Film shoot for the music video

Saturday was my first "film" that i directed which is very exciting for me. I think that the whole shoot went very well. our group met several times during the following week to setup and plan out our shoot and it definitely showed when we were on set. The band we fimed is called Wax Lips and they are a popular wilmiongton band. I am friends with the drummer Xander who is defiantly one of the coolest people i know. We filmed at his house and set up a fake party scene with the band playing in the living room. we first filmed the band playing as we waited for more extras to arrive. the band is now a 3 piece and we positioned them in the corner of the room with their banner hanging in the back. Brian is our grip and lighting guy and he was able to get us some good lights from UNCW since he is in the lighting class. His expertise was a big help with setting up the lighting and the gels. without his help i think our project would look crappy on film. Lauren was a big help too. she is the production manager and my right hand when it came down to organizing. she was there telling me when we need to wrap up scenes and when we need to start others and setting up shot lists. We did go over time when shooting the band but we were able to film the party scene fairly quickly and it balanced out. Alex and I had to work closely on this project since we were the oneces who ere going to be capturing the look of the film. Alex is a bit strong minded when he gets into filming mode and there was a little tension between us at some points but i feel there was an ok balance. I allowed him to have some creative freedom when filming but sometimes he did start to get out of line and start to try and direct some of the actors and move lights. As the director i took in what Alex and Brian sudgested about lighting and camera position and went with what I thought would look the best. Towards the end Alex and I were starting to think on the same wave about how to film certain shots and ultimately i think it was a good pairing. At about 1 we stoped for an hour and half break for lunch. we orded pizza for the crew, actors and band. this was a good time to relax after an intense few hours of filming. the next shots we filmed were the band drinking and goofing around. Xander had a minibar and they took allot of shots. The bass player was a bit wasted after that scene so thank god we did not need to film him anymore for that day.lol we had to wait a bit for one of the extras Suraya to come back with a few friends to finish up the party scenes at the mini bar. after that we headed downtown to film some flashback sequences at the river. these shots looked great because we got there at about 6 when the sun was setting. Later that night I had to go to work and I let Alex take over as they filmed the night shots of the band about to start their show at Lucky's. I gave specific directions to Alex and Lauren and let them do what they thought was right. we filmed about 6 rolls of film and hopefully it will come out good.I talked to Lauren and she told me at the end of the shoot Xander told her how impressed he and the band was with our project and he did not expect the professionalism of how well we were able to shoot the film. Wax Lips is very excited to see the final cut of the project and they are interested in having us put together another music video once this one is complete. Overall i think this is one of the best times i have ever had making a film and i know that everyone in the group was pretty happy with the results too.

art house to microcinema

I agree with the article that Art House cinemas are harder to find since the art house/ independent film definition has really changed and become more mainstream. People really like independent films but when major studios invest into these independents the art house cinema culture dies a bit. Micro cinemas are a very cool idea. They act like the original art house theaters providing exhibition space for local artists, student films, and other underground filmmakers. Its like a 21st century renascence of art-house cinema to become a microcinema. The microcinema all are different and unique style and provide an area for a community to grow. I am very interested in this because i am the lead projectionist at Lumina theater here on campus. I consider Lumina a cross between the art house cinema and the microcinema. We show a mix of blockbuster films and independent films. Saturday films are dedicated to films that are not necessarily mainstream and provide an outlet for independent films that ace films considers that the uncw audience will enjoy. we also show several international movies through different UNCW programers who choose these special interest films to get across their message to uncw students.Cucalorus has been at Lumina theater for 3 years as of this year, and in this festival we really show all types of independent films and experimental films. If Microcinema start to become more profitable and more popular nationally there can really be an art-house film boom and can provide big opportunities for independent filmmakers. I want Lumina theater to start to form to this microcinema style and I am going to try over the next year and have student film/independent local films be screened at Lumina,

Music Video

The other day our group met to decide what band we will create our music video for. We talked and looked up a few local NC bands and decided to make it for the local Wilmington band Wax Lips. I know the drummer, Xander, of Wax Lips through my DJing ventures. I worked with Xander and his small production company to put on an charity event at Sandbar to raise money for a homeless shelter. I have stayed in contact with him this past year and met his band one summer afternoon at a BBQ at his house. All the guys are young and cool. Wax Lips also has a very eye catching style with neon yellow, green,orange and pink clothes and guitars and sunglasses. They say they are like the new Glam Rock style pumped full of energy. We listened to their myspace recordings and we decided to use their song entitled "Buzz Kill" which is about a girl who broke the heart of the singer.. I think. The sound is very grungy, similar to Perl Jam. Its a good classic rock sound with a look that is new, flashy and with exciting color. We still need to do allot of planning but we have an ruff idea of what we are going to create. When I was telling the group about the last time I hung out with the band during the summer, they all took out their instruments and started playing a few cover songs on their back porch deck, and having a good time during this day party. We want to incorporate the fun relaxed style of the band doing that type of thing, playing at a daytime cookout party, and then getting into their big orange van and then performing at their show that night. We also want to incorporate a hot girl on a separate story-line. The girl will be the girl that the song is talking about. I want to incorporate the beautiful NC beach that we have here into the video, and will most likely have our girl start off tanning at the beach and then make her way to the party and then the show. The band's name is called Wax Lips and i want to incorporate that into the video by ending it with the girl kissing the camera and then leaving a neon color lipstick print on the last frame. I am very excited to direct my very first "Film" and really think that we will come away from this project with a great music video that can really help Xander and Wax Lips!!!