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Mastery Journal: Business of Film

“An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.”

― G.K. Chesterton

Photo from the set of Operation Coffee

Initially going into this course, my goals were to learn to market films, learn to negotiate, and learn current film business models. If I had to gauge whether or not my goals have been met, I would say that this class has met my goals more expectedly and accurately than the rest. As far as the marketing side is concerned, I learned many strategies that are affordable, relevant and realistic for an indie filmmaker such as myself. We went into great detail about the efficacy of social media, which also happens to be free, how to use the film festival circuit to promote your work, and strategies for getting picked up by a distributor. Ideally, the festival and social media marketing will land you a distribution deal, so long as your film is worthy. But getting the exposure in today’s world, although there is far more competition, is far easier than it has ever been before.

Negotiation was taken very seriously in this course, and we even engaged in multiple mock negotiation exercises. These exercises along with the guidance from my professor have given me far more confidence in giving a price and feeling comfortable discussing why my price is such and the flexibility I may have in adjusting that price with a potential client. While discussing current film business models, I learned how complicated yet simple the Hollywood business model is. Learning this confirmed my initially feeling that the indie film world as well as the commercial film world is what I would like to explore first in my career. I enjoy common sense business practice and even if I eventually end up in Hollywood production, the practice I will get here will prepare me for whatever the future holds.

Overall, this year has been incredibly transformational for me. I’ve gained the technical proficiency, the confidence, and learned the details that separate master’s level work from the mediocre. This program delivered for me in ways that I hadn’t anticipated. This year, the phrase, you don’t know what you don’t know, has become my theme. I learned so many things that I would have never been aware of had I not enrolled at Full Sail. I had worked professionally in the field producing commercial video content for a few years prior to joining this program, and wanted to take my work to the next level for myself as well as my future and present clients. I can happily say that I have accomplished this goal. I’m extremely optimistic about the skills I have acquired and I am excited to put them to the test, professionally.

Sources

“G.K. Chesterton Quotes.” Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/7014283.G_K_Chesterton

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Mastery Journal: Film Production Thesis IV: Film Assembly

The original goals I had for this class, Film Production Thesis IV: Film Assembly, were to learn color correction, learn to edit audio, and learn sound design. I did not realize, when I first wrote these goals in Mastery, that color correction was a part of post-production rather than assembly, so that goal is not really applicable here. But the fact that I wrote that goal does show me how much I have learned in my year at Full Sail about what each step of a film’s production entails. It is sometimes hard to appreciate what all I am learning, in the moment, but to see real evidence of my ignorance from only a year ago truly lets me appreciate what I’ve gained.

As for the other two goals, I feel I have achieved these tasks, and then some. One of my favorite sayings is, “you don’t know what you don’t know,” and I did not know a year ago what learning sound design even meant. I feel confident now in my ability to use sound in a meaningful way in my films. It is such a crucial component of any film and greatly affects how the viewer will perceive the film. One of my assignments in this class was to present three edits of a short clip, one with only a musical score, one using a song with lyrics, and one with sound effects. It was amazing how different each clip felt. Despite using the exact same footage for each, it felt like watching three completely different films. This was my favorite exercise of the class, and one I feel really showcases how valuable sound design is.

I plan to apply my knowledge from this class to all of my future projects. Beyond just showing me the effect sound can have on tone and mood, this class taught me that sound can allow you to shoot fewer scenes for a film. For example, if I was unable to get coverage of a car’s exhaust pipe, I could just show the audience the full car, and play an exhaust pipe sound effect, and the viewer will subconsciously piece it together. This kind of knowledge gives me greater flexibility when shooting and is something I feel I can use for any future endeavor.

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Mastery Journal: Post-Production

This course delivered far beyond any expectations that I had. I was unaware of how impactful the edit would end up being on the final film. I also see now that the actual movie is made in editorial and I think that it would be helpful to take a course like this before shooting your film. It is here that most of the holes in the film are exposed as well as inconsistencies in story arc and the mood, growth, and pacing of the acting. Having a good understanding of editing will most definitely inform the way I shoot movies in the future. Working on the production end of films, I will now operate even more with the edit in mind. Beyond pacing and the other elements I have mentioned, codecs and other technical aspects were explored on a level that will be invaluable to my future work. I can now make far more informed judgements on the way I will shoot films, be it framing for editorial space, codecs for color space, or allowing the camera to roll earlier and later so that I have latitude in my cuts.

In this course, I also learned the values of editing principles which I found to be more important than learning specific editing systems. I had previously been concerned with the systems I would use to edit, but I now have a better understanding of what makes an edit work. These non linear editing systems simply provide you with a means to assemble your film. Once you understand how that process works, the medium in which you perform that process becomes irrelevant. Overall, I would rate this as one of my favorite classes thus far in the program, and I wish that I had had more than one month of it.

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Mastery Journal: Thesis II Production

My original goals in this course were to exhibit good leadership on the film set, learn more about lighting, and learn about specific lenses for cinema. Concerning my first goal of leadership, I believe that I did my best, but it was not necessarily enough. I had a very difficult time, and ultimately failed assembling my camera team into meetings and pre-vis meetups. I think that this was in part due to the 120 mile travel obstacle that was required to do the pre-vis. But, as they say, hindsight is 20/20. I now wonder if I could have done more to motivate them to be at the meetings. Ultimately, I was able to have one session with my team before the filming began, in which we were able to address a few issues. I do feel that once we got on set, despite hard hours and long travel times, that we gained some positive momentum and began to function as a team. Moving forward, I would like to have much more collaboration between departments and within the teams to avoid setbacks.

Concerning the lighting and lensing, I think that I did a decent job of both. I had the unique opportunity of acting as DP on two separate thesis projects in my time at Full Sail. The first project, I was pulled in as a last minute replacement, and suffered greatly in the lighting department, and so I attempted to pay special attention to that this go-around. I did not do a perfect job, but there was a marked and noticeable improvement from my first DPing experience. I also realize that I need to learn more about power alongside with metering. As far as the lensing is concerned, I think this is where I did my best. I was able to make good use of a very small space by adapting my shots to an ultra-wide 18 mm lens, and create voyeuristic shots by using a longer lens.

Moving forward, I will be using all of this information along with the skills I developed in the program, Shot Designer, to better light, lens, and plan my shoots. I am realistic in understanding that I am a beginning and developing filmmaker, but I see improvements in every project and that inspires me.

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Mastery Journal: Pre-Production

Downward Dog is a 2017 short film directed by Michael Killen and written by Samm Hodges. The film shows a dog describing his inadequate owner, utilizing voiceover and digital animation. I feel an appropriate longline for Downward Dog could be: After a series of so-called neglect, an unhappy dog strives to find peace with his owner. This film is a comedy disguised as a dramatic documentary. It has an incredibly serious tone that has been created to juxtapose against the main character, a talking dog. I feel the theme of Downward Dog might be something along the lines of finding fortune in\\ tragedy.

The inciting incident for Downward Dog is the first appearance of the talking dog. The film opens with a scene of a dog and his water bowl. The audience hears a voiceover, but does not realize it is the dog until the next scene, a medium, shallow depth of field shot of a talking dog. This film is shown in an episodic format, but still follows the dramatic structure of a five stage story arc. Plot point I is the dream sequence of the dog. This scene shows the viewers what the dog’s ideal life could be. It is one of the few scenes in the movie with camera movement and warm colors. The climax of Downward Dog is the revelation that the dog has cancer. This scene begins the dramatic shift of the movie. The cancer is what brings the dog and owner, Nan, closer together and it is the point the dog realizes it is useless to obsess over his relationship with Nan. The falling action in this move consists of scenes of the dog’s surgery and his musings on life. The viewer still does not know if the dog is cancer-free, but does get to see the dog embrace his life and stop obsessing. Finally, the film concludes with the surgery being a success and the dog being cancer-free. In the conclusion, the dog also relates how much his relationship with Nan has improved, and how dealing with the cancer brought the two of them closer together. There is also a sequence with the two riding in the car that mimics the camera movement, lighting, and color that were in the dog’s dream sequence, which was his idealized life. From this, the audience can gather that the dog and Nan are quite happy together.

The production design of Downward Dog was crucial in selling the tone of this film. The set was used to enhance the narrative. The house was sparsely decorated which allowed the dog’s isolation to be visually demonstrated. The costuming for the dog was also integral in connecting scenes and creating flow. The dog wears a different jacket or prop that relates to the activity he is describing for many of the interview scenes. This made several interview scenes that were filmed in the same location feel distinct. Another element vital to showcasing the tone of this film was the cinematography. The dog described feelings of isolation and loneliness while being filmed wide angle with a deep depth of field. Many scenes would show everything in focus, but the dog only occupied a tiny portion of the center of the screen. To contrast, the interview scenes with the dog were medium shots with a really shallow depth of field. This mimicked an interview shot that would be seen in any documentary or reality show, and helped sell the idea that his dog was really talking. Downward Dog also utilized low key lighting and a cool color palette. These two elements made the dog’s sadness palpable for viewers. Other visual cues for the viewer were the angles. There were many low angle shots, mainly when the dog was discussing his day-to-day, and high angle shots, used when the dog was describing how Nan was disappointed in him. The extreme angles were key in allowing the viewer feel like a dog and empathize with the dog.

As with cinematography, sound played an important role in Downward Dog’s success. Aside from the voiceover, this film was extremely quiet. There were only a few diegetic sounds, the dog’s collar jingling or birds chirping, and nearly zero music. Each episode ended with music, the most being heard in the car ride sequence at the conclusion. This lack of both diegetic and non-diegetic sound invokes feeling of isolation and boredom. I feel the quietness of this film allows viewers to feel how a dog must feel when its owner is away.

Downward Dog’s editing utilizes jump cuts and montage to convey its plot and tone. The jump cuts are used to show quick sequences of action, for example, the dog being rejected for pets multiple times. They allow the viewer to get a condensed version of this dog’s life and feel his frustration and restlessness. Montage is used in a similar way as the jump cuts. The dog will describe why he feels a particular way, for example, that Nan is too busy for him, and the viewer will see a montage of multiple scenes of Nan ignoring the dog. The animation editing for the dog’s interview scenes is done extremely well too, in my opinion. The mouth movements are subtle and realistic looking for where the dog is moving its head or what it is describing in that moment.

Overall, I feel that Downward Dog is an extremely successful film that equally utilized production design, cinematography, sound, and editing to convey its plot, theme, and tone. The loneliness and seriousness of the dog’s emotions are portrayed so well, and yet so comedically. I feel the viewer could really empathize with this dog’s sadness while laughing at the film in general. The lonely house the film is set in, the wide angle, deep depth of field shots accompanied with the realistic medium interview shots, the lack of any general sounds, and the clever editing all combine to make Downward Dog highly watchable and a film I have definitely learned from.

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Mastery Journal: Entertainment and Communication Law

This past month in Entertainment law, my expectations have been met, as well as exceeded. This course even answered questions that I did not know I had. The only thing that I would change concerning this course, is the month that it is placed in the program. I think that it would ultimately be most useful at the very beginning as we begin making films almost immediately. There were a lot of concerns regarding copyright, trademark, and likeness for our first couple of films. Having the knowledge that we have now would have made the process of producing those projects much easier.

To rehash my original goals, I will list them, and discuss how they were or were not met. My first goal was to learn to write an agreement. Now, although I did not necessarily learn to write an agreement, I learned that I did not need to learn to write an agreement; say that ten times fast! What I mean by that, is that after taking this course I realized that is it most important to delegate tasks that are outside of your area of expertise. This serves to free up more time for you to focus on what you love, and to also leave the legal work to the professionals. I should add that even though I did not learn to write an agreement, I learned to navigate one pretty well, and feel much more comfortable in that area than I had previously.

My second goal was to learn the basics of copyright law and intellectual property. This was the best and most thorough part of the class. We completed many exercises that ensured proficiency on these topics and because of this I feel very comfortable navigating these areas. I had a lot of questions going in concerning the protection of my own work and the avoidance of violating the law. I will be moving forward in full confidence.

My last goal was to gain an understanding of the industry business models. This question is a bit harder to answer. This course did not specifically deal with business plans and models, but it did advise on licensing our work and forming corporations. I have also taken on the role of forming an entity for our class’ thesis project and feel it will give me the experience of forming a business inside of the industry. For all of the things I hoped to learn in this course and did not, I believe that Business of Film, a course that we take later in Full Sail’s program, will give me more clarity on this topic. Overall I am thrilled with the course and would even take it again if I could. The professor was clear, articulate, and engaging. She did a great job making these topics interesting and easy to understand. Because of her efforts, I learned invaluable lessons that I am sure I will lean on for the rest of my career. I will specifically be using the lessons on copyright and contract navigation immediately. This course was awesome.

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Mastery Journal: Visual Storytelling

In this course, my initial goals were to learn how to enhance scenes through camera movement, learn advanced camera techniques, and learn to apply humanities to storytelling. This month did not go even remotely as planned. With that being said, I believe that I ultimately met the goals that I had set for myself, regardless of the curveball that was thrown. I had initially planned to film a teaser for my thesis script by renting out a storage unit, but this was all compromised when the thesis project that I was acting as camera operator on was rescheduled due to a double booking with a Super Bowl commercial. This seemed to be the start of something bad, as I would have to step in as the Director of Photography for my friend who could not make the rescheduling. I had initially trained to be the camera operator for this project, and did not have a solid grip on the work that was ahead of me. The challenges that I would meet on this shoot would ultimately fulfill my initial goals that I had set out for this course. Because I was no longer the camera operator, and I was now the Director of Photography, on very short notice I had to learn all of the camera plots, all of the lighting plots, and all of the blocking. While on set, many of the original plots that I was given did not work as anticipated. There were quite a few dolly shots that had to be modified and completely reworked because of lighting issues. Here is where I met my goal of developing complicated camera movement to tell a story. I used panning motions with a heavily dressed foreground to give extra space to a particular scene. We also used sixteen feet of dolly track and a Canon 30-105 to achieve the pinnacle shot of cinema, the push-pull zoom. This require that the 1st AC, the dolly grip, and the camera operator all operate in exact cadence with one another. In this shot, I sat in as the camera operator so I could operate the zoom while my 1st AC operated the focus. Achieving these shots really gave me the feeling of completing my goals of using complicated camera movements and advanced camera techniques to tell a story. As far as using humanities in my storytelling, my emotion video for the month required that I go out into public and find random individuals interacting with one another, and create a strong visual story to convey that emotion. This meant that I needed to observe a significant and meaningful interaction between people and this is where the humanities came into play. I was able to capture their feelings and communication through their eye contact, movement, culture, and body language. This turned out quite well and I am satisfied with the results. Moving forward, I will carry the invaluable experience that I gained in this course in my personal and professional work. I will use the leadership skills, the patience, and the new technical understanding of camera, camera movement, and lighting to create the best versions of my work possible.

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Mastery Journal Assessment: Experimental Filmmaking

In this course, my original objectives were to make the most of modern film technology, improve my visual storytelling, and learn experimental approaches to filmmaking. My first goal was partially met, as JP gave a fantastic lecture on camera settings and the proper ways to optimally operate the camera by reading zebras, peaking, and other camera levels. The visual storytelling did not exactly meet my expectations, but there is a strong possibility that this is the case because my script was selected for thesis pitching, and I was highly preoccupied with preparing a professional pitch. The most surprising takeaway from this class was a newfound appreciation for the more experimental film practices that I had previously looked down on. With JP’s guidance, I was able to learn to look deeper than the obvious actions and images displayed on screen. I also enjoyed the lectures on new mediums that can be used to express our visions.

Moving forward, I will be able to use many of the newly acquired technical skills in my professional business. The lighting labs were especially helpful in this regard, as I will have more confidence in my ability to light talent during future interview shoots. Learning to light talent at two stops above the background is going to help give a more professional look and feel to future projects. Also, something I had never given thought to before, is the need to motivate the lights within the frame. During our lighting lab, it was shocking to realize how much more professional the scene became when you motivated lighting. Image was immediately transformed from the soap opera look to a more cinematic, believable, and less staged image. Overall, I am satisfied with my experience in this course, but would love to take in again without the added pressure and distraction of pitching for the thesis project. I hope to learn more by overviewing my detailed notes taken in this course.

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Directing Talent Reflection

In many ways this month’s course, Directing Talent, was different than I had initially anticipated. I had assumed that we would be working with professional actors and prewritten scripts. Rather than operating in this format, we wrote our own scripts, and for the most part used our fellow classmates and other Full Sail students as our talent. It is my opinion that this was a more productive practice as I continued to polish my script writing skills, and working with actors with little to no experience demanded more directing to achieve a good performance. Had we used professional actors, my beginner’s level skills as a director would not have been exercised as there would have been very few flaws, most of which I would not have been able to pick up on. This would have ultimately hindered my growth as far as directing is concerned. We were also required to film in a single location and were limited to only fifteen minutes of set time. This was a fantastic tool that demanded me, as director, to be completely certain of the performance that I was looking for out of my talent. Had I been unprepared, the fifteen-minute allotment would have completely broken down my shoot. This time restriction was also a great exercise in efficiency as far as dialogue, camera angles, and set design are concerned.

The lecture portion of the course was also quite enlightening. I was introduced to different film themes, and instructed on how to achieve the “feel” that I am shooting for. Different styles of acting were broken down and assessed, color schemes were discussed, and we learned which tropes were ideal to fall into versus the ones that would cheapen our films.

Finally, we participated in live casting calls, which gave me great insight into the process the talent goes through when auditioning for a film. I saw the amount of organization that was required to run a smooth casting call, and now feel prepared to submit my personal scripts for the audition of talent.

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Mastery VLOG Script Production

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikbeLhZdWOw&feature=youtu.be

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Mastery Journal: Short Film Study

In an attempt to prepare for my first Full Sail short film shoot, Tarot, I am reviewing Witch Girl (2014), directed by Spanish director Ricardo Uhagon Vivas. I chose this film because if falls into a similar genre as the short film that I will be acting as Cinematographer in. The color grading, make-up, and cinematography all fall closely in line with the way I imagine my short film turning out.

The premise of Witch Girl (2014) is that a young girl is living with two older witches who are her aunts. The young girl has a dead friend that is a young boy with whom she communicates via Ouija board. The young boy had discovered that these two women were witches, and the witches imply that they killed the young boy for possessing this knowledge. There is an ominous theme with subtle undertones of vengeance given off by the boy and the young girl. The tone is also quite dark, and the film is in the horror genre. The viewer is ultimately left with a clever cliff hanger that has them wondering what will happen next.

The film has a wonderful dramatic structure. The young girl is seen sleeping blissfully in bed when the inciting incident takes place, a ghastly voice begins to call her name saying “Sabrina, come play with me.” The young girl then rises from bed and gets her Ouija board, and is accompanied by sounds that seems foreshadowing of a dramatic event. Once the board is in her possession she begins to channel the dead friend, a young boy. Her session of communication is cut short by an interruption made by her guardian aunts. They inform her that she has been caught, and that the young boy whom she is channeling, “had it coming”, implying that they had killed him because he had discover that they were witches. The main character is then sent back off to bed. As she exits the screen the ghost of the young boy appears at the table that the young girl had been channeling him from, demons fly from his face, and we get a sense of coming vengeance.

The set design and dress were fantastic, they effectively immersed the viewer into a horror story; they carried the feel of the film very well. There was also great continuity in the look.

The cinematography displayed was top-notch. The DP opted to use a variety of focal lengths and f.stops. This did a tremendous job of expressing different view points and placed our focus on the subject. The DP also shot in high contrast and low light which expressed the dark feel of the film quite well. Along with the cinematography, there was excellent sound design. This helped keep the viewers engaged in the film. The editing was also quite smooth and did a good job building suspense.

Because I am not well educated in the horror genre, this film was a great help in giving me a look to aim for in the short film that I worked as the cinematographer on. I pulled from the dark images and aimed for colors that would be cooler, avoiding those that would feel warm. I plan to apply the concepts that I learned in my future films. I feel that I’ve learned the importance of studying the work of others as it helps you to better explore and express your own ideas. I plan on using this technique moving forward.

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Mastery Journey Timeline Goals and Strategies

Mastery: Personal Development and Leadership

Goal 1: Create a plan for a successful graduate program.

Strategy 1: Take Lynda.com’s “Building Study Skills” class. (https://www.lynda.com/Educational-Technology-tutorials/Building-study-skills/380260/432579-4.html)

Goal 2: Decide how to maximize opportunity in my area of interest.

Strategy 2: Speak with Full Sail’s, Peter Gordon, who specialized in broadcast television and advertising. Do this to help sort out personal goals.

Goal 3: Learn social skills that will help me network in my industry.

Strategy 3: Read Section four, “Social Intelligence,” of Robert Greene’s Mastery. Brainstorm ways to apply these concepts and practices professionally.

Filmmaking Concepts and Practices

Goal 1: Gain an understanding of film production design.

Strategy 1: Discuss lectured and lab work on this topic with classmates outside of class.

Goal 2: Learn how to execute professional cinematography.

Strategy 2: Watch Lynda.com’s “Learning Cinematography” series. (https://www.lynda.com/Filmmaking-tutorials/Cinematography-01-Narrative-Fundamentals/423992-2.html?srchtrk=index%3a4%0alinktypeid%3a2%0aq%3aCinematography%0apage%3a1%0as%3arelevance%0asa%3atrue%0aproducttypeid%3a2)

Goal 3: Learn the roles of the “filmmaking team.”

Strategy 3: Carefully listen to all instruction given, take notes, and apply what I’ve learned in the labs.

Script Production and Analysis

Goal 1: Learn to tell stories through scenes.

Strategy 1: Use extra time to practice with my own equipment outside of class; preferably with classmates.

Goal 2: Learn how to develop an engaging story.

Strategy 2: Seek constructive criticism of my work from teachers and peers so that I may improve my storytelling.

Goal 3: Learn scriptwriting techniques.

Strategy 3: Watch Lynda.com’s video “Script Writing.” (https://www.lynda.com/Video-Screenwriting-tutorials/Video-Script-Writing/144854-2.html?srchtrk=index%3a2%0alinktypeid%3a2%0aq%3ascript+writing%0apage%3a1%0as%3arelevance%0asa%3atrue%0aproducttypeid%3a2)

Directing Talent

Goal 1: Learn the responsibilities of a film director.

Strategy 1: Take full advantage of my time working with actors in the program and consulting with professors about how I could do a better job directing them during the shoot.

Goal 2: Learn to work with actors to achieve dramatic goals.

Strategy 2: Watch Lynda.com’s video “Creating a Short Film: 04 Working with Actors.” (https://www.lynda.com/Filmmaking-tutorials/Creating-Short-Film-04-Working-Actors/129021-2.html?srchtrk=index%3a6%0alinktypeid%3a2%0aq%3afilm+directing%0apage%3a1%0as%3arelevance%0asa%3atrue%0aproducttypeid%3a2)

Goal 3: Learn to work with producers to manage a film set.

Strategy 3: Watch Lynda.com’s “Project Management for Creative Projects” to become better at managing sets. (https://www.lynda.com/learning-paths/Video/become-a-film-producer)

Experimental Filmmaking

Goal 1: Improve my visual storytelling.

Strategy 1: Watch Lynda.com’s “Writing/visual storytelling” (https://www.lynda.com/Photography-DSLR-Video-tutorials/Writingvisual-storytelling/374993/428948-4.html)

Goal 2: Learn how to make the most of modern technology in film.

Strategy 2: Experiment with creating films with modern, mirror-less cameras and cell phones.

Goal 3: Learn new, experimental approaches to film.

Strategy 3: Read Kathryn Ramey’s Experimental Filmmaking: Break the Machine (2015).

Visual Storytelling Techniques and Technology

Goal 1: Learn how to enhance scenes through camera movement.

Strategy 1: Experiment with my motion slider and 5-axis gimbal.

Goal 2: Learn advanced camera techniques.

Strategy 2: Watch Lynda.com’s “Mograph Technique: Dynamic Camera Movement” (https://www.lynda.com/After-Effects-tutorials/Mograph-Techniques-Dynamic-Camera-Movement/149251-2.html?srchtrk=index%3a4%0alinktypeid%3a2%0aq%3acamera+techniques%0apage%3a1%0as%3arelevance%0asa%3atrue%0aproducttypeid%3a2)

Goal 3: Learn to apply humanities to storytelling.

Strategy 3: Utilize my undergraduate social science textbooks and apply social theories to the way I direct my films.

Entertainment and Communication Law

Goal 1: Learn to write an agreement.

Strategy 1: Consult with attorneys in my family to get detailed information concerning agreements.

Goal 2: Learn the basics of copyright and intellectual property law.

Strategy 2: Watch Lynda.com’s “Understanding Copyright: A Deeper Dive” (https://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Understanding-Copyright-Deeper-Dive/365065-2.html?srchtrk=index%3a1%0alinktypeid%3a2%0aq%3acopyright+law%0apage%3a1%0as%3arelevance%0asa%3atrue%0aproducttypeid%3a2)

Goal 3: Gain an understanding of business industry models.

Strategy 3: Utilize some of the contacts given to me by Professor Peter Gordon to create meetings with local production agencies to gain inside information about their business models.

Film Production Thesis I: Pre-Production

Goal 1: Learn the importance of collaboration in the creative process.

Strategy 1: Use skills learned in Robert Greene’s book, Mastery, to work smoothly on a film set and ask for feedback on how I am doing.

Goal 2: Gain an understanding of the pre-production process.

Strategy 2: Watch Lynda.com’s “Video Pre-production for Low-Budget Films” (https://www.lynda.com/Filmmaking-tutorials/Video-Preproduction-Low-Budget-Films/457872-2.html?srchtrk=index%3a2%0alinktypeid%3a2%0aq%3afilm+pre+production%0apage%3a1%0as%3arelevance%0asa%3atrue%0aproducttypeid%3a2)

Goal 3: Understand the foundations of producing a film.

Strategy 3: Form a study group with students to go over course material and consult professor with questions we have.

Film Production Thesis II: Production

Goal 1: Develop leadership on the film set.

Strategy 1: Use social intelligence gained in Greene’s book to effectively manage the individuals I am directing.

Goal 2: Learn more about camera lenses.

Strategy 2: Rent various lenses from the local camera store to experiment with different focal lengths to achieve different looks in film.

Goal 3: Learn scene lighting.

Strategy 3: Watch Lynda.com’s “Lighting the scene” (https://www.lynda.com/After-Effects-tutorials/Lighting-scene/576687/630633-4.html)

Film Production Thesis III: Post-Production

Goal 1: Learn the post-production phase of filmmaking.

Strategy 1: Watch Lynda.com’s “Learning Documentary Video: 3 Editing and Post” (https://www.lynda.com/Video-tutorials/Learning-Documentary-Video-3-Editing-Post/490094-2.html?srchtrk=index%3a9%0alinktypeid%3a2%0aq%3afilm+post%0apage%3a1%0as%3arelevance%0asa%3atrue%0aproducttypeid%3a2)

Goal 2: Learn effective editing strategies.

Strategy 2: Volunteer my time to help other students edit their projects.

Goal 3: Learn the tools required to work in post-production.

Strategy 3: Ask others with more experience in Avid and color correction to help me understand how to use these tools, and then practice on my own.

Film Production Thesis IV: Film Assembly

Goal 1: Learn color correction.

Strategy 1: Work on color correction with other students outside of class, on their personal projects.

Goal 2: Learn to edit audio.

Strategy 2: Work with students in the music program to help better understand audio.

Goal 3: Learn sound design.

Strategy 3: Take Lynda.com’s “A Look At Sound Design” course. (https://www.lynda.com/Premiere-Pro-tutorials/look-sound-design/193836/369178-4.html)

Business of Film

Goal 1: Learn to market films.

Strategy 1: Watch Lynda.com’s “Marketing Your Film” (https://www.lynda.com/Filmmaking-tutorials/Marketing-your-film/129018/493052-4.html)

Goal 2: Learn to negotiate.

Strategy 2: Set up mock negotiations and sales meetings with other students. This will serve as practice for the real thing.

Goal 3: Learn current film business models.

Strategy 3: Research the methods used by other companies, and attempt to speak with their business departments to gain insight into their business models.

#FullSail SassoMedia Goals

For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his soul? -Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ Quotes (2017). In Brainy Quote. Retrieved July 29, 2017, from https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/jesuschris414647.html

This quote reminds me to always be true to myself, and to not abandon my life’s task in the context of Robert Greene’s Mastery. It would be a mistake to think that I would find more success in a more traditional occupation outside of my area of interest.

#FullSail #SassoMedia #JesusChrist

Possible logo?

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“Trout are among those creatures who are one hell of a lot prettier than they need to be. They can get you to wondering about the hidden workings of reality.” --John Gierach

John Gierach quotes (2017). In Goodreads. Retrieved July 19, 2017, from https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/65350.John_Gierach

For me, this quote by John Gierach is a reminder to not look past the beauty of that which we had no hand in creating.

#SassoMedia #fullsail #johngierach

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