Tag Archives: high school

World Space Odyssey

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sci-fi short film/visual effects experiment

Watch World Space Odyssey on YouTube.

This was a short film project I made in my senior year of high school and served as a sort of intro to visual effects, although I hadn’t thought of it as that at the time. But it was great, I set up my garage with a big green sheet, some worklights, my homemade dolly and shot everything in a day. I did all the post work (compositing and editing) in Adobe Premiere, and used the MIDI setup at school (don’t remember what software they had) for the soundtrack, in addition to using music by Justin R. Durban.

LATENT(CY)

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experimental feature film about selling out

LATENT(CY) Playlist – Parts 1-7

I’m not a fan of experimental filmmaking or abstract expression. I’ve got no problem with it, it’s just not my style, not the way I express things. So this film was a bit of a challenge. Essentially spearheaded by myself and a classmate, I was much more of a clear-narrative kind of guy and he wanted more of the experimental, surreal elements. We co-wrote, co-directed, and were largely in charge of everything together. I was assigned the directorial position, and had to assume producing responsibilities as well when a classmate went on a study abroad trip, so I was double-shifting and managing most of the production by the midway point.

It was one of the most demanding and stressful projects I’ve worked on. I had to ignore an invitation to become an NHS student because of it. Not only was I coordinating everything from props and costumes but I was negotiating with locations, making sure we had permission to shoot in local businesses, public places, and making sure the actor’s schedules fit our deadlines for shooting and getting the project done. And on top of all this, I was making another short sci-fi film, more of a visual effects experiment even, in another class, so I had to balance that as well.

It took us about 3-4 months to complete, from concept to public premiere in the local movie theater, with a budget of around $1000 (donations from friends and family), and entirely non-profit. There were five students working on it and six actors. When it was done, it got good response from the community and friends and family I’ve shown it to, and was reviewed by Microfilmmaker magazine.

Kids and Heroes

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Breakfast Club-esque short film project in junior year

Kids and Heroes w/ Director Interview

Growing up, I latched onto storytelling as any kid, but film became the medium with which I could contribute to that field when I saw the original Star Wars trilogy. Stereotypical, I know, but it’s what happened. I loved them. I still love them. They’re brilliant. They’re wonderful.

Star Wars and the discovery of Star Wars fanfilms opened my mind to the possibilities of film and visual storytelling, and the possibility that I could make my own. I could be a part of that universe. From making props to writing movies, I was all about fanfilm ideation for a good year or so before I realized that with any traveling, I could find any location, and with any camera, I could shoot that location and tell a story within it. That opened up the whole world of film to me, and I began coming up with ideas left and right, writing short synopses and full screenplays all the time. All the while working away at my Star Wars homage piece, and finishing the script about 3 years after I’d started it.

Of course when I read it now, it seems juvenile, laughable, but I remember the feeling I got when I wrote it, when I realized I was capable of making something. And that was probably the biggest influence on my creative career of all. Given the opportunity, I can make something awesome, and frankly, why the hell not?

Kids and Heroes was my first serious short film project that I did for a Digital Editing course in junior year of high school. Now, to me, it’s trite and predictable, and of course as the creator I’m going to be more critical than other people, but in essence, I think it’s still a very valuable piece. It’s my transition from fun- or spare-time filmmaker to someone dedicated to their practice, making it their own form of expression. And when I showed it at the end of the semester premiere, it blew people away. :D