VAPA Major Dancing on Film: "Letting Go"
Senior Project Storyline
Growing up is one thing that every person experiences. Whether it is as a new born to an infant, an infant to a toddler, a toddler to a teenager, a teenager to a young adult, a young adult to an adult, and an adult to a senior. We as humans create special bonds with different people, finding different types of relationships with a peer. Everyone experiences these different stages as they get older and older, but also experiences with having to deal with struggles that come up in between these times. Most people have a blind side, and in that blind side is something that they dont see as is important until they realize that it is gone. This is usually the time where they will start regretting the things they missed out on and didn't take the time to cherish. In this film Veronica Chung is a senior at Diamond Ranch high school, she has been a dancer for all for years and within those four years she created a strong bond with her dance family. Although, she felt as if she has taken advantage of the time she got to spend with her friends and with having dance in her life. In the beginning she has her daily routine; waking up, getting ready, going to school, hanging out, and especially dancing but she hasnt taken the time to realize that it is slowly coming to an end. When she finally sees that she is at the point where she has to continue her life and leave her memories in the past she started to regret all the feelings that she had. These regretted feelings did get to her emotions but she did everything shed could to just understand that the past is now the past and she couldnt do anything else but to just let go.
"Letting Go" Script
1. Veronica in bed squirming getting ready to wake up, opens eyes, stretches.
2. drinks a glass of water.
3. a close up of her touching her feet on the ground and getting ready to get out of bed.
4. walking to the restroom
5. close up of her hand turning on the light switch.
6. looks at herself in the mirror and puts her hair up in a ponytail.
7. Washes her face
8. drys of her face and hands.
9. walks out of the restroom and turns off the light.
10. walk back to the room picks out her clothes from the drawers
11. takes off pajamas and changes into her clothes for school.
12. drive and park at school parking lot
13. jams out to her favorite music in her car
14. walks up towards the panther path
15. meets up with her friend Hannah and walks to the dance room
16. dances with harmony , does a solo, mess around and has fun with friends
17. Walks out with harmony back towards panther path
18. REPEATS the whole daily routine
19. walks up to studio (not crowded)
20. unlocks studio
21. reminisces everything that has happened that made her life the way it was
22. lets go and continues on with her life.
Moral:
"You never know what was important in your life until it's gone, cherish each moment."
RESEARCH PAPER
Section 2 Abstract
Watching dance on film is a different view then watching dance in real life. Most people like watching "dance" in real life due to the fact that they are physically there and being able to see each movement clearly. Although most people don't realize that when you are watching dance on film you can still see each detail, having the advantage to watch it in slow mo, fast, and many other things. I came to a question wondering, "Is the perception of dance different in real life then on camera?" In this case I realized that I was interested enough to create dance and be able to put that onto film and edit it in anyway I would like to. One of my first procedures was to find a dancer and record them doing all the movements I have visioned in my head and try my best to bring it to life. When that step was complete I would put all clips onto imovie and start my film editing from there. This project was done because I am looking forward to work in Cinematic Arts under the major of the film production industry.
Section 3 Introduction Dancing on Film Letting Go
Dancing on film is a spectacular way to discover the different features in dance. You will be able to explore each movement, understand the emotions, and feel as if you were there with the dancer. I have chosen to do a topic on reality. A girl that realizes all of her importances in her life and seeing what wasn't a priority. The moral of this short film is “You don’t know what was really important in your life until it’s gone." Dancing on film does not mean dancing the whole time, but there are also music, lights, costumes, settings, a plot, and a climax. The audience will be taken to a world and a mindset, which will make them think about what, was important in their life, seeing what they took for granted and didn’t cherish enough. We as humans all have our priorities set and make mistakes by not putting them first in our lives. I am essisted to put this on film and bring my life onto camera, showing the audience what I am currently experiencing. I want to be able to see my life in front of me and be able to reflect off of it. I am eager to get all my life experiences and succeed in helping the audience realize they're importances in their life. I hope to put a positive impact for their future and to also help them begin their journey with no regrets.
Section 4 Initial Research and Guiding Questions
Bringing a film to life is one of the most complicated process, due to the fact that working with just myself and one other dancer gives you more responsibilities that you have to take since you have to do everything on your own. starting from writing the script, picking out which dancer would help represent you the best, finding a camera, putting scenes on the camera step by step, figuring out where the scenes should be snapped, work with the lighting and costumes, and lastly trying the create the best film ever. Doing all of these jobs on your own was quite tedious but with dedication I was able to handle everything carefully. Although there was a few research that I had to do that dealt with film. In the beginning of the project I wasn’t sure on how to start the project. Did I have to find a dancer first? Write the script first? Find a camera? In this case I did all the research that was possible so I went online and found different websites that will help guide me through it. For an example, I found different universities that were popular in film, like New York University, Columbia, USC, and Los Angeles Film. I looked into their website and read all the ways that could help me get started. If it came to a point where I didn’t know what more I can do I would call the school directly. I called LA film and talked to a gentleman named Josh, he gave me tips on where to get started. He told me “Don’t be afraid to try new things and remember to pursue all dreams or else you'll live life with regrets" This personally also helped giving me the motivation to plan everything out ahead of time so I can get each job done in a correct amount of time.
My guiding question is "What is the best strategy for choreographing a dance on film?" When I started working with the camera and putting choreography onto my dancer, I realized that it was much harder to give a 2 minute set of acting and choreography for her to use when I press record. Instead one of the best strategies that I have discovered is to break everything down into pieces and took the time to write a script that shows every specific time for a specific scene. This helped me stay organized and I was able to concentrate on each scene without forgetting anything out. This question also led to me wondering, “Is the perception of watching dance on film different then watching it in real life?" My curiosity with this motivated me to edit the film in different ways and trying new things. I want to be able to put the picture and motion that I have in my mind and actually put it on a video. I hope to find out if it will make the audience think differently if they were to watch it in real life or if it was on camera. Will it make them wonder about the way they see it in their perspectives? In my point of view I feel it is a different feel to see it in real life or watching it with edits and put together because it would be in more of a movie form that can help audience understand it more. Throughout this project I’m hoping to see if I truly want to make film as my career in the future and if I would be able to enjoy becoming a director, producer, or cinematographer.
Section 5 Procedures
In the first step of this process I had to figure out what topic interested me and that I would like to put on film for everyone to see. My goal is to not put on a video for the audience to have entertainment but also for them to be able to let the video have a small impact on their lives, teaching them a lesson. I started off this project by debating what I would want my main topic and film to be about. I had a clue of wanting to deal with something that I have dealt with in my life so someone is able to relate with what I have dealt with and is currently dealing with throughout their life. I started off by finding a moral that I would like to use, and the one I came up with is “You never know what was important in your life until you realize that it’s gone." The reason why I chose this moral is because as a eighteen year old adult, I feel that in the past I have chosen paths that I regret and I didn’t get the chance to cherish the moments that I had with people and things until it was completely gone, out of my life. I started off by creating a storyline and a script that I am able to follow as I am filming. When the script was complete, my next step was to figure out different places I can use as my setting. Since I have chosen to base this film off my life I thought it would be best to film a daily routine setting such as, my house, school, and the dance studio. The next step was to find a dancer that had the same mentality as I did and followed the moral, feeling the same way as I did. When I found the dancer my next step was to find someone that was able to help me with the process of editing the film. I have talked to my mom’s production workers, the video classmates at school, and lastly tried to find different connections through people. Next I started off by filming everything I had written down on my script step by step, making sure I got each scene. When the filming was complete I took the time to edit the video, making transitions to help each scene flow with each other. It was a very long and tedious job but I was able to just out all the time and dedication into it to make it perfect. It isn't the best film and the most entertaining film, but I feel as long as I was able to get my moral proven to the audience and got a point across I was content with the way it came out. At the end of finishing the film I double checked everything making sure everything was correctly done and lastly when I was complete with the film I uploaded it to YouTube
Section 6 Timeline and Evidence
Date
Activity
Completion
January 13, 2014
Write out my entire storyline and script
January 14, 2014
Have a friend read it and see if they understand.
January 15, 2014
Talk to mom about the film makers and photographers
January 16, 2014
Choose out my dancer.
January 17, 2014
Talk to my dancer about my storyline and let them know exactly what I am doing.
January 20-30, 2014
Video tape
February 1 , 2014
Pick out music
February 5, 2014
Meet with Nate (film editor) and talk about the film
February 6, 2014
Plan out what section we are going to do on which specific days
February 12, 2014
Work on editing the video
February 19, 2014
Work on editing the video
February 26, 2014
Work on editing the video
March 1, 2014
Finalized, completed, and rendered. Turned in
Journal /Time log Entries
January 17
Today I wrote out the script and let a few of my peers read it to see if they understood.
January 31
I chose out which dancer I would like to use for my film and debated on if I want to use just one dancer or multiple people.
February 14
Started my first couple scenes of filming and do multiple shots of each for future references when editing.
February 28
Started editing all the films and put more transitions in between to make it flow. Also started adding music to the film and figuring out what music will work best.
Section 7 Human Resources
This chart contains the role of each person that has helped with my film and how I was able to contact them. Some were the main people that has helped me, but a few were back up plans if anything did not work out the way it was supposed to.
Nathan Scott Torres
Film editor, transition, music combine. I found a connection with him through work, he told me that he was studying film and was interested in helping me with the film.
Josh (LA film)
Professional film from LA film school. Contacted him to talk about the different procedures while creating a film. He helped guide me through each step
Typhani Harris
Provided me with help throughout the entire project. Let me use recording device and computer.
Andy
Back up film editor (Plan B). Found a connection from moms job.
Section 8 Facilities, Equipment and Budget
The chart below contains the different supplies and materials that we needed. Luckily with the project I was doing I did not need to buy anything or have a budget. Everything needed was already set and was provided for us.
1. Recording Device
Dance teacher was able to provide me with a recording device.
2. Computer for editing
Nathan Torres was able to provide the computer when we worked on editing the film.
Dedication
This work is dedicated to my mother because I never realized how much time and responsibilities it takes to be a part of wanting to work with film. I was able to put myself in her shoes and see all the tedious events that occurred and to be able to handle and organize everything all on my own. I realized that a lot of this work was not as easy as it seemed and you had to constantly stay focused because once you lose your concentration it was easy to become distracted. When this happened you were not able to complete any tasks that you had planned out for a specific day. I am happy to say that I am able to understand the feeling that any film makers and editors feel. I hope to succeed more in the future and be able to create bigger and better things.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Veronica Chung for being the main actress and soloist in my piece. With all the hard obstacles and problems in the way she was still able to take the time out of her day to help me with filming this project. Another person I would like to acknowledge is Nathan Torres. He helped me with all of the video editing, transitions, music, and help rendering the entire film. Due to the fact that I had no clue on how to edit a film he has taught me a lot and I feel confident with working on different films in the future. Editing a film was the most tedious job that takes a lot of time, passion, and dedication. Lastly I would like to acknowledge Typhani Harris our dance teacher, leader, hero, mom, and etc. She has done everything she can to help us into getting our projects finished. There were many times where my peers and I would get lazy, tired, and unmotivated but she is one of the main reasons why I pushed myself. I was able to find different paths that would be able to help me and get me excited to work on a specific job. I am truly thankful for each one of these members for helping me get through this entire project and I couldn’t have done it without them.
FINAL REFLECTION
Working with film has taught me many things that I didn’t have a lot of information about. I started off this project clueless on what to do and how to start anything, but as I started finding more connections with people I slowly started to learn about how everything worked. I wasn’t as intimidated with the work until I realized that the jobs that I had were tedious and took a lot of time and dedication. This project has benefited me in a way where it helped me see that I had a few weaknesses which was being able to manage my time wisely and to keep myself motivated when I would get lazy. Without being able to manage your time and keeping your schedule organized, I learned that you will never be able to get anything done. Another thing that I noticed is that if something wasn’t interesting me and unmotivated me, I would find different ways to complete a specific task so I can make sure that I stay motivated. In this project, I am most proud about being able to have a final product of a film that I am able to show to others and be able to express what I am feeling onto a video for them to see. In the beginning I felt as if I would never be able to do it and had the mentality of “I would never be able to write, direct, edit, and produce a film” but to know that I accomplished this goal I have a big relief of success. This project has also helped me a lot with my career for the future because it has touched all the basic steps of becoming a part of the film production. I am glad that I have learned how to be in charge of everything because it will help become an outstanding leader for my future career. I am extremely excited to see what the future holds for me and without this project opportunity I wouldn’t have been able to feel the way as I did right now.
Growing up is one thing that every person experiences. Whether it is as a new born to an infant, an infant to a toddler, a toddler to a teenager, a teenager to a young adult, a young adult to an adult, and an adult to a senior. We as humans create special bonds with different people, finding different types of relationships with a peer. Everyone experiences these different stages as they get older and older, but also experiences with having to deal with struggles that come up in between these times. Most people have a blind side, and in that blind side is something that they dont see as is important until they realize that it is gone. This is usually the time where they will start regretting the things they missed out on and didn't take the time to cherish. In this film Veronica Chung is a senior at Diamond Ranch high school, she has been a dancer for all for years and within those four years she created a strong bond with her dance family. Although, she felt as if she has taken advantage of the time she got to spend with her friends and with having dance in her life. In the beginning she has her daily routine; waking up, getting ready, going to school, hanging out, and especially dancing but she hasnt taken the time to realize that it is slowly coming to an end. When she finally sees that she is at the point where she has to continue her life and leave her memories in the past she started to regret all the feelings that she had. These regretted feelings did get to her emotions but she did everything shed could to just understand that the past is now the past and she couldnt do anything else but to just let go.
"Letting Go" Script
1. Veronica in bed squirming getting ready to wake up, opens eyes, stretches.
2. drinks a glass of water.
3. a close up of her touching her feet on the ground and getting ready to get out of bed.
4. walking to the restroom
5. close up of her hand turning on the light switch.
6. looks at herself in the mirror and puts her hair up in a ponytail.
7. Washes her face
8. drys of her face and hands.
9. walks out of the restroom and turns off the light.
10. walk back to the room picks out her clothes from the drawers
11. takes off pajamas and changes into her clothes for school.
12. drive and park at school parking lot
13. jams out to her favorite music in her car
14. walks up towards the panther path
15. meets up with her friend Hannah and walks to the dance room
16. dances with harmony , does a solo, mess around and has fun with friends
17. Walks out with harmony back towards panther path
18. REPEATS the whole daily routine
19. walks up to studio (not crowded)
20. unlocks studio
21. reminisces everything that has happened that made her life the way it was
22. lets go and continues on with her life.
Moral:
"You never know what was important in your life until it's gone, cherish each moment."
RESEARCH PAPER
Section 2 Abstract
Watching dance on film is a different view then watching dance in real life. Most people like watching "dance" in real life due to the fact that they are physically there and being able to see each movement clearly. Although most people don't realize that when you are watching dance on film you can still see each detail, having the advantage to watch it in slow mo, fast, and many other things. I came to a question wondering, "Is the perception of dance different in real life then on camera?" In this case I realized that I was interested enough to create dance and be able to put that onto film and edit it in anyway I would like to. One of my first procedures was to find a dancer and record them doing all the movements I have visioned in my head and try my best to bring it to life. When that step was complete I would put all clips onto imovie and start my film editing from there. This project was done because I am looking forward to work in Cinematic Arts under the major of the film production industry.
Section 3 Introduction Dancing on Film Letting Go
Dancing on film is a spectacular way to discover the different features in dance. You will be able to explore each movement, understand the emotions, and feel as if you were there with the dancer. I have chosen to do a topic on reality. A girl that realizes all of her importances in her life and seeing what wasn't a priority. The moral of this short film is “You don’t know what was really important in your life until it’s gone." Dancing on film does not mean dancing the whole time, but there are also music, lights, costumes, settings, a plot, and a climax. The audience will be taken to a world and a mindset, which will make them think about what, was important in their life, seeing what they took for granted and didn’t cherish enough. We as humans all have our priorities set and make mistakes by not putting them first in our lives. I am essisted to put this on film and bring my life onto camera, showing the audience what I am currently experiencing. I want to be able to see my life in front of me and be able to reflect off of it. I am eager to get all my life experiences and succeed in helping the audience realize they're importances in their life. I hope to put a positive impact for their future and to also help them begin their journey with no regrets.
Section 4 Initial Research and Guiding Questions
Bringing a film to life is one of the most complicated process, due to the fact that working with just myself and one other dancer gives you more responsibilities that you have to take since you have to do everything on your own. starting from writing the script, picking out which dancer would help represent you the best, finding a camera, putting scenes on the camera step by step, figuring out where the scenes should be snapped, work with the lighting and costumes, and lastly trying the create the best film ever. Doing all of these jobs on your own was quite tedious but with dedication I was able to handle everything carefully. Although there was a few research that I had to do that dealt with film. In the beginning of the project I wasn’t sure on how to start the project. Did I have to find a dancer first? Write the script first? Find a camera? In this case I did all the research that was possible so I went online and found different websites that will help guide me through it. For an example, I found different universities that were popular in film, like New York University, Columbia, USC, and Los Angeles Film. I looked into their website and read all the ways that could help me get started. If it came to a point where I didn’t know what more I can do I would call the school directly. I called LA film and talked to a gentleman named Josh, he gave me tips on where to get started. He told me “Don’t be afraid to try new things and remember to pursue all dreams or else you'll live life with regrets" This personally also helped giving me the motivation to plan everything out ahead of time so I can get each job done in a correct amount of time.
My guiding question is "What is the best strategy for choreographing a dance on film?" When I started working with the camera and putting choreography onto my dancer, I realized that it was much harder to give a 2 minute set of acting and choreography for her to use when I press record. Instead one of the best strategies that I have discovered is to break everything down into pieces and took the time to write a script that shows every specific time for a specific scene. This helped me stay organized and I was able to concentrate on each scene without forgetting anything out. This question also led to me wondering, “Is the perception of watching dance on film different then watching it in real life?" My curiosity with this motivated me to edit the film in different ways and trying new things. I want to be able to put the picture and motion that I have in my mind and actually put it on a video. I hope to find out if it will make the audience think differently if they were to watch it in real life or if it was on camera. Will it make them wonder about the way they see it in their perspectives? In my point of view I feel it is a different feel to see it in real life or watching it with edits and put together because it would be in more of a movie form that can help audience understand it more. Throughout this project I’m hoping to see if I truly want to make film as my career in the future and if I would be able to enjoy becoming a director, producer, or cinematographer.
Section 5 Procedures
In the first step of this process I had to figure out what topic interested me and that I would like to put on film for everyone to see. My goal is to not put on a video for the audience to have entertainment but also for them to be able to let the video have a small impact on their lives, teaching them a lesson. I started off this project by debating what I would want my main topic and film to be about. I had a clue of wanting to deal with something that I have dealt with in my life so someone is able to relate with what I have dealt with and is currently dealing with throughout their life. I started off by finding a moral that I would like to use, and the one I came up with is “You never know what was important in your life until you realize that it’s gone." The reason why I chose this moral is because as a eighteen year old adult, I feel that in the past I have chosen paths that I regret and I didn’t get the chance to cherish the moments that I had with people and things until it was completely gone, out of my life. I started off by creating a storyline and a script that I am able to follow as I am filming. When the script was complete, my next step was to figure out different places I can use as my setting. Since I have chosen to base this film off my life I thought it would be best to film a daily routine setting such as, my house, school, and the dance studio. The next step was to find a dancer that had the same mentality as I did and followed the moral, feeling the same way as I did. When I found the dancer my next step was to find someone that was able to help me with the process of editing the film. I have talked to my mom’s production workers, the video classmates at school, and lastly tried to find different connections through people. Next I started off by filming everything I had written down on my script step by step, making sure I got each scene. When the filming was complete I took the time to edit the video, making transitions to help each scene flow with each other. It was a very long and tedious job but I was able to just out all the time and dedication into it to make it perfect. It isn't the best film and the most entertaining film, but I feel as long as I was able to get my moral proven to the audience and got a point across I was content with the way it came out. At the end of finishing the film I double checked everything making sure everything was correctly done and lastly when I was complete with the film I uploaded it to YouTube
Section 6 Timeline and Evidence
Date
Activity
Completion
January 13, 2014
Write out my entire storyline and script
January 14, 2014
Have a friend read it and see if they understand.
January 15, 2014
Talk to mom about the film makers and photographers
January 16, 2014
Choose out my dancer.
January 17, 2014
Talk to my dancer about my storyline and let them know exactly what I am doing.
January 20-30, 2014
Video tape
February 1 , 2014
Pick out music
February 5, 2014
Meet with Nate (film editor) and talk about the film
February 6, 2014
Plan out what section we are going to do on which specific days
February 12, 2014
Work on editing the video
February 19, 2014
Work on editing the video
February 26, 2014
Work on editing the video
March 1, 2014
Finalized, completed, and rendered. Turned in
Journal /Time log Entries
January 17
Today I wrote out the script and let a few of my peers read it to see if they understood.
January 31
I chose out which dancer I would like to use for my film and debated on if I want to use just one dancer or multiple people.
February 14
Started my first couple scenes of filming and do multiple shots of each for future references when editing.
February 28
Started editing all the films and put more transitions in between to make it flow. Also started adding music to the film and figuring out what music will work best.
Section 7 Human Resources
This chart contains the role of each person that has helped with my film and how I was able to contact them. Some were the main people that has helped me, but a few were back up plans if anything did not work out the way it was supposed to.
Nathan Scott Torres
Film editor, transition, music combine. I found a connection with him through work, he told me that he was studying film and was interested in helping me with the film.
Josh (LA film)
Professional film from LA film school. Contacted him to talk about the different procedures while creating a film. He helped guide me through each step
Typhani Harris
Provided me with help throughout the entire project. Let me use recording device and computer.
Andy
Back up film editor (Plan B). Found a connection from moms job.
Section 8 Facilities, Equipment and Budget
The chart below contains the different supplies and materials that we needed. Luckily with the project I was doing I did not need to buy anything or have a budget. Everything needed was already set and was provided for us.
1. Recording Device
Dance teacher was able to provide me with a recording device.
2. Computer for editing
Nathan Torres was able to provide the computer when we worked on editing the film.
Dedication
This work is dedicated to my mother because I never realized how much time and responsibilities it takes to be a part of wanting to work with film. I was able to put myself in her shoes and see all the tedious events that occurred and to be able to handle and organize everything all on my own. I realized that a lot of this work was not as easy as it seemed and you had to constantly stay focused because once you lose your concentration it was easy to become distracted. When this happened you were not able to complete any tasks that you had planned out for a specific day. I am happy to say that I am able to understand the feeling that any film makers and editors feel. I hope to succeed more in the future and be able to create bigger and better things.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Veronica Chung for being the main actress and soloist in my piece. With all the hard obstacles and problems in the way she was still able to take the time out of her day to help me with filming this project. Another person I would like to acknowledge is Nathan Torres. He helped me with all of the video editing, transitions, music, and help rendering the entire film. Due to the fact that I had no clue on how to edit a film he has taught me a lot and I feel confident with working on different films in the future. Editing a film was the most tedious job that takes a lot of time, passion, and dedication. Lastly I would like to acknowledge Typhani Harris our dance teacher, leader, hero, mom, and etc. She has done everything she can to help us into getting our projects finished. There were many times where my peers and I would get lazy, tired, and unmotivated but she is one of the main reasons why I pushed myself. I was able to find different paths that would be able to help me and get me excited to work on a specific job. I am truly thankful for each one of these members for helping me get through this entire project and I couldn’t have done it without them.
FINAL REFLECTION
Working with film has taught me many things that I didn’t have a lot of information about. I started off this project clueless on what to do and how to start anything, but as I started finding more connections with people I slowly started to learn about how everything worked. I wasn’t as intimidated with the work until I realized that the jobs that I had were tedious and took a lot of time and dedication. This project has benefited me in a way where it helped me see that I had a few weaknesses which was being able to manage my time wisely and to keep myself motivated when I would get lazy. Without being able to manage your time and keeping your schedule organized, I learned that you will never be able to get anything done. Another thing that I noticed is that if something wasn’t interesting me and unmotivated me, I would find different ways to complete a specific task so I can make sure that I stay motivated. In this project, I am most proud about being able to have a final product of a film that I am able to show to others and be able to express what I am feeling onto a video for them to see. In the beginning I felt as if I would never be able to do it and had the mentality of “I would never be able to write, direct, edit, and produce a film” but to know that I accomplished this goal I have a big relief of success. This project has also helped me a lot with my career for the future because it has touched all the basic steps of becoming a part of the film production. I am glad that I have learned how to be in charge of everything because it will help become an outstanding leader for my future career. I am extremely excited to see what the future holds for me and without this project opportunity I wouldn’t have been able to feel the way as I did right now.