Do any of these blockbuster films sounds familiar? Up!, Iron Man, Ice Age, WALL-E, Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, AVATAR?
Well if you answered yes, then maybe this will interest you. Yesterday I had the opportunity to experience, sit in, and lend a hand during a session with the foley artist from all of those films and more. If you're not familiar with the concept a foley, think about it in terms of this...
When you watch a movie and a door opens, a glass breaks, a blender is heard, or footsteps on a stairwell, chances are your listening to foley sounds. By "definition" foley is the art creating or altering for use in a film, video, or other electronically produced work. So basically any sounds effect that needs some re-recording or enhancing is recreated in a foley session.
For about 8 hours yesterday, I watched (and listened) as Jana Vance, the foley artist in charge of creating all foley sounds for the previously mentioned films created a whole bunch of sound effect an AFI graduate student's thesis short film. The session went down at Outpost Studios in San Francisco, where I am interning one day a week this summer. It was amazing to meet and work with such a talented and respected industry professional. This was a much different experience from shoots that I've been on this summer, as we were in a studio all day dealing with an already completed picture. This process did further my beliefs that I never want to work in post production, but I sure as hell respect the art of it. All in all it was an awesome day and next time I watch a film (probably later today), I will definitely take more notice of the art of foley! And you should too!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
j. stalin - music video shoot!
I'm a few days behind on this one, but last week I had the honor and privilege of gripping on a music video shoot in Oakland, CA. This was my first trip across to Oakland since being in the Bay Area, and I found it to be quite an interesting experience. Finding out the location after midnight the night before and having to make the hour and a half commute for an 8am call was quite a bit.
But after all, we're making movies.
After meeting fellow crew members around the call time, we began to plan for the opening shots. Set in front of a liquor store in Oakland's famed, "Nelson Mandela Parkway" I found myself just a block away from the scene of a fatal shooting the night before. I found this made the experience that much more intriguing.
The talent of the video, J. Stalin a hip-hop artist from West Oakland arrived on set shortly thereafter and by about 10am the shoot had begun. I worked under Joey Mullen, an experienced grip/lighter/well-rounded filmmaker who was a wealth of knowledge and found myself instantly learning new vocabulary. My other pal on set was Ryan, a filmmaker who was not much older than me but has been working freelance for a couple of years. I was very thankful to be working with him as he caught me up on a lot of previously missed experiences.
After about a 14-hour shoot day, we wrapped around 10:30pm and I grabbed the BART back to San Francisco. I was wiped but learned a whole lot from the experience. I really dig being able to do these gigs throughout the summer and know when I go to produce my thesis in the Fall, these experiences will help me to respect the process that much more.
One final thing I learned: Being a good grip is having really good common sense.
But after all, we're making movies.
After meeting fellow crew members around the call time, we began to plan for the opening shots. Set in front of a liquor store in Oakland's famed, "Nelson Mandela Parkway" I found myself just a block away from the scene of a fatal shooting the night before. I found this made the experience that much more intriguing.
The talent of the video, J. Stalin a hip-hop artist from West Oakland arrived on set shortly thereafter and by about 10am the shoot had begun. I worked under Joey Mullen, an experienced grip/lighter/well-rounded filmmaker who was a wealth of knowledge and found myself instantly learning new vocabulary. My other pal on set was Ryan, a filmmaker who was not much older than me but has been working freelance for a couple of years. I was very thankful to be working with him as he caught me up on a lot of previously missed experiences.
After about a 14-hour shoot day, we wrapped around 10:30pm and I grabbed the BART back to San Francisco. I was wiped but learned a whole lot from the experience. I really dig being able to do these gigs throughout the summer and know when I go to produce my thesis in the Fall, these experiences will help me to respect the process that much more.
One final thing I learned: Being a good grip is having really good common sense.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Roadtrippin' through Cuba!
"most people in America don't even realize there's actually a city of Guantanamo, they only hear about what's happening in the Guantanamo Bay prison...guess the McDonald's fell on that side of the fence..." - paraphrased from Cuba documentary
Today I began work on a project which will be close to me for the next six weeks out here in SF. I began editing with Tyler MacNevin on his untitled documentary following a recent road trip through Cuba to get a good shot at Guantanamo Bay. This is a really eye-opening project and one that I am very grateful to be working on this summer. For the next six weeks, I'll be reporting to an office space Tyler has set up in the Mission district. I'm really glad to be a part of this not only to help out my editing skills, but to inspire me more as a filmmaker as well. I think this is one of the coolest, most creative ideas for a documentary I have seen. I look to be putting my post-production skills to the test with this project and feel that I definitely have what it takes to produce a quality cut of this documentary.
The editing approach I will be taking reminds me of when I created, Ghost Town this past year.
Ghost Town was a documentary I created about the city of Fitchburg, MA and dealt with how an old factory town torn apart by World War II is trying to make a comeback through the arts despite an influx of low-income housing and crime in recent decades. While the subject matter is different, the process I see myself going to use for this will probably be similar.
more to come on this project as I continue work on it!
Today I began work on a project which will be close to me for the next six weeks out here in SF. I began editing with Tyler MacNevin on his untitled documentary following a recent road trip through Cuba to get a good shot at Guantanamo Bay. This is a really eye-opening project and one that I am very grateful to be working on this summer. For the next six weeks, I'll be reporting to an office space Tyler has set up in the Mission district. I'm really glad to be a part of this not only to help out my editing skills, but to inspire me more as a filmmaker as well. I think this is one of the coolest, most creative ideas for a documentary I have seen. I look to be putting my post-production skills to the test with this project and feel that I definitely have what it takes to produce a quality cut of this documentary.
The editing approach I will be taking reminds me of when I created, Ghost Town this past year.
Ghost Town was a documentary I created about the city of Fitchburg, MA and dealt with how an old factory town torn apart by World War II is trying to make a comeback through the arts despite an influx of low-income housing and crime in recent decades. While the subject matter is different, the process I see myself going to use for this will probably be similar.
more to come on this project as I continue work on it!
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Alice Rose - "Into My Heart" (music video shoot)
As one of my very first assignments of the summer, I had the opportunity to work on a professional music video shoot. The artist in which the video was being made for was a Danish solo artist named Alice Rose. My second night in the city I attended a gathering for my internship, Adelphia Films and made contacts with quite a few people. One of them being Bill Bowles, who offered me the opportunity to work on the set a couple days later. On day one, I took off at about 5:30am to meet up with the cast/crew about 20-25 blocks away from where I'm staying at the University of San Francisco. This was just the beginning of getting to really explore and become familiar with the city. I arrived at the location and met director, Paul O'Bryan as well as a number of other crew/cast members who were instantly welcoming and interested in the fact that I had just arrived in the city. The first shooting day was a blast and left me totally wiped by the end, but I had no problem with that at all. As production assistant, they had me running all over the city to do anything from picking up a lens to getting lunch, and this really allowed me to become familiar with the city in a way that would not have been possible otherwise.
While on set, I was constantly snapping production stills as well as assisting the Director of Photography with any and all requests he had for me. It was quite a refreshing experience to see how professionals work differently from students, even if the production's budget was minuscule. We shot the entire first day in beautiful Golden Gate Park, which I quickly learned is one of the many gems of San Francisco. The park seemed virtually endless in beauty and nature, while still being quite accessible for shooting a video production.
The second day was spent in two separate locations, the morning at an apartment location in the Mission district of SF and the late afternoon/evening back at another location in Golden Gate Park. Again I was instantly put to work running errands and becoming even more familiar with the city, which was awesome. On set I had a number of small tasks ranging from altering a costume piece to clearing out spaces for equipment and preparing shots. Once we wrapped production for the day, I was overcome with an instant feeling of gratification and feel confident that my experiences on professional will only get better and better every time.
One of the best parts of this experience for me was not only being able to begin navigating a brand new city for the first time, but actually going out and beginning to market and network myself in a setting where much work opportunity is present. I feel that although the shoot was only 2 days, I learned quite a bit and have definitely grown as a filmmaker through this experience.
While on set, I was constantly snapping production stills as well as assisting the Director of Photography with any and all requests he had for me. It was quite a refreshing experience to see how professionals work differently from students, even if the production's budget was minuscule. We shot the entire first day in beautiful Golden Gate Park, which I quickly learned is one of the many gems of San Francisco. The park seemed virtually endless in beauty and nature, while still being quite accessible for shooting a video production.
The second day was spent in two separate locations, the morning at an apartment location in the Mission district of SF and the late afternoon/evening back at another location in Golden Gate Park. Again I was instantly put to work running errands and becoming even more familiar with the city, which was awesome. On set I had a number of small tasks ranging from altering a costume piece to clearing out spaces for equipment and preparing shots. Once we wrapped production for the day, I was overcome with an instant feeling of gratification and feel confident that my experiences on professional will only get better and better every time.
One of the best parts of this experience for me was not only being able to begin navigating a brand new city for the first time, but actually going out and beginning to market and network myself in a setting where much work opportunity is present. I feel that although the shoot was only 2 days, I learned quite a bit and have definitely grown as a filmmaker through this experience.
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