Accomplishments and goals ?

J.R. Hudson

J.R. Hudson

Spirit Animal
What are your Accomplishments and goals (if any) for this round of the DVXFest ?

I don't mean Winning it, but as a filmmaker

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I'm anxious and nervous and lacking crew as I go into the shoot Friday night but have boarded my film out and have made many notes on my attack plan

I have a look I am after, I have a stroy I want too tell through visuals

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I have actors that, at least though Reel's and Audition's, appear to have some skillage

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My specific goals are too tell my story visually; with dialogue, although being prevalent, being a secondary ingredient

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Although I amn having it scored, I am considering using no score at all

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I am going after a typical Hudson, gritty, high contrast vibe

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Most important, I want growth ...

What are you goals, if any ?
 
Last time with Bloody Mary, my main goal was to work on building specific moments, slowing down time, really working with rhythm and pacing and directing the viewer's attention.

This time, I was really working on writing.

I'm very confident now in my crew and my ability to run a set, so on this one I've been really honing the script over and over and over, working on conflict, character action, and in many places eliminating lines and working with the actors on subtext. So instead of: "I hate you." I would write: "Yeah" and work with the actor to get that subtext into the "Yeah" line. I was reading the McKee book on Story and he breaks down a scene from Chinatown like that. So I spent a lot of time thinking through the characters' thoughts through the scenes, and through that, deciding what they will and will not say or do at a given moment based on their thoughts, what they want to show and hide, etc.

I also wrote the most detailed character biographies I've ever done this time. I gave them to the actors, but told them to use what they wanted. But mainly, I wanted to visualize these characters as clearly as possible, and know where they were coming from, so I wrote these long bios, detailing their pasts, and relationships to other characters. Really helped.

So i think mainly it was writing for me on this one. Figuring out exactly which character actions tell the story I want to tell, and express the theme I want to express.

Oh yeah, I am going to start studying acting again this year, so I also gave myself a little role in this. See if I still got chops. You be the judge.
 
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When we were stressing on trying to get a young actress we came up with an idea that wouldn't involve dialogue at all but would be just images andI liked the idea because I feel sometimes we tell and show but I'd rather just do one or the other, but then we found a little girl to play the part so we canned that idea for another day... I can't wait for when we do that one.

So, that is part of our goal this time around is not to show and tell but just one or the other... I hope we pulled it off okay.

Also, as a director I'm still finding out what I like and don't like, about 20% of the time I ask the actors to do another take without really knowing why, it's not until I'm sitting down at home watching the footage where I realize what I didn't like about their performance but I was unable to do that on set. I hope with practise I'll get better at that.

And of course growth. We try to challenge ourselves each project with something we have never done before (which stresses ourselves out, but hopefully it'll make us learn more each time).
 
John_Hudson said:
My specific goals are too tell my story visually; with dialogue, although being prevalent, being a secondary ingredient?
Click to expand...

If you get a chance read that section in Story I mention, where he breaks down the Chinatown scene, vocalizes the characters' thoughts, and the lines and actions. That scene turns out to be a really great example of the dialog only being what it absolutely needs to be while the characters still pursue their objectives. Or just check out the scene: the one where she breaks down with "My sister, my daughter..."
 
I guess our goal was to go out and think of a short on site... and using ourselves as actors, to make something interesting on the fly. Obviously, I do NOT recommend this... but, it was a fun discipline.
 
Great question.

I am involved in two different films for this fest and for each I have a very different goal.

On "Threading the Needle" my goal was to work with two fellow dvxer's that I haven't worked with in the past. This was Ted's (co-writer and director) first medium scale LA type project and after watching his efforts on I.D. I promised that if the opportunity came up to work with him, I would. Mark (co-writer and producer) is a great guy and a very resourceful individual. Their script was good enough to gain my interest and I brought a number of other's that I have worked with on board. On this project I am kinda the guy with the most experience, so my goals were to enjoy the process and work with a couple of very talented individuals.

The second project that I am working on "Violet" falls into the non compete category and for this one, I only used the fest as an inspiration to get started on the project. For this one, it was to have the opportunity to work with some highly skilled (professional) talent and to see what could be achieved. Though the scale of this story is much smaller than "Threading the Needle" this one is all about character development and pure acting. Since I was the EP on this one, a goal was also to navigate the SAG process and become a signatory producer.

I have to admit, these fests are great motivators no matter what ones goals are and for this fact alone, I am very grateful that they have occurred.
 
Mine was just to participate, and meet people. And learn from that experience.

It would have been great to have spent the time needed, plan things out, rehearse, etc.. and try to give it a real go...

But, it didn't work out that way. I did meet some cool people, and I'm learning a lot reading other folks threads.

Kevin's thread gets the award for most informative. It's great to just read info on that thread, and follow his process (with going the SAG route, etc), and share in the wealth of technical knowledge that he has.

So, really yeah. Just wanna participate. Not expecting my entry to be "tight" or even that good at all, but it is all a learning process, and you gotta make some crap before you can make some better stuff. At the least, I will be able to say I did it from start to finish. It's just deciding if I really want to showcase my crap :thumbsup:

Jason
 
Wow. Good topic, John!

During this venture, I want to grow as a filmmaker. I am sure that must seem obvious but that is the bottom line.

However, specifically, I want to mature as part of a filmmaking team.

I entered this contest with only one film under my belt... a one-man "solo" effort. With this film, I am the director with a partner, crew, cast and locations. The responsibilities have been incredible.

I have already learned a lot and know of many things that I would do differently. I can't wait to take this knowledge to my next project.
 
jeremytuttle said:
Also, as a director I'm still finding out what I like and don't like, about 20% of the time I ask the actors to do another take without really knowing why, it's not until I'm sitting down at home watching the footage where I realize what I didn't like about their performance but I was unable to do that on set. I hope with practise I'll get better at that.

And of course growth. We try to challenge ourselves each project with something we have never done before (which stresses ourselves out, but hopefully it'll make us learn more each time).
Click to expand...

My brother and I are so instinctual as directors that we know right away when we don't like something and can look at each other and say, "That should be different." He is right about sometimes not knowing what different is supposed to be. We are getting better though.

I felt that this go around everyone was more aware of what was going on in a shot. We tried to explain to all people what the shot was and how it fit into the story and where it was going from there. We tried to make sure that everyone, even down to the boom op, was comfortable about what we were trying to achieve. You might not think a guy holding a reflector or the mic needs to know artistic detail but it helps. Every bit of understanding helps.

I also felt that from a professional stand point we have progressed. We had all the right permits, waivers signed, insurances needed, police needed, and even meal planning taken care of so we could focus on the film.

For the next go around I would like for us to not be learning equipment as we go. We got our camera three days before the first scene. We where learning on the fly. Next time I would like to plan on what we need and get it before hand so we can have plenty of time to become comfortable with it.
 
This time around I wanted to accomplish a decent script. In horrorfest we basically
wrote a short story then a shotlist, nothing else. I think I might have accomplished
this goal.

Time management. Last fest I was rushing around. This hasn't changed. I've lost
lots of time during the holidays and I'm moving in a week which really throws a
wrench into the works. I need to keep a positive attitude in the next few days to
get through this.

Directing. This time I will have a crew to depend on however small it is. Also, I'll
have a considerable amount of actors/actress to deal with. Developing better
leadership skills to keep everyone motivated... I want to further my understanding
of the acting artform and find the right 'language' to use in a specific scene.

accomplished building a 35mm adapt for the dvx, hope it works!
 
Theodore J Arabian said:
I have already learned a lot and know of many things that I would do differently. I can't wait to take this knowledge to my next project.
Click to expand...

I for one can't wait to see what you can achieve with a bit of experience under your belt!
 
Jason Ramsey said:
Kevin's thread gets the award for most informative. It's great to just read info on that thread, and follow his process (with going the SAG route, etc), and share in the wealth of technical knowledge that he has.
Click to expand...

Wow Jason,

I am extremely honored by your comment. It makes my day to read that some one found the information useful.

Thanks so much!

Kevin
 
khmuse said:
I for one can't wait to see what you can achieve with a bit of experience under your belt!
Click to expand...
Well, I hope that you are on the set as the DP to witness it first hand! It was such an honor and privilege to work with you Kevin.
 
Brandon, you have been such a contributor from the beginning. I look forward to this coming out and being able to identify how each person played a role.
 
Thanks my friend, can't wait to see it... speaking of which, not to get too off topic, but when are some more roughs coming to see?
 
Great thread. Was cool reading the aspirations of those who've entered the contest. Come on more people! Share your feeeeeelings. I know, I'm not in the contest, but this thread actually has spurned more interest in the fest, for me.

So keep it flowing on topic! And good luck to all of ya.
 
A better script/ concept was my main goal for this festival. I wanted to create a story that was fueled by characters and situations, not screen hungry concepts or VFX work.

Within the story, I want to reveal rather than misdirect and surprise. I want different elements of the script to have an unique impact, hopefully giving it more dimensionality.
 
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