My woman has a cinematography assignment where she wants me to play the student and it'll be a 4 to 6 minute short filmed on the school grounds. It's a day in the life of a student, but we can't use the usual cliche of being late to class.
We'd love to hear some thoughts or ideas that'd be interesting / funny to film for her class. Since I'm the subject, it'll be me doing all the acting / antics.
Discuss! And thanks in advance. :D
As long as she doesn't go the "indie" route and have you sitting up against a tree with a book in your hand, being all mopey. :)
Oh wait, what kind of student are you supposed to be: high school, college, elementary?
College. Just read what you guys said. Just keep the ideas coming. If we need another student, we'll find a warm body. I'm supposed to stick all of these into a Word file for her to ponder on.
Truth be told, she's not really into this class and simply just needs the credit for her web design certificate. But we're trying to make it fun.
And definitely no reading a book against a tree and being mopey. Emo, I'm not. :P
I forgot - it's also a SILENT film.
A student who fell asleep and wakes up with numb arms and can't leave because the door is closed.
A student who fell asleep and wakes up with numb arms and can't leave because the door is closed.
That's pretty good!
Keep 'em coming.
are you the only one in the film because if she has another "student" in the film you could be the bully getting his comeuppance.
Child being too big to play on the play ground. Falling out of the swings ect..
Lunch time and mom forgot to pack you a lunch but put in all the wrappings as if she did.
on my campus we have a playground with a fence, and is joked to actually keep the college students out, instead of keeping the kids in. then again alcohol is involved, mostly
Frisbee throwing!
Frisbee throwing!
So, just throwing the frisbee? Now, if I had any control to the aim....
Students ant farm project breaks all over himself.
thermite experimentation
thermite experimentation
Thermite? Not familiar with that word.
thermite experimentationThermite? Not familiar with that word.
A mixture of metal oxides, if I remember right. By itself, completely safe. You add a fuse and some fire, well, you've got one of the hottest-burning substances known to man.
Director of Brand Strategy
|
Is she just shooting it, or she's got to write and direct it as well? I know the hardest part of my cinematography classes was finding stuff to shoot, because I'd spend all my time making a story and finding actors, locations, props, etc, and wouldn't have time to do the actual cinematography. I'd suggest, if she's trying to build her reel, that she put her time and effort into lighting, evocative camera movement, and finding a good focus puller.
Additionally, whatever story she does, I would urge her to do something that would justify shooting at magic hour, especially if she's shooting film. Do you know what type of equipment she'll have access to? Jibs and dollies and steadicam are probably above what the school might provide, but they can really make a lame MOS piece into a real winner when it comes to visuals if she's got the money to invest in an outside rental. If she doesn't want to spend a lot of money, I'd suggest using cheap filtration to give it a different look than what most of her classmates will be doing.
She just brought it up earlier this evening. It's their first assignment in this 'intro' class. She can only use what the school provides her; we haven't seen yet what it is. I'll ask her in the morning when she's awake and see what she comes back with. But it definitely has to be done on the school campus. It's a state community college, if that even matters any.
How about a b&w 50's-type educational film?
"Your Campus and You"
"Goofus and Gallant Go To College"
and that 2-reel double feature
"Good Hygiene/PDA Is A No-No"
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
|
Student walks around campus interacting with technology at every turn, constantly updating their status line: "I'm walking across the quad."; "I've walked across the quad."; "I'm late for class." (then texts instructor to say "I'll be late for class"); "I'm in class. Prof. seems annoyed."
Heh. I'd love to do a Lovecraftian mash up, but the one thing she isn't into is anything horror related, so I know that won't fly with her.
When I spoke to her this morning, all she mentioned is that they'd be given a digital video camera to use (I'm not expecting all the uber bells and whistles - this is community college mind you) and possibly a boom and that's it.
Keep 'em all coming; I'm taking notes for her. :) Thanks!
|
Is there any aspect of being a student at her school that is universally frustrating?
Example: Back when I was in college at UNC, we had to register for classes on a touch-tone phone system call CAROLINE. The courses were all numbered and you had to punch in a long series of numbers followed by the # sign to get your name on a class roster.
Anyway, for about 14,000 undergrads, there were about 20 lines into the server, so registering was a lot of dialing and dialing and dialing until it actually rang, then entering all the access codes, then trying to find courses that weren't full and getting into them before someone else did, then confirming your schedule (all the while hoping that the system didn't kick you off mid-process).
It seems every school has some bureaucratic procedure that is similarly frustrating (not necessarily registration, but you get the idea). Perhaps, that *process/event* would make a good topic.
|
Director of Brand Strategy
|
Heh. I'd love to do a Lovecraftian mash up, but the one thing she isn't into is anything horror related, so I know that won't fly with her.
When I spoke to her this morning, all she mentioned is that they'd be given a digital video camera to use (I'm not expecting all the uber bells and whistles - this is community college mind you) and possibly a boom and that's it.
Keep 'em all coming; I'm taking notes for her. :) Thanks!
Ah, so this is less a class on cinematography, and more one on general visual storytelling? I was under the impression she was focusing on the technical and artistic aspects of lighting, exposure, processing, lensing, etc.
If it's more about telling a short, concise story in an MOS medium and the technical aspects are less important, I suggest doing something with a visual or ironic gag. MOS pieces rely solely on pantomime, mise-en-scene, and timing to be effective, as half of the viewer's sensory experience is removed. I can't think of any specific examples at the moment, but anything in which the character appears to be doing a normal, routine thing to build the audience's expectations with a "reveal" at the end of the piece will probably go over well.
I agree about the reveal at the end, but who knows what she's going to end up doing. She did say that while it is a silent film, they can insert sound bits. I was trying to think of something that incorporated the Jaws theme song..... (?)
Maybe she should redo "Red Dawn" with some nondescript 'badguys' taking over the school. That would be fun to try to talk your way out of while being arrested by campus police...
Cthulhu would be awesome!
She should also have a MONTAGE in there somewhere...
and maybe a series of super-hyper-cuts each lasting a fraction of a second and give the teacher an embolism.
|
|
Take a look at Antichrist. I saw this over the weekend, and it's a great art film. Otherwise, it's very disturbing. Nonetheless, it has some of the most amazing silent scenes I've ever seen in any film.
Caveat: it really is a disturbing movie, with a couple very, very bothersome scenes. I wouldn't be surprised if your wife ends up watching it in one of her courses as she moves along.
I actually want to see that, but I'll have to wait until it comes out on DVD and I can afford to pick up Netflix again. But I seriously doubt she'll ever watch it (she doesn't do horror; whereas I'm a huge horror fan). She's only taking this cinematography class as a requirement for her ceritification in web design. If she had a choice, she wouldn't have signed up for it. It's really not her thing.
|
|
I actually want to see that, but I'll have to wait until it comes out on DVD and I can afford to pick up Netflix again. But I seriously doubt she'll ever watch it (she doesn't do horror; whereas I'm a huge horror fan). She's only taking this cinematography class as a requirement for her ceritification in web design. If she had a choice, she wouldn't have signed up for it. It's really not her thing.
Ohhh. I misunderstood that it was her major. OK--if she sincerely doesn't like horror, she'll hate this movie (and many women see the film as misogynistic, though it's actually the complete opposite, in my opinion).
I saw it in Berlin back in October, and it's not the kind of movie that'll probably do very well in the US, even on DVD. You'll probably end up getting it through Amazon-UK. It may or may not be region-free, but I'm sure you can hack your BRP if it's not already Region 0 (my Sony BRP came unlocked).