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So what is Proposal? It is about the creative process of
the average school student. Books stacked on a TV, papers spread across the
floor, and the chaos inside a bedroom, with the emptiness of a whole house.
Much like actually making this film late at night, it attempts to strike a
chord with what my generation knows about procrastination, creation, and the
unexpected.
Now, why are there two versions? Well, here's where the
story begins. This was my first film class at ASU this semester, and for our
first (and only) film project for the semester, Professor Pukis had us make a short
silent film. Of all the opportunities and possibilities for us to make collaborate
and make something great...
If
there’s something I’ve learned from watching silent films like The Artist, it’s that it is a true test
of the craft, appropriately stressing an importance in storytelling and
characters. I had to tell a story that an audience would enjoy, and a character
they wouldn’t get bored with. I can say I probably didn’t give such justice to Proposal, but it was an honest effort for an honest premise.
The
premise itself is as true a story as it would seem. I had genuine difficulty
brainstorming a project that was not only doable under certain conditions, but
something realistic and grounded to truth with students. What more truth is
there than students suffering through their busy school-lives? It’s not an easy
life, so why not be careless and make stuff up? Carelessness backfires on us
sometimes, so why not have everything crash at the last minute because of it? When
I presented my proposal (hint) for the class, it mostly agreed with something
close to home.
For scriptwriting, I figured that, since this is a silent
film, most of our work would involve a consistent visual eye for cinematography.
I mapped out an intro storyboard on notebook paper, and prepared for us to make
storyboards for our films. Or so I thought. Not according to Pukis, however.
Not only did we not touch on storyboards at all this semester, but instead we focused
our time on something called an audio/video script. How typing words are better
than drawing storyboards, I don’t know, but typing this script was confusing
and frustrating with the Mac template, and fruitless since I knew the movie
would change over time during filming.
Actual filming was planned to occur during spring break,
since there'd be zero distractions from making this, especially at night when
everybody's asleep. Problem was, however, me and my predictability; I borrowed
my friend's copy of Batman: Arkham City
the weekend before, and the rest speaks for itself. So I actually started filming the week after, filming only a few hours
at a time before going to bed at my 3am limit. If you see it with a good eye,
you'll notice inconsistencies like the bedroom door because of the night-to-night
routine, or even the shadow of my arm as my dad left an intro scene.
Night after night, I'd have to arrange my bed props as close
to a set image as possible, toss on that white shirt and blue jeans, then get
straight to recording with my dad's old tri-pod from his golden years, and my
tiny Cybershot camera from Christmas. The A/V script was worthless, so I tossed
it out and relied simply on what I pictured in my head, and my own list of what
scenes I had left to complete (what to film at night, or computer text I could
film at school, etc). We were under a
deadline to present our final dailies, so some schoolwork had to be put off
until, say, I waited for the bus at the terminal. Finally, it was a wrap, and
principle photography was complete. I was tired but ready to show this guy my dailies
the next day.
Pukis never checked for dailies.
At least that was over, I stressed. I had time to cool off
for a few days, get back on the ball, and then to the next process: editing.
Pukis, being the Apple perfectionist he is, insisted, if not assigned us to use
iMovie.
Teasing how rebellious I am (every morning, I replaced the
Apple mouse with my own USB mouse; and on any other day, I'd have the nerve to
whip out my Dell to take down notes directly to my source), he asked me what software
I use, implying I use MovieMaker. "No, Vegas." He had a face as if
he's never heard of it. Figured as much, since he continued to pester that I
use iMovie, seeing as how he's "been in this industry for 30 years, so I
know what I'm talking about." What does that have to do with anything? We
at least got some hands-on practice with iMovie beforehand, and it did feel
slightly familiar to MovieMaker. I had experience the semester before when
uploading my high school videos, so I figured it'd be as much a walk in the
park.
What ensued would be a new kind of hell the likes of which I
was not prepared for.
It should be noted that during this time, for whatever
reason, our IT installed a security lock for the MacLab. Only students with a
certain JagCard could access it. Disregarding the fact I payed to use this
campus in the first place, and disregarding the fact the (fined) card still
didn't guarantee the door would open for you. When the Lab was officially open
and available, I had one day. One day to edit, burn, and prepare. For 8 hours,
I stayed on that seat. No lunchbreak, no risks. Random people passing by, doing
their own thing on these computers, in a lab that gets incredibly hot with so
many overheating Mac desktops on.
And then there was iMovie. Absolute garbage. No proper
timeline, nothing but little icons to give direction. Split? Icon! Transition?
Icons! Text? MORE Icons! And with so, so many dailies and files without a
proper description (no chance to rename these files, iMovie just takes it and
leaves it), the smallest and most unreliable thumbnails made it a frustrating
guessing game to edit. Again, with an unusual timeline. Not to mention the
sound effects and random music I had to make with GarageBand to avoid
copyrights(another icon-fest), and incorporating my mp3 of Beethoven’s 7th
within the required time-frame, and I was dry. Straight-editing for 8 hours, so
hungry, so restless... I just wanted this all to end.
Finally, it was burning time. Editing a DVD menu would be
less blood-sucking, but the final DVD gave a really low-quality video. 30
years, huh?
Presentations began about two weeks later, my video being
one of the lasts over the course of three days. Watching it, I accepted I am
not an actor. I couldn't project or enunciate back in high school drama (still
can't), and I can't bear the look of myself on the camera. Maybe it's one of
those self-esteem things. Overall, the audience noticed the subtle moments of
humor I attempted in-between, including my friend Chris Mundy. Pukis randomly
chose reviewers for each presentation, and Mundy noted the subtle touches,
which made me happy. It also makes me happy that he won the contest. How you
turn art into a contest, I don’t know, but his whimsical stop-motion film, A Day With Manatee, won everybody
over, including the main competition. The guy cheated in just about every
aspect, and Pukis still gave him high marks.
But there is something I learned during this ordeal, and
something I think aspiring filmmakers should know for themselves: despite what
I made for the class, for iMovie, for this ignoramus, I wasn’t necessarily proud
of it. I didn’t enjoy filming it night after night, or editing in one sitting,
but every filmmaker should be proud of what work they are doing.
And that’s why I made the Original Cut. After exams were
finished (boy, do I wanna tell you about our exam), I uploaded the “Pukis cut”,
but went straight to work on a stronger, lengthier, and more personal Proposal. The title sequence I loved so much had to be cut from iMovie to manage
time, which like many aspects of this competition, clearly didn’t matter to
anybody else or Pukis. The credits felt much friendlier and appropriate than
the iMovie credits, with the awesome score of Alexandre Desplat. Adding this
with the widescreen cropping, controlled audio levels, and an obvious boost to
color and quality, and it definitely felt like this was the project I’ve been wanting to make this whole time. It
wasn’t all romantic, though; editing can still be a life-absorbing process,
even with the familiarity of Sony Vegas, so there were plenty of extended breaks
before going back and getting more complete.
With both projects out of my system, I leave you with this
recollection. By default rules, I always picked PCs over Macs, but with the
experience I had this semester, I am more than aware and grateful for my choice.
iMovie is absolute garbage, and nobody will ever convince me otherwise that it
is not. After my experience with the class, with rules, with this ego-maniac, I
decided not to take another film class for this coming semester, or maybe even
the next. While I’ll give Pukis credit for having me make something official
(and give a name to this studio), I’ll also give him credit for being so
God-awful at his craft, as a filmmaker and a professor, to push me forward with
this ambition.
I love filmmaking. From brainstorming to a premiere, there
is nothing like it. Proposal taught me a lot for it, and there is always room
for improvement. But whatever experience one has with making a movie, or any other
creative craft, it can’t be regarded with love by audiences if it isn’t
regarded with love by the artist itself. Whether for a grade or a profit, however
good or bad it turns out, none of it matters when the passion and enjoyment
isn’t put forward.
That’s what makes art personal.
- Ant
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