Vid Prod project: need a begining

[RingOfScale]

Hey guys!

The last semester i have been in a Video Production class at my school, and its been the most fun i've ever had in a classroom. (I would be going tot his class every single day even if I didn't have to)

Anyway, he is offering an Advanced Video Production Independant Study class next semester. Basically, we make 1 movie at least 15 minutes long, outside of school, and we get credit for a 1 semester class. Only time the class meets is tuesdays after school for like 30 minutes so he can confirm that we are making progress.

I need help deciding how my movie should start off. I know exactly how it is going to end.

In a nutshell:

Happily married couple in their 20s, loving life, etc, except they have money troubles. One day the wife brings up the idea of having a child, and the husband is avidly against it (says they cant afford a child, cause they cost like 300,000 dollars to get em to age 18 or something like that). Big argument, lots of tears, etc. Then the secret comes out that she is already pregnant, and she gets really upset because she thinks the husband doesnt want her or the baby, etc, and goes and kills herself. Husband is upset, movie ends w/ him crying on wifes grave or something like that.

Anyway, heres the problem:
The above stuff would only take maybe 10 minutes, and so the other 5-10 minutes have to be background etc. I ned some situations where u can see into this couple, and feel like you know them, so the audience actually feels sorry in the end. Otherwise it would be sorta wierd cause u wouldnt even know the people involved and no emotions would be evoked.

So i need your guy's help as to some scenes i could do int hebegining that are basically just get-to-know-this-couple scenes but somehow have relevence to the story. What do you guys think?

~thx

-RingOfScale

[Warewolf50]

I am also a vidstudent. As of now i am taking the advanced video class at my school as well as the independent studies class.

As u said i think u should just do background of the two. Like dont jsut start wiht them married, show how they met, dated then married. Do a really quick elapased time thing of thier relationship to show how they were really close before she kills her self. As of right now that is all i can really think of to help you.

It does sound like his is a pretty serious project u are taking on, i am guessing u have friends/ actors that are willing to help u and be in the movie etc.

And a general question what kind of editors system do u use. Do u use PC based progs like Avid or jsut an editing system like a Prestige?

[RingOfScale]

Hey, thanks for the response.

The school has iMovie on all the comps there, which is what we have been stuck using so far, but I hope to buy something for my computer at home. What would you sugest? I can't spend a fortune on it, obviously, but there are some things that I'd like to be able to do that iMovie can't supply.

Oh and about having friends to act in the movie ... i have more than enough. They all want to star in it, and there are only 2 main parts... there are some other minor ones, but the couple are the only two main characters. So somehow I have to find a way to tell some of em I don't want them, or at least that they won't be able to do all the stuff they wanted to do. Or I could just make two movies... yar I like that idea :)

Anyway, I'll let you know how it goes, once I have more info I'll post it so yah can see what yah think.

~thx

-RingOfScale

[sharpshooter1286]

i would suggest start out with them like doing their daily stuff. wake up, going to work, then slow it down right at about dinner time and they have a conversation about that whole issue. then the next day they do all their stuff, but they are like distressed, distracted, and thinking about it. you could def make that take up atleast 5 minutes.

[digitard]

Maybe drop some black and white flashback sequences in there.

Show their developing relationship from then to now and then use standard color in the 'current timeline'.

Black and white, with some minor edits, always conveys a simple 'past' feel to it. You know when you see it that you're looking into a window of something that has already happened.

Maybe, when you work on it, try to work some major KEYWORD stuff in there, where the person will end their sentance with some statement that is easy to drop into their previously developing relationship and life.

Weak Example:
During the argument the husband brings up some point that 'life didn't go financially like we wanted'.

At the end of that statement maybe them moving into their first place just after marriage, the husband has a 'promising job' and theyre talking about all the things they want to do with the future and how things are looking up. You can drop 3-4mins right there.


Plus the transitioning is very simple. You can simply do a 'no sound' type overlay of the black and white sequence fading in as the husband is stating the 'life didn't go as we planned' statement and then it fades during that into the 'look into the past' where the first few moments have no sound and then it sorta starts.

Either that, for the transition, or you can simply do a hard flash with some stock 'boom' noise that flashes back into the past. Make sure you keep the argument heated so that when they say that 'keyword phrase' right at the end you drop in a VERY bright 2 second 'flash' transition in there and throw in some stock noise that makes it sound like a rush and then you're in the past. Then when the flashback sequence is over use the standard 'fade back into reality' but do a zoom on the person who had done the initial statement like this was all in their head and zoom out slowly til your back in normal frame.

Man... I wish I had time to go to school for this stuff...lol

D.

[nippinout]

Title: The Space Hussy

The baby wasn't his!

She was abducted by aliens and had an affair. In order to save the Earth, she must kill the baby. Killing the baby starts a self-destruct sequence to kill the mother with an anti-matter explosion. Instead of killing the baby, and to save the Earth and her husband, she kills herself to stop the self-destruct from occuring.

[Muzikman]

One word: Porno

[Jonneh]

montage of happy events, with the occasional weird one dropped in there to keep the viewer on their toes, Example:

Pushing each other on swingset
running through flowery field
throwing rice at a hedgehog
eating out in an expensive looking restaraunt
watching a soppy movie (for clever CINEMATIC magic, make it your own video they're watching)
trying to lure a hobo's dog into an empty fishtank, enticing it with a string of sausages
Browsing an art museum

Failing that, pay someone attractive to show off her boobies.

[InfinatyBPS]

How about a musical montage(sp?) of them as kids growing up, dating in high school, and then getting married and stuff, just like a bunch of shots of happy stuff.

[Warewolf50]

Hey, thanks for the response.

The school has iMovie on all the comps there, which is what we have been stuck using so far, but I hope to buy something for my computer at home. What would you sugest? I can't spend a fortune on it, obviously, but there are some things that I'd like to be able to do that iMovie can't supply.

Oh and about having friends to act in the movie ... i have more than enough. They all want to star in it, and there are only 2 main parts... there are some other minor ones, but the couple are the only two main characters. So somehow I have to find a way to tell some of em I don't want them, or at least that they won't be able to do all the stuff they wanted to do. Or I could just make two movies... yar I like that idea :)

Anyway, I'll let you know how it goes, once I have more info I'll post it so yah can see what yah think.

~thx

-RingOfScale

if u are looking for a good program to put on your comp i woudl suggest Avid. It is the only PC based program I have had experiance with but it is nice. If u wanna try it out u can download Avid Free DV, it is a free program that lets u use some of the features that Avid gives you but ofcourse it limits u iin other ways like u can only have like 2 audio tracks i think. But i would recomend downloading that and seeing how u like it.

[B.A.M.]

im liking the story but you should add some bunnies for good taste

[RingOfScale]

Hey hey everyone. Thanks for all the great ideas ( keep em coming ! )
I'll put AO in the credits ok? :)

Currenty its probably just gonna show an excellerated version of their life, starting w/ them meeting up through marriage+honeymoon, etc. This will probably be quick, only about 5 mintues (each event would only last 20-30 seconds, just alot of quick clips of them fall in love etc). I will just have to be carefull to make sure it isn't too disconnected.

Then it will go to current time. They will be doing something around the house, and the topic of money will come out (maybe X family asked them if they wanted to go to hawaii w/ them in the summer or something) and their conversation will make it obvious they cant afford it or w/e. Then the next day is when their baby argument will happen, since we will have already established their lack of money.

As for the color thing, instead of having the past in black and white, i was going to try and remove color as the movie went on. Every time another scene starts in which something "bad" happens, or w/e, a little bit more color will be removed. Well they won't be removed, but just dulled down a bit, so they won't be as bright and happy. (NOTE: the movie "thirteen" as a good example) By the time the movie ends w/ husband crying on wives grave or whatever ends up happening, there will be very little color left.


And Warewolf, about the video edition program, i think my problems are solved.
My sister has an (extremely) rich friend who has extra copies of Adobe Premier Pro and Adobe AfterEffects lying around that he said he can hook me up w/ :)
Thats like 1400 dollars of video editing and special effects programs.

~thanks for all the help peeps!

-ringofscale