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?