We spent most of week three focusing on our pitch. Our group met twice to designate assignments and work on the proposal and pitch. Zach focused on the shooting schedule. I was working on locations, budget, and casting. While Ciana and Colton focused on how they would convey the meaning of the film through editing. Maia took this week to really finalize the script to the point where a script breakdown may be possible. We finalized our shooting dates to March 7/8 , and 14/15, with reshoots on April 4/5.
Week 3 — Maia Goel — Script, Pitch, etc.
I worked on the pitch and script the entire week. I was trying to revise but didn’t feel confident that this would now be the finished script. I am still trying to revise. I got stuck when I realized that there isn’t a clear clear inciting incident and was getting torn between moving to a complete narrative or playing with these two timelines. Doing the pitch helped to realize what I still need to work on with the story. We worked on visuals and what the style/overall look of the film would be. Colton shared some samples of music with me as well as some editing ideas. We discussed the ways that Ciana and Colton would split the edit as well.
Week 3 — Mahina Smith — Response to Casting Call, Script Breakdown
For me, week three was primarily focused on sifting through the responses to our casting call. I went through every headshot and resume and made a spreadsheet outlining each candidate. I then went through the resumes to see if any of the actresses had skateboarding abilities (which there are only two people who do). Lastly, I tried to do an initial matchup of people to see if any of them could look related for the film. Our next step will be calling them all in for auditions. I went to the producing class this week to learn how to do a script breakdown. Surprisingly, I realized I had done script breakdowns at my last college when I took technical theater. We had called them scene breakdowns, but it seems like essentially the same technique. We met a few times to go over our pitch and proposal.
Week 3- Colton Book- Gaffer & Co-Editor
This week Maia and I talked a lot about how we want to differentiate the two time periods and how we want to tie the two together. As far as lighting goes, we want a soft warm feel to establish nostalgia for Cleveland’s past, and a hard-dramatic light for the present to intensify the scenes. For editing, we talked about using two different LUTS for the different time periods and adding a grain to the past to make it feel old and to add more nostalgia to Cleveland’s past.
Week 3- Ciana Bird- Using Design to Set Tone
This week we all met together to work on the pitch that is to be presented and delegated what each of of was going to do. Along with that, to add onto co-editing so that I would do something on set, we decided that I will be helping with art direction. We started to get a sense into what feelings we’re trying to show on screen through hints in Cleveland’s living environment by using things such as empty picture frame to showcase Cleveland’s missing sister. Along with that, I got an idea from the aesthetics of other films of what this film could potentially look like
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Week 3 – Zachary Smith – Pitch
This week, I focused on putting together the pitch with Maia. I offered suggestions as to which movies to use as reference points (for example, ‘Beginners’ meets ‘Lady Bird’), and spoke to Maia one-on-one about the cultural ramifications of this film. Why make this film now? What does it represent? We recognized that skateboarding is almost exclusively a male activity on film, and that this story is, in part, about a girl figuring out her place in the world. On a smaller note, I recruited a couple PAs!
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