Capstone ideas/treatment

I have been wanting to do a documentary on Britton Shipp ever since I first heard about him and his story. It made the top 5 in the voting session in the documentary class. In essence the film will be about Britton's 4 wheeling accident, a lot about his time spent in a comma, focusing on the community, high school, family and friends and their inspiring reaction of support. I am still on the fence about reenactments of the accident or him coming home. I know there are many photos and videos that will hopefully be made available by the family. I want to go along the timeline of his progress to current time as he is learning again to talk, walk, etc.
The opening scene will go as follows. In the Pine valley area or wherever exactly the kids were riding at, the opening shot will have a low angle as the wheeler comes up over a hill. Different shots of slower motion 4 wheeling as the background audio will be of kids laughing and sounds of the motor and dirt. All of a sudden the audio changes to the panic and reenactment sounds of the accident and reactions, followed by chopper sounds. I would love to have a chopper reenactment. According to the story on the street, the area was so cloudly the pilot wasn't sure how they would find the kids, but the heavens seemed to have opened directly above him for only the time they needed to rescue him, then the clouds closed again immediately after.
As the multitude of people talking, crying, hospital noises such as heart monitors, doors, rolling wheels, etc. play through quickly there will be flashes of real life stills of the aftermath that quicken their pace gradually in flashes until landing on a present-day Britton sitting, looking into the camera. He then says something to introduce the film and/or title. For example. "My name is Britton Shipp and this is my story."
I think the ending and progression of the film will come as more stories are compiled from the events, individuals are interviewed, & also based on Britton's development and progression.

production updates

So the 3 of us have designed the title with the Velocity vector style and forward motion based off the ideas Phil & I had the class before. Everything is basically finished we are just waiting for the print to come out. Soon we will be able to shoot in Idaho the first scene & I am super excited. I would like to be apart of the camera crew or even try out a new role. Maybe production coordinator or something organizational. There are several of us that are excited about the summer production schedule. :)

Picabo Street Production Facebook Page

We are coming to an end! Here is the link where you can find our photos & collaboration throughout the semester.

Guest Speaker: Darrin Fletcher

Storyboard artist.
Started at 16. Drew a lot. Joined an elite art group at 15.
Competition pushes you past what you think your limits are.
Your path is different from everyone. Most of us will struggle for the first 10 years. The talented, tenacious people get over the wall.
Be good at networking and friendshipping.
16 year-old layout artist for Sat morning cartoons.
Working for free is almost expected when you graduate. But only one time.
Be a hard worker, be qualified/ready-doesn't have much to do with experience but with work ethic.
12 hour-18 hr days without complaining.
Gotta be able to stick it out.
Learn how to be a negative shooter and you will have work forever. Just know how to expose properly.
Do second unit.

Be grateful because we have access to equipment and leaders who guide us like Phil.
We could be making films every weekend. We are surrounded by a bunch of people who want to make movies too!
This business is about who you know.
Every project you ever do is vastly different.
A good director is a great listener. Lets people do their job. good ideas come from everywhere, don't you want to be the one listening to all of them?
Location scouting is essential in preproduction.
Know the lenses to use in preproduction, shot list.
It's okay to fail here because it's a safe environment.
Grateful he didn't get his big break till decades into his career, or else he would've blown it.
the audience only knows what you show them.

Production Book Updates

 Production Book Goodness:

Nicole, Jaleesa, Sam & I have divided the workload of who and what we are in charge of completing by the 16th of April. I am in charge of picking out the images we will use for the scrapbook design of the production book.

Scanning the information today for the Production Book did not go completely according to plan. Some of us gathered up clippings and images that will be useful, but thanks to technical difficulties we will have to scan on Thursday in class.

That one time I turned around and saw Picabo Street...

Picabo surprised us in class today and told us a lot of great stories off the bat. Obviously shooting will be easy since she is so charismatic and such a natural storyteller. She was very vivid in detail to the point that I completely felt like I was watching the story unfold in a movie sequence. Ironically that will be the intro to our hybrid documentary. Picabo went to the studio with all of us and shot the intro piece. Ben and Luke were also there helping. She then took photos with all of us and signed our books and magazines of her. She remembered all of our names and even waved to me on the street after class. She is everyone's newfound hero. 

Guest Speaker: Brian Strassman

Screenwriting professor at DSU

• Screenwriting is the true architecture of the whole business. Our voice is what gets us past the readers to the agents.
• 4 page double spaced treatment.
• Everyone has flops.
• Know your ending, know where you are going- the exact moments.
• The firm, great film to watch for structure.
• Midpoint- change of events.
• Plot point- most Hollywood/American films. 
• Ex. Dan in Real Life.
• Have your film take a hard left or right so people are left saying, "Whoa, what now?'
• Hardest to write in a screenplay.
• Treatment is just about your story, not necessarily the details of the characters.
• Know your subject.
• Picabo advice: Danger, what drives you?
• Velocity Girl.

Quick Rundown of Our Research Trip

Going up to Park City was amazing. So much fun and bonding happened among us. We took two vans and were tightly packed in. We stayed in a fancy resort a little outside of Park City. We got to take a tour of the studios which are in the construction stages, where we were able to wear hardhats and walk around the future set areas. It was freezing, but really cool to learn more about the actual production process and what goes into building a studio. 

We spent hours on end at Picabo's parents' home going through boxes upon boxes of newspaper clippings, photos, photo albums, awards, certificates, medals, olympic clothing items including racing gear, collecting VHS tapes for future watching, cereal boxes, you name it! 

Allie, Phil, Morgan and I were the main people to focus on newspaper clippings and photos. After the hunt, Corby and I boxed up and organized everything by logging it into an Excel spreadsheet. I also was able to go with a group including Cade, Aaron, Jon, Keshara, etc. to the ski resort area of Park City to look for a museum, which ended up being too pricey and not what we were really needing. However, Keshara and I talked with the ladies at the front desk whom have lived in Park City for a long time and heard many of the legends of Picabo and met her on occasion. They even mentioned the girls' ski team and how they could be a good place to pull potential actresses from. 

Guest Speaker: Larry Grouppe

Film-Music Composer

• Writes originals for features, TV (Cable Guy).
• You need a "good handshake" between songs.
• Allocate money for popular music.
• Paid as a package deal-responsible for paying musicians and then he gets the leftovers.
• Composers shape things about what's going on in the scene.
• Reads script and starts writing themes during preproduction, some composers are brought in super deep into post stage.
• Spotting sessions- watch film first time, turn temporary music off, don't want to be influenced. Temp tracks can't stay, hence the name.
• Check out Bernard Herman- driving down street in Psycho.
• Emotional complexity completely governed by music. (John Williams).
• What is the emotional content and how can you express it musically? 
• The Contender- "Low Triumph." 
• Doesn't go in linear order of film.

Guest Speaker: Doug Wellman

Former USC Film Dept.

• 1. Acquire a Property
• Purchase (both need consideration).
• Option-allows you the right to control or exploit property for specific amount of time for specific amount of consideration.
• 2. Full Script
• Producer is always responsible-acquire breakdown of budget
• Unit Production Manager- Asst. Director, know every component that goes into production.
• Line Producer- relatively the same thing but a lot of below the line experience.
• Producer- creative genious, car salesman, voodoo doctor.
• Below the line can be reduced to days, people, equipment.
• Insurance- certain companies sell specific production insurance policy- media/film/general liability. Per project, short term.
• Read the insurance policy. (Documentary Industrial Commercial Education).
• Animal mortality- even insects.
• Errors and omissions insurance
• Stunt- anything you are not 100% sure your actor can do safely. 
• Copyright- right to copy. Property right- like a house/car.
• From the time it exists in a fixed form an idea is not copyrighted.
• Don't tell anyone until it's in a fixed form.
• Mail it to yourself, postmarked, don't unseal.
• Register with writer's guild.
• Parody-sometimes it is easier to pay.
• Directors, writers, screenwriters guild- all have contracts, need permission to use shots or property of all people especially within guilds. 

Guest Speaker: Sandra

• Kill Rights- actors can approve/disapprove of certain photos of them.
• Founded the IFP-Independent Feature Project. Originally a 3 yr idea.
• Don't underestimate how long it will take to accomplish particular goals.
• Indie Collect-Nationwide campaign to conserve every American Independent Film.
• 1949 movie theaters independent of studios.
• "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."
• Film: Northern Lights. Went straight to theater owners.
• Cannes Film Festival-awarded Northern Lights with the Camera D'or.
• Alambrista! won 1st year, Northern Lights 2nd. Both American films that she worked on.
• Do you really want to wait for permission to make your project? Do it yourself.
• If you're going to be professional, need to be inventive and creative.
• Write down project ideas.
• Why do I need to make films?
• Producer's money comes from pocket.
• Am I trying to make films to communicate? to express myself? Are we primarily business people? entertainers?
• It's a trap to define success solely on financial terms.
• Have a long term perspective in terms of artistic, talent, communication goals.
• USP-unique selling points.
• When you create an investment document, list all potential problems with the film.
• Budgeting- includes food and how much you will pay each person, how elaborate the set design will be.
• Write the documents yourself, cuts cost.
• Hybrid films-profit and tax deduction...Selma could be funded entirely by foundations or investors. (Picabo Street!)

Guest Speaker: Sam Perez

Electronic portfolio

• Must include all projects involved in program for senior capstone.
• Picabo Street production- project whole semester.
• Oneofthegoodguysproduction.blogspot.com
• Always keep permits on you and all paperwork, multiple people should have it.
• Need permits and paperwork for everything.
• Everyone you interview needs to sign a release, everyone in the scene and also location.
• Preproduction is one of the most important parts.
• Good preproduction saves so much time during production and post.
• Over-prepare!
• Write everything down, all ideas.
• Character color palettes. 
• Directing- what does the shot, set, character, etc say without saying anything?