Entertainment Final(ly over)

Entertainment Final(ly over)

Hey folks, back at it again with a new blog post. As the year is coming to a close, it's time once again for a brief, stressful, action packed final reflection.
These last few semesters have been lucrative, and with the help of my trusty team members (sidekicks, if you will), I created a commercial, a music video, a short film, a PSA and a mini-documentary.  I also created a feature film through my assigned production role that I spoke of previously, if I am correct in assuming that I actually posted that one. I most likely didn't, but that's besides the point. The point is that I have done a lot of great work this year and I'd like to share some of my highlights with you. You may have seen them in previous blog posts but it's my humble opinion that they're worth a rewatch.

Talia

   This beautiful piece was a collaborative work between myself, Sophia Saunders, Shelby Kilburn, and Marco Morales. Assigned as a music video assignment, this project developed into something so much more due to the hard work, grit, determination, and skill of my wonderful team members. We shaped a wonderful song into a gorgeous story about young love and young heartbreak through use of color, lighting, location, etc. This is by far my favorite piece of the year, if not my entire high school career.

   One of the biggest reasons I picked this music video as a highlight is the aesthetics of it. I am thrilled that the project turned out exactly as we had seen it in our creative vision and I am overall just so proud of how beautiful this piece is.

   I am not positive how long it took us to make. I do know that we only had a single filming day, filming at my grandmother's house from around 4-6 and at Sophia's house from about 6-9. We accomplished a lot in a very short amount of time and overall, this project was something we breezed through.

   We did face a few challenges along the way, one of which was lighting. Our plans for color and lighting had been quite extensive during the preproduction process of the film and we were pretty explicit with how we wanted the video to look and feel. The issue arose when it came time to film and we learned that not only had someone misplaced the color gels that we needed, we were also missing a light. It was, understandably, panic-inducing. Luckily, director Sophia came to the rescue, creating her own gels with markers and plastic, and managed to keep us all calm and working smoothly.

   At one point we received the feedback that our video was not entirely school appropriate, specifically due to the shots of the girls on a bed. Their elbows were touching which is, I would say, incredibly scandalous. My group and I were told to change it, but after viewing other students' videos and hearing and seeing content that was much more inappropriate for school, and after considering the homophobic implications of censoring lesbian representation because of the undue sexualization of young female relationships, we decided to just keep it in there. We're not bitter at all.

   In conclusion, I am incredibly fond of this piece, and it will always have a place in my heart.

Plants vs Zombies

   This piece, a documentary that highlights and delineates the struggle between vegans and meat-eaters in our postmodernist society through the use of humor and exaggerated character traits, is my most recent and my second favorite of all time.

The team I worked on this with contained the lovely ladies Sophia and Shelby (big surprise), as well as new contender Miles Todd. I have worked on a few projects with Miles, but I personally believe this is our best work. His part as an actor on-camera as well as an editor off of it definitely contributed to the success of this film, and I couldn't have done it without him, my art director Shelby, and co-director Sophia.

   I want to take a quick break in this reflection to say a couple of words. My team means everything to me. They are not only my classmates and my collaborators, I consider them close friends as well, and getting to work on projects that I love alongside people that I love has been such an amazing experience. I couldn't have asked for better teammates this year, and I am so excited for the years to come in which we can grow and develop our skills together.
   Anyways, back to the blogging.
   This mockumentary took maybe two weeks to complete. A lot of time was spent on storyboarding and creating a script, as the dialogue was critical to the story and the work itself. Then, as is usual for our pieces, we filmed it all in one day, beginning at the Monticello public library and finishing at Shawnee Mission Park (and yes, we did clean up all of the food). My best friend and actor Rowan Hedges funded the food fight, buying lots of raw meat. Apologies to the poor Walmart cashier.
   I am of the opinion that this piece speaks for itself, and I do not have a lot much more to say about it. It was a wonderful experience and I enjoyed it very much.

Conclusion

   That's all folks, I'm out of time. Have a great summer!