Braxton Filmz: Film School Journalz
10/13
I was staring at a picture that I drew a while ago. It was a guy who was walking /chasing after money that has a string attached to it and like it’s leading him along. People chase money and saying that; either Sunday or Monday night I came up with a story, shoot it in Downtown Norfolk, and basically it’s about a dude who’s on break, he loses the $20, he chases it til he spots it across the street and he goes across the street only to get hit by a car. I texted that idea to my brother Jalen. I thought of that idea and it was a gut feeling and I decided I'll shoot it in Black and White on 16mm because it's simple and small.
10/15
I ordered the film (a wonderful and kind employee I talked with) & I drew all of the storyboards, I don't need a script for this just the storyboards “the visuals” . It passed 46 shots so it means I may need another roll of film like 200ft altogether. I'll just buy a 400ft roll, I got some spare daylight spools & I'll load up 200ft in complete darkness and save the rest for another time. That is what I call an investment. Also, I thought it would be funny if the car that hits the character had the Christine License Plate ”CQB 41” haha. My car name is Christine. I know for that shot and the post credit I'll shoot digitally.
However, after thinking about the post, this film will be a sequel to an idea I already had and added it to this film, it’s my seed..from the brain. I had an idea called "The Lucky Dollar" where it's basically Final Destination but with a dollar. Everytime someone gets a hold of this dollar, they die and the main character is trying to chase and catch the dollar but everyone suspects that he's the one killing the victims so the cops are after him. After every kill the dollar goes up so one dies, $2 another dies $3 she dies $4 he dies $5. You get the point, by the end the main character gets ahold of the dollar after it kills a group of people so after that story it leads to this film so it's a sequel.
10/17
Film came in and I’m lucky because my apt number wasn't put down so there was some confusion but gladly a lady in the hallway was like this door and the fedex guy put it on my door; I'm lucky haha. Around 10pm, I proceeded to roll 200ft of film in the bathroom. Pitch black everywhere, when I turned on the light it took a gooooood minute for my eyes to settle. Loading film can be a pain in the ass if you don't have enough room.
10/18
I decided to cast Leo for this because I want to see his acting juices and because we never go to finish the last short film. Leo told me his schedule for next week and he’s good on Friday after 2 and free Sunday; just gotta check the light rail tide schedule. Also, I thought of another idea called “Alexa II”. Shot on 8mm film, starring Jalen. I'm excited for this too.
10/20
I decided to switch the setting of the first half to town center. Jordan gave me two houses for tomorrow and the last house is down the street from town center and it hit me...it's closer and has a parking garage and stairs in Town Center similar to Downtown Norfolk and the same lighting. I’m remembering and picturing the stairs now, it spits out more light . From the photoshoot I had with a friend I'm now remembering the details of Town Center. I’m heading out there tomorrow after the 2nd house. If I can shoot the whole film out it would be cool but we will see. I also have to wash my food lion uniform for the film, get some drinks for the film and set, print out a fake $20 bill so I won’t lose my actual $20 and another chore.
I also decided to start writing mini journals for every production and or film I do. Maybe later down the road I can combine all of them together and make my own "Rebel w/o a Crew & or Spike Lee’s Gotta have it book". This journal idea seems cool and interesting, I may reread these down the road to my kids haha. In 2021, I’m planning to do big things because something has to give and it won't be my art.
Before I forget, the budget for this film is $300 so the 400ft of film I spent $140 (with the student discount) but that was an investment so it's $70 for the 200ft, processing and scanning was $183(with 5% discount) $10 shipping so that's $263. $20 as a prop and for food and drinks, $283!
Oh boi!
10/21
8:40am
Checked the weather and now it's supposed to rain a bit on Sunday. That's not stopping me, gotdamn weather won't stop me, nope!
6:37pm
Car broke down/won’t start so I wasn't able to head to the town center to look around but I've been there plenty of times so I picture it right. Kinda irritated about my car because every month or 2 something is wrong with it, now I'll have to spend maybe $600 because something else may be wrong. But come to think about, last time I shot a short film on 16mm film I was broke because of my car because firestone fucked me over, no money nor unemployment money because they are asses, basically I was going through it then...like how I am now...but the thing is then and now I'm not stopping. Then when I filmed Reaper I was so broke but determined, I spent $80 on a develop and HD scan and the film was expired smart me. But I learned and now, I'm ready...car or no car.
9:41pm
The homey Jay has work so he won't be able to make it to the shoot, so Imma brings a skateboard to help me pull off the shots that I needed help with. Pro8mm emailed me, there giving 10% discount on my order...LIT! I hope the 5% one is still valid...i can use that 15% off now.
10/23
9:08am
Okay I'm all ready. Was scheduled to work before 1 and then got an appointment after the block I put and after the time I was done working...but they got removed. This damn job I tell ya, next year im quitting because to be honest "fuck this job!". Also, nothing is wrong with my car and didn't have to pay anything but Imma go back and film a commercial for them. I finished the storyboards for Alexa 2 and man I love it. Just gotta catch Danny or Jalen on a Saturday or Sunday next month within the first 2...3 weeks before the holidays. 40 shots altogether, 3 or 4 scenes shot on digital (pov shots), and maybe 36 or 37 shot on 8mm film. I'm eyeing 2 rolls of FPP 400BW 8mm film and the develop and scanning which altogether is $152 without shipping.
Imma use the yellow filter for this film because it gives it more contrast. The blue filter will make Leo burnt, red will invert red to white which i don't care for but I want to try out the yellow filter on B&W 16mm because I can’t find anything, no articles, no videos no nothing so nothing can be wrong and what i do can't be right haha. The iso/asa for the film is 250 but I’m metering it with 200 as the asa, I’m paranoid from my last 16mm short film which was every underexposed, it was expired so that's part of the reason but...i won't further elaborate so I won’t stress myself out more. I’m shooting this on 16mm so I can train myself for the kodak 100 feet 16mm competition, even if I have to go down to Georgia and visit the Kodak lab to get more info.
I like writing and keeping journals for this film, keeping track of what's going on. Today's goal is to shoot the whole roll. Hopefully, I’ll have 5 feet left so I can take that grain and use it for emulation. Going to bring a little HD Camera my grandmother gave so I can record the behind the scenes for certain shots. I may head to town center early and wait for leo who is free after 2, while I’m waiting I’ll eye the area, practice with the skateboard, and snoop around to see if I can shoot the rest on Sunday(supposed to rain just for a bit so I'll be prepared?)
Imma write a narration for this film, so it can fit with the "aesthetic" back in day BW 16mm flicks with the narration.
11:11pm
I think I drunk something that upsetted my stomach or it could just be me being hungry. But today's shoot went well. Leo hit me up after his appointment and I told him I’m heading to town center and to meet me on the 3rd level. I only had an hour to shoot his scene because he had to go to the 4pm appointment. I thought I wasn't going to finish all of the shots but never others think and say "I don't think I can..." because you'll be surprised. I only moved so fast because I went full out 90s and shot everything in a one take. I had to use the ND filter because the light meter went crazy with the amount of light that was being exposed. So during the shoot it stayed between f/16-18. The shoot went fast, I just let the creator Braxton take over. I'm not gonna worry about the exposure because I shot it at 200 when it's 250, it's not overexposed and it's damn sure not underexposed.
For any dolly in or moving shots I sat on a skateboard and did "the crab or the spider " to move. Pretty neat, I like using the skateboard now. Leo did good too, really good. After Leo left around 3:15pm. I shot the rest of the other scenes because usually I eye out the scenes that has my actor in it then shoot all of their shots and lastly do what I know I can do by myself. More of a challenge you know. For this, I only had to drag/ pull the money on the rooftop and stairs and a pov. Pov easy... Pulling the money was tricky but creativity was used. If I pulled the money, it would just jerk and fly, so I used my gatorade bottle as a pulley so when I pulled the money, it was way more smoother...little jerks but not crazy. At times I would put the bottle on the string and it would add weight on top of the string to make it 54% slower to pull and it worked. Picture pulling this string making sure it's smooth but also your at a distance because the camera lens needs to be focused so you're farther back.
It was tough to focus, meter, shoot and pull but I’m excited to see the results. This film needs to be "done" by Sunday but it's supposed to rain Sunday so I told Leo the 3 plans...1. Film tomorrow if he's free after these appointments, 2. Shoot Sunday after it rains (I don’t know if it's back to back rain) which leads to 3. Change the location from outside to the parking garage. Oh boi...but we will see. I'll call Leo tomorrow after 1 to see whats up. I finished the roll of film, I usually save 5 feet so I can have the grain and light leaks to use to emulate footage. I brought the mini camera my grandmother gave me and I shot some BTS footage there and it was great.
10/24
2:12pm
Just debating if I should shoot Danny's scenes tomorrow or next Friday or today if I don’t shoot Leos scenes today. I changed Act 2 & 3 to the parking garage sequence. Something about it seemed more interesting...like a hide and seek type sequence. I just copied the storyboards from the original but just made it as if the location was a parking garage. Imma meter with my t5 this time because I don’t know what the light meter will say. Just called Leo and Danny, no answer. I taped a weight to the back of the $20 so when I drag it, it's smoother and wont fly away. I bought some 8mm film, after this I’m going to focus on Alexa 2, my plan is to shoot Alexa 2 and send it to the FPP and hopefully I can make a guess on Filmmaker Friday. It’s when the FPP look at and reviews short films shot on film and I'm interested. Imma cast Danny instead of Jalen due to J$man having a tough work schedule. I don’t know when I will shoot it; just don’t wanna overwhelm myself and rush it.
The FPP followed me on Instagram earlier due to the posts I posted of the Cine8 8mm film from a video I recorded and edited with Danny shooting on 8mm for the 1st time. If Leo and I shoot today, I'll only have less than 2 hours to shoot which is all I need because in a way it's training me to be quicker and I'm shooting on 16mm so I'm learning the process quickly. I'm worried about the exposure from yesterday because I shot on 250D before and everything was bright and flat due to the brightness and that was which no ND Filter and now I shot on 200 asa instead 250 with an nd filter, did a quick test on the dslr T5 and it looked fine. Im okay. Just need to wrap this up so I can send off the film and while it's gone. I shot in a 1:1 ratio, I think...I’m still learning about shooting ratios.
I can shoot other scenes and do the Narration with Leo later this week or next. So by the time it comes back which may be around my Birthday... I'll be ready. If I can I'll aim for the 7th or 8th depending what's up with Danny's schedule. I bought two rolls of 8mm film so one roll is just Danny shots and the other roll is extra shots and stop motion.
7:44pm
I was able to shoot the rest of Leo’s scenes within an hour and a half. I'm proud of myself but shrug. Yeah, good thing I shot in the parking garage because 1. It’s Saturday leading into 2. Town center was packed, streets were cluttered, people everywhere so if Leo and I were to shoot on the streets we would have been fucked. Don't ask why because I got a long list of why and what would've happened! Wasn't so bad in the parking garage. A painter came on the floor that we were shooting at and he continued to paint the wall. No issue with me...he's just doing his job so for the shot I hid behind another wall on that floor to block him out and just have Leo in the frame and it worked because it was a shot where I had to pull the $20 and pan up to Leo.
Another thing I did was shoot only where the lights and sunlight shined. For example, there may be 3 parts of the 5 leveled parking garage so in the middle is where you drive up to get to the next floor and the main level floor (left and right?) Both had sunlight shining through the window/ column so in the film it looks like both sides left and right are connected. I never shot in the middle section because it was dark so with movie magic the main level floor left and right are gonna look connected but there not. Damn...I amaze myself a lot but there a lot more to do and learn. You too can amaze yourself if you go and do beyond your thoughts. I'll share the quotes and what I learned for later. Also, I used the t5 to light meter which wasn’t bad. Just was annoying because I didn't bring a strap for it and I would leave it with the bags which were pretty far from me so I would have to run back to it, meter the scene place it down, shoot, run to another spot, focus, run back to grab the T5, meter and shoot and you get the picture. Also, I brought the pro8mm Develop and Scan with the 5% discount bc the 10% discount "couldn't work for my order". $182 it was like how I said earlier. The $20 I used for the film I'll use for Shipping. If people start missing at USPS...it’s because of the Lucky 20 haha. Tomorrow I’ll shoot Danny’s scenes and the car scenes. I may have Danny drive for the car scenes but I'll wait to see. But I have a lot more work to do.
10/25
10:32am
Gonna call Danny in a bit to see if he's still down but today I’m just filming the post credit scenes and car scenes. Just need Danny's hands picking up the $21 dollar because everytime someone dies with the money on them it goes up so Leo character died holding the $20 so now it's $21. It's pretty cloudy as well. If I was to film on 16mm today it would been tricky with the lighting. Can't stop thanking Leo for coming out yesterday. I watch El Mariachi a lot and it inspired me to use the slow zoom in on the action technique. Damn I'm excited to see the footage and to start cutting it, I'll send it off on Tuesday or tomorrow if my work schedule isn't too hectic and crazy. Mainly, for short films I don't really write scripts, I just draw the storyboards so I can see it visually and write on the boards explaining the action. For Alexa 2 I wrote a script and drew the storyboards.
I need to make a plan for distribution or something. I don’t do film festivals for shorts and I don’t pay companies money and have them decide if or if not they will show my film...to be honest fuck all that, they got me fffffffucked up. Mainly, i want Leo to show this or use this film as a reference or a reel if Leo joins an acting class and I'll make a demo reel...a professional one...I’m talking including behind the scene footage, interviews and my work...not showing the best clips of my work with music. So I'll do something a bit more professional. I'm watching the Reaper that Whistles and that's my first 16mm short film and it was just too underexposed because the film was expired. Should've had it pushed in the developing stage. Funny because it was an expired 250T film and I metered it at 100T and I used an nd filter not knowing it will make it darker. I should've exposed it for 50asa but haha you live and you learn.
8:44pm
Shot 95% of the scenes & the rest of them are on digital. Danny rolled up and shot the post credit scenes and car scenes. For 2 shots, (I got one clip for the bts) I did an old technique where I flip the tripod making the camera upside down giving a low and steady shot and I just walked in front of Danny's car...praying he doesn't hit the gas and run me over haha.
He put the Christine plate on the front of his car and it looked nice. After I ship off the film tomorrow or Tuesday I'll play around with the behind the scenes footage... I may start continuing to record behind the scenes for footage and demo reels. Keep writing journals and maybe edit it and turn it into a blog and post it somewhere so beginner film-makers, movie-makers, 16mm film-shooters, artists...etc can read this and see how I put the film together and how they can take action as well. Personally, I believe if you follow through with dedication and take action you will do good doing anything. Not just waiting on one thing or two things or the money to pull off your film or art. Just do it...now...if not now then kiss your art your dreams goodbye. As a filmmaker and an artist you don't need hella money to make a great film...great not perfect. We weren't made perfect and can't do everything perfect so why should art...what you messed up on is art to someone else. That's just how I feel personally, being perfect ain't it for me. Just let your creativity take over and you will be okay. I hear stories of filmmakers shooting on iphone and with the budget of $500, shooting on an dslr with a $1k budget, I turned my head so quick when I heard that one. It doesn’t have to be perfect, I've seen people upset making something because it’s not perfect and just give up...I swear and I'm here not caring about my film because I know it's gonna be “bad” or “good” haha you gotta have confidence. The times I got a bad feeling on set making a short film...I just relax, keep moving, & think positive because no director shouldn't carry that bad feeling...especially if they have different roles on set. Fast forward later, that short film I had doubts about is the best short film I’ve done. To be honest, I find ways to challenge myself and the actor (s) because it helps, challenging yourself while filmmaking or creating is the key because you have a goal which pushes your actions and dedication. This film "Lucky 20" my challenge was to shoot an black and white 16mm film, use different angles, try out the skateboard dolly, and shoot fast in which I did. You know what, multiple challenges came up, had to shoot scenes within an hour to an hour and a half...never did before, shoot in the parking garage because...long story, i used the skateboard, shot on BW 16mm, and shot scenes by myself on 16mm and many more so I’m proud of myself but I got more challenges for myself when it's time for post, so the War isn't over. So now I just have to write the narration and maybe start working on foleying and music. 2020 may have fucked me over but I'm coming out with guns blazing into 2021. Gonna make some new business cards as well but I'll wait till December.
10/26
12:04pm
Just shipped the film off at USPS in Downtown Norfolk. I tell ya the Server at the USPS is an amazing guy. Older (45-60),tall, lean, Caucasian Gentlemen, really really cool guy, I only go there to see him and check on him to be honest. I'm sitting in my car now reading Rebel w/o crew by Robert Rodriguez, don't judge me this book is the bible of filmmaking. Also, I thought of some cool marketing ideas. I'm still laughing about the tinder profile for the film...definitely going to do that haha. Making posters and pin them to hotspots and college campuses. The movie tag will be "Want $20, watch this! Or go to sosososo." and provide the link for a trailer. One way to catch people and build a small audience. Just wanted to jot down some ideas.
10/27
9:58am
Just wanted to say before you shoot a film and you're going to be spending money. Like more than $50 or $100 dollar, I'll say a month before you start shooting your short film, I'll say put away $5, $10, & $20 for your budget for a whole month. If you living paycheck to paycheck, make it 2-4 months before and put away some money. Putting away money for your film will help and teach you how to raise money on your own, me personally I HATE asking for money or be given money sometimes. If you want to spend money, you work your ass off to save it and then work your ass off making the movie. Mr Ferrari from the Indie Film Hustle has a video up titled "Having Very Little Money to Make a Film Makes you a better Filmmaker" and I agree. I'm not going into detail, just search for the video on Youtube. What I did was, 2 months before I started shooting this short film knowing I have to shoot something on 16mm, I took my paychecks and took out the money for my bills for the upcoming months so I wouldn’t have to worry about it. So now I can waste $200...$300, on a short film because my bills are covered for the upcoming months. Yes I hate my job but don't we all, but no worries...keep pushing, keep grinding, create on your spare time and work at it and if nobody, no friends, no family wants to help you...forget them you don't need them. Just yourself, your dedication and your creative and technical skills.
I'm starting to...build an wix website haha for short films because I always had an idea of having filmmakers post an short film on this website and market and spread the word on their film and whoever come to the website to watch the film, they can pay a $1 or $2 to watch it and that money goes to that filmmaker. People want the big money just like that but no, life isn’t like that so why this. If the filmmaker plays their cards right with marketing and trafficking toward their film on the website they can roll out with some money...more than $2, little amounts equal big results.
Good news, I don't have to be a Georgia resident to participate in the Kodak Atlanta 100ft of film next year. Also, Imma wrap up this part of the journal til I get the footage back and I can start editing it. You all keep shooting, creating, if you get an idea and you ask someone about the idea and they say "No!" or "No I dont think that will work!" something negative, tell them to give you 5 reasons "why it won't work?"...literally 5. If they can't, continue with it, if they can...continue with it haha but keep the reasons why in your mind as early criticism and prove the person wrong. Peace!
Chapter 2: Fire in the Taco Bell
12/12/20 9:45am
The Film was shipped off last Wednesday or Thursday and the Alexa Film was shipped off yesterday. I tell ya I was getting depressed not editing these films. The Lucky 20 film was suppose to be delivered today but its in Connecticut instead of here #priotymail.is.a.joke . So it will probably be here on Monday and for the Alexa film...maybe Tuesday or Wednesday. Mr. Raso from the FPP said in the 16mm scan notes(Lucky 20) that the exposure was good. The Alexa Footage will be here Thursday, bad timing due to the holidays. Never ever ship nor order things in the month of December.
12/14 11:03am
Still nothing, no update no nothing for both films. But I made some cool posters with a grind-house type title and it looks good.
12/16 8:39am
Thr film is out for delivery. But I'm already thinking about the trailer...or a small teaser. I'm thinking about putting the definition of the words money, war, society, & destruction and I'll throw in broll or drawings or pictures or something. I want it to be eerie and to the point, money=war society=destruction and yeah it will be an experimental for sure. I may also make another aol account for the tinder so I can have a female account and male account unless I can find a way to get to show both demographics, but I'll put Lucky Twenty as the name, crop the poster of Leo so u just see the $20 and put "want $20?"pointing down to the link for the film, leave a link to the movie website...cough wix...im cheap what can i say. I feel a rush from within me but I have to slow down with this to get it all right and maybe release around late January or mid February. I've been making different wix websites for my other shorts and I know the format. Page one plays the short, page two plays the bts or making of but I call it Film School 101, page three is the inspiration which will display the writings of the journals i'm writing with bts pictures underneath, & page four is contact me.
12/17 8:33am
Its funny bc as I was writing the previous journal the usps man rolled up early and dropped my package off. Long story but to cut the chase the FPP hooked it up in the package, they gave my daylight spools back (because I need them), a film can with my 200 ft of negatives and the thumb drive in it as well. I was hyped and I ran to my computer and watched the footage and...I was happy with it. The only thing and I mean the only thing that didn't make it was a shot where leo runs down the steps and stops in front of the camera...that shot didn't make it due to light leaks but it's all good. I have random shots to take its place. I tell ya I didn't waste any time and I started cutting it in Davinci Resolve 16...just so I can get used to the new editing format. I cut the film in 3 acts and act 1 is longer, spent the day cutting and last night I jotted down all the sound I want so Imma head to Downtown Norfolk to return some books and then I'll use my H1 and mini boom to record some footsteps, city ambience, cars and car engine...etc etc. I want my sounds to be fresh! Idk where the Alexa Footage is last I checked it said In transit arriving late, Fuck it! I like how the footage looks so...tbh I may just leave it...may just raise the exposure, shadows and highlights and lower a bit of the darks and whites. The grain looks great and beautiful...definitely selling some grain packs & I'm leaving it in its 4x3 format, I remember I told myself earlier this year to make more film with the 4x3 format so I'll leave it the same with the Alexa footage!
12/18 8:08am
Yesterday I got the majority of the sound, I got from the apartment and then travelled to Downtown Norfolk to get more sounds out there. In a few I'm going to finish cutting, adding scenes and then start adding / editing the sounds. In the music software I created a new tune so i'll go through the three tunes to see what fits the film and build it from there. This film is going to be good tho...it's better than the Reaper because the exposure is right haha.
12/19
Tweeting some sounds, still have to get Leos dialog and 2 or 3 more sounds to add. I began scoring it and I always stress myself with the music but I just have to let the make match the clip and or scene. And I've come to the conclusion that I wont mess with the contrast or shadows nor add a 4:3 ratio bar because I want people to see the grain, the rawness , and beauty of 16mm itself.
12/21 12:10am
Today...yesterday was a good working day. I met up with Leo around 4:30 and I recorded some of his lines for the beginning of the film and random words to fill in the gap of the clip where he yells says something small...for instance "FUCK!". I've been listening to jazz as I edit by the way, but I added the sound and lines(used a charlie Brown teacher effect for the other person) haha but it sounded great and I added some music and rendered out all 3 parts in HD and 4k. I just need edit the opening, titles and the ending credit and ill be set. After that I'll add a little bit of contrast, raise a bit of shadows and...i can't remember...i'm really tired and I'm struggling writing this journal but the show must continue. I need to sharpen it...thats what it was. Im writing my to-dos down in a mini journal so i can be aware of what to do next and so. Pretty handy!
12/22 -2:39pm
I was too tired to create the credits last night but once I woke up I started cutting the credits together, added sound and a quote to the post credit scene and completed the end credit and so far so good. I rendered it out of all the scenes, put them together so it's a whole film, sharpened it up a bit. I may go back lower it but now it's rendering a rough cut now. It's on 22% and I was right about the duration of it being 6minutes and 34 seconds...I was right about it being between 6-8 minutes.
12/23-11:07pm
I'm all done editing the film. I rendered an HD version, Color Corrected version and a 4K version, all look good. I set up the projector so my mom could see it. She said it was good and could see the growth in my films. I began cutting a Film School aka Behind the Scenes Video and its rendering out now...it's 16 minutes long but it's juicy for beginner filmmakers. I'll do a voiceover for it tomorrow but...now rewatching I don't feel anything. I smile because all of my work is out together but due to me editing it day by day watching nothing turn into something I lost "that '' view of the film but usually after a week or two It will be fresh to my eyes.
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