The Macguffin (part 2)

The past couple weeks I have been making sure all of the actors I will need for the final scene will be available. scheduling is a very important ascpect of the filming for this final sequence. making sure all props and equipment is in order is the next important thing.


for the second part of this film, the script isnt quite finished, but here is basically how it will go.


Jim (our protagonist) will awake a couple hours later from being drugged by his love interest Christy. Immediately realizing that the box of information he has been protecting this whole time is about to be turned into the man he was protecting it from. Jim calls a friend of his who meets him at his place (since Christy stole Jim's car). Jim's friend arrives with lots of guns. Jim and his friend drive to Frankie's place, where they silently kill off the guard(s?) at the door and make their way down to Frankie's illegal underground mini-casino. After a bit of heated dialoge between Frankie and Jim, a large plot twist is revealed, leading Jim and his friend to exterminate Frankie and all of his men. Jim kills his brother in the process and leaves on a not-so-upbeat note with a voiceover from Jim trying to convince himself that this was the only way.

"And... Action!" progress

Shot my footage. might do one more shoot to have more footage to choose from before i begin the editing process. ive decided that to show action in such mundane activities, picking the right song is very important to edit to. ive began looking at danosongs.com and archive.org for free public domain music to use. another great way to speed up the action when editing to music, is to throw in a bunch of quick cuts from different angles before extending the last cut by making it slow motion. the speed of the cuts will rise before, all of a sudden, a shot of our character doing something will be in slow motion. below are some stills taken from the footage being shot.

And... Action!

for my third project, i have decided to use movie magic to make an everyday, ordinary event into an action sequence. Doing the dishes is a chore, but filmed in a way that makes it exciting can make something seemingly ordinary into something extraordinary. Below are some websites that had bits of helpful information on shooting and directing action sequences.


http://www.steves-digicams.com/knowledge-center/how-tos/photography-techniques/production-how-to-shoot-action-scenes.html#b


http://www.steves-digicams.com/knowledge-center/how-tos/film-and-video-production/post-production-how-to-edit-action-scenes.html#b


http://www.wikihow.com/Stage-and-Shoot-a-Fight-Scene-for-a-Film


http://blogs.suntimes.com/scanners/2010/09/how_to_direct_an_action_sequen.html


I've started some rough sketches also that show some zoom shots and where movements might be shown sped up or in slow motion. I've also found a site that ive been listening to some music from that i thought i might use.


http://www.danosongs.com/


Below is a list of other ordinary tasks that i thought i could film as an action sequence:
checking e-mail
sweeping the floor
feeding the cat
doing the laundry

McGuffin updates

Script has been completed since just before this past weekend. started shooting some indoor scenes. following are a few screenshots of some of the footage.

updates on "The McGuffin"

In this story, we open with our main character making a strange transaction with a shady figure. We open with the main character starting down a set of stairs into a very old basement. somehow with large amounts of money, the main character makes a deal with the shady character for a mysterious box, its contents unknown, except to the shady figure and our main character. dialogue is exchanged about the importance of the box and how others are looking for it. the shady character strongly explains the importance to the main character the fact that the box must remain hidden, or locked away otherwise an unfortunate set of events might befall not only him, but many others. the main character says something like... "well im not going to just let it sit on the top of my fuckin dresser."

---I would like the treatment of the contents of the box to be as if it were a list of some sort of sensitive information that many may not want to be revealed.---

the main character leaves and the shady figure is approached by another shady character. their conversation starts off screen "yeah?... can i help you, or are you just gunna stand there you dumb shi....(sounds of a semi-automatic gun going off) - here the camera will record the flashes of light from the gun on the wall as the audience hears the gun and the soft thud of the first shady character's body hitting the floor.

the main character runs into another character who jumps him and robs him of the box. the main character finds a clue that leads him to the robbers hideout where he fights and kills the robber and gets the box back. at the end of the short, our main character returns home and locks the box away in a safe, which is then locked in a cabinet.

approved settings for film:
basement in beginning
park near robbers hideout
main characters house
inside car with main character

house in which basement scene will be filmed


park in which main character kills robber

The MacGuffin (working title)

In fiction, a MacGuffin is a plot device in the form of some goal, desired object, or other motivator that the protagonist (and sometimes the antagonist) is willing to do and sacrifice almost anything to pursue, protect or control, often with little or no narrative explanation as to why it is considered so important. The specific nature of a MacGuffin may be ambiguous, undefined, generic, left open to interpretation, or otherwise completely unimportant to the overall plot. A MacGuffin can sometimes take a more abstract form, such as money, victory, glory, survival, power, love, or even something that is entirely unexplained, as long as it strongly motivates key characters within the structure of the plot.

In this story, we open with our main character making a strange transaction with a shady figure. somehow (whether it be with large amounts of money or some sort of promise) he makes a deal with the character for a mysterious box, its contents unknown, except to the shady figure and our main character.

the box may have to be delivered in return for the shady characters promise of the mans safety... or the box could contain something that the main character doesnt want anyone else to see which is why he might buy it for large sums of money.

either way, the main character runs into another character who somehow robs him of the box. the rest of the story could be about our main character tracking down that character and gettin his box back, and at the end of the movie he locks it away.

Desperation

artists statement - A man, nameless because he represents your everyday man, decides to stay late at his job to finish some paperwork, not realizing the strange series of events that is unfolding. This leads to the hellish realization that he is stuck at work, with no way out, which in turn leads to this mans loss of hope and surrender to despair. This video stands as a simple metaphor for how a growing number of people feel in corporate America everyday, proven by the amount of depression medication prescribed by doctors daily. I mean to show this metaphor to the audience by allowing them to view this character in his state of helplessness. When was the last time you felt trapped at work?

I had a great time filming this and i feel like i gained lots of good experience when it comes to knowing what to shoot for and setting up for continuity and making sure you do not catch your reflection when there is so much glass around. Click the link at the top of this page to continue to my video art page and watch Desperation

In filming this first project, I ran into much more difficulty than I thought. I attempted to operate both the camera and a shotgun mic mounted on a boom pole. I also had a light on a stand I needed to move around depending on where in the office I was shooting. This is because i wanted to keep the office dark, but not too dark so that it made it hard for the camera to pick up quality images of what I was filming. One of the shots I feel is a little too well lit. It wasnt easy to handle both the boom and the camera, but I made it work. One or two shots I caught my reflection in and had to either reshoot or fix in post. The large amount of windows and glass in the office made for an interesting, yet experience filled shoot when it came to figuring out how to position the camera around so many reflections without catching any of them.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/10/01/health.job.making.depressed/index.html

http://proxy.iusb.edu:2079/stable/1043820?&Search=yes&searchText=trapped&searchText=life&searchText=feeling&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicResults%3Fhp%3D25%26la%3D%26wc%3Don%26fc%3Doff%26acc%3Don%26vf%3Dall%26bk%3Doff%26pm%3Doff%26jo%3Doff%26ar%3Doff%26re%3Doff%26ms%3Doff%26gw%3Djtx%26Query%3Dfeeling%2Btrapped%2Bin%2Blife%26sbq%3Dfeeling%2Btrapped%2Bin%2Blife%26prq%3Dfeeling%2Btrapped%26si%3D26&prevSearch=&item=28&ttl=13144&returnArticleService=showFullText

both are for Project 1 - to help better understand the characters emotions.

Project 1 ideas (Advanced Production Workshop)

open with a man working in his office (OTS shot looking at door to his office/cubicle).

it is the end of the day and others in the office are leaving (fellow employee pops in to tell MC that it is five o'clock.)

(camera shift to MCU of MC) "i'll be leaving as soon as i ..."

(camera shift MC in foreground and people leaving in background)

(CU of clock, slow fade to 5:45, slow fade to 6:33, slow fade to 7:04)

(camera shift to MC looking exausted, about to fall asleep, lights in office are off/dim and office has different feel to it)

MC tries to leave and doors are locked, after searching for a way out he finds a key and opens a door. MC steps through door and into other side of the office. when he realizes where he is he turns around as the door slams shut behind him. eerie red lighting floods the room. slow close-up on MC's face. cut to black.

artists statement: this short is meant to visually express the metaphor of the average worker who feels stuck in or imprisoned by their job. Main Character expresses feelings of Frustration, Anger, and Sadness with his current reality.