Description: We were asked to produce a short documentary on a close friend or family member and I chose my brother, Shaun, because he was really the only family I had in Nor Cal (ha ha!) but also because I think he is inspiring in a sort of understated way. I say this because he really doesn't talk much. He's an extremely humble guy. Instead, he chooses to express himself through photography and digital art, which he happens to be pretty good at. Therefore, like Shaun, I wanted my film to portray a feeling, without preaching it, using strong visual content and few words. I tried to make it cinematic. It also helped that my brother is a pilot, so I was able to capture a lot of really great b-roll from the sky.
Sum it up? This is the short story of a young 21-year-old pilot, Shaun, who veered off the normal track to pursue his passion and explore the world.”
Title: I Dew, Commercial
Credits: Director: Dave Keenan, Cinematographer: Stephen Bourdet, Lighting: Brandon Hamilton, Cast: Nathaniel Nicks - Best Man, Steffanie Moran – Bride, Chris Beanan – Groom, Achim Voermanek – Priest, Producer - Staci Degagne & Fat Dave Productions, Editor: Dave Keenan, Score: Dave Keenan
Description: A groom is stranded on the side of the road with only his best man and a Mountain Dew as his bride eagerly awaits his arrival to the altar.
Title: Fortune Cookie, Romantic Comedy
Credit: Writer/Director Eileen Agas.
Description: Silent film that follows the journey of a young man after he receives a unique fortune that tells him to, "Go to the corner of 4th and Mission Streets."
Description: A serial killer becomes the victim of his own tortured mind.
Title: San Francisco Parking, Comedy
Credits: Written/Directed by Eric Rist, Starring JT Metz.
Description: A comedy about the lack of parking in San Francisco.
Title: Sony HD Commercial
Type: Commercial
Credits: Directed By: Ryan Thomas Directory of Photography: John Entenmann Capture Tech: Serafina Kernberger Grip: Kent Epperson Boy: George Manatos Girl: Bridget Kane Sound: Dave Taylor
Description: A young couple begins watching TV one night when they are unsuspectingly zapped into a Gameshow. Before they know it they’ve won the gameshow and a trip to Hawaii, showing them how great it really is to have a Sony HD TV.
SFSDF CO-PRODUCES iPHONE VIDEO
SFSDF recently partnered with Podango Productions to produce a video segment for the Apple Phone Show. Recent SFSDF grads were hired to capture the mayhem surrounding the recent release of the iPhone.
Title: Unfiltered Type: Narrative Description: A son blackmails his mother into coming clean
about a secret affair. Credits: Kasey Gunn Writer/Director/Editor
I find it
very difficult to analyze the reasons why I've chosen to become
a filmmaker. I suppose that the most obvious reason -- simply
put -- is that I love movies. I can remember that at an early
age I became aware of the power and influence that movies had
over me: How they could make my heart beat faster, raise the
hairs on the back of my neck, or even put tears in my eyes. It
wasn't long after this discovery that I began to question how this was possible. I wanted to know just what it was about movies
that gave them the capacity to evoke so much emotion. Was it
the images? The music? The editing? The overpaid actors? Naturally,
a simple answer to this question does not exist, and before I
knew it I had embarked on a journey a pursuit for answers
that would ultimately land me on the doorstep of the San
Francisco School of Digital Filmmaking.
Despite having watched hundreds of films
and having read countless numbers of books on the subject, it
wasn't until I actually started making films that I began to
truly grasp the concepts of filmmaking. The ability to make an
effective film comes with years and years of practice and acquired
knowledge -- It's not something that can be accomplished over
night, and it's not something that can be accomplished without
getting your hands dirty. True learning is in the doing, and
this is why SFSDF is an ideal place to learn the craft of filmmaking.
On day one the students are given a camera and sent out into
the world. Naturally, there are a lot of mistakes made as a result
of this learning method, however, the beauty of the school is
that the instructors are always there to nurture and guide you
through these mistakes so that you will know from your
own experiences exactly what to do next time. Hence, the
learning is in the doing. . .and doing again. . .and again. .
. and again. . .until you get it right.
"Unfiltered" was my first
film at SFSDF. It's the story of a woman forced to come to terms
with her true self after being given an ultimatum by her teenage
son: Either she has to tell her husband about the affair she's
been hiding, or he'll do it for her. The parameters of the assignment
were to make a short narrative film involving a minimal amount
of characters and locations. To me the most challenging aspect
of making the film was trying to craft a story that would be
compelling to an audience. I think that most people assume that
making short films is much easier than making feature films,
and in most cases such as in cost, production, and scheduling
they're right; However, trying to tell a moving story in
such a short amount of time can be very difficult. Often times
the emotional beats in short films are very rushed and as a result
the actions of the characters seem unnatural or contrived. In
"Unfiltered" the protagonist of the story undergoes
a major life change, realizing her fallacies and coming to terms
with the nature of her dishonest self. Some people go through
their entire lives without ever having a revelation like this;
My character had to make hers in seven minutes. To give her change
credibility I tried to really focus on the pacing of the story.
Instead of rushing the emotional beats by cutting directly from
one plot point to another, I tried to slow things down and give
the story some weight by exposing the mother character in quiet
moments of solitude -- private moments that would allow the audience
to watch her think, worry, and contemplate; The kind of moments
that say everything, and yet say nothing at all. My feeling
was that this way her actions would seem properly motivated because
the audience would have witnessed her come to her realizations
in a natural, organic way.
In the short amount of time that I've
been attending SFSDF I've learned a great deal about filmmaking:
Mainly that it's tedious, demanding, time-consuming work that
cannot be taken lightly if you hope to be successful at it. On
the other hand, I've also learned that there are few things more
exhilarating and rewarding than expressing yourself through the
art of filmmaking. To me there's nothing better than being able
to actualize your ideas and dreams into realities that you can
see and hear, and most importantly, that you can share with others.
