Blog 18: Fourth Interview Preparation

1. (EQ)What techniques can be most effectively employed to create a memorable film?
2. What would you consider a technique?
3. What makes a film memorable?
4. What makes a film enjoyable?
5. Would you have considered memorable films relatable, timeless, awe-inspiring, well-written, visually striking, moving, or some combination of these characteristics?
6. What other characteristics would you attribute to memorability?
7. What would you consider the most memorable film for you?
8. When watching a film, what do you pay attention to the most?
9. Why do you pay attention to this aspect?
10. What techniques do you remember from memorable films?
11. Can you name any filmmakers who have made memorable films?
12. Can you name any recent films you have come across that you would consider memorable in the coming years?
13. What themes have you come across in films that are specifically memorable? 
14. What sorts of stories have you come across in films that are specifically memorable?
15. Do you think that there is a difference between independently financed films and studio financed films in relation to memorability? 
16. Do you think time effects memorability? Why?
17. Do you think it's still possible to make memorable films today? Why or why not?
18. If so, what would a filmmaker have to do to achieve that?
19. If not, what are filmmakers lacking? 
20. In general, what do you think determines the memorability of a film the most?
21. What would you do yourself do to create a memorable film? 
22. What type of genre do you prefer?
23. What is it about this genre that you prefer?
24. What sorts of aspects of that genre make it memorable and enjoyable for you? 
25. Are there any films you find memorable for a specifically bad reason? 
26. What sort of empathy do you think filmmakers need to have to appeal to viewers?
27. When crews are working together, what insights do you think they can provide to each other to create an enjoyable or memorable film?
28. Do you think collaboration between filmmakers contributes to the creation of enjoyable, successful, or memorable films?
29. What kind of collaboration have you encountered in your past experiences? 
30. Since film is such a visual medium, visually speaking what do you pay attention to in films?
31. What color palettes are the most outstanding to you?
32. Can you name any filmmakers who have created a film with memorable or outstanding color palettes?
33. In your opinion, do you think a film can have a noticeable theme, mood, or tone without a color palette to assist it?
34. What sources can you recommend to understanding color palettes and such?
35. How would you begin to design a color palette? 
1. Are there any films with a certain color palette you would want to redesign? 

Blog 17: Answer 3

EQ: What technique can be most effectively employed to create a memorable film?

Answer 3: Filmmakers must be able to use their knowledge of what is aesthetically appealing to audiences. 

Supporting Details:

• Color palettes are known to largely influence the mood or tone of a film.
• Films by James Cameron or Tim Burton are highly regarded due to their aesthetic appeal. 
• Directors and cinematographers alike have been able to set themselves apart as filmmakers due to their uses of certain colors and such in their films. 

Sources:

• "100 Film Moments." Guardian News and Media Limited. The Guardian. 6 Feb 2000. Web. 21 Jan 2015. 
• " Breaking Down David Fincher's Directorial Techniques." Vimeo. Vimeo, 2 Oct 2014. Web. 2 Oct 2014.
• Miller, Gavin. " 15 Visually Striking Films With Amazing Color  Palettes." Taste of Cinema. 19 Mar 2014. Web. 15 Oct 2014. 

Concluding Thought: It is well-known that films are a highly visual medium, and while other factors--such as how well-written the film is or how interesting the story may be--may influence how memorable one finds a film, an integral part of a film is its appearance, which filmmakers should dedicate time to creating. 

Extra Blog Post-February

It seems that novel-to-film adaptations, although always having been present in cinema, have recently seemed to significantly increase. I find myself constantly criticizing the adaptations I see, most often because I consider myself a fan of the book being adapted. However, it has occurred to me that since I have encountered many sources in which authors explain how they have adapted novels and I have taken notes on said techniques, I figure I might try writing an adaptation myself. I probably won't attempt something too grand, perhaps just a children's book I enjoyed when I was younger or something of that caliber. This exercise is to help me further my understanding of screenwriting.

Blog 16: Answer 2

1. What is your EQ?

What technique can be most effectively employed to create a memorable film?

2. What is your first answer?

I think the technique that can be most effectively employed to create a memorable film is successful collaboration between filmmakers--professionals in their respective fields whether it be writing, lighting, directing, cinematography, etc.--to combine their expertise.

3. What is your second answer?

Screenwriters need to be able to empathize with their audience and know what appeals to people, whether it comes to story-writing or dialogue. In addition to having a memorable or original idea, they need to be able to write something that their audience can either relate to, laugh at, be moved by, etc.

4. List three reasons your answer is true with a real-world application for each.

• If the dialogue is too complex or outlandish, the audience may find it bothersome or tiresome. 
• If the story is unoriginal, viewers will lump it with other films, thus making it unmemorable. 
• A viewer may feel too removed or may not be able to enjoy the film if there is no connection with it in any way. 

5. What printed source best supports your answer?

• Scoff, Kevin Conroy. " Screenwriters' Masterclass: Screenwriters Talk About Their Greatest Movies. " New York: Newmarket Press, 2006. Print.

6.  What other source supports your answer?

• Stoller, Bryan Michael. Filmmaking For Dummies. Indianapolis: Wiley Publishing, 2009. Print
• Schellhardt, Laura. Screenwriting For Dummies. Indianapolis: Wiley Publishing, 2008. Print.

• Sternbergh, Adam. "14 Screenwriters Writing." The New York Times Company. The New York Times. 25 Nov 2013. Web. 21 Aug 2014.
• Lee, Spike. " Do The Right Thing: A Companion Volume to the Universal Pictures Film." New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989. Print. 

7. Tie this together with a concluding though. 

Since I hope to professionally write films, finding sources that focusing on screenwriting and even actual scripts themselves were very important for my research. I feel that my first answer is the best, though my second answer is also equally as important, and has a large impact on the final product of a film. 

Blog 15: Independent Component 2 Approval

I figure since I was able to learn so much through focusing on the stages of production, I would like to make that my focus for independent component two.

This time, I will place more emphasis on the production, post-production, and distribution of Fangirl, though I will continue analyzing works that have already been completed, as well as books and other sources that will help me further understand production. 

See my post for my first Independent Component below for more clarification: 

Before you visit your local movie theatre to go see the latest blockbuster, it must undergo five stages--development, pre-production, production, post-production, and distribution. My plan for this component is to focus on these stages while applying them to projects I've worked on, ones I am currently working on, and other works I have enjoyed.

For development, I will create various outlines and such for projects I have had in mind and consider the development for known works produced by others. For pre-production and production I will focus on the documentary I am working on with Veronica Lopez--mentioned in my previous post-- as well as drawing parallels to other famous works while they underwent these stages. For post-production, I will be editing the documentary, as well as analyzing and drawing parallels to the editing of other known works. Lastly, for distribution, I was considering developing a marketing campaign for the documentary, and analyze campaign strategies from other films.

The goal here is to compare my projects with other well-known works and to combine research with real-world situations.

Blog 14: Independent Component 1

• Literal
• I, Micah Chambers, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 37 hours and 16 minutes of work. 
• Works Cited
• Lee, Spike. " Do The Right Thing: A Companion Volume to the Universal Pictures Film." New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989. Print.
• Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse. Dir. George Hickenlooper. Perf. Francis Ford Coppola. 1991. Film.
• Link To Updated Hours 
• I worked on four out of the five stages of production. I used material from other films that have already been created in order to learn from and attempted to improve upon my own work by using examples from other works. 
• Interpretive 
• Through analyzing these stages of film production, I wrote my own outlines and scripts, planned out their production, watched documentaries and read a book on production while filming my own footage, and edited other works. Each thing I completed was relevant to the stages of production. 
• Applied
• Since I analyzed other people's works as well as my own, I was able to practice production and have a thorough lesson in each stage even though it was conducted by myself. This occurred specifically during production and post-production, when I was on an actual set and when I edited portions of other films, which gave valid insights on these stages. 

***Link to Independent Component Document 

Evidence: Edited Portions of Films 

The following videos are some edits I did for the post-production aspect of my independent component.

1. Breakfast at Tiffany's--When I searched for scenes to edit for this movie, I came across a comment on Youtube that said actor George Peppard's monologue was overshadowed by the juxtaposition between his face and Audrey Hepburn's face. I decided to enhance that by focusing on Audrey Hepburn throughout the entire speech, then suddenly adding Peppard at the end. I also changed the audio so that his voice seemed like it was echoing, which made his tone seem more reprimanding.

2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button--I personally love the original scene that this is edited on, and I find that Brad Pitt's narration adds a lot of emotional impact, so I decided to see if scrapping the audio and simply replacing it with the song from the orginal score would evoke similar feelings. It obviously doesn't, but it helps create a different, explorative tone to the scene, especially because of the images shown.

3. The Graduate--When I first watched this film, I thought the original scene in which Elaine and Benjamin flee the church after Elaine's wedding would feature music, and I found it awkward that it didn't, so I added a Simon & Garfunkel song--which is featured earlier in the movie-- and decided to enhance the movie's bitter ending by adding another somber Simon & Garfunkel song. 

Extra Blog Post-Fangirl Progress

Development and pre-production for Fangirl is going extremely well. Last Friday, Veronica and I met to discuss and used a few articles and books on documentary filmmaking to help us narrow our focus, specifically what story we hope to tell, the types of events and people we are hoping to include in the documentary, and how we were hoping to go about these things. Luckily, we took notes so that our ideas were not lost. We made an email so that we would be able to reach out to potential interviewees and such and began drafting a flyer we're hoping to dispense so that students at I-Poly can be informed of our project.