FRAGMENTS (trailer)

This is my final project for Digital Filmmaking at New England Institute of Technology. The assignment: Create either a short film of no more than 7 minutes long; or create a trailer to a hypothetical film at about 2-3 minutes in length. I had a story idea which I didn't believe would fit into 7 minutes so I went for the trailer idea.

[Please watch this in full resolution for best enjoyment. You may do so by clicking on the image above, and then holding your mouse pointer toward the upper left of the image and clicking the title. This will take you to the YouTube page, where you may also enlarge it full screen, by clicking the rectangular icon in the bottom left of the movie screen.]


My partner for this project was Dennis Cabral. Dennis drew all of the storyboards, helped with shooting and audio editing choices.

It was shot entirely with a Canon T3i, using both the kit lens 18-55mm; and a Rokinon 35mm Cinema lens. I created all (but the "Dice Out" animated logo) of the animated graphics, and edited it with Adobe CS6 Production Premium, using After Effects, and Premier. I used Audition a little, as well as Audacity.

I posted this ahead of time, but I'm assuming that we got an "A" for it (so long as we get all of the necessary paperwork completed on time).  The final results shall be confirmed in a couple of weeks when I get my grade.

All music and SFX are original, or from Public Domain, or from the Valentino SFX and Music Collection (which I have access to through school).

Thanks so much to my friends and family for their acting abilities, who spent so much of their valuable time to help me with this project. Bless you.

Project Final - Video Techniques / Studio 1

This is my project final for the class Video Techniques / Studio 1.  I worked on this with classmate Rachel Rodrigues.  We scripted it together, and I storyboarded it.  We took turns setting up the camera for the shots.

[Please view this video larger, clicking Play, then pointing to the upper, left corner of the video, where the title appears; Click on that title, and it'll take you to the YouTube site on which it was uploaded. There you can also enlarge it even more]

Rachel is the actor.  She arrives in the parking lot, steps out onto the running board of her car, and enters the building.  She takes the elevator to the second floor.  Alternately, she takes the stairs to the second floor.  Lo, and behold! As she crests the staircase, she sees herself coming from the elevator.  She waves at herself ... and she waves back at her other self.  The two Rachels meld into one at the entrance to a corridor.  Rachel walks down the hall to classroom 205, Video & Audio Production.

A note:

Since Rachel was a fellow student, and not a hired actor, I couldn't be as coercive as I might've wanted, in insisting that she make sure to land the same foot on the same spot, in order for the "meld" to take place.  Once it was all said and done, she was able to see what I was talking about.  But for a first attempt, I think it came out okay anyhow.  However, the part where the two Rachels are waving to one another, I must admit, was flawless.

I created the logo from a photo I'd taken a few years ago, and added the lettering via Photoshop.

The sound effects came from a SFX generator http://naturesoundsfor.me/

For this presentation, I removed the slate (as well as bars and tones) from the beginning.  The video quality is terrible, as I basically lost everything on my hard drive.  I only had a very low resolution version of this video that I made as an experiment.  I hopefully waiting for Rachel to send me her high quality copy of the file, so that I can replace the current one with a more pleasing version.

Script Writing

My first script writing assignment was to be a 30 second commercial on "The Wheel".

I got 100% on this, and many nice comments written upon it by my instructor John Cormier.

I got wind a few days after passing it in, that Mr Cormier was showing it off to his fellow teachers.

I got a mighty fine feeling from that.

Above is the Story Board format.

Below, I also include the other format that this same commercial was to appear in the Two Column format.

The Story Begins

Every story has a beginning.
This is the beginning, the Lord willing, of my new career in television and film production.
My story begins in being laid off from a dead-end, under paid, under appreciated 12-year (plus) job situation in which I was in, and from which, through God's kind providence, in the midst of recession, I was laid off.  There I was, looking for a new job in newspapers, Internet, friends, etc., when it struck me.  Am I going to just look for another job, which I might very well find myself hating (though that never stopped me from doing my best), even feeling nauseous about going to each and every morning?  What would I do if I could do anything I wanted?  Well, treasure hunting, as fascinating as that might seem, would not be agreeable to the wife, and I can't say it'd very well fit into my own life for numerous reasons. But the second thing I thought of was that which I've always had an interest, which is motion pictures and television -- really all aspects of it, from acting in front of the camera to being involved in one or more of the many and diverse positions which exist behind the camera.

So I did my research, found New England Institute of Technology had an Associate and a Bachelor degree program in Video & Audio Production / Digital Recording Arts.  I checked with my unemployment insurance, and the course was approved for me to attend, and collect at the same time.  So I became a full time student, beginning on January 3rd, 2012.

This is where the story begins.