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Hello class!

I’m a little late on this post, considering the footage for the rough cuts is due this Friday, but I do think the one-minute short that my group and I have constructed is gonna be enjoyable!

My group consisted of myself, Miryssa Casas, and Hailey Betts. Together we constructed a comedy sketch about a student losing a water bottle or purchased drink of some variety, but the bottle eventually finds its way back to said student through extreme luck.

The story goes that the main student purchases a drink and then sets it down to go get something else. It then gets knocked away by another student, then begins travelling far enough away that the initial student can’t find it, giving up and heading home. The bottle makes a really long journey all the way down to the parking lot where the first student is parked, meaning they find the bottle, confused as to how it got there.

The beauty of a sketch like this is that we’re able to film on site at campus, where it’s most likely the most convenient for everyone. And it has a cafeteria where we can catch footage of the actual purchasing of the drink.

The campus is also a good location thanks to a key factor for the filming: gravity! We can use the bottle on the various hills around campus to simulate it rolling away and throughout it’s various stunts and tactics. We can also easily ask favors from any students who may be nearby while we work on filming in order to get some extra people if necessary.

-Jeremy Sauter

Hello, class!

For my interview process, one of my first thoughts was to interview one of my pastors at church. After I considered the thought, I started looking at church events to see what was coming up. With a great stroke of luck, I discovered that the week rough cuts were due, the church was hosting a rather large pastor/teacher conference! So I consider myself really lucky that I was able to capitalize on the opportunity!

I would say probably the biggest challenge is figuring out travel. The biggest challenge is that, while the church and conference IS local, it is also across the river in Portland, Oregon. I was able to get a ride down since my mom was going to help out with the conference, getting back up across the river was the difficult part. Thankfully bus transit exists, and with careful planning I was able to make it work.

I also had to check and double check that it would be ok for me to stop by the conference. It’s a limited event and it’s usually reserved for staff and registered pastors. But knowing this would be the best possible option to grab visual evidence of the pastor learning and supporting his fellow conference goers, and thankfully I got the opportunity to visit for a couple hours the first day. It allowed me to get some really good footage, even if the time was brief.

Overall, the experience was smooth and I had a really good time gathering everything I needed to make the interview work!

-Jeremy Sauter

Hello class,

Devil’s Playground by Lucy Walker is a very gripping and very interesting documentary, intending to be a commentary on the dynamic and differences between the Amish and normal English life, showing how difficult it is to transition between the two, especially for the Amish.

I think out of all of the individual stories that were told through the main character’s journey (who I assume is Faron, considering how much of the documentary was spent following him), the side story with Velda struck me the most. Velda chose to leave the Amish faith, causing her entire family (and her village) to publicly shun her and cast her out, leaving her to the whims of English society.

This is probably the story that had the visual evidence stand out to me the most. You can somewhat compare it to the main story of Faron, which gave a very active, struggling story with a LOT of visual evidence to support his rebellious, English life and it’s many twists and turns. Velda’s story, on the other hand, while there was less time spent on it overall, it told a more matured and grounded history point of view, showing the lifestyle of someone who committed to leaving the Amish faith after having committed to it in the past. It creates a great dynamic between someone who had to live with their choice of leaving, versus a growing teenager who is still learning and has an opportunity to turn back from his decisions and stick with the Amish faith.

-Jeremy Sauter

For my final project, I plan on creating a job profile for my friend who does structural welding on tug boats. The job itself is very interesting and is something not a lot of people see or know about. To complete my rough cut by the last class, I plan on recording my B roll footage as soon as possible, so I have time to compile it into a cohesive sequence of visual evidence. I should be able to film everything in one night, but I need to get permission to film, as the job is not in the most safe environment a lot of the time. I plan on getting permission by Thanksgiving break.

For my final project, I got most of my inspiration from a previous students work we have watched in class. The one about one’s own struggles with motivation and inspiration, as I suffer from the same problems. So I thought I would like to take my own spin on this and cover what that struggle is like with me.

I want to make it feel more cinematic and like a sense of self discovery. I have come up with some scripts and screenplays, with the help of ChatGPT, and so far it is looking promising. It is a sort of personal experience I want to tell.

I can post or share my notes I have so far later if anyone is interested in what I’m planning.

For the 1-minute video, my group came up with School Rivalry, a humorous and escalating conflict between two students over shared items in a study area. Starting with small acts of borrowing each other’s belongings a pencil, notebook, bottle, and charger with their rivalry growing more intense. Finally, they clash over a laptop, resulting in an unintended mishap that leaves both of them stunned. The scene highlights the absurdity of their petty competition with a comical yet unexpected outcome. Our original plan was to create an office-themed video with three office workers and a similar conflict, but after receiving feedback, we realized that fully capturing the environment of an office would be too difficult to set up.

For this short video we don’t need much except for a spot to film. We have all the items needed for filming. Right now all we need now is to work on a story board, screen play, and finalized plans.

For this final project, I would like to make another horror short similar to my group project as I think it turned out well while also still having plenty of room for improvement. This time I want to utilize the setting of my girlfriends rooftop apartment in Portland, her acting skills, some prop zombie/monster mask/gloves we have, and make a horror short.

Right now I have a rough script of what would be the introduction, a 25 second or so build-up then jump-scare. I’m confident we could get some good visuals from multiple buildings that we have roof access to, and I think this scare is pretty effective in my mind for an opener.

**FADE IN:**

**EXT. SKYSCRAPER ROOF – NIGHT**

The vast cityscape stretches beneath the rooftop. A gentle yet unnerving tone is struck as the city-breeze sways loose debris. Only the distant hum of city life breaks the quiet.

**ANGLE ON:** *SUMMER*, her face illuminated by the faint glow of her phone. She’s staring just above the camera, seemingly speaking to someone beside her, who’s barely audible, maybe mumbling incoherently? It’s hard to make out.

**SUMMER**
*(softly, with a touch of sadness)*
I’m just happy we get to spend this time together. I know it’s not the same… but still I’m grateful for it.

**She forces a small smile.**

**CUT TO:**

**SUMMER’S PHONE – SELFIE CAMERA VIEW**

Summer holds the phone at arm’s length in a selfie position, framing herself against the nighttime skyline.

**SUMMER**
*(cheerful, with a glimmer of nervous energy)*
And up here? I dunno, I think it’s pretty cozy. Kinda romantic. Right, Jay?

**She flips the camera toward her companion—**

**JAY’S FACE** (wearing my vecna mask)

—JAY is no person. A twisted, monstrous man stares straight into her camera, unmoving. His expression is an empty, haunting *1000-yard stare*.

**CUT BACK TO:** *SUMMER AND JAY – WIDE ANGLE, 0.5 LENS*

Summer, smiling softly, oblivious to the horror beside her. Her hand reaches out, resting on Jay’s arm.

**The camera slowly pans away from the two of them, revealing they are alone on the isolated rooftop.*

**FADE OUT.**

The idea here is to do a horror short based on a couple where one of them is “undead” while the other is perfectly alive and well. Again, as of current this is likely only 25-30 seconds of a short max. First I want to flesh out the opening speech so that it is longer and perhaps make it so Summer is saying things that are ironic to the fact that her partner is a zombie-like man, building up the reveal better. But beyond that, I’m still trying to think of a couple unique set-pieces or ideas I could do with this theme (undead zombie couple living in portland), I just need to anchor in on a few core concepts to build off of.

Sorry for this being submitted so late

BLOG: Make a blog post describing your final project idea and your plan for completing a rough cut by the last class. 

Our group met on Thursday, 11/7/24, and decided to film our ‘water bottle fiasco.’ We took the professor’s advice to make the storyline more engaging by adding more characters who misplace the water bottle. Jeremy took the lead on storyboarding, ensuring continuity and refining the final details. I sketched a quick storyboard to map out the shots we needed. During filming, Jeremy directed since he knew the script inside and out, while Hailey and I took turns recording. It turned out to be a really fun project!

Now, each of us will edit the footage in our own style. I’ve shared all the necessary files over Slack, and I’m excited to see everyone’s unique take on the same footage. I’d love to make a bloopers reel as well, but with so many projects on my plate, it might have to wait.

Storyboard Sketch/Scan:

Final Script: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1N_d1q6DrjDAf3ZxYSdbpIzPlmV8_AVwBF6F2xSPTD_c/edit?tab=t.0

[1-MINUTE-FILMS] “Class Clown” Rough Cut #1

For my group’s one-minute video, we decided to create a short centering around the planning of a group heist operation. While the entire story is based on the planning part, for the sake of keeping things interesting we plan to do cutaways of the plan actually being executed while it is being discussed. Then, in the middle of these cutaways, members of the group will speak up with other possible obstacles they might have to deal with, which will then prompt another cutaway slightly different from the last. To give an example, we have an entire cutaway of the full plan, but then a group member suggests the possibility of a guard being outside the building. Then we go over the same plan and do the same cutaway, but this time it would include how we would deal with that obstacle. We hope it will come across slightly comedic while also keeping an overall serious tone.

To do this, we only need a couple things, such as a dimly lit empty room for filming the actual planning bits as well as a room to “break into”. There are mostly smaller things we will need, such as an object to “steal”, a keycard (cougar card) to use to “break in”, and an additional person to act as a guard. For the shots in the planning room, we may also need extra lighting to help make things seem more dramatic. With these things we should be able to shoot our one-minute video without issue. 

Music by – https://pixabay.com/users/dannymurillo_poduction-36890779/

B-Roll is incomplete.