Oscar Romero

References

This class had a lot of projects for me. Time management was key this month due to how all these projects were very time consuming. My goals for this class were to increase my knowledge in cinematography which included learning more about lighting and learn more about the roles of grips and electrics.

I really enjoyed the lectures of this class. I also enjoyed getting my hands on the equipment and setting up the Sony F65 camera. Since I will be the Director of Photography for our Thesis Film I was really looking forward to setting up the camera and the dolly. I enjoyed shooting one of our pre-visuals while mounting the dolly. It really gave me an idea of how to tackle the scene in June.

Besides camera operating and framing, lighting and color play a big part in cinematography. I have had some experience with lighting due to my past job in show production. Where I would set up lights to light up the performers on stage. As well as having some experience in camera operating. I was also a sort of grip and electrician for live productions. So now I just had to use what I know and combine it with what I learned in this class. The operations are somewhat similar but instead of setting up for live performances, I am setting up for filming.

The photo recreation project was a great challenge for me. I had fun trying to recreate a photo I found online on Google images. It was a challenge due to the picture being edited on Adobe Photoshop. So, I tried my best to recreate it just with lighting. In my opinion, I got really close to the original picture. I looked really closely at the online picture and saw that they had placed the lights above the female model. I tried to do the same. Also, it was a lot of fun to create a picture that told a story. I had to use my creativity to think of a story that I was able to tell with just one photograph.

The emotion project was also a great one. My creativity was also needed for this project. I had to create a short on an emotion. I had fun filming my emotion of disgust. Then there is the usual of filming the 5-minute narrative in which I also had a lot of fun filming. I used everything I have learned so far and tried to solve any problems I had. I got really creative with my lighting and I am very proud of how everything is looking so far.

Having to work on the Thesis film for this month was great for me. This gave me an opportunity to see how everything works on set. It also gave me ideas for when it is our time to shoot our Thesis. It taught me what to do and what not to do on set. Overall, I feel this class has prepared me enough for when I take on the real world.

In my undergrad I had taken classes that were about lighting for live performances but this time I learned more about lighting for film which I really enjoyed. Also, I got to experiment with shooting at 120 frames per second and playing it back at 24 frames per second which gave me amazing footage. I really enjoyed getting into the different positions inside a film set or that are needed to create movies. There were actually some positions in which I had heard before but didn’t really know what they actually did inside a film set.

The Tout videos was something that helped me get really creative. Since the restriction was to create a 15 second film, this was something that helped me think outside the box. Not only was creating 15 second content a great challenge for me, but also the fact that it had to focus in mise en scene, cinematography, editing, and sound.

I feel that this class has given me the knowledge needed for my road into becoming a great filmmaker. From this class on, I will be trying to think outside the box for my upcoming film projects. Therefore, for this I say Thank You!

I enjoyed helping with casting. This gave me an insight into what’s to come next and to fully prepare myself when it becomes my turn to cast actors and actresses for the Thesis project. When it comes to filming I usually like to take my time. This class made me become quicker with new ideas and applying them to the scene while being on a time limit. It also helped improve my time management skills due to having to meet up with actors and actresses outside of class and having rehearsal. This class helped me with actually creating a vision statement and having a clear picture on what it is that I am looking for. The last class was about creating stories and characters and Directing talent was about bringing these stories to life.

Mynor G. (2014). Dreamer [Song]. Retrieved    from https://soundcloud.com/oszkarrome/dreamer-ft-adrian-crush-1

MotivationGrid. (2013, December 28). Motivational and inspirational              quotes [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://motivationgrid.com/44-of-the-    best-motivational-picture-quotes/.

This means a lot to me because I am here today due to taking risks. Life throws risks and I cannot be afraid to take them. Even if I were to fail, a mistake is an experience I must learn from.