rejected

the faq about what that festival looks for and turns down was motivating. unforgivingly edit. crisp but simple camera work. polished lighting. coherent story. good acting. leave out the cliche motifs and egocentric filmmaking.

in general, i think the idea is that a film should have meaning. the actual technical making of a film can make a good film better and it can make a good film worse, but i don't think lighting/camera work/direction can turn a bad film into a good one. at a film's core, there must lie a moving, meaningful, and groundbreaking story or theme or moral of some sort. something has to be accomplished and emotion evoked.

as always, looks are important, so looking professional matters. if you're going to take the effort and pay the money to enter a film into a festival, put as much effort into sending you film as you sending into making it.

Response to DC Shorts Article

I was really pleased to have read the article online about what the judges look for in the DC Shorts film festival. I think helpful information not only for short films but also for festivals in general. It seemed that the basic idea the author wanted to pump into the readers heads was to stick to the story. The story is the most important aspct of the film, more than lighting, camerawork, editing, etc. The story must be clear and concise and believable. Often times people spend too much time with other things and dont keep it simple, which according to this author, is key. KISS (keep it simple stupid) is one thing directors and film makers should remember during the course of making a film. When things begin to get too complicated not only does the film begin to lose focus, but it also loses the audiences attention. Audiences want to "get to the point" and dont want to be held in suspense for too long. I was interested to know that a feature legnth script should introduce the first climax on the twelvth page, and also that long movies which have been (professionally) edited to decrease legnth are usually better. It was also helpful to learn that presensation is key and also one of the things that judges look for. Rather than sending dvds in neon jewel cases, take the time to upgrade a bit in your packaging. Not only will it improve the look of the quality youre trying to achive, but it also shows that you are serious about your work. Now that I've read this I realize not only how tough it is to get accepted but how driven and focused you must be to be taken seriously. Hopefully I will be able to experience this first hand soon!

*ChRiStY

Our Storyboards

poetic bliss

this poetic form assignment sparked our discussion of the overall direction we intend our documentary to follow. buddhism is a religion based on visuals and internal emotion, so it is fitting that we use our media to express its nature. our concept follows this basic form:

premise 1-we want to show american culture in its more stereotypical sense because we think there is this general assumption that american/christian life is so drastically different from buddhist life. we plan to include images such as:
-people relaxing/eating/walking at the beach
-people/children playing at a park
-fast food eating
-a drive-through time lapse (mcdonald's)
-dining hall eating
-big churches downtown

premise 2-we want to then show buddhism in its more stereotypical light for the same reason, as some far away religious group of people who don't talk like we do, don't eat what we eat, don't aspire for the same life goals, etc. images include:
-the wat, long shots and close-ups
-monks meditating, eating, chanting, teaching, walking
-buddist iconography

premise 3- finally, we will begin to melt together both sets of imagery to see that these two culture are in fact, not so different. from far away and on the surface, we think that we are different, but the fact remains that we are all human beings seeking meaning and purpose.
-for example, we as americans love to get away and lay out at the beach. without realizing it, we are partaking in our own style of meditation. we lay on a towel; monks sit on a pillow. what's the difference, really?
-children are children whether they are playing on a playground or running up and down the ramps at the wat
-places of worship may seem different. sure we have big churches with symbolic structure and functions that don't look like the wat; but once again, aren't we all going to these buildings for the same reasons?

everyone laughs, cries, lives, and dies. that's it.

Shooting Schedule for the Poetic Assignment

Here is our Shooting Schedule for the Poetic Assignment:

March 30th- Beach and downtown shots. On this day we plan on getting people at the beach and then going downtown and shooting big churches, kids playing, people walking downtown and any other shots that we need in that area

April 1st - Wat Carolina shots. This day we are going to go to Wat Carolina and film one of their services and get people meditating, close ups of the Wat building, the monk laughing, the monk eating, shot of the food, nature shots at the Wat, etc.

April 2nd- Students eating. We are going to go to the Seahawk grill and get people eating lunch

April 5th- Fast food time lapse. We are going to go to McDonald's and film a time lapse of people driving through the drive-thru. This day is also for shooting anything else we were not able to get before.

April 6th- Editing day


-Calli

bee roll

to me, b-roll is like the experimental filmmaker's treat when making a narrative film or a documentary which is usually fairly story driven.....i love experimental film so i love b-roll. i can appreciate b-roll because i know how powerful visuals can be on tone and mood. i think our 5 minute documentary could be half b-roll and still be very effective. because we are making a film about buddhism, i think aesthetics will be especially important. here are my ideas:

-time lapses: sunrise/sunset at the monastery, drive to and from bolivia, general nature scenes
-the monk's in none-serious moments: walking around in haynes socks, laughing, playing, eating
-ceremonial footage
-big churches in bolivia and wilmington
-buddhist iconography at the monastery and in wilmington
-people eating fast food
-busy city streets, buildings, etc.

i think most of my b-roll ideas are either nature based, which is very related to buddhism, or they are images showing the similarities/differences between buddhist life and american culture. for example, i think it would be a really nice juxtaposition/irony to show the monks eating in their element: a begging bowl full of rice and native thai food; followed by us americans stuffing our faces with fast food; but then again followed by the monks eating delivery pizza (which we saw at the ceremony last month). i would like to show how buddhist monks have a drastically different way of thinking and arriving at their behavior, but that ultimately they can arrive at the very same conclusions as we do. in my opinion, buddhism is not so much about changing behavior as it is about recognizing the behavior that we choose to enlist and creating meaning for it.

peace, genevieve

B-roll

I just read the article in the student filmmakers magazine about shooting effective B-roll and I thought it had some really good points. I know the importance of b-roll. As a person who likes to edit, trust me the more footage you have the better. As the article pointed out, b-roll allows you to cut away from an interview to avoid jump cuts and to avoid a boring talking head interview. One thing that I had never thought about before was that the article suggested to shoot a person's hands after you interview them. I really had never thought of cutting to a person's hands during an interview and I think it is a great idea. I will be sure to get hand footage for interviews from now on.

Here is a list of b-roll that I have come up with for our film:

Churches
time lapse of the drive to Wat Carolina
The monks chanting
People mediating
Picture of Jesus
Picture of Buddha
People offering the monks food/monks eating
the monks smiling and laughing
Nature shots around Wat Carolina (like a shot of the pond that is by the Wat)
shots of the Wat
the monk teaching others



Also, we interviewed Dr. Beck, a UNCW Religion Professor, this past Thursday and I think it went very well. He did a very good job of explaining Buddhism and on expanding his thoughts.

well that is all for now
- Calli

Ah, yes it's after midnight Sunday night and I've decided to add a few words to our blog . . . After suffering from tonsilitis and the flu over what was supposed to be my spring break, I'll be heading back to Wilmington first thing in the a.m. and ready to plan this week's interview. As Gen has said, we did a bit of "vox popping" last Saturday downtown and it was pretty interesting to say the least. The thing I love the most is the irony in the fact that the place we stopped to interview our first few people, was right in front of a store downtown called City Buddha- and this was totally unplanned. All of a sudden we looked behind us and were like, "Woah, City Buddha, how convenient". Not sure if the store's name got into any of the shots or not, but the sheer fact was pretty funny . . and kind of weird at the same time. I had fun interviewing and getting people's responses. A couple people actually turned us down, including the man who works the info desk down at the river, claiming he was not to have a voice about anything- and when we mentioned the topic, flat out said "No". Two women visiting from up north were probably the most fun about it. They had really good spirits and seemed genuine in trying to support students. I think only one of the people we interviewed actually knew about the monestary and where it was at, so in that sense it was cool to watch people's reactions after finding out how close one was. Overall, I think it was a good day . . and I'm excited to see how our vox pop will work into our completed project. . . Till next time- ChristY

Expert Interview

For our expert interview, we have decided to talk with Dr. Guy Beck, a visiting professor to UNCW from Tulane University. He specializes in South Asian religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam, History of Religions, and Religion and Music. He teaches Asian Religions and Tibetan Buddhism at UNCW. He has a B.A. in Social Sciences from the University of Denver, an M.A. in Religious Studies from the University of South Florida as well as a M.A. in Fine Arts/Musicology from Syracuse University. He also has a M.Phil and a Ph.D in Religion from Syracuse University.

We decided to choose him for this particular assignment for several reasons. Logistically and visually, we felt that he would be the best to interview in a more formal setting because of his role in our documentary. We think that his interview will most likely serve as more of an unbiased opinion on our topic as well as an unrelated figure to the monastery. We definitely plan to interview people involved with the temple, but we also think it’s a good idea to get an outside source. Possibilities as far as editing use for this interview include an overall description of Buddhism and/or voice-over to go along with our stills as well as our 16mm and digital footage. We think that interviewing the monk and those we have met at the monastery would be more effective in a more causal/spontaneous setting, and we have already begun such questionings.

Here are some ideas for questions to ask Dr. Beck. Any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated.

GENERAL
-In one word, what is Buddhism? (this may be a good vox pop question as well?)
-What is the academic definition of Buddhism?
-What are the fundamentals of Buddhism? Beliefs, customs, rituals, behavior?
-Is Buddhism more of a religion or a philosophy/way of life?
-Are there necessary beliefs?
-What is the current state of Buddhism in Tibet? China? India?
-Where is Buddhism most prevalent?

EAST VS. WEST
-How would you describe Buddhism (differently) from/to an eastern vs. a western perspective/audience?
-How is Buddhism like Christianity? How is it different?
-How does Buddha compare to Jesus?
-Could one theoretically be a Christian and a Buddhist?
-How did Buddhsim get to the west? A place like Bolivia, NC?
-What are some percentages of Buddhists in America?
-What role does Buddhism play as a religion in the United States? The south?
-What role, if any, does Wat Carolina play in North Carolina?
-What is appealing about Buddhism to westerners? What is not? Is Buddhism trendy?
-What might Americans partake in unknowingly that is characteristic of Buddhism? (meditation, pilates, yoga, simplified life, internal thought, karma)

that's what i've come up with so far, but i'm sure my group members will have many more ideas. I'm not sure how much Dr. Beck knows about wat carolina itself, but we will definitely ask more direct questions about the monastery if he is familiar with it.

peace, genevieve
edited by Calli

vox pop

on saturday march 3, calli, christy, and i went to downtown wilmington to do our quick little interviews with the public. here are the questions we asked:

-What do you think Buddhism is?
-What kinds of things do you think of when you hear the word "Buddhism?"/ What do you associate with the word/religion "Buddhsim?"
-Do you know (of) any Buddhists?
-Do you think that Buddhism is prevalent in Wilmington?
-Are you aware that there is a Buddhist monastery less than 30 minutes from Wilmington?
-Do you consider yourself religious?
-Are you affiliated with any particular religion?

some people were very interested in what we were doing. i think 2 of our interviews were from men coming up to us actually, but we got turned down a few times as well. overall i think it went pretty well as we got a fairly broad range of answers. most people didn't have a great explanation for what buddhism is or else they just had a hard time verbalizing it. most people also thought that buddhism is not prevalent in wilmington even though about half knew of the monastery. i think only one person was not christian and again only one person knew someone who is buddhist.

things associated with buddhism: monks, a lot of praying, india, temples, shrines, a bald guy on the top of a mountain

peace, genevieve