We had a group meeting
lettuce recap
Renn is doing a coming-of-age film about a girl overwhelmed by schoolwork, told kind of through the metaphor of plants. The protagonist has a bunch of plants, each one labeled with a name, each one a proxy for a different part of her character, explaining who she is without ever explaining who she is. Renn described one particular metaphor of the plant outgrowing the pot as the girl outgrows her friend group and the people around her. The plant, just like the girl, outgrows her environment and needs to find a new one to grow healthily in, but at the end of the day, it's still the same plant, and she's still the same person, just changed a bit. I actually love this so much it's annoying. We talked a bit about some cute mis-en-scene elements and how to properly decorate, but it seemed like he was doing pretty well with a neatly packed story.
Joaco's film is about a girl who's tired of the world she lives in and joins a satanist cult to spread satanism. Veeeeeryyyy stark contrast from Renn's. Some cool elements of the main character included her donning a Spanish hat. It's deeply absurdist, functioning as a metaphor for joining religion to find self-acceptance. Another cool element in the story is that the main character's sister was forced to go to a conversion camp as a kid. So yes, there's real weight underneath the Spanish hat and the satanism. He wants weird shots and drawings woven into the plot. This is either going to be insane or incredible or both. Probably both.
Robbie came in with a story about a guy who's spent his whole life trying to be as good at tennis as his dad, fails, ends up homeless, then hears that someone is out there impersonating him. So naturally, he has to go beat the impersonator at tennis. Very absurdist. He wants to do a SpongeBob-type vibe where the mouths move with no facial movements. I don't know how else to describe it. You kind of just have to trust the vision. I trust the vision. I trust Robbie. I love Robbie.
 |
| this is freaky robbie help i'm scared |
Samara is doing a documentary. It started with her watching the Super Bowl halftime show. Bad Bunny was listing all the American (country) flags, and it got stuck in her head. The show inspired her to make an episodic doc highlighting different aspects of Hispanic culture: food, sports, leisure, etc. She plans on interviewing older generations and younger ones, dancers, and building bridges between ages. Joaco suggested maybe doing two countries and juxtaposing them, which I think adds a real structural backbone. I threw in the idea of going more in-depth on a specific country per episode, rather than staying broad, and also how you can lead interviewees toward what you want them to say without them realizing it. I'm really excited for this, especially because it seems like almost everyone is doing a short film.
Gaby is doing a music video. The artist actually went to Cypress and then moved to Nashville to pursue her dream of making pop indie music. Not sure why you moved to Nashville to make pop indie music, but that's not for me to discuss. Gaby was actually going to start filming today to take advantage of the sunset being at 6. She's filming on the beach to highlight the more sentimental aspects of the song. We tried to help her come up with ideas on how to portray the arist correctly because she does live like a 2 hour plane ride away, but she told us she's been in constant contact with her and has her stuff planned out. Go Gaby.
Ryan closed it out with what sounds like a hilariously fun film. The film follows a custodian working late at night at school. He thinks no one's there and takes a bathroom break. Naturally, he forgets to put up the wet floor sign. He hears a loud crash and goes outside to find the limp body of a teacher lying there. The film follows him trying to hide the body, but the really interesting emotional twist is that he has a daughter at home depending on him. I really love this plot, and I actually sent him a short film I made a couple of years ago that I think may help him find a good balance with the slapstick comedy he's looking for
No comments:
Post a Comment