JBowens

Student of the World on a Quest for Knowledge and Enlightenment. Current mission: Full Sail University to attain "Master" status in Film Production. This is my Mastery Journal.

[qloud9]

Mastery Journal: Business of Film

Month twelve of the Film Production Masters program was a course based on The Business of Film. This course mostly focused on the creation of a marketing strategy for our now completed thesis film, Seeping Between The Cracks. My original objective for this course was to learn about the best business practices of running an independent film production company.

I have learned so much over this last month that it has made this course one of my favorites of the program. Mr. Peter Gordon was very knowledgeable and answered all questions with certainty. He gave very good business advice and his lectures were extremely thorough.

Some of the valuable knowledge that was gained during this month was that “pitching is the cornerstone of all sales” and the importance of having a Festival Strategy. Entering your film into a film festival can be very valuable to the success of it. One of the assignments in class was to submit to one film festival a month for six months. I will take this knowledge with me and use this strategy for all of my future projects.

I believe that I have met my original objective for this course. I feel more knowledgeable about how to successfully run an independent film production company. Peter made sure all questions were answered and even brought in a specialist (his wife) to answer tax questions. I am saving every keynote lecture and will constantly reference back to them for their valuable information for years to come.

[qloud9]

Mastery Journal – Thesis IV: Film Assembly

Month eleven of the Film Production Masters program was a course based on sound editing. This film assembly course mainly focused on the Pro Tools sound editing software and how to properly mix together a professional soundtrack for our thesis film. The class got to work in the dubbing stage and mixed the film on an Avid System 5 digital audio console. My original objective for this course was to learn more about the Avid system 5 console and the entire sound editing stage of post production.

I learned the Pro Tools editing software many years ago so the lessons were somewhat of a refresher. I have never mixed anything on a console before so learning more about that process was my main focus during the course. I believe that I met my original objective because I now know how to create and assign tracks from pro tools to actual faders on the console and how to adjust the settings for each fader.

I also learned about the process of how sound editors create and add sound effects and dialogue to a film and the different levels of deliverables from the Temp Dub and Pre Dub to the Final Mix and eventually the Print Master. There was a lot of work that was involved that I had no idea about. Almost everything in a film that makes a sound (even some that do not) gets redone and assigned it’s own special controllable sound effect. I now know why there is that saying that sound is the most important part of a film. With this newfound knowledge, I will pay special attention going forward on the quality of sound design on all of my future projects.

[jay10burn]

http://randymartinez.wordpress.com/category/star-wars-art/page/3/

[jimboeth]

Robocop behind the scenes, 1987-1993

[walternewton]

“Get your ass to Mars”

[verticalfilm]

The Fifth Element (1997)

[abandoned-vilesbodies-blog]

alternate film posters:  Directed by  Guy Ritchie

lock stock and two smoking barrels - 1998

snatch. - 2000 

revolver - 2005 

rocknrolla - 2008

(insp)

[qloud9]

Mastery Journal – Thesis III: Post-Production

Month ten of the Film Production Masters program was a course based on Post-Production. During this class we worked on footage that was shot last month. I chose to cut a trailer for the film. During this course, I believe that I have acquired a few post-production skillsets along the way.

The first skillset that I undeniably struggled with at first but ultimately conquered was that of Avid Media Composer. This is the editing software that we cut the movie in.  I’d heard rumors on how steep the learning curve was but I was still not prepared once it became time to jump in.  I think the hardest thing about Avid was trying to un-learn the drag-and-drop editing style that I had become accustomed to thanks to Final Cut.  Once I got the hang of the in and out point concept, everything was pretty smooth from there on. I still need a lot of practice to perfect my Avid skills but at least I can say that I know the program now.

Coming into this class, I always figured that I would edit any and everything that I would ever shoot. I did not realize how important a stand-alone editor is to a crew.  So many different stories can be told with the same collection of footage. Having a dedicated editor on board could make your story even better than what you had in your head.

Another skillset that I have acquired would be that of a stronger knowledge of editorial concepts in storytelling. I particularly learned a lot about how trailers are cut and how they are practically their own films in themselves. I did not realize that trailers have their own three-act structure and tell their own stories without revealing the entire story to the audience. I think the most important thing that I’ve learned about making a trailer is conveying the right/same tone as the film. Failing to follow this rule will result in misleading the audience and may ultimately attract the wrong viewers to the film.

[qloud9]

Mastery Journal – Thesis II: Production

During the ninth month of the Masters program at Full Sail University, grad students finally get to shoot the thesis film that they have been working up to. Our thesis film was Seeping Between The Cracks: A story about a little girl who befriends a shadow creature in an alternate world after falling through a puddle. Coming into it, I thought that the hardest thing about this production would be trying to explain the story to an outsider, but boy was I wrong.  What first seemed like a cakewalk turned out to be a valuable learning experience for us all; even for the students that were not in the class.

 My position on this production was that of the 1st Assistant Director (1st AD). This involved breaking down the script, creating a shooting schedule, managing the set and overall problem solving. My objective for this class was to learn more about the 1st AD position and how to effectively carryout such a role. With that being said, I definitely learned… the hard way. Even though we got through the production, I feel that I failed at my job, but as they say, failure is the greatest teacher of all. I now know what not to do and how to prevent the problems that we had during this production.

 We faced two big problems: unpreparedness and miscommunication. These both could have been avoided with a more thorough pre-production. There is a quote by an anonymous author in the Daryl Goldberg book First-Time Filmmaker F*ck-ups: “He who fails to plan, plans to fail”. We waited until the last minute to get a lot of things completed. Some things were still being decided on the spot during the shoot. This ultimately slowed down the production. I feel that it was my job to keep us on schedule and to say no to certain things that would consume too much time but I failed at this task and it eventually caused us to lose shots and entire scenes.

 Another thing I failed at was mitigating communication problems amongst crewmembers. I tried the best I could to keep everyone on the same page but there were just too many pages to keep track of. This eventually led to a confrontation between two crewmembers that I could have prevented.

 Even though I feel I failed, we did succeed on getting enough footage to make a movie and that I can be proud of. It took me a few days to get on track but once I did, we ended up getting what we needed on the last two days of shooting.

  Overall, this experience has taught me how important planning can be to a production. Everything must be covered in pre-production, no ifs, ands or buts about it. Problems and answers to questions should never be put off to tackle during the production stage. There were holes in my breakdown that I should have answered before hand and not wait for someone else to answer on the spot. I feel that I will be a lot better at this job in the future. I have battle wounds and have gained valuable wisdom.

[qloud9]

Mastery Journal - Thesis I: Pre-Production

This is my eighth mastery journal for the Thesis I: Pre-Production course for the Film Production Masters program at Full Sail University. My original objective for this course was to learn more about the pre-production process and more about the first Assistant Director (1stAD) position.

 After going through this course, I believe that I have met my objective. There is a lot of preparation involved in pre-pro that I did not know before this course; little details in the breakdown sheet that I never paid attention to when planning for my previous projects. Making notes that cover every single thing will make less room for error later on during the production stage.

 I also learned more about the 1stAD position and how to properly schedule a production. The fifteen-minute minimal for setup and shooting times make sense and are reasonable. I will apply the planning and scheduling skills and strategies that I have learned in this course to all my future projects as well as any professional position that I may receive.

[qloud9]

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On the set of Full Sail University Thesis Film "Stored Away" #StoredAway #FullSail #FullSailUniversity #Film #ShortFilm #StudentFilm #Filmmaking #F65 #SonyF65 #GoForPicture #1stAD #SoundMixer #CamOp #2ndAC #Director #Actor #1stAC #ScriptSup #Stunts #FightScene #Winterpark #Orlando

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On the set of Full Sail University Thesis Film "Stored Away" #StoredAway #FullSail #FullSailUniversity #Film #ShortFilm #StudentFilm #Filmmaking #F65 #SonyF65 #GoForPicture #1stAD #SoundMixer #CamOp #2ndAC #Director #Actor #1stAC #ScriptSup #Winterpark #Orlando

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On the set of Full Sail University Thesis Film "Stored Away" #StoredAway #FullSail #FullSailUniversity #Film #ShortFilm #StudentFilm #Filmmaking #F65 #SonyF65 #GoForPicture #1stAD #SoundMixer #CamOp #2ndAC #Director #Actor #1stAC #ScriptSup #Winterpark #Orlando

[qloud9]

ECL Mastery Journal

This is my seventh mastery journal for the Entertainment & Communication Law course for the Film Production Masters program at Full Sail University. My original objective for this course was to get familiar with the process of starting a film production company and how to do it the right way (filling out the correct legal documents). I feel that I did indeed meet that goal. I have learned a lot over the last month of this class.

During this class, I got familiar with the way the film industry does business. There is a lot of paperwork involved when a film is in its infantry. This makes way for many loop holes and errors that could be made. I have learned that it is a necessity to have a lawyer on board and involved in your pre-production stages. 

I also learned a lot of legal terminology that is common in the film industry. A month ago I had no idea what a recital or a rider was.

Another important thing that I knew a little about but am now more knowledgeable in is copyright law. This is one of the most important things to know in this field and I will apply the knowledge that I have gained in this course to improve my past projects as well as my future projects.

[qloud9]

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Enjoyed being 1st AD on the #FullSail web series No Good Deeds S01Ep05 #Repost #OnSetGeneral #FilmSchool #Filmmaking - #CamOp #ScriptSup #1stAD #InThatOrder -- By @rickynixx via @RepostWhiz app: Cam Op, scripty, & 1st AD in that order. Doing research for a TV series about BELOW THE LINE positions on a film set. (at Full Sail University)

[qloud9]

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By @rickynixx via @RepostWhiz app: @jayboi3000 serving as the onset general for today's shoot @fullsail. Day one of shooting No good deeds. #daysonset #fullsail #friends #setlife #crew #canon #collegelife #slate #lights #camera #action #filmmaking (at Full Sail University)

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Follow the genius behind all the music in my films @garrottodom (soundcloud.com/garrott-odom) #Phrenology #TheLastSoulBrother #Magi #GarrottOdom #Technicolor