"HUSHABYE"...

The Final Cut

Watch with plenty of bass!

Thank you to everyone that helped in this, my first endeavor into making a short, cohesive film.

ENJOY and Comment!

#ChaseTheDream #FilmSchool #FilmStudent

                                                                                        

"HUSHABYE" - Rough Cut - First Edit

A SHORT DRAMATIC STORY

About a moment of fear in your life.

This has been the first real writing assignment that we have had so far. As the title states the assignment was pretty straight forward. I revised mine a few times because I was far too long winded. The instructions set a limit of 400 - 500 words and mine comes in somewhere around 950 words. Oh Well! It's a good story and I could not shorten it anymore. It is a true story about a moment of fear in my life. The moment is from when I was nine years old and I wrote it as such, for the most part. This story is called "My Monster and Me". There is the use of two "bad" words so consider yourself warned. If you choose not to read it because of that then you will be missing out. I am proud of this one. Here it is:

MY MONSTER AND ME

I believe in monsters. Not the garden variety under the bed or closet type. I mean real living, breathing monsters. The kind of monster that you never see until it’s too late and when you try to tell someone, especially an adult, the monster is gone before they see. People don’t acknowledge my monster because it’s too damned difficult; too difficult to confront and too difficult to believe. I’m only nine years old; I won’t be confronting it, I fight just to survive living with it. When I tell an adult, I look like a fool. The monster is gone and replaced by an angel in disguise; like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. So, yeah, I know monsters are real; hell, I live with one.

This night had been especially difficult. I hadn’t seen my monster for weeks. I was living with my angel and it was amazing, but tonight my monster came back with a vengeance. Drugs and alcohol fueled my monster. My angel was sad all day; she started drinking alcohol called Jack Daniels. No cup even. Just drinking right from the bottle, which I could never do with milk or juice. Not if I new what was good for me. I also knew, from spying on my monster, that the needles being used and shared with other people’s monsters were not for insulin or diabetes or whatever my monster chose to say when I caught her with them. I was also aware of why there were burnt spoons in drawers in my monsters room. So, two bottles later my monster returned and my angel was gone and all hell was breaking lose. Everything was destroyed, EVERYTHING; from the shower glass door to the T.V. to the dishware. Everything was flipped, shattered and thrown with intense rage. Glass and debris was everywhere. I stayed hidden under couch cushions in a corner because my monster was busy tonight. Tonight I was truly frightened. Frightened and caged.

I knew I had to leave when the time was right. I had already been winged by random objects and caught a broom on the back until it broke in two. It was my fault though. I got in the way. I tried conjuring up my own inner monster to make a stand and I lost, as usual. I had to let my monster cycle through it. Eventually it would run out of fuel and she would slumber like a giant. I patiently waited for that slumber tonight like many nights before. In that time of slumber I can talk to my monster without fear, but I don’t know if she hears me in her moment of peace. Tonight there would be no talking. Tonight was a night for running. The time came and I had to make my break, but the door is so loud and heavy and the lock sticks. What if I try but can’t get the door open before my monster catches me? What if the door easily opens this time and I can be free of this mess and this fear, even if only for a night? What if I didn’t believe in monsters? It didn’t matter; I had to try.

I tip toed over and around glass and debris imagining it was a minefield and I was G.I. Joe on Saturday morning. I peeked in at my monster and saw her sleeping. No opportunity to soothe my monster as she slept. This was the opportunity to make it out. I navigated the debris field back down the hallway to the front door. My feet felt so large and heavy. I had made it to the door but now my hands felt so small and my arms so short. I placed one hand on the top lock and prayed that it would turn. My muscles felt weak as I turned the lock. I could feel it locking up and not moving. I would have to jiggle it. This would break the silence and risk waking my sleeping monster. I was so frustrated and I began crying as I tried harder and harder to turn the lock. Seconds seemed to turn to hours as my frustration grew. I’d had enough; I wanted out so bad that I jiggled the lock hard and loud intentionally; all or nothing. The jiggling seemed amplified as it echoed down the hall. Then I heard it. The monster calling my name, but it was my first and middle together. “Mitchell Wayne!” she roared. All I could think was “I’m fucked” as my tiny, pounding heart sank and I felt crushed. I’m only nine but I knew I was just that word even if I’m not supposed to say it. CRACK! The lock moved. I turned the knob as I looked down the hall. My monster was coming to get me. I swung the door hard to clear debris from in front of it as it opened and the door could block the hallway. Before it was completely open I started running. I felt like a cartoon with my feet moving in fast circles as I slowly moved forward. I made it out just as my monster ran into the door slamming it shut behind me. She was angry, but I was free. My monster gave chase, but I had made it to the neighbors. They knew the truth and had given me a key to their backdoor just for these moments. I would live to survive another night. I knew I would have to go back eventually and that this would be just another night with my monster and me, but tonight I was free. Tonight I could sleep without being afraid of monsters.

The only words the professor could muster up initially were "that's heavy stuff, wow" as the rest of the class was silent. They appreciated the story and eventually came around to discussing the way in which it is written. It just took them a moment to push past the shock of it all. They also acknowledged the difficulty in sharing such a moment and expressed their gratitude. Awesome classmates at SFI!

I am glad I gained the courage to share this moment. For days I tried to come up with other moments but this one would not leave my thoughts. Now that it has been written I feel relieved of it. Film school as a very expensive therapy? Ha, no way! Well I hope you enjoyed. Look out for monsters, help those dealing with their own monsters and remember, be good peoples! By the way, I am a Bears fan, so those #monstersofthemidway are good monsters. Support the Chicago Bears with a #believeinmonsters hashtag this football season which is way too far away. Bear Down!
#chasethedream #filmschool #filmstudent #thestruggleisreal @SEAFilmStudent

A STILL STORY

In twenty photos....

This was the assignment we had to turn in today. Pretty simple thing. Take 20 photos and arrange them to tell a story. I had a bunch of ideas for this. I decided to go with the following photos:

There's the photos! Initially, most people were like "oh, okay he's just documenting a grocery shopping trip". Some were even like "I thought it was just going to be a boring display of shopping, grocery shopping at that which no one likes to do!". Wrong! I'm glad I was able to twist it up at the end by giving the food away to a homeless gentleman at the park next to Pike's Place Market there in Seattle. I figured since I have a chance to make a group of people look at photos that maybe I can inspire a little bit of something in regards to helping others. I believe it's important. I made a friend for that moment in the end of the photos. That moment is now frozen in time! He was actually playing Sudoku which is way beyond my intelligence level! Mad props to him! We just discussed how beautiful the area was and that if you're gonna sit in a park and play some Sudoku that it might as well be a park with a beautiful view. He went on to tell me a bit about the boats and barges that enter and exit the area through that part of the Puget Sound and how thats what he used to do until he was laid off.

Appreciate what you have and remember to be good peoples out there in the world because #thestruggleisreal and we all need to #payitforward

#chasethedream #filmschool #filmstudent @SEAFilmStudent

MY FIRST SCENE BREAKDOWN

And now movies will never be the same.

I see movies as cuts now..... already. I knew it would change viewing for a bit but dang. So a scene breakdown is taking a scene from a movie and breaking it down to it's parts. Things like number of cuts, types of shots used, description of action and Mise-en-scene and the running time. It's just a nice way to take a piece of film and analyze it. Take a close look at what is happening shot by shot.

I chose the scene of the wicked witch melting in "The Wizard of OZ" and did my breakdown based on this video

Below is a copy and paste of my Excel file Scene Breakdown workbook. It's admittedly a bit boring but very interesting in regards to analyzing and seeing what's really going on. Especially in the editing aspect

Scene breakdown one follows:

SEATTLE FILM INSTITUTE: FUNDAMENTALS OF EDITING
SCENE BREAKDOWN # 1							DATE: 3/1/2014
Film:_The Wizard of OZ				Name: Mitch Calhoun		Program: MFA FM&P
Scene: Wicked Witch Melting								Page: 1
#	Time	Shot	Location	Character	Description	Music	Video FX	Sound FX
1	00:00:01	CU	INT. Castle	Wicked Witch	Wicked Witch threatening Dorothy	Eeerie with fast violins	None	None
2	00:00:04	MS	INT. Castle	Cowardly Lion Tin Man Dorothy Scarecrow	All four characters looking worried and frightened huddling closer together.	"	"	"
3	00:00:07	CU   Pan up	INT. Castle	Wicked Witch Minions	Wicked Witch finishes threat and raises broom to a flame to set the end on fire	"	"	"
4	00:00:12	MS	INT. Castle	Cowardly Lion Tin Man Dorothy Scarecrow	All four huddled together staring at broom and fire in fear	"	"	"
5	00:00:14	CU  Pan  down	INT. Castle	Wicked Witch Minions	Wicked Witch has set broom on fire and threatens scarecrow	"	"	"
6	00:00:18	CU  broom to MS	INT. Castle	Cowardly Lion Tin Man Dorothy Scarecrow	We see the broom on fire set scarecrows arm on fire. Dorothy retrieves bucket of water	"	"	Woosh of fire
7	00:00:25	WS	INT. Castle	Cowardly Lion Tin Man Dorothy Scarecrow Wicked Witch Minions	See dorothy throwing water onto scarecrows arm and that the Wicked Witch is in the "line of fire"	Climactic with loud cymbal crash	"	Woosh of fire
8	00:00:26	CU	INT. Castle	Wicked Witch	See water splashing onto the Wicked With's face	None	"	Water splash
9	00:00:27	MS	INT. Castle	Cowardly Lion Tin Man Dorothy Scarecrow Wicked Witch Minions	Wicked Witch is screaming as the others back away and recover from scarecrow fire	"	"	None
10	00:00:28	WS        Long time before it cuts	INT. Castle	Cowardly Lion Tin Man Dorothy Scarecrow Wicked Witch Minions	All eyes are on Wicked Witch standing alone from any group, framed by minions and weapons, as she begins melting and cursing Dorothy	"	Smoke/Fog	Hissing sound
11	00:00:54	MS	INT. Castle	Cowardly Lion Tin Man Dorothy Scarecrow	Look down in shock at the pile of robes and puddle of what was the Wicked Witch	"	None	Hissing sound
12	00:00:55	CU	INT. Castle	Toto    Monkey	Toto, a monkey and spear tip of a weapon investigate what remains of the Wicked Witch	Triumphant rum-pum-pum-pummm	Smoke/Fog	Hissing sound screech of monkey
13	00:01:01	CU	INT. Castle	Lead Minion	After inspection with his weapon minion looks at Dorothy amazed that Wicked Witch is dead and says Dorothy did it	Slightly eerie orchestra	None	None
14	00:01:05	MS	INT. Castle	Cowardly Lion Tin Man Dorothy Scarecrow	The group looks worried and shake heads no as Dorothy states that she did not intend to kill the Wicked Witch	"	"	"
15	00:01:11	WS	INT. Castle	Cowardly Lion Tin Man Dorothy Scarecrow Minions	The minions are elated at the death of the Wicked Witch and bow to Dorothy as they hail her with praise	Happier but quiet orchestra	"	"
16	00:01:14	MS	INT. Castle	Cowardly Lion Tin Man Dorothy Scarecrow	The group looks relieved and happythat the minions are happy. Dorothy realizes she needs the Wicked Witch's broom	Happy Orchestra	"	"
17	00:01:15	WS        Long time before it cuts	INT. Castle	Cowardly Lion Tin Man Dorothy Scarecrow Minions	All characters are elated. Dorothy asks for the broom. The minions are happy to see it go. Dorothy realizes her mission is accomplished and its time to tell the Wizard "The Wicked Witch is dead"!	Louder Happy Orchestra	"	"
END SCENE                    Scene Retrieved From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aopdD9Cu-So There you have it! My first scene breakdown in film school. Again, school is great! Seattle is great! My classmates are awesome and the faculty is too! SFI has been a great choice. Very hands on and a great pace. The location is amazing too. #chasethedream #filmschool #filmstudent #thestruggleisreal @SEAFilmStudent

TWO WEEKS DOWN

And I have not had time to do an update.

I'm still trying to balance life against film school and my online school. In total I am taking 23 credit hours. Oh my God, it's daunting seeing that number like that. 23! Well I am certainly behind schedule with my online school. Film school is going great and in two weeks I have learned and done so much. I have even shot a short film with a super 8. I sure hope the lighting was right. The film has been sent off to be developed and I'm anxious to get it back so I can figure out how to edit it all together. So over the next two weeks I will post the following:

My first scene breakdown

My first storyboard

My first short drama about a moment of fear in my life.... "My Monster and ME"

My 20 still photos that tell a picture

My four super 8 ideas

My storyboard for the first super 8 that I shot..... "Hushabye"

My shot list for my first super 8

Pictures of my equipment that the school has been giving to us

My second scene breakdown

I think that pretty much wraps up everything I haven't had time to post about just yet. Film school has been great. The students and faculty at SFI are awesome and I know this was a great decision. I am tired. I am anxious. I am a bit stressed. These are not overwhelming me..........yet!
#chasethedream #filmschool #filmstudent @SEAFilmStudent 

LESSONS IN FILMMAKING WITH SEBASTIAN KLEPPE

When I watch this, now, it is so funny to me. I love this!

I wonder if it will get funnier as I go through school?

Whatever...... awesome job to the folks that made this and #SebastianKleppe. What are your thoughts on this? If you're experienced and happen to read this tiny start-up blog is there anything in it that teaches a real lesson? I look forward to understanding the processes better.

#chasethedream #thestruggleisreal @SEAFilmStudent

FIVE OUT OF SIX AIN'T BAD!

So, five of my six books have arrived! The Seattle Film Institute was nice enough to send out a list of required books about two weeks prior to the start of school which is scheduled for Monday, February 24th, 2014. The list along with pricing at their time of research follows:

Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 Classroom in a Book

Publisher: Adobe Press; 1st edition (2012)

Paperback: 480 pages

ISBN: 978-0321822475

List Price: $59.99 (Amazon new: $39.00

In the Blink of an Eye: A Perspective on Film Editing

By: Walter Murch

Publisher: Silman James Press, Revised Second Edition (2001)

Paperback: 146 pages

ISBN: 1-879505-62-2

List Price: $13.95 (Amazon new: $9.56)

Cinematography, Theory & Practice:

Image Making for Cinematographers, Directors, and Videographers

By: Blain Brown

Publisher: Focal Press, Second edition (2011)

Paperback: 384 pages

ISBN: 978-0-240-81209-9

List Price: $32.46 (Amazon new: $32.46)

Film Art: An Introduction

Publisher: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages; 10 edition (July 6, 2012)

Paperback: 544 pages

ISBN-10: 0073535109

List Price: $102.43 (Amazon)

Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting

By: Syd Field

Publisher: Delta (2005)

Paperback: 257 pages

ISBN: 0385339038

List Price: $16.00 (Amazon new: $9.46)

Stealing Fire from the Gods

By: James Bonnett

Publisher: Michael Wiese Productions, Second edition (2006)

Paperback: 269 pages

ISBN: 1932907114

List Price: $26.95 (Amazon new: $17.79)

So there you have it. The list of books it takes to get started. I opted to go through Amazon as a prime member for 5 of these. I ordered them on a Thursday at noon and received them the next day (Friday) at 3:00pm. Awesome. They are all new and in great shape and I intend to destroy them gently over time.

The book "Film Art: An Introduction" was not available as quickly through Amazon so I went through Barnes and Noble, I am a member (10% off, free express shipping and so forth). I first called Cinema Books Seattle as was suggested by staff at the school but they did not have it in stock. I was able to order the book for $108.00 dollars U.S. and received notification on Friday afternoon that it shipped and should arrive Monday or Tuesday. I purchased it new and for all books my shipping was free. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

So school starts Monday at 2pm in the Hitchcock theater with orientation. I am really stoked and look forward to what this will bring. I will continually update and am almost done creating the usual social media outlets but I have added in a website at wix. All of it is just to network but I will also have advice, tips, tricks and tidbits from other students, pros and things i find on the web. I will also discuss transportation in the area since I am still toying with leaving my car at home and taking the train/bus for school which is Monday through Thursday. #commuternightmare #chasingthedream @SEAFilmStudent #thestruggleisreal

Stacked and ready to go.

Package 2 contained these 2 books

Package 1 contained these three books

WAITING FOR MY BOOKS

Because that’s always fun.

So I have decided to go through with my grand idea to attend film school with the Seattle Film Institute. I start on Monday. I have gone back and forth on choosing this path. While it has been a dream to be in the film industry I have weighed that against reality plus fifteen years in the U.S. Army has led me down a different education path. I have an Associates of Technology and a Bachelors of Science in Health Science. I was toying with the idea of being a high school chemistry teacher. (Insert witty Breaking Bad quip here). Pacific Lutheran University has a great Masters of Art in Education in a one year program with an internship and residency teaching certificate. The cost for film school is tens of thousands more than PLU also but chase the dream it is. I don’t know if I am excited or nervous but I do know it’s going to be a juggling act. I still have two online courses with Trident University International to complete! AAAAHHHHHH!! At any rate I plan to track my learning, the nuances, highlights and other words that mean crap that happens during this struggle to become a film maker. I'm making all of the social media accounts and ready to start networking and learning, but, for now, I wait for my books. I will post separately about the cost of each book and how I chose to obtain them when they come in. Remember #thestruggleisreal #chasethedream @SEAFilmStudent