Digital Short- Screenshot

Digital Short Script

Begin MuteMath song "Typical."

The following text plates fades from black, then fade out after 3-5 seconds.

"The Film Industry in Nashville employs thousands of people"

Cut to next slide...

"A culture exists within the industry"

Next slide...

"I set out to explore that culture by working on several shoots over the past few months"

Next slide...

"The following is a look at what life looks like on set.."

Cut to Timelapse of Rodney Atkins water tower scene.

Next show photos of the Rodney Atkins shoot and video as well. This will be interlaced with actual footage of the final product to contrast behind the scenes with the final video.

Then cut to photos of Gloriana "wanna take you home" video.

Show video of the final product cutting back and worth between it and the still set photos.

Now I'll show a video that I worked on for "Leeland." Cut to set photos and then back and forth between the actual final video product.

Finally, show Martina McBride behind the scenes. Cut back and forth between behind the scenes video and the final video product.

Fade to black.

Project update

At this point in time, a few weeks out from the deadline I've done a lot in terms of getting my project ready. I've gone out and physically immersed myself into the industry by working on several big name music video and commercial shoots. I've formed friendships with several crew members that have exposed me to even more unique opportunities and I've also interviewed several people to get their take on things. However, there are several things still left for me to do. I still need to somehow make sense of all this data and put it together into a tangible product. That for me seems to be the hardest part. I find that my research has lead to more and more questions, strangely- i feel that this is a good thing. As for the digital short presentation, I intend to summarize a few shoots that I worked on through the usage of photos and video clips. I'm a strong believer in learning by visuals and I think that most of my generation feels the same way.  Therefore, I intend to make the digital short as visually stimulating as possible to keep everyone's attention. I'll also add a bit of text at the beginning summarizing the goal of the short and my project.

Research Methods

I’ve always found collecting information to be more about instinct than any sort of formal method. That being said, I approached the research for my project from several different angles. Being that I had already worked in the film industry for a few months prior to the beginning of the project, it gave me a “foot-in the door” so to speak. I was able to reach out to some of the producers in town and get onto more sets. The producers in Nashville are truly the ones that control when/where you work. My method of collecting data once I was on set had to be discrete for several reasons. The first and foremost reason being that I was working alongside seasoned professionals that perform their jobs several times a week. If I had chosen a more direct and obvious method of gathering information for my research I probably would have gotten blacklisted from further shoots. Therefore, I chose to do less talking and more listening. 

Archival Material

Here are a few items that might be useful as archival material for my project:

• Forum posts
• News articles
• Magazines such as (American Cinematographer)
• Films and videos themselves
• Photos from set
• Older interviews I can find

Lives on a Boundary

I really liked Lives on a Boundary regardless of the fact that it was written several years ago. I feel that the author speaks about a figurative boundary that is, in reality, very real for many people. The boundary separates the haves and the have nots. Critical reasoning, vernacular , and literacy were all discussed heavily. Students that grow up in underprivileged areas may have the same potential and capability of those who grow up in wealthy areas, however they are unable to perform. The author argues that this wasn't solely money but culture that caused these differences. A difference in upbringing- poverty breeds poverty much as the rich stay rich.

I found the book very fascinating and I can see how the main points apply to real life. The style spoke in more of an informal conversation and was very easy to follow. Better yet the author's writing included imagery and great descriptive details that further aided in the story that was being told.  I grew up 10 miles from Flint, MI- the #1 most dangerous city in the country and I can tell ya that much of what I read applies. I think that every educator should read this book. Lives on the Boundary was a great read and I'm glad that it was included in the curriculum for 3rd year writing!

Online Observations

The advent of the internet over the last decade has really influenced the way we live our lives. Most importantly, its aided in research as it was originally designed to connect scientists and their servers. For my specific project I looked at a few Filmmaking forums. The idea of a forum is fantastic in my opinion. It allows you to connect with thousands of like-minded individuals who are all interested in a particular subject or field- in my case filmmaking. One website called "Reduser.net" is sponsored by Red Digital Cinema. Red is a company that has revolutionized the industry with the release of the first film alternate digital cinema camera. They sponsor a forum that not only educates and discusses their products, but also gives access to veteran filmmakers. Specifically, there is a thread called "Ask David Mullen" anything. David Mullen is a Director of Photography that has shot a TON of blockbuster feature films. The thread exists simply to ask him ANY question. He's really good about answering quickly. This is an incredible FREE resource to have. I've learned a lot about the changing industry and how to be successful (two tenants of my project) just by observing the behavior of other users on the form. I've also been able to learn from industry veterans.