Tear Sheets

Final Project Pitch

Actors

Carrie Shannon

Sam Buntich

Looking for male voice actor

Location

Pitch

Sam races home to her apartment, her sister, Carrie, waits for her to come home. Out of breath Sam frantically locks the door and closes all of the blinds. They barricade themselves in hiding. All other communication is lost. They listen to a personal frequency on a radio and listen to a man describe what he’s seen “giant creatures snatching anything they can hear” (maybe not in so many words). The radio loses signal and the static becomes too loud. Carrie shouts for Sam, painful silence follows after the radio dies. The window shatters and they both scream.

Plot

- Shots of Sam up the stairs, natural light, kino for fill

- Carrie is folding laundry in the apartment watching TV

- Sam running down the hallway, hall lights

- The emergency broadcast comes on, STAY IN YOUR HOMES

- Sam collapses into the apartment, natural light, kino

- She hears the TV and turns it off, then shuts the blinds, dim natural light, hard light through false blinds, kino

- Stomping and running can be heard from other floors and rooms

- Short dialogue between sisters that they have to be quiet, lit by the harsh blinds shadows, a solid shadow passes by the window, a strange sound, Sam holds her finger to her lips

- Glass is heard shattering nearby, then silence

- Fade, time passes, the bedroom is barricaded, they have jugs of water and a small bedside lamp (practical) lit with hard key (maybe diff), kino for fill

- CU, Sam is trying to connect to the internet, Carrie has a phone, hears “We’re sorry, you have reached a number that is no longer available…” and then dead tones

- There is a loud screeching noise from outside, tires and a hawk overlapping

- Sam holds Carrie to comfort her, then stops, and enters the bathroom and looks into the closet (soft light from overhead bulb in bathroom)

- Door cracked open spills light onto Carrie as she waits for Sam in the bedroom, she wants to call to check on her, but is scared to speak

- Sam pulls out an old radio from the bathroom before Carrie can say anything

- They manage to get the radio working on an AM channel, static on everything else

- They think they hear a voice from the radio, then static

- They fall asleep listening, but a crackling voice from the radio wakes them up

- A man begins to talk aimlessly about survivors and asks for information in exchange for communication

- The man…

Genre Scene Final

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUilykwUxpE&feature=youtu.be

Music Video: Afterwards

When I first presented my pitch I needed to decide what was going on and whether the opposite of my actress was dead or if the couple had just broken up. I decided to go with the scenario that he passed away from ALS (to explain the wheelchair) and ditched the idea of two people getting closer on a bench. 

I first shot on Friday the 20th throughout Boston to get coverage of the couple being together in multiple locations for flashbacks as well as photographs for the mantelpiece. Due to time I decided not to have the actors change their clothes and make the photos all from the same day (this ended up being a factor in the edit after my rough cut).

The second day, Sat. the 21st, was on location for the mantelpiece shots and the shots of the boyfriend in the wheelchair. This was the longest day shooting from around 11:00 to 6:00. Looking back I lit everything poorly with an elemental kit, flat light intentional on the mantelpiece, unintentional on the wheelchair scenes.

I had planned to have a night shoot with the actress walking under streetlamps and looking back I'm glad that I did not get that coverage as it may have changed the meaning and thus the critiques from the class.

While editing the project and while presenting it in class I felt like the edit was out of place, unorganized, and missing something. When I proposed the streetlamp night shots I got a single positive reaction, but Rob interjected stating not to take the song so literally.

In being so specific with the narrative, as Rob pointed out, the song lost it's "oomph". I think the combination of the out of place wheelchair shots and the broadness and immensity of the song contrasted poorly and made the video underwhelming. There also wasn't a lot of dynamic range, either bright daylight, or flat lighting only. Rob's suggestion of following the actress around doing day to day tasks ended up paying off for both the meaning of the piece and to allow for dynamic shots to contrast the already existing flat shots of the flashbacks and the mantelpiece. 

That Wednesday and Tuesday I shot for 2-3 hours a day with my actress, Samantha Buntich, walking to and around the prudential on day 1, and sitting in my apartment on day 2.

When editing I decided to cut the wheelchair shots, because they were shot poorly and because a break up was more believable with the 1 day Boston photographs. The photos only showed a window into this couple's time together, it wasn't plausible for a couple so in love, living together, to only have pictures from one day, but it was somewhat plausible for a couple who broke up after an undisclosed time.

Having more dynamic shots allowed for more impact with cuts to the song, adding much needed contrast. As well, following Rob's advice, the shots of Sam looking thoughtful opened up how the audience could feel. The close ups (inspired by the shot from the genre scene in the dystopia setting with the pregnant girlfriend/wife) added much more broadness than I was planning, and I'm proud that I was able to get a few good ones on the forth and last day of shooting.

Things that I really appreciated about this shoot...

- the critiques and advice that I was given by Rob and the class paid off extremely well, the film would not be complete or effective without the suggestion of falling back on the feeling of the song, not necessarily its meaning or taking it literally, and cutting to make it less narrow
- that everyone agreed the wheelchair shots were rubbish (I should have never put someone so gangly in such a small sweater)
- that nearly 30 students could film music videos, whether they had additional photography or not, in only 3 weeks
- that what I planned, for the most part, turned out way better than what I got on a whim (ex. the more I shot and knew what I wanted to frame and capture the better it was - I had no idea what to do for the wheelchair shots and they turned out terribly - by the third and forth day I had shots more planned out - I also got coverage at the same time, but the shots I planned [her in Barnes & Noble, window behind her in kitchen, sitting in bedroom looking out the window] turned out much better than what I decided not to put in the final cut)
- again, following the suggestions of the room paid off immensely and having such a resource is making me very excited and nervous for the following two shoots (I know that if what I shoot first is mediocre, the class's advice can help to improve it, but I also don't want to fall back on it like a crutch and hope that what I present initially will be more thought out and fine tuned so that the final cut will have room to be that much better - to be able to go from good to great is more satisfying than than going from mediocre/bad to good)

Genre Shot List

SHOT	ACTION	SOUND
W	man stands at corner, cars roll by, another man down a ways	foley
M	squinting man looks at his phone
CU	a shadow crosses his face	sharp gust, almost like wings, slightly drawn out
M	startled, man looks up	inward breath sound
POV	flag blows in the wind silhouetting the sun	foley of flag
MCU	man noticable relaxes, looks to the smoking man
CU	the smoking man looks on and drops his cigarette	crackling of cigarette
CU	cigarette hits the ground	subtle sizzling
W	man watches the smoking man leave before walking out of frame
CU	doorknob
M	door swinging open
CU	man drops keys on table, windows in background
W	reverse shot
M	man opens fridge
CU	man turns knob on stove	exaggerated flame
CU	dull fire ignites on the stove top
M	jump cut, man eating at table
W	reverse shot, windows in background, a shadow slips by the window
M	the man turns
CU over the shoulder	there is nothing in the window
M	man rises from his chair
M	places his dish in the sink
W	he walks into the living room toward the couch
M	clock on the TV stand reads 4:28, the man crosses frame
M	man sits on the couch
CU	man grabs the remote
CU	man's eyes as they reflect the television
CU	crossfade to clock, reads 5:12, there is no light spilling from the windows, only light from the TV	loud white noise from the television
MCU	man sleeps on the couch, the shadow of a hand creeps up his face	the sound of pressure on wood, a slight crack
CU	he opens his eyes, there is no shadow on his face	intake of breath
W	man rises
M	he turns on a lamp
CU	the man hears something	scampering
CU over the shoulder	man looks down the hall	creak of couch
W	reverse shot, man's head around corner
CU	lightbulbs turning on in bathroom	buzz of lightbulbs intense at first
MCU	man in mirror, spits in sink, opens cabinet to put away toothbrush, turns at sound	scampering
W	doorframe and hall, man leaning outward
W	reverse shot over the shoulder, man enters the hallway	creaking floor
W	man walking between bathroom & kitchen, he hits a lightswitch
W	M of man, kitchen lights up
M	Reverse shot, hits another switch, living room lights up behind him, there is a figure
MCU	reverse shot	slight floor creaking noise
M	reverse again, the figure is gone
MCU	side of man's face, figure enters room down the hallway
MCU	reverse shot, man begins	"hello--?"
W	from behind man, light goes out in bathroom, man jumps	bulb blowing, glass shattering, loud gust sound
WM	facing man, light goes out camera left, he leaps camera right, light goes out camera right	bulb blowing, glass shattering, loud gust sound
W	from kitchen to man, shards fall to the groud, he falls back	bulb blowing, glass shattering, loud gust sound, heart beats
CU	subtle highlights show man's eyes darting around the room	man's breathing, whispers, pressure on wood, heart beats
WM	man pushes back against door, light creeps into the room from beneath
W	man fumbles for the door and slams the door shut behind him
CU	inside of door (light)	heart beats
M	outside of door (dark)	hollow sound (cave, dripping)
M	man stares at the door	pressure on wood
W	side of man, he moves back and sits on the bed
M	front of man sitting down, hearing sound looks up	a creaking wood sound begins
W	behind and to the side of the man, a 3 inch line of shadow is slowey creeping down the wall towards the man,a 3 inch line of shadow is slowey creeping down the wall towards the man	the pressure on the wood increases
M	the camera raises up over the man's shoulder as the shadow touches the ground	a loud thump as the shadow hits the ground
WM	the shadow runs across the floor toward the bed, the man shifts back lifting his legs	scratching as the shadow crawls
M	the man crawls backward to the edge of the bed touching the wall
CU	edge of bed, hesitate, shadow begins to slide onto the bed	the sound dulls, loud bed creak when shadow slides over
M	the man darts across the bed	creaking sounds
M	the man reaches for the end table	building of pressure
CU	he pulls a flashlight from the inside the drawyer	gusts added to din
M	(from under the bed) the man falls out of bed	thump of him falling dull compared to other sounds
M	the man backs into a corner by the lightswitch
CU	the man flicks off the lightswitch	the sound fades instantly
WM	facing the man, the light from the flashlight comes on	slight creaks
W	over the shoulder, the beam shows a different location, dank	the creaks become drips, pipes echo (cave)
W	man in corner, waves flashlight, silhouette passes light	scampering
POV	beam center, nothing is there, match heard, turns light	a match is struck
W	over the shoulder, beam blinds smoking man
CU	smoking man looks around, cigarette unlit, turns at sound	scampering
W	both men are in shot, flashlight pointed in direction of sound, orange and blue light, smoking man is burned, drops match	room tone fades, cave sounds dimmed, then singe noise
POV	the man turns his flashlight to where the smoking man was
CU	the match smoking in beam of light
M	man moves the flashlight around
CU	man looks confused and moves flashlight around the new space	no more pressure or cave sounds
POV	light slides across the bedroom
M	man turns the light on
W	man falls back into the corner and sits, head in hands, he turns his head at the sound	scamper