Filming Done!

We FINALLY finished filming yesterday! It has been a long time coming. We have taken countless trips up to L.A., fought through the traffic and smog, and shot hours of footage. The barista at Coffea Coffee now knows our usual coffee drinks, and the chef at Antojitos is used to seeing the three clowns that are filming every week at her restaurant.
We were able to get all the shots we needed yesterday, often using two cameras simultaneously in different locations in order to capture the scenes properly. Luckily for us the sun came out... it was a bit overcast at first, which didn't match the strong sun we had in past shoots, which would in turn hurt the idea that we were supposed to be filming this all on the same day! Although we have been trying to edit as much as possible along the way, now the real editing process can begin. Needless to say, we were all thrilled that we were done filming and eager to get on with the filmmaking process!!

Inspirations

Here are some films that have used similar techniques with split screens. The first is called"Timecode", directed by Mike Figgis. This film was shot in a quad split, which was our original plan. This film was shot entirely in real time, with a time code inserted in the middle of the split on the screen
The second film is called "Conversations With Other Women" directed by Hans Canosa, was presented entirely in a split screen..

Change of Plans

Well well well... It has been a while since our last post, and a lot has changed! We began to experiment with the idea of having four screens running simultaneously. Originally, we were going to have one screen be a continuous shot of the drive down 6th street, the other three screens representing the three different neighborhoods off of 6th street that we are focusing on. After compiling and editing all the footage we had together for a test run of what the quad split screen would look like, we collectively decided that we needed more of a story or narrative to drive the film and create more interest. Since we were having trouble getting useful interviews from people in the three neighborhoods, Crystal suggested the idea that we make our own story and be our own actors in the film so that we could have control over the story of the film. So we decided to change gears.
On the surface, our story is about three friends meeting at Antojito's restaurant on 6th street for lunch. Crystal is the only one who knows the exact location (Koreatown), while Mark and James are left to their own devices to find the restaurant. Mark finds himself in a well manicured neighborhood called Hancock Park, with no signs of any kind of restaurant nearby. James, on the other hand, is in Pico-Union, a latino neighborhood that is full of shops and restaurants, but he can't seem to find Antojito's.
We have scaled down to three screens, each one giving the perspective of each member of our film group (James, Mark, and Crystal) in each of the neighborhoods.
On Monday we filmed most of James' part of the film in Pico Union, as well as a scene involving Mark and Crystal, giving each of us our acting debut! We had a some trouble getting the wireless LAV mic to work properly, and to top it off our camera kept trying to eat our tape! Other than that, things went pretty smoothly. It helped that we sat down and did a storyboard a few days before filming, allowing us to stay organized and focused on the exact shots we needed.

Film Day Overview

Yesterday our group made great progress on our film project thanks to our friendly and outgoing ethnographer, James Moy. After conversing with a few neighborhood locals about our film idea, we were able to convince a few to allow us to interview them about their neighborhoods off 6th street and a bit about themselves as well. A few were a bit camera shy though. One trusting woman allowed us to record her audio commentary, meanwhile another young woman walking her dog refused to do an interview because she believed her appearance to be "less than perfect" (not exacly her words).
While we focused on some tripod shots on intersections throughout 6th street in Hancock Park, Koreatown, and Pico-Union district, our main objective was to establish rapport with locals and to get their general perspective of their own neighborhoods and of those nearby.

Film Day

this is a test.

Film Idea-rough sketch

Up until this point we have been shooting on several different occasions in various parts of L.A., hoping along the way that a film about Los Angeles and space will come about. After mulling over many different ideas as to how our film will be presented, we have finally decided on both the narrative and visual representation that it will follow. We took a drive down 6th street, which meanders through a number of diverse neighborhoods in the middle of L.A., and found it interesting that one long street serves as a bridge that connects many different people together.