This is an adventure.

Today is my last film class, which is just so strange. Not only because I feel like I could make seven more movies, but because I don’t know where all this time went. In these past two years alone, I’ve been a part of every kind of movie from a psychological thriller to a quirky comedy to a two-hour long documentary. I got to work alongside some of my film heroes–Nic Pic, Matt Mullen, Torie O’Neil, Matt Ferrara. I’ve also had the chance to do literally everything in the movie process–from screenwriting to directing to editing to art directing to acting to making music.

In particular, this year was the most testing, and had it not been for this amazing crew, I wouldn’t have made it. Nash: you were the first person to jump on this project, and I am completely grateful for you being there throughout the process. Jess: you were the only person who understood my craziness and Wes Anderson analogies; you did everything you could to help, and it was an honor to work with you. Maddy: I wish I remembered to let you be more involved in the production aspects; you were a hilarious and natural actor–I literally can’t wait to see you in whatever movie you make next year. You were the most organized and willing crew member, and you have so much talent that we never took advantage of. Baby: you are my pride and joy; even though we only had you for half of a semester, you were the glue that kept this crew happy and together throughout those first few months. I am so proud of you and look forward to your next two years in the Festival. Griffin: 

Our hard work paid off last Tuesday. We received nominations in Art Direction, Editing, Best Supporting Actor, Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Picture. It was an honor to play on Thursday night alongside some of the best Film Festival movies ever made. It was an extremely competitive year, but there are no words for the endless joy I felt when I received the honor of Best Director alongside the two people I respect most–RT and McKeon. I am just so thankful for everything this Festival has given me.

If you are reading this as a littlun waiting to someday be in Film class, stop waiting. Join Film Festival as soon as you can. You will regret it if you wait until you’re a senior, because it’s literally the best high school experience you will ever have. Do what you love and make the movies you want to make. Choose a script that you can’t live without making. Work as hard as you possibly can. Stay after everyday, because after school is where you meet the best people. Be nice to everyone. Help out every crew you possibly can. Love your fruit and your crew, because crew love can only lead to a better movie in the end. Make something you are proud of, because in the end, these movies are going to outlive you. Your work is your legacy, so make something people will remember and want to watch in a year or even ten years.

I would give anything to start this whole process all over again, but I had a good run. I wish the best of luck to all of the upcoming Seniors and Juniors–Mullen, RT, McKeon, Cloudberry. I have the utmost faith in all of you that the next year and the year after will be amazing. I am so proud of everyone and wish you luck in the future.

-Batch

Trailer!

This was an Adventure.

I tried to write something very eloquent and thoughtful, but I just want to watch Rushmore.

We are finished.

Mike Griffen Can’t Stop Crying

There has been so much going on that nothing has been going on. We could have finished the movie over February break, but Snow and Athletes got in the way. We originally moved our biggest and most pivotal scene, the Senior Fair, into the Gym, thinking it’d be a quick solution for all the problems snow would cause in the shooting. Well. Athletes need somewhere to play sports, I guess, so the Gym is never available, and when it is, it’s a blizzard. Regardless, we’ve moved the scene, as Griffien tried to mention, to the quad outside of the Gym. This will be shot on April 1st, so kids be ready for a fun-packed day of bouncing and pure childhood joy. I mean, even Baby will be there. That’s right. We found Baby, locked in the prison of A246, ie. Health Class.

Besides that, I’ve been chugging away in the editing world. We have finally combined both halves onto one computer, which is nice. Now I don’t have to go back and forth between the two. BUT, the most exciting part of this last week was the discovery of a great beginning to our movie’s soundtrack. Music has been tough for us, but we have dug up some goodies in the Film Festival archives that really bring this movie together. I mean, for most of production, you have this long row of sequences, but even when you watch one after the other, it’s hard to see how the movie could possibly come together. Even when you start to piece together the Rough Cut, it’s hard to see the movie until you really bring it all together. And that’s finally happening. And it feels good.

Last week, we started filming again with the most hilarious scene ever committed to digital media. Mike Griffen. Riding. A. Bike. It was, to say the least, hilarious. He fell several times. Failed to grasp the concept of what it means to ride a bike and went off course several times. And finally he fell as he sped down a hill. But he’s okay. A little out of breath. But we nailed one hell of a shot that I am very excited about.

We also have been cleaning up the script a little. For instance, we added a new character. You’re probably thinking, a new character? Like isn’t you movie due in two weeks? A new character. This is obscene. How can you establish a new character with only three scenes left to shoot? Well, we did. So you’ll have to wait and see.

For the first time in weeks, I feel like I am getting back in touch with the sort of story I wanted to tell. Production is not meant to go smoothly; I learned that ten times over last year. Now, we’re recovering slowly. We are getting shots that we’re excited about again. I mean, I know it’s funny and weird, but Griffin was actually tearing up while watching the movie. Now, I could tease the bejesus out of him and his sensitive soul, but at least he wasn’t bored. He had a reaction and the right reaction. All I want to do is make a smooth recovery from the past few weeks and to finish my last year in the Festival with something I’m proud to show.

[Mike Griffen was] Almost Done! [with this blog post]

“Throughout the past couple weeks the movie has been set back back due to the constant snow.  The senior fair has been moved yet again to be shot on April first.  The scene has also been moved from the gym to the quad.  .”

 

Crunch Time!

Only three more scenes to shoot!! These scenes are some of our biggest including the election day and the senior fair. We have had setbacks with the election day and senior fair due to weather issues (mostly snow days), but we are determined to get these scenes done in the upcoming week. The only thing that needs to be done besides the three scenes left is music. We have recently shot a scene with our newest actor Johnny Adams in the main office with Mike Griffin, Mr. Hahn, and Mr. Imbusch.

 

Filming with Mr.Bakale was definitely something odd but hysterical. Watching him make up his own Latin story and doing absurd magic tricks definitely triggered a few laughs at the least. To top it off, his wardrobe fit his character perfectly. Also, when trying to reshoot the first hallway scene with Max and Margaret, we had to align dictionaries on the floor so she would be tall enough for Max.

 

In this past week we have learned that Mike Griffin’s last name is not actually spelt “Griffin” but “Griffeni”.  Who knew that Mike would keep the spelling of his last name a secret for all of this time.BREAKING NEWS: the red winter hat is missing!! we have searched the whole station and the hat is MIA. If anyone knows where it could be, come to the marionberry station immediately.

 

P.S. Mike “Griffeni ” now has an official girlfriend !!!

Nash Finally Blogs

I know we came out of the gate very strong getting a lot of scenes done in a very short amount of time, but we have hit a standstill. We still have to do one of our biggest scenes the senior fair. We scheduled to do it last thursday but with all the snow after school activities were cancelled and we could not film. We have all we need to film the fair but the gym is so hard to book because of all of the activities after school. We only have about 4 scenes left and all the other scenes are pretty much movie ready except for a few things that need to be reshot.

The crew is getting along really well and everyone is doing really well, our actors Mike and Maddy are doing wonderful. Mike has surprised us by exemplifying some John Griffin like qualities, (do not worry Batchy John is still the best). I am the co-director and also the morale booster. When somebody is in a bad mood I will crack a joke and give them a hug trying to make therm feel better.

I know we have had some fun in these last two paragraphs but I would now like to get serious. I would like to report a missing filmer. Baby has currently been missing in these last few months from film class. He used to be in period 5 film where he would cause instant joy with his cherub like demeanor, but now that he’s  gone it’s just gloomy.  A semi-reliable source has just informed me as I am writing this that he has actually been baby-napped by an evil gym teacher and is being force fed health knowledge. If anyone has further information about Baby contact Marionberry.

P.S. If you find Baby and he’s a little fussy give him his bottle that always calms him down

-Nashy

Day 2: Kingsbury Tuesday

 

Nash did show up eventually, but not before Griffin and I shot our last Election Video and fixed one cut-away. We’re moving into the last ten scenes now, which is frightening. In fact, we only have seven scenes we haven’t touched so far.

Nash’s last performance was very good. He nailed it. I am excited to see how it looks in the editing room. Griffin also had a very good day, yielding some of his best work and best bloopers. We’ll see how it turns out. With much shooting comes with much editing (and much compressing.)

Day 1 of February Vacation: The Winter Formal

 

We shot our arguably most important scene yesterday evening, which was a big success. We cannot thank our extras enough for how great they were, in return, Marionberry grants one IOU to each crew that was present. All proposals for mentioned IOUs must be submitted to our legal attorney at Marionberry Enterprises, Inc.

It’s Day 2 already. So far, Griffin has said he will not show up at 8 because he doesn’t want to be the only one there. Nash also asked, at 12:30am what time we were filming. We are looking to recast. Send your audition tapes to me along with a headshot, please.

The Last Act

And so, here is the stereotypical February Break post, in which I, as a stressed out student filmmaker of this fine establishment, must gush about how much work we will get done and how many Trivs we will score and how wonderful it will all be. BUT this week is much more than that. This week is our last big set of shoots before we get down to it and start assembling a little thing called a “Rough Cut,” because it’s true what you’ve heard. We’re almost done.

If you keep tabs on the little board tally, we’ve been at 21 Scenes for about a week and a half. However, we have shot upwards of 30 scenes including reshoots. When it comes to re-shoots, we have tried doing the good old re-do the scene exactly and a little better than the first round, but we recently have been digging through some old drafts and finding scenes that were previously cut out and filming them instead.

The most recent scene (pictured above, where Little Griffin is covered by the wonderful Little Mullen) we dug out a nice scene in which Maddy gets to bring a new dimension to Margaret. It was exciting. Griffin was literally in tears.

Anyways, expect some photo journal-ing over the next few days. We have some great sets coming your way. Wish us luck.

Only a few more weeks and we’re onto the next venture.