I have been working on a few different things in cinema. To begin with, Eva, Chapin and I were tasked with creating a commercial. We spent a few days brainstorming but decided that we wanted to make it about the widely popular app called “Tik Tok '' that most high school students either have on their phone or know of the app in general. We decided to make a commercial called “Tik Tok Rehab” in which we took on the style of a drug addiction commercial, with a doctor talking to the camera, except instead of the doctor talking about getting help for drug addiction, he is talking about getting help for “Tik Tok Addiction”. We were able to use our friends as actors, in the beginning, saying very dramatic and serious lines, which added to the sarcastic appeal of the piece. We also filmed a b-roll of people doing popular Tik Tok dances and sewed them into the piece. Overall, this film was easy to make and the process was fun and enjoyable.

 

 

Next, I have been editing mine and Carson’s 9/11 documentary. He and I were able to film the last interview that we needed before we made the big trip down to New York City. I was able to type up my pitch for Jaidon and Noah within the last 2 weeks and am hoping we can head down to the city soon. Getting to interview Jim was amazing, despite the fact that his interview was 32 minutes. I never realized how challenging editing a documentary really is - flow is very important. I will continue to edit and perfect this piece until the Gawlik awards are approaching.

I have also been able to take part in a sketch-comedy piece with my friends - a funny spoof on the popular interview segment called “Between Two Ferns' '. The comedy film will include Carson, our interviewer, asking very uncomfortable and somewhat offensive (but funny) questions to numerous teachers at our school, and then weaving them all together. I am glad we were able to draw inspiration from a video we have already seen and put our own spin on it. I think that if we execute it well, it can be brilliant!

 

Lastly, I have been trying to balance/manage/organize all of my other films. I have “The Rose” which I am still waiting on an email from the child's mother whom I contacted two weeks ago, and I just need to figure out dates for when I need to shoot (I already have the entire film storyboarded and I know what every shot needs to look like). I am hoping to get the first scene done over break. I also am going to start plan Lovely Night, which is a dance film I will be doing with Carson during the spring. We will need to start rehearsals soon and re-contact our actors whom we reached out to in the fall. I am also planning on filming two visual storytelling pieces, one is a piece called “Precision” that includes a little bit of dance and a little bit of edginess that will include music from the movie “If Beale Street Could Talk”. It is also going to be a one-take film so I am going to work with my friend Henry to film the piece. I will spend time planning for it this break. I am also going to create another visual storytelling romance piece with Eva and Chapin which we will start to storyboard when we return from break. I am also hoping to create a music video with Carson and Teddy to one of our favorite songs - although we have not planned as much as I have wanted for it yet. I am also in the process of creating my first screenplay for a film I came up with called “Penpals” however, I don’t know how I am going to get it done in time. I am hoping this film can be done for Gawliks 2021, but I remain hopeful. That is all I am working on/have worked on and I hope to start/finish these projects for the rest of the semester!