So, what is one of the most important aspects of any movie? The actors of course, and Ron and Justin is a movie that needs to have actors who can portray the complex emotions and range of characters. In films past (at least those that I have been involved with in my two years in my video class) we just pick actors from my school's theater department or just whoever is willing to act to play parts. Sometimes it works out well and others its more of, well, a face palm. That is why I decided, with the encouragement of my video teacher, to hold auditions for Ron and Justin.
For the past few weeks, I've been spreading the word of the film in my school, around my town, nearby school in my district, you get the idea. When I first started telling people about the project, it was just to my school's repertory theater class who seemed enthusiastic enough, but my video teacher told me to really find the perfect matches, I needed to extend my reach. So, here I am, trying my best to let the maximum number of people I can find know about my little film so I don't regret choosing the wrong person. I may find a hoard of thespians waiting to audition, or just a puddle in the lake I was searching. (Not my best analogy). I suppose I'll just find out in two weeks.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Friday, February 3, 2012
Love storyboards, hating making them
So, its 12:07 in the morning on a Saturday and I have no idea why I decided to make a new post now. I was planning on making one earlier, but why for the life of me did I decide to do when I am the most tired, I have no idea. Anyways, as you can see by the lovely title above, I love me some storyboards, but wow, they are a pain to make. For those of you who aren't 100% aware of what a storyboard is, well, a storyboard is basically a ton of pictures which depict every shot of film to help keep track of scenes, what shots are needed, provide a visual sense of the film, you get get the idea.
As of now, I alone have done every storyboard so far in the film and after that, I want to draw a stick figure. (But of course that's not allowed in the great art of story boarding). For my video class, we don't use note card like pieces paper, but instead use a single sheet of paper that has nine beautiful boxes; one for each shot. In total, I have drawn out 60 of these pages, and I am not even close to being done. Thanks to my amazing math skills, I have estimated that I have drawn out an estimated 540 pictures, and all I can say is that if I have to draw out my characters one more time, I will go nuts. Its not like story boarding is some sort of modern day torture technique, its just that after drawing over 500 pictures, you get a little bit tired of it all.
So, why do I love these pages that are driving me nuts right now? Well, its because they actually are extremely helpful. While I was writing Ron and Justin, I never really thought about how a shot would look. I just got a vague image in my head while writing. Now that I have to storyboard, it makes me think about how a shot needs to be established and makes the story even more real. I've gotten the insight how even just a simple dialogue scene can be strenuous. I mean, think about it, have you ever seen a movie that just a single shot through the whole scene? Didn't think so. You see over shoulders, only one person on screen, both of them, half of one, half of the other, I mean come on, you really have a new outlook on the difficulty of this aspect in filming.
Jeez, I really went off topic, didn't I? Right, I also love story boarding because it helps you keep track of EVERYTHING. I know what shots I need to film, what is left in the film, who needs to be in shot, who should back the fudge off...you get the gist of it all. When you know what shots you've done, you just put a small red X next to the picture and you're all good. So, you see my point, a story board is essential to any film that has a chance to being produced, however, you want to strangle anybody who tells you you're not doing a good job or that you need to draw more.
As of now, I alone have done every storyboard so far in the film and after that, I want to draw a stick figure. (But of course that's not allowed in the great art of story boarding). For my video class, we don't use note card like pieces paper, but instead use a single sheet of paper that has nine beautiful boxes; one for each shot. In total, I have drawn out 60 of these pages, and I am not even close to being done. Thanks to my amazing math skills, I have estimated that I have drawn out an estimated 540 pictures, and all I can say is that if I have to draw out my characters one more time, I will go nuts. Its not like story boarding is some sort of modern day torture technique, its just that after drawing over 500 pictures, you get a little bit tired of it all.
So, why do I love these pages that are driving me nuts right now? Well, its because they actually are extremely helpful. While I was writing Ron and Justin, I never really thought about how a shot would look. I just got a vague image in my head while writing. Now that I have to storyboard, it makes me think about how a shot needs to be established and makes the story even more real. I've gotten the insight how even just a simple dialogue scene can be strenuous. I mean, think about it, have you ever seen a movie that just a single shot through the whole scene? Didn't think so. You see over shoulders, only one person on screen, both of them, half of one, half of the other, I mean come on, you really have a new outlook on the difficulty of this aspect in filming.
Jeez, I really went off topic, didn't I? Right, I also love story boarding because it helps you keep track of EVERYTHING. I know what shots I need to film, what is left in the film, who needs to be in shot, who should back the fudge off...you get the gist of it all. When you know what shots you've done, you just put a small red X next to the picture and you're all good. So, you see my point, a story board is essential to any film that has a chance to being produced, however, you want to strangle anybody who tells you you're not doing a good job or that you need to draw more.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
The Ron and Justin Project
Hello, this is the first post of the Ron and Justin blog. Yeah, I know that was probably the most boring and unoriginal way to start the first post, but right now I honestly can't think of a better way to start it off right now. Anyways, the main point of this blog is to chronicle the progress of a project I have taken upon myself to undergo. See, I'm in this video class in my school which provides me with the opportunity to create short films, music videos, commercials, etc. Usually my teacher assigns a project such as, oh lets use a modern example such as the comedies we were assigned. Basically, she gives us the topic, and the rest is our own creativity to produce what we want. Now, obviously the whole point of this blog isn't to stray off topic and babble, so I'll just direct things back to the main point.
Like I said, this is the first post in the blog series, The Ron and Justin Project. What exactly is this project though? Well, as I noted above, I'm involved with a video program at my school and in there I've found that I love to write scripts. Sure, I've loved writing before, but I just recently discovered the simplicity and creativity to screenwriting. Anyways, on my spare time, I wrote a script titled Ron and Justin which in the simplest summary, is a modern day gay rendition of the classic Shakespearean tale, Romeo and Juliet. I honestly had no intention of making this film, but my teacher read it, said that she liked it, and that it was possible to actually create in film format. To make a long story short, I decided to pursue the dream.
The difficulty however, is that the script was 91 pages long when I first turned it in and it's grown to over a 100. On an estimate, each page is equivalent to a minute in film which means, yes, I have written about an hour and a half film. What's the big deal about that though? I just said that we make films all the time in my class. Of course, our films are usually about oh... 3-5 minutes long and the longest video I've seen produced as a project was a documentary that lasted 1/2 an hour. I'm about to try to triple that effort. I hope you can see the difficulty in this. So, what better way to store this windstorm of a project (and maintain my sanity) than to place the progress and thoughts related to the project in a nice and organized blog?
Now, maybe millions will read this series, or nobody will, (I'm betting on the latter) but hey, its still a fun idea and maybe someday I can look back and remind myself of the 17 year old boy who had a simple idea which grew to an enormous project. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy reading the growth of Ron and Justin.
Like I said, this is the first post in the blog series, The Ron and Justin Project. What exactly is this project though? Well, as I noted above, I'm involved with a video program at my school and in there I've found that I love to write scripts. Sure, I've loved writing before, but I just recently discovered the simplicity and creativity to screenwriting. Anyways, on my spare time, I wrote a script titled Ron and Justin which in the simplest summary, is a modern day gay rendition of the classic Shakespearean tale, Romeo and Juliet. I honestly had no intention of making this film, but my teacher read it, said that she liked it, and that it was possible to actually create in film format. To make a long story short, I decided to pursue the dream.
The difficulty however, is that the script was 91 pages long when I first turned it in and it's grown to over a 100. On an estimate, each page is equivalent to a minute in film which means, yes, I have written about an hour and a half film. What's the big deal about that though? I just said that we make films all the time in my class. Of course, our films are usually about oh... 3-5 minutes long and the longest video I've seen produced as a project was a documentary that lasted 1/2 an hour. I'm about to try to triple that effort. I hope you can see the difficulty in this. So, what better way to store this windstorm of a project (and maintain my sanity) than to place the progress and thoughts related to the project in a nice and organized blog?
Now, maybe millions will read this series, or nobody will, (I'm betting on the latter) but hey, its still a fun idea and maybe someday I can look back and remind myself of the 17 year old boy who had a simple idea which grew to an enormous project. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy reading the growth of Ron and Justin.
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