Myth or Legend

Not Your Everyday Narrative

Title: Myth vs. Legend

Tagline:  "What will you see?" 

Logline:  A mysterious menace has been terrorizing South Bend for quite some time.  Is it an urban myth or are there more to the stories? And is it escalating…?

Treatment: This short narrative will be told in the form of a news story/mockumentary. It is the story of a phantom creature/thing that is causing little bits of chaos all around South Bend. People have only seen glimpses, there are grainy photographs and security camera feeds that provide good, but not conclusive, evidence. We will have off-camera interviews with people that have seen it. Just imagine a “I saw bigfoot” vibe. The interviews will be done to feel “unstaged” - just an interviewer catching people out in their neighborhood. One interview will focus on the urban legend surrounding the creature. This interview will include a “re-enactment” - which will be shown as the interviewee describes the theory. There will be a shots of the filmmaker traveling to an interview location. (The cliche “camera in the backseat filming the front seat person talking about the investigation” shot. If cliches are wrong I don’t want to be right.) And of course there will be a chance to see some of the problems around town. (A destroyed flowerbed, yard decor in disarray, etc.- think Loki. Often in a spiral pattern...) This will all escalate into a heated interaction between the camera crew and a "person of interest." Some, but not all, questions will be answered.

Five Phrases and a Script

 “No one is going to be offended, we’re all open about this.” -loud student to his group of 5 classmates as they attempted to complete some type of group assignment about a controversial topic. The group remained quiet.

“Well you could have taken the lettuce and turkey off and eaten it plain.” -mother to her college-age son after he complained that he was hungry because hadn’t eaten a freely provided lunch. It was unclear what his issue was with the variety of sandwiches, but he was equally displeased with turkey, vegetarian, Italian, and ‘other’.

“Oh, you’re gay? I’ve always wanted a gay best friend!” -student in an EA hallway sharing a story with a friend about an encounter he had had at some point in his life.

“We have about 5 refrigerators full of stool.” -student talking to a small group of anthropology students after a presentation about chimpanzees.

“And that is why the pineapples are in the water.” -young man on an upper floor. I have no context as that was the only sentence I heard. I suspect it had to do with a piece of art, but I’d like to think it didn’t.

____________________________________________

Number Seven

by

Marissa Williams

INT. LOFT APARTMENT - TASTEFUL NEUTRAL TONES - NATURAL FIBERS

LAUREN opens the front door, steps into the entryway, and turns on the light. She takes off her jacket and throws it on a chair near the door. THOMAS enters behind her and mirrors her actions with his own jacket. LAUREN leans against the wall next to the door and massages her temples.

LAUREN

It’s almost as though you want us to become shut-ins. Is that it? Would you like us to simply have no outside life whatsoever?

THOMAS flops into a nearby armchair, throwing his leg over one of the arms and leans back in a high-power pose. His expression is mildly perplexed.

THOMAS

I don’t know why you’re getting upset. We’ve only been banned from one or two places.

LAUREN steps in front of him with her hands on her hips and stares down at him in dismay.

LAUREN

Seven. We have been banned from SEVEN different establishments.

THOMAS

Well, sure, if you’re counting. But did you SEE their faces when they saw all of those pineapples in the water?

THOMAS slowly closes his eyes and smiles.

THOMAS

Worth it.

Documentary Poster

A Person of Interest for a Potential Interview

Zack Arnold is a professional editor who has worked on trailers, television, and documentaries for over 15 years. After growing up in a small Midwest town, he studied film theory and production at the University of Michigan before moving to Los Angeles to begin his career. After a few short years of working on movie trailers and DVD content he decided to make the transition to scripted features. The list of independent movies and television shows that he has been a part of is quite extensive and includes “The Bannen Way”, “Burn Notice”, and, most recently, “Empire”.  Zack’s directorial debut occurred in 2015 with his documentary “Go Far: The Christopher Rush Story”. He also manages his podcast and online health program “Fitness in Post” while still finding time for his family in his busy schedule.

With the target audience in mind, an interview with Zack could prove very insightful and even inspirational to current video and motion media students. It may, perhaps, even be a motivator for other INMS students of varying concentrations to change their focus. This interview could help make working in Hollywood seem more accessible, considering that the interviewee has a very similar background to many of them. It could be used not only to give students a glimpse into their future, but also to provide practical guidelines for how to get the most out of their video and media programs here at IUSB.

1. Could you tell me what a normal working day in your life is like?
2. What is your favorite and least favorite part about editing?
3. Backing up, can you tell me a little about college? 
4. What kind of projects were you assigned?
5.  Did you have very many group projects? Which one/ones were the most memorable?
6. Do you feel like those projects prepared you for working with others in the industry (before Trello)?
7. What was your least favorite thing about school? Have you used those skills?
8.  Is there anything you wish you had done differently in school?
9. What was your biggest take-away?
10. In once sentence, what would you want to say to a group of college students studying video?

Style Book

"The Time to Run" 

A Sensible Chuckle

Music - Scott Holmes

Amused

Music Video Analysis

Is it narrative, performative, conceptual or a combination?

• The video is both narrative and performative. The singer is telling a story while simultaneously working through a very intricate performance with the rest of the band.

What visual elements are used to style the video (color, shape, line, tone, light, rhythm)? Does it stay consistent throughout or does it change? When and why does it change?

• Lighting: The warehouse is very well lit. Ceiling lights are covered with softboxes to avoid harsh shadows while still keeping everything extremely visible.
• Colors: The colors are extremely bright and vibrant, so they may have increased the contrast and brightness just a bit, but I believe that was mostly due to their color choices for the installations. The tone stays in the mid-range, never really leaning to brights or darks.
• Lines: The audience is constantly getting a changing view. The camera tilts frequently. Very frequently.
• Rhythm: The video is fairly consistent throughout - with one notable exception. The tracking speed generally travels about the speed of a person walking, because that’s exactly what’s moving it, but during one segment the camera is slowly and evenly rolling past a set of boxes filled with words. This helps pull the viewer out of the chaos for a moment so we can give the content our full attention. While not from the lyrics, the words help us understand what write is feeling about the actual relationship itself.

What are some of the key moments in the video? How are they photographed?

• The very first shot of the video sets up the entire performance. The audience sees the band’s logo large and centered in the screen in front of a white background, but then it turns and we realize it has more depth than we would have even considered. What else isn’t as it seems? Another very key moment, in my opinion, is the final few seconds. The camera is placed at a high angle and shows a long shot (extreme long shot?) of the one whole side of the warehouse. The audience is given a moment to process (and the video gets its “handles”) and then the crew bursts out from behind the pillars. The exuberance shown by everyone is just the perfect ending. They had “pleasure in their eyes”.

Does the camera stay static or is there movement? Why does the camera move?

• The camera uses tracking shots for a majority of the video. It is set down occasionally to give the viewers a chance to look at the picture that has been created by its new position and angle. The camera follows the band around the warehouse since each installation of the performance must be able to accommodate an entire human along with its own components.

Does the video follow the story of the song or reinterpret it in a new way? 

• In some ways the video does follow the story of the song - while also being its very own story:
• The lyrics speak of an imminent breakup, and the writer is expressing his desire to have just one more happy night with his partner. “It seems like forever since we had a good day” and he wants “to see some pleasure in (their) eyes.” The video is bright and playful and I believe in every way is a good representation of a person attempting to cheer someone else up.
• The video also tells the story of the creation of this intricate setup. As the camera moves through the elements we can see all of the details that had to be perfected to make the images believable. The final shot when the entire crew steps out from their hidden locations on the set and the realization that they have been moving there all along really drives home the story of the video production aspect.

I love this video!

Scene Breakdown

Log Line:

An off duty cop joins his wife at her corporate Christmas party and finds himself mixed up in a violent terrorist encounter.

Tag Line:

"Come for the party, stay for the carnage."


Scene:

The protagonist sneaking through the vents. (0:17-0:31)

Resources:

20' duct work

diffused light source

zippo lighter

costume - stained tanktop and jeans

makeup - cut above eye and general dirtiness

camera

Bruce Willis

backlight for duct

Summary:

The hero army crawls silently through the dark ductwork of the corperate building as he moves in on the antagonists. His only light is his small Zippo. His face is cut and bleeding from an earlier encounter. The duct is lit from behind and also in front to indicate the long distance of the ductwork he has to travel. The music builds in a slow crescendo and faint sounds of his feet and body sliding across the metal can be heard.

Group:
Marissa Williams, Ryan Shields, Leo Suarez

My Media & Me

When I first graduated high school, I headed to Northern Michigan University as an undeclared freshman. While living in the dorms I was using my computer to produce a variety of creations for my friends: desktop themes, CD covers, posters, and whatever else they would ask for. People loved what I created I loved making it. I chose Electronic Imaging as my major and spent the next two years learning more about digital art, editing, and design than I could have ever imagined.  My classes were amazing and I was in love. A knee injury forced me to withdraw from classes my junior year and I decided that rather than returning to school the following semester I would go on an adventure. (And what an adventure it has been...) But no matter where my life has taken me the desire to create has followed and I think my three favorite words are still, "You MADE this?". I've come to IUSB to catch up and learn the most current trends and techniques in media design while also creating a more traditional portfolio. Hopefully, I will be able to find a career somewhere in the field of marketing design, but who knows which media form I may fall in love with over the next two years.