Log Line: “A Letter to Keep” is a short experimental film (around 5 min), telling the story of a granddaughter staying connected to her grandfather after his passing through the form of a letter.

Dr. Wilbur Oaks Jr. was a man to be remembered. He not only made a lasting impression on his alma mater, Lafayette College, but on everyone who had the chance to know him. Lucky and proud to call him my grandfather, I want to honor his legacy. However, it is more of a personal piece than anything else. This short film will allow me to express my emotions and feelings of grief through film. It is also a way to honor and remember him in a more permanent and visual way.

Mangia is a 20-25 minute personal narrative documentary about how food interweaves with and shapes our common human experiences throughout our entire lives.

I want to explore the history and complexities behind the food we eat and the food that we hold dear to our hearts – and why. Interviewing a variety of perspectives – from families at Third Street Alliance, local chefs or restaurant owners, and farmers.

Through these series of individual vignettes, I will carry the story along with my own personal connection to food: my Nonni. While unraveling the stories of others, I will center the film with my own personal story of old and new, life and death, and how the recipes we make guide us and accompany us through our happiest moments and our most devastating moments. This fall, my mom prepares to finally let go of her mother’s ashes and scatter them in Casco Bay with her father’s ashes. I want to explore my mom’s relationship with her mother, my Nonni, and their relationship of food together – as well as the process of grief and losing a parent. I plan to weave in these ‘storytelling’ sessions and cooking with my mother with these outside vignettes, shaping them all into a cohesive storytelling of life and death, and the influence of food throughout all stages of life.

I will be examining different technologies in the film industry – how they have adapted, changed the industry, how I’ve used them, and where they are going in the future. My capstone will include sections about cameras, editing software, 2D and 3D animation, live streaming technologies, and show management technologies. Each section will have three parts; the history of the technology, how I’ve used the technology, and where I believe the technology is heading within the film industry. In the coming weeks I will be doing a lot of research about the history of the industry. I will also be reflecting on everything I’ve learned over the years to connect my experiences to the technology in the industry.

 

Full Proposal document

Longline: “Jonah” is a six episode, dark-comedy, mini series, which follows a teenager who manifests multiple personalities as a defense mechanism to get through the hardships of high school.

Jonah Wheeler is a 17-year old high school junior. He has always struggled with making friends and does everything he can to simply “survive” high school. He does all in his power to keep his head down and ignore all the bad that goes on around him but everyone has their breaking point. After a week of embarrassing and uncomfortable situations, Jonah unknowingly manifests an alternate personality in the form of Jack. Jack is ultimately there to try and “help” Jonah’s life become a bit easier but as long as Jack remains as a presence, Jonah will encounter new forms of trouble.

Chasing Kayfabe is a comedic episodic web series containing multiple 5-10 minute episodes focused on a former child star/musical prodigy and his manager as they attempt to stop the downward trend their lives have been on and do their best to cling onto the small amount of fame they have left. The series is going to follow Saul Sprockett, an aging former child star, and his manager Chris Cornette. The show follows their journey to do anything they can to remove themselves from the downward spiral their lives have been on since Saul hit puberty. The series will explore themes such as overcompensating for a lack of identity, what it means to grow up and the real difference between children and adults, and the cost and benefits of former fame.

 

Keep Running, Don’t Stop

Keep Running, Don’t Stop is a 10-15 minute documentary film that explores the notion of positivity and dealing with loss through one college student’s incredible story.

KRDS follows Tom Strand, a sophomore at Lafayette College, whose unbeatable alacrity excites and inspires all those around him. After taking one glance at Tom, you would never guess that he has battled something many couldn’t imagine. Tom lost his older brother Alex, but ultimately did not respond as many would. Tom turned the tables on his own story and set out to live his life like he wanted to and like he was meant to: with an uncontrollable smile and infectiously positive energy.

I thought long and hard about what my capstone would be and how I would tackle this project. After a lot of flip-flopping, I ultimately landed on Tom. I’ve always loved documentary films that told a personal story, one I couldn’t read in an encyclopedia or learn about in the classroom. Connections are something I value, and finding connections with people through personal stories is the most effective way to move somebody. This documentary will briefly touch on death and the loss of loved ones, but that is not what this story is about. This story is about a young man who chose to overcome such loss with radiant positivity, and sharing his story is something all could benefit from.

I have a fairly extensive history of interviewing on camera, and this will prove to be incredibly useful for me, as I plan on interviewing many of Tom’s closest friends. I’ve conducted 2 full interviews so far, and have created a schedule that will hopefully have all interviews finished within 2 weeks. In addition to the interviews, I will film Tom at track and field practice, follow him around on campus, as well as use photos from his childhood to use as B-Roll. I plan on sitting down with Tom 2-3 times for extensive interviews, and hope that he will be the talking head of the film. My older brother is a musician, and he will be writing a score for the film.

My audience is really anyone, any age. Because this film tells a personal story, many will be able to relate, and I am hoping that I can successfully tell this story all while sharing the importance of positivity in your own life and in others’ lives. Below is a rough timeline of how I want everything to pan out.

Week 1 (8/29)

-Solidify Plan

-Schedule Interviews

Week 2 (9/5)

-Conduct Interviews with friends

-Start putting them into final cut

-Film Tom at practice

Week 3 (9/12)

-Conduct Interviews with friends

-Start putting them into final cut

Week 4 (9/19)

-Sit down with Tom #1

-Film Tom at Lafayette

-Start editing rough cut

Week 5 (9/26)

-Sit down with Tom #2

-Editing

Week 6 (10/3)

-Rough Cut DUE

-Continue Editing

Weeks 7-9 (10/10 – 10/24)

-Edit

Week 10 (10/31)

-Fine Cut DUE

Week 11 (11/7)

-Edit

Week 12 (11/14)

-Final Outline DUE

-Continue Editing

Final Weeks

-Solidify Final Cut

 

Networking Hunger is a 25-30 minute documentary investigating the current state of hunger in Easton, Pennsylvania and the coordination of efforts to alleviate this pressing issue.  The film explores ways that hunger is and can be addressed on a local level and directs audiences to a variety of food recovery resources.  The programs highlighted in Networking Hunger showcase how people have come together to address the issue in recent years as well as the importance of local and regional collaboration.  The film reflects upon these efforts by asking what additional resources are needed to expand the food recovery network in the near future.

While reading Anne Bogart’s book And Then, You Act, I came across several sections that struck a chord with my fears/approach to capstone.  I realize that making a documentary is an enormous undertaking and I also know that I do not make my best work while under a time crunch.  Bogart says several things that encourage me to think more closely about my relationship to the deadlines and my creative process:

“keep moving and slow down, simultaneously”

“The purpose of slowing down is to make room to create the space to think like someone else”

“Pressure can render you stupid and make you rush”

“Time is a partner rather than an enemy”

“You cannot force things to happen at a particular time, but you can prepare and pave the way for the eventuality of expression in the same way that you pave the way for visits of inspiration in your daily life: you create the proper conditions and circumstances. And then you act.”

I think that these quotes will be very helpful in reminding me that I can’t force myself to be creative at a particular moment and that I must instead set aside substantial amounts of time to assess my work and hopefully draw inspiration from working with the material.

Here’s my most updated log-line.  I’ll attach the script too if y’all want to look at it.

“The Best Bagels in the Whole World” is a short drama, between 15 and 30 minutes in length, exploring the bonds of friendship, family, and home, and the ways in which those bonds twist and fall apart.  Ian reluctantly returns home to northern New Jersey after a stint away at college, but he won’t be able to avoid his best friend Andy or the looming tragedy in their shared pasts. At first, the nostalgic, boisterous Andy slowly sucks Ian back into the diners, drinks, and highway drives of Jersey.  But the more time Ian spends in his old stomping grounds, the more he begins to sense something unsettling, and even sinister, ­­­­in the actions of his old friend.  Finally Ian uncovers a secret which forces him to the brink of a horrifying choice – to leave forever, or try to pick life’s shattered pieces.

Script Bagels

THREE proposal

Logline

THREE will be an eight minutes color film noir, which consists of elements from Drama, Crime and Mystery.

Summary

THREE is a film about a triangle story among Ryan, Jessie and Bella, but focusing on the couple, Ryan and Jessie. It can be divided into three parts. First, it starts with Jessie’s voice, saying why and how she kills her boyfriend Ryan. Second part is Ryan’s revenge. And the last part is the ending. There will be a lot of flashbacks and voiceovers through the whole film.

Statement (Why)

I always want to do narrative films to show people the stories in my head on the screen. There aren’t many students do narrative films in Lafayette; that’s one reason I want to do this film, to bring people interested in doing narrative films together. I did several short films before, but they are not professional enough. Capstone is a good time for me to do a relatively big and professional project with a crew and cast. I also want to use this film to apply for graduate film school programs and jobs.

Intended Audience

One reason I do narrative is that there are more intended audiences for narrative films. Maybe there won’t be many people watch a short film from a college student, but there will be audiences, like other college students, may be inspired by my film, or some film companies see the potential of works. It is a long way to go, but it is the one I want to go.

Five ways to help others

1. I’m really happy to help other people that are also doing narrative films on   set. I can be the cameraman, sound recorder, etc. I understand it is not easy to get a   crew and do the narrative films.
2. I’d love to help others on editing. I can give advice on the flow of the film or techniques that can be applied.
3. I’m happy to be interviewed for others’ documentaries.
4. I like working and editing in the FAMS building at midnight, and I have a car, so I can offer rides or help for those also like working at midnight in FAMS building.
5. I have a GoPro, a short Slider, a shotgun mic, and a cannon 80D that I can lend to others.

Timeline

July – Sep. 9^th 2016: Preproduction

Sep. 9^th – Oct. 2^nd 2016: Filming

October-Nov. 10^th: Editing, Record and add voiceover, Supplemental footage

Nov. 10^th – December: Final editing

Key Personnel

I will write, direct and edit this film. There will be two women and one man in the cast: Marci Weinstein as Jessie, Hannah Weaver as Bella, and Heman Matharu as Ryan. There will be a small crew that will include one or two cameraman, one sound recorder, and someone that can help me set things up on the set.