Short Term Goals

Digital Portfolio
I feel strong with my overall basic materials, I do feel like I have issues with different problems in editing. Mostly with dropped frames. Also I could use a refresher on proper compression, I followed the instructions on the blog but I think I could understand the process for DVD making process.
Dvd Portfolio
My DVD Portfolio was built with help from peers in the class, I understood the process. Although the Step by step instructions were incomplete the basic gist of the process was understood. There are some questions that I still have. One issue that I need help with is getting the text on the main Menu to change. I was unable to bring up the layers tab in the bottom right corner. Also I understand there were some sort of blank spaces that we had to plan, but alas I did not.
Web Portfolio
The Web Portfolio was not as difficult to finish because I have been a long user of Youtube. I also established my Vimeo account earlier this year. Formatting and compressing the files for Vimeo made uploading a breeze and not a very difficult situation. On thing that I did have issue with was the uploading on Withoutabox. I was able to set up and account and project module, but when it came to uploading several attempts yielded no change.

Plans for the Future

Winter break holds a lot of resting with family, apart from that I hope to prepare for the next semester of college. Digital Cinema II and Experimental cinema will not only give me a double dose of Jill but a great opportunity to grow over the spring. Winter time will be used to prepare for future shorts that I want to shoot. I have to come back with at least ten treatments or plans for experimentation. I do not expect on making as many as ten shorts but I hope to have a few ideas to roll with when the semester starts. This summer I will be going to California and Oregon, I will take this opportunity to utilize my girlfriends Medium Format Camera to explore the visual aspects of the frame. I feel that Filming is made better with great camera work, and I know that my weak points include focus and composition.

Michel Gondry - Camera Trick

This blows my mind.

30 Second Film Festival

I heard about this online. I feel that it seems like a simple concept, 30 seconds of video with a two second title card, but sometimes the simplest things turn out to be the hardest. I will be submitting something, not sure what yet, to the festival. If anyone else is interested in making something or wants some help or a brainstorming session, feel free to get at me either through my school e-mail soto_jorge@mcastudent.org or on facebook at facebook.com/marijuanista.

Video Collage Version 2.o

Casting

When writing the story I wrote from my own personal experiences using characters that are real people, I was able to use the people the inspired the story to tell the story as well. I was quite lucky that each of these people will be able to act in the short.

Here we have Armando and Incarnacion Gurrero. This was the best picture I was able to get of Inarnacion, I apologize for the quality.

Hugo Garcia

Armando Jr

Armando Gurrero

Internship/Fellowships Research

When looking into the different fellowships and internships I focused on the descriptions that sounded more hands on and with potential for first hand experience. I feel that there is only so much learning that can be done in the classroom and I am defiantly a champion of learning in the field.  The programs that caught my eye the most were the ones associated with organizations and people that have had an influence in what I consider dense or valid filmmaking.

Some examples of the types of filmmaking that I would consider dense would be Adaptation, Directed by Spike Jonez, Slacker, Directed by Richard Linklater, The El Mariachi trilogy, Directed by Robert Rodriguez, Fantastic Planet, Directed By Rene Laloux, Clerks, Directed by Kevin Smith, City of God, Directed by Paul Lins and Katia Lund, JCVD, Directed by Mabrouk El Mechri, Che, Directed by Steve Soderberge.

This is a lose list of influences that I would say make their way into my work. There are many more, but these are the films I could think of off the top of my head. When it came to searching for programs I decided to stick with what I know about the film industry. Checking Cannes, Sundance, and IFC to see if they had any student based programs. To my luck they did.

Cannes Film Fest- This program was the first that I looked into. The program entails a three-day pre-festival orientation that includes round table discussions with people like Spike Jonez, Charlie Kauffman, Jude Law, Michael Moore, Etc. Also part of the arrangements includes getting to stay in the scenic city of Cannes, along with access to extra tickets for the main events. Not only would this be a wonderful program to get into but the diverse amount of students and different backgrounds coming to Cannes would be a great perspective giving experience.

Sundance Institute- This program was very vague, Basically giving you a spreadsheet of possible openings in the institute. Part of the description of what the duties of the employees include keeping track of media, starting up conversations with the directors of the submissions, setting up and tearing down the stands, also generating media to raise awareness about the institute.

Independent Film Channel- This program was probably the most intriguing program that I found, a few of the duties that I discovered that IFC does is things like transcribing subtitles for unreleased foreign films. This seems like it would be a lot of fun, and an interesting opportunity to leave my mark on a film forever. Overall I couldn’t find any direct links in IFCtv.com for an internship page, fortunately I was able to find many interviews with people who were a part of the program and many who went on to be hired on by IFC. 

Revisions for Class

My idea has gone in a completely different direction. I have decided to write a story about a gardener.

Act I.
The main character is introduced as an immigrant worker who is not very rich and has a strong devotion to God.
Act II.
Here our protagonist is met with a bush that bestows upon the gardener a bike. One that his son wants for his upcoming birthday.
Act III.
The resolution is not set in stone. Either the Gardener finds out that the magic bush is just a stash spot for some of the neighborhood kids, this would play pretty funny. The other possible idea for the Gardener is that the short cuts off right when he finds the treasures in the bush.

Elevator Line.
A Gardener is amazed to find treasures in a bush he regularly trims, but is it what it really seems?

Themes.
Satirical God head?
Immigrant roots examination?

Videos

Here are the two projects that we critiqued today.

Video one- Transition video:

http://vimeo.com/29742230

Video two- Collage:

http://vimeo.com/29737353

Self-Critique

Project one was the transition project. The project involves me dropping a camera "accidentally" and the fall of the camera. This came about from the want to capture the decent of a camera and old timey studio films and the amount of control and freedom the directors had to pan up or down the whole side of a building. The theme I would say is not to place cameras on ledges or they will fall. The problem I had with this video was rolling shutter on the way down. Since I did not have too much control on the decent of the camera there was a lot of jarring and unwanted motion that got translated.

Project two was a pretty interesting project when it came to editing. Since i have never made a video college this whole experience has been fun. The video as a whole is a collection of footage from around the school showing action through out the length. Overall I wanted to instill the idea that flowing streams of media don't always necessarily have a narrative, but instead that viewers could invest their own idea of a narrative. I think I was able to work a good visual rhythm for the piece. One proble area that i always have issue with is a lacking of footage. I felt a bit rushed and was unable to get all of the shots I wanted.

For Fun

Made this the other day, the music is just for fun. I will be using this in my video collage. Again this is a video just for fun!

Storyboards For 9-7-11

Lately I have become obsessed with collage art in my personal work and sketchbook, So the idea of a video collage is extremely interesting to me. Layering, Editing, Composition, and color will all be essential in creating a successful rhythm. The shots I have storyboarded for are all shots that I have had a desire to shoot for a while now. I hope they turn out looking good

Through the Lens

Jill asked us to take a look at the world through a camera of some sort, I used my cellphone to get a driving angle. I've always been a fan of these sorts of shots, I suppose I enjoy pretending what it would be like to actually be a fly on a car during a chase scene. I also included an angle that I got at Gibson Hall under one of the glass sinks in the restrooms. I was unsure about any of the dreadful audio that my camera captured so I made a quick beat using Garageband, loops are pretty simple to work with.

Jorge: An Introduction

I started to film things when I was eleven, My parents gave me the family camcorder to capture Birthdays and special events. Soon I found out that my mom did not like the things I was capturing, she would tell me that the camera work was shaky or that I was focusing on the wrong things. I put down the camera and let it collect dust for a few years. In High School I was enrolled in Film Production and Film Analysis, taught by now independent filmmaker Derrick Lee Sims.

I suppose this is getting a bit word heavy so I'll wrap it up by introducing my demo reel from 2008. I hope to significantly change and improve this by the time this class is over.

First Post: Storyboards

The story boards I made are relatively simple. Id like to hear some feed back about what I am planing on doing. So here you go.