The Dorsey Wheeler Project

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Goodbye 11th Grade

Today is the last official day of our junior year and the last day of the gradproject class for until senior year. We've had a lot of ups and downs but in the end we got the work done. I now know strongly what my grad project is and have a solid grasp on how I will complete it. I've learned a lot about my topic and a lot about other peoples topic (some things I'd rather not repeat). Ibelieve this was a very productive trimester and hopefully the next one wil;l be just the same. I will continue to post now and again through the summer and update you on the status of my project. Be sure to stay tuned for the next phase in Dorsey Wheeler experience!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Loose Ends

Today and tommorow my focus is to complete all the work for this trimester so I'm ready to turn it all in. I'm pretty confident that All of the work is completed to the given standards and hopefully my grade will reflect this. I guess we'll find out soon how I'm doing.

Stay Tuned...

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Outline Time

After spending most of last week and the beginning of this week on the Literature Review outline I finally think that I have a solid draft to turn in. It took some think and arranging of my notes but I was able to moch up a solid outline of the literature review we will right next school year. I hope that it meets the standards so I can finish off junior year with a strong foot foward in my grad project.

Stay Tuned........

Friday, July 17, 2009

Outlining

I have spent the last two days working on my outline. Baiscally it requires me to synthesize all of my notes based on my foundation questions and putting them in a rough guide of a paper. We will refer back to this outline next trimester of gradproject and turn it into a Literature review which based on the outline will be be pretty extensive. I figure some time next week I should finish have a solid complete outline.

Stay Tuned...

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Notes...Again

I spent the day working on my notes and revising the the information in them. Most of my question have solid information but I still would like to add some more but for the most part they're almost complete. The notes should be done by the end of the week and we can start the amazing process of outlining. Until then I'll keep working.

Stay Tuned...

Monday, July 13, 2009

Survey Anyone?

Today we were introduced with the idea of creating a survey that pertains to our project topic.
I'm not really sure how this can relate to my topic but I figure I will create a survey before I make my movie in order to get a better idea of what people find to be entertaining or like to see in a movie. Right now I'm just brainstorming survey questions but I think I can have a survey draft by the end of the week.

Stay Tuned

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Check In

I just wanted to check in and let you know I am still here. It's just been a slow couple of days and the class schedules have been screwy so I haven't had a chance to blog. Yesterday we went to the library to find some alternative sources for our topics. Unfortuanatly the library is like a giant maze and I couldn't seem to find books on my topic. Hopefully I'll have more luck checking some online databases!. I'll keep you guys posted on any new info hopefully tomorrow.

So Stay Tuned!

Webliography

Film-Makers.com - Filmmaking and Movie Making Resources. 28 May 2009 . This site is a 7. It provides first hand accounts of actual filmmakers experiences and provides advice for upcoming filmmakers. This is exactly the type of resource I will need for helping develop the film while maintaining my creative role. This site must be unblocked!!

"The Filmmaking Process ? Coffee and Celluloid." Coffee and Celluloid ? Adventures in the Image. 14 May 2009 . On a scale from 1-10 I say this site is a 7. This page is basically a blog with a list of posts that pertain to several aspects of filmmaking. This page gives an extensive list of these posts catagorized by which part of the filmmaking process they involve. This site will be useful in guiding me in the many if not all the steps of my project.

"The Filmmaking Process Big Think." Big Think Get to know Experts and Ideas. 27 May 2009 . This site is also blocked but when researched personally it appeared to be about a 7. It provides expert ideas and tips in how to approach the development of an amatuer film. It will be most helpful in the planning stages.

"Filmmaking Tips & Tricks for Emerging Filmmakers from leading experts across the web and Howcast Studios." Howcast - The best how to videos on the web. 27 May 2009 . When this site is unblocked it is a 7. It like the other sites provides filmmaking tips for amatuers. This would be most helpful in several steps of the process of making my film.

Filmmaking.net resources and community for independent filmmakers (movies filmmaking independent production filmmaker film moviemaking rec.arts.movies.production FAQ alt.movies.independent Internet Filmmaker's FAQ best film schools). 28 May 2009 . When this site is unblocked I believe it would be rated at about a 7. It provides a list of topics and resources that pertain to the art of film making. It will help me in using the others in the field as primary sources of information on how to create this film of mine. This site must be unblocked first!!

"How to Produce a Film eHow.com." EHow How To Do Just About Everything! 27 May 2009 . This site is about a 6.5. It helps provide ideas and methods in which an independent filmmaker could unse in order to get his film produced such as looking for investors and using fundraisers. This could provide me ways to increase the budget and the overall quality of my project.

"How To Write A Movie, Main - The Visual Writer, LLC." Visual Writer: Inquiry and commentary on the how, what, and challenges of writing. 27 May 2009 . On a scale from 1 to 10 in usefulness this site is about a 8. It provides a book like guide in the writing of a film which will be one of the most crucial parts of my project. This page is unique in that it reads like a book and sections off different subjects into chapters.

"Independent film -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 27 May 2009 . This page is about a 5. It provides a brief history of independent film whichcould be useful in the description of my ideas and why I chose this project. It mainly just provides a good historically view of independent film.

"Moviemaking Tips Archive." Making the Movie. 27 May 2009 . This site is about a 7.5 on a 1 to 10 scale of usefulness. It provides a novice point of view about amatuer filmmaking and provides a list of tips on multiple aspects of film creation including lighting, sound, and location. These tips will prove invauable in the actual filming of my project.

"The Online Communicator: Writing for Film." The Online Communicator Website. 14 May 2009 . On a scal from 1-10 I'd say this websit is about a 7. This website provides insight into the process of writing a film and gives tips on ways to make it a more efficient and effective. This information will be crucial to me during the writing phase of my project and will help give me the necessary techniques to improve my work.

Key Terms

Practical Site- The use of a real world set such as a house, office building, street etc. rather than a set built expressly for the film. While faster to get up and running a practical set imposes many constraints on the production company such as increased difficulty in blocking and lighting a scene.
Shot- A single continuous take, filmed in a single session from one camera setup. The basic grammatical unit of the language of film, a shot may range from a single frame taken from a fixed position to a setup involving complex camera movement.
Sequence- A number of scenes linked together by time, location, or narrative continuity to form a unified episode in a motion picture. It is often likened to a chapter in a book, the scene being the equivalent of a paragraph and the shot the equivalent of a sentence. Traditionally, but not necessarily, a sequence begins with a fade-in and ends with a fade-out or some other optical transitional device.
Rushes- print or video tape that is reviewed on the set to see how the scene is progressing and how it was blocked and lit
Cast-select participants for performance: to choose somebody for a particular role in a drama, dance, or other performance, or choose people for all the roles in a production
Editing-cut material: to remove material from something such as a publication, broadcast item, recording, or movie, e.g. because it is lengthy or offensive
Writer-the person who wrote a specific text or document
Producer- an organizer and administrator of the making of a movie, broadcast, or recording, or the staging of a play
Director-a supervisor of the actual making of a movie or television program
Scene- a short section of a play, movie, opera, or work of literature that presents a single event
Screenplay- film script: scenario for a film to follow
Post-Production-final production stage: the final stage in the making of a recording, film, or television program that includes editing, sound dubbing, and adding special effects
Preproduction- the plans and activities, e.g. those relating to finance, equipment, and personnel, that precede the production phase of a project, especially in the entertainment and manufacturing industries