3rd Semester at USC Film School

I can't believe I haven't updated in such a long time! I guess I must have been busy. I am now about a month into my 3rd semester at USC and having so much fun and learning quite a bit. I am producing a documentary for a 547, which is a course where three projects are green lit. This semester, the greenlit projects are Lines, Living in Limbo, and Polar Opposites.

Lines deals with teens going to a skateboarding school in Venice, Living in Limbo explores the Iraqi refugees coming to and living in California, and Polar Opposites examines the reasoning behind the underground phenomena of women suddenly flocking to pole dancing.



I am co-producing Polar Opposites, with the fierce Meera Menon, aka Meownun. Apparently I'm not supposed to give away people's real names if they have a Jersey Shore nickname but I've already failed at that so many times so there. My Jersey Shore nickname is Jinnernut. The director, Caitlin Starowicz, was my directing SA my first semester and probably the most multi-talented, multi-tasking person I know. Does she ever sleep? Katie Walker, our cinematographer, can walk into any room, blink her eyes a couple of times, and form a vision in her head that we can only just stand and watch her realize it. Adair Cole, one of our sound people, is the only man on set so we give him a hard time but of course, if anyone can handle it, it's AY-DARE. Lindsay Ellis, our other sound person, can outwit anyone while innocently batting her lashes. She'll have super pole arms by the end of the semester from holding up that boom pole. Neil Williams, one of my partners in 508 (last semester) is one of our awesome editors. He can stylize anything to make it look visually enticing. Erika Edgerley is also one of our editors, and she brings characters and stories to life. We have such a strong team this semester and our documentary is so much fun. I'm sad we only have a couple more weekends of shooting left.


Being on a documentary set is so much different from a fiction set. The stress levels are much lower, the working hours (though it could be as strenuous as fiction depending on each project) are shorter, you meet subjects that could easily become your friends after the project is over, and there is a sort of adrenaline rush you get from the spontaneity of being able to create the story as you're going along. Of course, there are rules and thematic elements that cannot be changed for the sake of budget and time, but there is more freedom in shaping the story week by week and of course, in editing. I am super excited to see what the editors will do with the footage that we shot and at the same time, because we know that editing can be stressful if we don't have a vision, we are more responsible with footage allotments and planning to make sure we don't "hose down the scene," or shoot things with no purpose.

If you want to read more about our day to day process, please visit the blog that we made for our documentary. I'll be updating there for the rest of this project!

Our Blog: polaroppositesfilm.tumblr.com
Our Facebook Fan Page: Polar Opposites
Our Flickr: Plropposites
Our Twitter: PlrOpposites

Me, fooling around on set.

End of Project 1's first weekend of Shooting

It's 2:41am and I'm still up from the coke I drank driving home. I'm blogging to update a little on our progress. We filmed Neil's film on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. We were at Echo Park Lake for two of those days and then at Wurstkuche and Grand Ave. It's very LA and very whimsical. I'm in love with the story and the visuals that accompany it. Next weekend, we will be shooting the fantasy sequences, which will have more choreography, dramatic lighting, and surrealistic qualities. I'm pretty stoked about that.

Some problems we ran into while shooting:

• We lost a location and an actor very last minute but we hustled and got a location and an actor that ended up working (better) for the film.
  
• Traffic was blaring at Echo Park Lake. Note to self: do not film there if there is a lot of dialogue.
• Little Tokyo is relatively quiet on a Sunday morning until 8:30am. After that, traffic patterns are crazy, especially on an intersection like where Wurstkuche is located, where 4 streets meet.
• Property managers of buildings in DTLA's financial district are extremely militant in keeping people off the property. We had to be on the sidewalk and if we ever spilled over to their property, security would come to move us. No wonder I couldn't get permission to film there.
• We were one of four filmmakers on Grand Ave. on Sunday over labor day weekend shooting a scene. Everyone had the same idea as us.
• Parking on Grand Ave. was unexpectedly horrible. We were expecting some delays from parking but we figured it was a Sunday and over labor day weekend but someone closed down the entire street and there were no parking 1pm-10pm on Sunday only signs everywhere. What luck! We had to park a few blocks away.
  
• We had a prob with the batteries in the camera on our first day. We left it to charge in the rec/maintenance center at Echo Park but when we went to get it, it was closed and we were locked out. Luckily, an awesome classmate by the name of Josh, brought over a spare and SPARED us from not being able to shoot. We got the batteries unscathed the next day.
• We also ran into a media card problem but we petitioned to use our 3rd card this weekend since the following weekend's footage will definitely all fit into one card. We were approved.
• We were told that we are not allowed to use any 35mm lens adaptors. This news came really late into the game, AFTER our first weekend of shooting. We personally were going to rent one for the following weekend's shoot in order to accentuate the differences in reality in a cinematic style but we cannot do that anymore. I feel really bad for the people who already shot more than half their movies using the 35mm lens adaptors because they will most likely have to fight this against the administration, which is more work for them.

And for the good stuff:

• We ended up filming at all our locations for free. We didn't even have to pay for permits due to the rule of three clause at Film LA and the nice people the locations who were way more than generous to us.
  
• We saved a lot of money on props and food so we're still under budget unless we rent out expensive equipment for next weekend.
• We have a consistent PA that came and will be coming to all the shoot dates. This is so incredibly helpful, especially when most of the crew members usually consist of other students who are all wrapped up in their own work. It's good to know people who can devote time and energy and consistency to help out who are not students.
• We got some good wild lines using the DPMD sound kit, which will prove to be immensely helpful once I start editing.
• The makeup artist was awesome, fast, and reliable. I hope to work with her again.
• Of course, my partners were also awesome. They were diligent, positive, and professional.
  

Pics from the set:

Week 1 of 2nd Semester @ USC School of Cinematic Arts

Film school part deux finally started this week...or shall I say, last week? We started classes this week but we've been meeting for that last week or two to get our first project off the ground. In this semester, we are divided up into trio's and each person wears a different hat per project. For example, I am producing, editing, and doing the production sound for the first project. For the second project, I am writing, directing, and doing the sound design. For the last project, I am doing the cinematography.

We don't get to choose the people we work with nor the order we want to go. I've heard a lot of people who took 508 in the past warning about working in these trio's and how it can get really heated. I personally couldn't have asked for better partners so I doubt that anything out of the normal would come between our group but it's good to keep in mind that we still should maintain respect and an honest line of communication. The three of us are really different (music lover, zombie lover, drama lover) but we all love food! But, it's still important not to get overzealous or hot-headed nor stray too far to be a doormat.

For example, if I want Korean tacos, I should not be afraid to speak up and if any of my partners would prefer to eat at a Japanese style burger truck, I shouldn't get offended.


In fact, I should just get both. =D Not like I can even attempt to lose the weight I gained last semester doing that fattening documentary.

Now that film school has started and I'm in class from 9am-5pm Mondays & Wednesdays, 7pm-10pm on Tuesdays, 9am-12pm on Fridays, I can kiss my social life good bye. Before I do, a quick trip down memory lane for the best of summer 2009:

With Panida @ Yelp Elite clothing swap and cocktails at the W hotel

Winning a $75 gift certificate to Crustacean @ the Blogger Prom

Redeeming my free lunch @ Crustacean

Mendocino Farms' sandwiches at the Project By Project's event, Plate by Plate

My first limo ride ever sponsored by Causecast.org

The Judges @ the Korean BBQ Cookoff

The Contestants @ the Korean BBQ Cookoff

Yelp Elite Party: Spa Luce (waiting for my free facial)
Free food @ Yelp Elite's Spa Luce party

@ Yelp Elite's Spa Luce, hanging out

Dinner @ Golden State (Burger & Salty Chocolate beer float)

Needless to say, my summer days of cheap thrills and gorge fests are over... until December anyway. I had to cancel many events already, even a sweet trip up north for a food event because I am filming that weekend. Slowly, my nights out are being replaced by nights in to produce, and my parties are being replaced by sleep. But, all is well in the land of 508 because there's nothing I'd rather do than to eat, sleep, and breathe film.

Week 1 is almost over and we're 90% done in locking down our location for project 1, and we already have our cast (as of now). Things change rapidly in this business but for the time being, I am happy enough to let myself rest watching a Netflix movie I have not touched since January.