As I spent most of this year delving deeper into film projects and developing my skills in those areas, I decided to reflect by once againcurrating photos of the major film-related extracurricular projects I conducted this year. However as opposed to last year most of these projects were ones that I was directing and producing. Enjoy!
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Drainage Short Film
I wrote, directed, produced, and edited this short as my final project for my horror film class. I was heavily inspired by David Lynch's film Eraserhead (particularly the sound design) and wanted to create something similar. After 52 hours of filming and many more editing I finished it up in late January.
The Life and Lies of Teddy Buchanon
This short film was my biggest project over last year. I was director, producer, and writer, It was part of a film competition called the College Movie Festival where teams had a week to come up with an idea for a short and write and shoot it. I came up with the idea for a comedy about a young plumber who realizes the only way he can fulfill his dreams of fixing pipes is to destroy the entire town's plumbing.
We received second place in audience choice in the festival and later the short won best cinematography and best short film overall in our end of the year showcase for Digital Media Collaborative Majors.
Director of Photography
Aside from Writing and directing, Director of Photography is my favorite role on a film set.Luckily I've gotten to act as Director of Photography on a number of projects this year. One of which was a capstone project of a friend of mine that came at the end of the year and another was for a Maymester class that asked me to DP their project.
Ghost Sitcom
Ghost Sitcom has been the biggest film I have both produced and acted as Director of Photography for. It has also been the strangest as there are no actors ever on screen. In the photo on the top left are the actors who only appear via disembodied voices throughout the short. Filming a whole short with invisible actors was a challenge as a DP and I had to be creative to figure out how to direct the audience's attention to the "actors." This involved a variety of props on fishing wire, panning to follow nothing, and repurposing the language of cinematography.
Cinematography Workshops
Outside of classes and projects, my favorite activity was teaching a weekly cinematography workshop with about 9 people. I put together presentations, exercises, and games to teach the magic of making shots to younger students. Teaching has always been a love of mine ever since I ran my high school's film production club and this has allowed me to exercise that love.
Other Short Films and Projects
And finally here are some other miscellaneous films and projects I've worked on over the past semester as gaffer, I have learned so much and they have helped me grow closer to so many fellow students, filmmakers, and friends.
