location being considered is Tradewinds Parks and Stables in Coconut Creek. 

Sweding

The art of sweding, or remaking a part of a film. Before starting the project, I asked myself what I wanted to achieve or what was my purpose so I could better understand what film to choose. I wanted simplicity and something that could be executed easily. Not because it was less work but because it was inside my reach. Yet it could not be too simple to the point one watching it is bored. They may sill get bored, something I cannot control. But control was what I ought for this project. Therefore, I chose a film that I was knowledgeable about and a scene that had hidden complexity. Midsommar: Tripping in the Field.

Actual Scene

First, I analyzed the scene and broke down each moment where the camera cut to another angle, taking snapshots of how the scene looks before and after. Then I identified the materials and characters in the scene and wrote descriptions of them. Lastly, I created the script and shared it with my actors so they could memorize lines and change them to be more instinctual. All of these steps contributed towards the actual filming process being smooth and the recreation of the scene close to exact. 

excerpt from script

Challenges faced during the course of this project were entirely environmental. We filmed near noon when the sun was at it's highest point to create a consistent lighting source. We filmed at a park with hills to imitate the fields in Midsommar. However, outsides sounds hindered the ability to hear actors so the audio of my project was not extremely clear. These factors just had to be dealt with because we do not have access to the equipment say A24 has. 

But that is what makes a sweding project individual to itself and it has been a great learning experience for future film productions, especially in the drama/thriller genre. 

behind the scene

Media Companies

My assigned major media company was NBC universal and the minor, DreamWorks Animation, which is owned by NBC universal too. That is a common concept. When a large film studio owns many other smaller film studios. So there are only 5-6 companies that own about 90% of the media market shares. These were usually established many years ago and have a complex history. For example, Universal Films was created in 1912 and NBC in 1926, which actually is the first permanent radio network in the U.S. And then NBC Universal was born on May 12, 2004, when NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment merged. At this point both companies had acquired many smaller companies and would only grow larger.

In addition, even though the major media companies are similar in many ways, they are different in that they have specific genres, not drifted away from. For example, Disney specializes in creating characters while Universal focuses on action and blockbuster films. This way, the audience has expectations for a film when it gets released because of the company producing it.