Production Portfolio-The Retreat

Rationale:
Our film The Retreat where a boy, Benjamin loses his father in a car accident, learns to cope with his loss through the help of a friend. The plan consisted of a straight-forward script that would make shooting what we envisioned run smoothly. We felt this film was set up for great detail on sounds and had various angles to it that would interest its viewers. We avoided styles that were over played and created a plot that was dramatic, but intriguing. This film pertains to people who have faced struggles but has had people, there for them to aid during tragedies that seem impossible to bounce back from.

Word Count: 109

Commentary:
My main role in this film would be editor, the one who cut the film and put it into the narrative that we envisioned originally. Throughout this film I had an active role in its production though also because I also was the lead actor, so was needed for almost every shot and day of shooting. In the the pre-production we used an original idea from one of our production partners but adapted it and changed it significantly, so it had various angles instead of one dimension. We didn't want one type of genre, but tried to fuse some together to create a movie that stands out and is different from what you'd normally expect. The script we came up with ultimately incorporated many angles that fit what we wanted and we collaboratively approved of it. Acting was time consuming and took time from editing the film at intervals and I ended up editing everything in one long night.

Problems that arose in my area first of in acting was having all of us on the set at the same time that fit everyone's schedules. We each had our own responsibilities and commitments, so had some time issues, but for me whenever I was needed since it was my production as well as my groups, I tried to free up whenever I was needed. It was also frustrating because we had to do certain scenes over and over again because we had audio mishaps due mainly to using unfamilar equipment that we had no previous experience with. A specific scene that we had to retake was the car shots outside of my house because of audio issues.

Also pre-production set backs put our group already behind in scedule because we couldn't create a treatment that fit what everyone envisioned. After many failed treatments we decided to collaborate on one and incorporate various angles that interested our own views and put it together to make a script that seemed more than suitable.

The other main problem I encountered was editing because we were using mainly all HD footage the comuter I originally planned on editing on had an insufficient amount of memory and was too slow to edit properly on. So we had to borrow a seniors computer but throughout class, her computer was constantly needed and evidently I had limited time to edit the movie in class. Also we were unable to export the EDL for the project, so instead of editing where I had left off I basically had to start from scratch. We also didn't have all the footage until late spring break, so my editing time also took a cut due to all the focus on shooting.

First off we solved most acting issues by asking ahead of time to ensure that our actors would be free on shooting days. Also we only casted those who would be easiest to use and who is trustworthy in trying to make our film as well made as possible. For the frustration aspects we still realized were learning and the retakes allowed us to perfect the shots we wanted and not miss any details we wanted to incorporate.

The pre-production mishaps proved to be enlightening and allowed our idea to further develop, which was the result of a well-written, in depth script that incorporated angles that everyone on our production team approved of.

Editing was a hassle but I ended up using one of my production team mates computer to edit all of the film since we couldn't download the files I already had edited. Time wise I spent most of one night to edit since our script was straight forward and we had a ingenious plot the narrative flowed well together. The color correction I felt we added in the film enhanced our editing of the film and created a more cinematic look. 

A critical problem overall for our film was sound design because we each had our own distinct role we didn't have a key component of our production a sound designer. Also we didn't have access to the music files at class or the programs to make our own sounds so needed to find scratch files throughout the internet. We knew sound was a key component of making our movie as flawless as possible, but sound throughout the film was a problem because twice we didn't have audio in the shots we thought we did. Also some shots were a bit shaky but that was merely due to shots being taking by hand. Lastly another problem overall was understanding what emotion the director wanted at the specific time and if the emotion wasn't understandable how to create what he wanted.

These problems were fixed almost completely throughout the production of our final product. First off our director took the role of the sound designer since he was familiar with music and had the computer where our project was on, he played a major role in incorporating the sounds we wanted and setting the overall mood of the film. With the shots we didn't have audio we scratched them and took many retakes and ensured their was audio so we wouldn't have to continue to do retakes. One shot we particularly liked we dubbed, which sounded pretty realistic and almost surprisingly perfect. The shaky shots our cinematographer realizes that they look a bit unprofessional but, its also still early stages of learning what shots work and how to make each shot as stead and professional as possible. Understanding what the director was asking was fixed by him actually showing what he wanted or describing what he wanted, so we could portray what was being asked as well as possible.



I felt our final product came out as well as I pictured it to be but still some shots we used like the night shots turned out to be extremely grainy making the film have a less professional feel to it. Instead of any night shots we should and will plan on shooting in daylight because the grain look took away from the message of the shots in the end and trying to mingle with the color correction did little to help those shots. Also the dubbing near the beginning is almost spot on, but dubbing things takes away from the film because it doesn't have the actual professional feel. Acting has to be key for our next film since some emotions couldn't be understood or portrayed as effectively as desired. Also each shot needs to have a purpose to it and the car driving shots seemed to drag a bit and didn't seem like it was progressing the plot very much. Lastly to make our film as professional I think adding color and different color correctors to each scene slightly would enhance the overall meaning of our final product to make it as realistic and cinematic as possible.

Word Count:1128

Oral Presentation Critique

The film I reviewed and analyzed was Gran Torino. I covered various topics in accessing this film and started off with some background information about the widely known Clint Eastwood. Clint Eastwood used various techniques to create a movie based on the socio-cultural context of an issue that still resides today. The movie was heavily based on racism and racist comments were sprinkled throughout the film. Other aspects of the film included religious, a struggle for identity and harshness eases as one character realizes the constant hardships of an abused race. Clint Eastwood resolves the story and the gang issue by sacrificing himself in a religious relation to God. I thought my breakdown of the cinematography of my scene was well thought out and discussed but I became repetitive as the techniques seemed to overlap. The repeating become natural because the scene had a lot of similar ideas in it, but it seemed to drag on a bit too much and originally I didn't have enough speaking time because I thought I had too much information. Overall I think this performance is worthy of a 19 because it didn't stray too far and had minor miscues. 

Oral Presentation- Part 3 Narrative and Scene Analysis

The film is constructed in a manner which show's racist views and a struggle between character's accepting and acknowledging their surrounding environment. Clint Eastwood constructs the story in which character's develop and racist views are neglected and forgotten as character's relationships grow. The movie is organized by the plot which allows the story to go on. The plot goes from hatred for a race and a neighborhood to a more compassionate care for the main character who learns to accept his surroundings. With the attempt of stealing Eastwood's prized Gran Torino to the gang's constant antagonizing the story moves along significantly as the plot accelerates and goes on too. The nature of the engagement with the characters is that each character creates a new conflict with one another and allows a relationship to grow whether good or bad.


The characters and issues are represented in a straightforward manner in which each issue is resolved either right away, like the attempted stealing of Eastwood's Gran Torino or resolved gradually like the gang issue.  The characters become more dynamic or the protagonists, while the antagonists the gang is more stagnant. The shot angles and camera movement allow each scene to build an anticipation or show emotion that isn't as easily portrayed through just seeing the character. In the end when Eastwood dies his body is laying in a crucifix position imitating something biblical and giving a religious death to the denouement of the film. Meaning is created well through sequence because it allows each event to move the plot forward and build to the rising action. The sequence of each event allows anticipation and tension to build even further so the viewers are on the edge of their seat. Lighting plays a key role in the movie because the darker shades and lighting allows the viewer to anticipate something bad occurring or a critical moment to further move the plot further. In this movie sound plays more of a key role than music because each sound allows us to create a new characterization of the character's, while the music is more for a mere transitioning between sequences. The location analysis argue as well as I, has no key meaning to it, Michigan I think was more for scenery rather than particular meaning to it. I think a key vital symbol of the movie is the Gran Torino, which symbolizes justice and the overcoming of racial prejudice. Clint Eastwood a man prejudice and racist to characters especially Asian ones because he fought in the war against them, ends up growing to accept his neighbors and giving his prized car to Thao. The emotional message created through the film-making is that doing the right thing sometimes is even more precious than life itself and allows readers to see the process of development through Clint Eastwood.

Oral Presentation Part 2- Historical and Socio - Cultural

Gran Torino was directed by Clint Eastwood, who also played the leading acting role in this movie. Clint Eastwood started as an actor in the old studio system, when the major movie companies were still in the business of American life rather than international properties. Clint Eastwood incorporates some old acting styles and characterisitcs of late movies into his character as Walt Kowalski in Gran Torino. This story was written by a new film writer Nick Schenk who decieded to express Hmong hardships and racsim, which was believed to be neglected. The film's production company was Warner Brothers which helped the film win 13 awards and 7 nominations one of the more notable wins inculded a golden globe nomination for the best original song-motion picture.

The films historical context is primarily its setting in Michigan, also to reveal a neglected group of our society the Hmong people. The film reveals a racist old man played as Clint Eastwood who is a Korean War Veteren despising Asians being a critical racist. Throughout the movie Clint Eastwood becomes a positive image and a savior to the Hmong people and the neighbors living by. Eastwood grows fond of the Hmong neighbors and devotes his life to ceasing the gang violence in his neighborhood. Historically it reveals racist views on Asians primarily Hmong people who are neglected in society.

The socio-cultural relation of this film is that it was made for a wide range of audiences that endure the racism and racist views of people towards Asians. The racism revealed proved to be a key factor in Eastwood's character who despised the sight of Asians even approaching his property. The film also reveals the harshness Hmong people are enduring in our country and the antogonizing for being Asian- American. Not all racist films need to portray Latin Americans or Blacks this film calls to Asian racism which is passed upon. I believe Eastwod tried to potray a growth in ones character and reveal that acceptance even for harsh racists like his character takes time to develop.

Sound Treatment

 Logline:
This will take place at crystal springs trail on a bench overlooking the spring.  Near sunset, since sun sets over the spring three couples have a same sanctuary.


Boy walking (head down) sits down on park bench.  He sighs as he sits down.  He puts his face in his hands in distress as a young couple walks by behind him.  They look to be as though they are in love and are talking to teach other and as they pass the bench the boy looks at their backs as they walk away and their audio fades out.  The boy sighs again and then takes out his headphones and we can hear the music from his i pod.  

Then middle age couple walks by in the background from right side.  The boy doesn’t notice, but they talk about how they always love coming back to this trail and how peaceful it is.

Boy is looking out at the spring as they are walking by and they exit off screen

Then old couple walks by from left side and they sit down next to the boy on the bench.  Boy takes off his headphones and says sure you can sit here.

Old couple are talking and they are audible and they are talking about how much they enjoy each other, boy puts his head back down in his hands still in distress.  

Old people respond.  Old man tells him some words of wisdom about relationships (not too cliche) maybe some humor about himself and his wife.  

Old lady says time for us to go, so they both get up, old man tells boy it will be “alright kid pull through”.
After they leave out of the WS.  All isolated sounds.  Boy relaxes back in his park bench and looks at the spring again (hears small sound of waves).  Boy looks at Grass and hears the sound of crickets, and soft wind sound as wind is blowing nearby grass.  (if there's no wind it will have to be man made and sound effect can be put in later).  Boy looks at free way in back of him and notices sound of cars passing by.  Boy looks out at the spring once again and now all sounds are audible.  Boy pulls phone out of his pocket with right hand.  Looks at it (seems like he is contemplating something) then puts phone down, face down, on his right leg and slouches further back in bench.  ONLY THING AUDIBLE Phone starts ringing (ring tone differences genuine or some r&b song).  Boy turns his phone back over and looks at the front and caller ID says Katy and picture is of boy and Katy smiling (happy).  Boy looks at it then looks out at spring and left to right (now all previous sounds in green are heard) then he looks back at phone (only ring tone is heard) boy contemplates and then pushes silent on his phone.  (WS from beginning) Gets up and walks out of frame.  Time lapse until night time then fade out.

Narrative:
        The narrative design is a romantic.  My goal of this film was to be serious throughout the whole film.  I have gone on this trail many times before, and I always notice how nice and serene the view is, although the freeway is right behind it.  I based most of the story off of the scene and what i could get of it.  I want to experiment with isolated sounds, and then joining all the sounds together to create a soothing nature effect. 

Production elements:
         I wanted to incorporate nature with sound.  I want to use sound bridges maybe to connect different transitions.  I planned on using the music the boy was listening too and his ring tone to play as the leitmotif, and I was also thinking about incorporating some sound loops or even create my own.

Shot selection vary to establish the scenery and take the sounds of nature while minimal sound to the actual characters. 

Director's Influence

Gran Torino is a 2008 American drama film directed, produced and starring Clint Eastwood, who produced many notable movies.The other features determining the drama of the film are that the main character Walt Kowalski played by Clint Eastwood is a Korean War Vet who has lost his wife and treats his family and neighbors harshly. Kowalski lives by poor Asian immigrants who he dramatically learns to defend. Another film this movie connects to could be the other film he has directed and starred in Million Dollar Baby. Eastwood in both films has a similar character in which he softens and learns to accept those in need of his help. Clint Eastwood directed this film and it was written by Nick Schenk and Dave Johannson. It was written to portray the struggles of Asian Americans who are constantly disregarded, when speaking about struggles in society. Eastwood fights against Asian's in the Korean War, but overcomes his hatred for them opening up and accepting a boy constantly antagonized. We can tell that the movies creators desired to express to its viewers that any man who sees a family in trouble even if he has lost the thing to live for (his wife) has enough heart to help those in need. This fits with Eastwood's other works because the narrative is similar to Million Dollar Baby. In both instances Eastwood opens up to the main characters after being antagonizing to them. I think some shots overlap with the two movies because many waist shots are used effectively with Eastwood and the respective main character in each film confronting each other. I think this film's theme is that racism is overcome by a character who see's hardships that one constantly endures. The target audience is older teens and adults who seek the knowledge of abused Asian immigrants, who encounter constant run-ins with a gang, and in which the antagonist of the film Eastwood transitions to the protagonist.

Hurt Locker Analysis

Hurt Locker was a fascinating movie that kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. Movies that take on miltary persectives are usually attention -grabing because in any circumstance where your life is constantly on the line onlookers will be intrigued to see what those characters are thinking. I thought the cinematography of the film and the various shot selections engaged the viewers throughout the film and put the film in an intricate storyline.

The film is about a team of soldiers who go around in Iraq diffusing bombs who are part of an (EOD) team which stands for Explosive Ordinance Disposal team. The film shows psychological effects of war life and the struggles soldiers face of hardships as well as accomplishments. The characters in the film have various personalities which highlight the variety of personalities in actual war-life one of the characters Specialist Owen Eldridge was literally frightened throughout every mission and lacked the confidence of the other two characters. Through Eldridge the director, Kathryn Bigelow envisions the variety of characteristics and personalities that surround life as a soldier. Eldrige was constantly put in life or death situations that pushed him physically as well as mentally to the limit, but as a soldier he exercised his fears to complete the tasks set ahead of him.

The director of the movie Kathryn Bigelow was not that well known of a director but through this movie she became the first female director to win an Academy Award in Best Picture and Best Director in 2009. Through this we can suspect she will get many more job opportunties for portraying a male-dominated profession so elequoently. She lacked to address those females who are also in Iraq and face similar struggles to the males, but then again she heightens the fact that men are more acknowledged then females when considering war-life. The time period Bigelow uses is a more recent time where technology is at a high point and its most relevant to our country as we know it today. The time period shows how all soldiers lives are affected by the war and also shows the struggles in certain characters minds who can't look at life the same way anymore through the experiences they've encountered. For example Sergeant JT Sanborn doesn't wish to settle down and start a family through the experiences hes encountered and the atrocities hes seen. Sanborn's character becomes harsh in a sense that the little things in life don't seem to make sense anymore and he wishes to escape the war life and the constant worries of death. A thematic thread that surrounds the film is said in the preface of the film that "war is a drug" like a drug war also is addicting in which it makes life seem useless and the only sanction is death. War envelops your life also like drugs and changes your views on how you see life.

I thought the acting was very well played. Throughout the film I was envisioning real-life circumstances and soldiers. Even the Iraqian people seemed realistic and Bigelow used actual charcters living in Iraq to make the movie as realistic as possible their clothing acuarately portrayed the characters they were supposed to play. The seting of Iraq was a key part in the effectiveness of the film because the worn down, beaten look of Amman, Jordan revealed something as close to Iraq as possible.

I thought the cinematography in this film was effective throughout the movie, especially since it seemed like each scene was filmed by hand to make it more realistic without completley steady shots. Also the opening scene was captivating because it had the robot's persepective and we saw a different angle to the films cinematography instead of all the same outlook. The shots had great attention to detail and the sequence in each shot followed well, the lighting in all the shots were clear and identifable. For example in the bomb shot were one of the bombs go off we see debris flying as well as a dust build up from the explosion. The contrast of the dust in the background to the clariety of the soldier being thrown to the ground excutes the scene well. The wide variety of shots allow us to picture whats going on at that time and feel what those soldiers feel at that very time to make it an effective portally of war-life. All these components help make the film realistic and allow viewers to picture real war life and the life of EOD specialists. It also adds realism because each shot is carefully put thematically in a way, so we understand the struggles, the triumphs, and failures of these very soldiers.  

The editing was really good in this film and seemed to be varied throughout the movie. The style of the editing seems to create tension in the film. For example in the bomb diffusing scene where the bomb was in the car James seemed to be dragging on the process when there was no more need to continue diffusing the bomb. The scene also cuts and jumped to Sanborn's worried, frantic expressions also to Iraqian residents watching the feat and the long process of diffusing bombs. Other scenes seemed dragging like when James approaches the bomb or walks toward the bomb sites it anticipates his step but doesn't seem to be neccasary. Other shots cut quickly like where James can't save the man with bombs strapped to him Sanborn bursts saying he can't take it anymore. Then from Sanborn's outburst it cuts to James hopping at the mall with going around with a cart. This cut seems rushed and fast because the scene goes from failure to a breaking point to James in his attempt to live a normal life. These scenes seem the most critical in the movie but are rushed while other scenes like going to diffuse the bomb seems dragging. Although the majority of the film, the fast cutting and style of editing is effective the closing scenes seemed too rushed taking away from the film's message that "war is a drug." Because a drug takes time to kick in and throughout the movie we were slowly seeing the effects of the war on the soldiers, but in the end when the final results were shown it was too fast.

The score of this film seems to be based on anticipation and action and follow a documentary of an EOD team that faced every challenge and obstacle of war life. Lots of close ups in the movie create the mood of the film and allow a transition from one mood to the next. A recurring motif was the drastic change of emotions that each soldier faced especially Sergeant Wiliam James who seemed so calm at times where his own life was in danger but so reckless when he saw Beckham dead turned into a human bomb. James was so emotionaly effected  by the war that he couldn't see life the same anymore and had to go back to serving. These seens also were syncronized well because James started off careless, then changed to outraged and feeling even for a boy he barely knew. An effective transition in his character was shown so we can see a transition from James character from being completely carleless and heartless to caring for a boy he barely knew.

I thought the script was well wriitten in making the film as realistic as possible and creating a team of EOD members who actually go around in Iraq deffusing bombs. The narrative structure followed well to match each scene building anticipation and creating a varied story that envisions the mixed emotions of soldiers lives, like that of actual life. The narrative also effectively expresses the characterizations of the three soldiers acuartely displaying their emotions and struggles as a team facing life or death situations constantly. The dialogue helps the characterizations and help show emotions like fear, anger, happiness, worry and hatred in the film.  

 I thought this film fitted well with a pshycological war drama because pshycologically each of the main characters had breakdowns and faced tasks and circumstances that led to their meltdowns. For Eldridge he was pushed to the limit when he was shot at and injured his leg, Sanborn could't stand the war anymore when the man blew up because James couldn't save him, and James broke down after seeing Beckham brutally killed and turned into a human bomb. The scenery and the movie is based around the Iraq war and its dramatic because each day is more difficult and seems more likely that death will come.

I thought overall this film was well written and made. It had me on the edge of my seat waiting for something big to happen, when everyday something big was occuring. I learned its message that "war is a drug" as well as the hardships soldiers face everyday in a life where death seems inevitable. I never heard of the EOD squad, but was fascinated to learn about such an intense group that live with failures as well as successes. War life changes who you are dramaticaly and makes you see things differently just as it did to the main character James.