joshuahammaren

[joshuahammaren]

haha

[joshuahammaren]

I got my Credits all done, Cody did an amazing Job. They’re actually too much for the scope of my project, but I love them. They may be the best thing about my project (lmfao rofl pls kill me). I have a quick scene to shoot tonight, hoping it all goes well!

[joshuahammaren]

General Status Update

The film is halfway filmed. There are a few outdoor scenes and some miscellaneous shots inside. The filming is going really well, the actress is really good and my crew is on point. The images look great, the house is artfully designed, and narrative makes sense. I am worried about the coverage and establishing space but I think that I’m doing alright. I hope my directing will translate into a good performance and that none of this comes off as “directed”, but you’ll never know unless you try. 

Some of the most anxious I’ve ever been was in anticipation for this shoot. It seems that for film majors, and arts majors in general, our product is worth more than our degree, so the level of success that our projects receive is reflective of our worthiness as an artist. If we make something that fails, then it follows that we have achieved failure. There is growth in the process, but ultimately you need something of quality to demonstrate your ability as a “filmmaker”. I love making images, I love creating space and atmosphere and telling a story through a visual medium, but I’m not so sure I want to be a director.

The rest of the shoot should go well.

[joshuahammaren]

As for sound and color correction, I have received an email from a student who is interested in doing audio design. I have let him know that I will have completed an edit by this week so that he can get a sense of the film and what sound will go into it. Hopefully his help and expertise (because I am absolutely horrible at sound) will polish this film into something festival worthy. For color correction, I have many people who can give me a hand: Nicky, Cyrus, Zach Meyers. I would like to at least experiment with color correction because it is a skill I need to develop, but with everyones help the film should look great.

[joshuahammaren]

This is the style that my credits will be in. Cody Arizona Storm is on his way to completing them and they should look amazing. The only thing left to shoot is some sun setting scenes that the credits will play over.

[joshuahammaren]

Here is how our shoot went, it went superb. We got almost every indoor shot done, and we only have two scenes left inside plus the two outdoor scenes. We have plenty of time tonight and everyone is on a roll. 

[joshuahammaren]

on set, just making some movies

[joshuahammaren]

[joshuahammaren]

TREATMENT

 In a cramped apartment littered with pizza boxes, textbooks and loose leaf paper, X sits on a throne of school work dictating to the 15 people around her exactly what they should be studying. The clock above the door strikes midnight and everyone yawns and stretches their hands. One from the group rises and states that everyone is going to go home.. X Jumps to her feet and exclaims that there is still much to study for! Her friend shakes his head and follows everyone out of the door. Before he leaves X says that there is a bear in her room. Her friend tells her that it will be alright. Right then, lightning strikes illuminating X’s face. Her friend looks at her awkwardly and then closes the door to leave.

           The camera pans towards X, then moves past her to her bedroom door as we hear low rumbles and growls from within. X reenters the frame and opens the door. Her face peers form behind the door and her eyes widen with fear. She slams the door and retreats into her living room. Muttering to herself about how there is a bear in her room again, she searches for a plan. She notices a clip of Winnie the Pooh eating honey and looks in her pantry for some. When she cannot find it, she notices her neighbors outside. She walks out and asks if they have any honey. They are so engrossed in making out that they ignore her. She speaks louder and starts waving her hands to get their attention but it is to no avail. X hears a thud, and something rolls to her feet. It’s a jar of honey. Curious, X picks it up and pursers her lips at the still ignorant couple.

           Back inside, X creates a breadcrumb trail of honey from her bedroom to the front door. She opens her bedroom door and jumps behind a couch. She waits but the bear does not leave. A loud grumble from her stomach moves her to abandon her strategy and cook some food. She takes out a frozen burrito and heats it up. She steps outside for a moment and across her apartment complex notices a man who seems to be fighting with an Insomnia. She watches for a moment as the audience sees through her window the bear sneak around the counter and snatch her food. X tries to rescue her burrito but the bear gets back to her bedroom safely. Pulling her hair, X kicks around the pillows form her couch and tries to make a makeshift bed. The bed is not comfortable and from an aerial shot we see her rolling around while the bear eats its meal obnoxiously. X rips her sheets off, grabs her coat and keys and walks out of her apartment.

The couple is no longer on the balcony. She walks down her steps and sees that the they have moved to the benches. X walks away with no destination. She crosses an open field with a statue of three small bears climbing a tree. Continuing, X comes across two twins selling corndogs under a streetlamp. One of the twins hands her a corndog. X says that she cannot sleep because there is a bear in her room. They twins do not respond. X asks if they’ve ever had that problem as she chews her corndog. One of the twins pulls out a bottle of Bear Spray and says that he uses this whenever he cannot sleep. X examines the small bottle and tosses her corndog behind her. “This could work” she shrugs. Walking past the bear statue and ignoring the couple making out she returns to her apartment.

Opening her door slowly, the bear still growling, X walks through her ransacked apartment, the stove and pan still smoking. An aerial shot shows her approaching her bedroom. She pushes it open and the shadow of X and the Bear fighting dominate the wall. The bear wins and X runs out of her room.

           The spray bottle soars through the air and hits one of the twins in the head. “It didn’t work.” X sneers. She walks up the stairs to her apartment, fatigued from the climb and sees that the man fighting his bear has apparently gone to bed. X sighs. She opens the door and the clock above the frame falls to the floor. It reads 6am. Furious, X kicks the clock away and fixes her face at her bedroom door. She grabs a golf club and her bike helmet and prepares to fight the bear with force. She kicks her door open only to find her room empty and the sun peaking over the horizon. She collapses on her bed.

 THE END

[joshuahammaren]

Here are a few locations that I plan on using as exteriors. The top photo is a bear statue that is in the middle of a field which I think would be a great scene for when X walks outside. I plan on using Isaiah's apartment as the main exterior and I will cheat the interior with his place. I still have to find an interior so that I can plan shots, set up the scenes and all that jazz. 

[joshuahammaren]

Here is some visuals for how I imagine my bear to look. A large head with large eyes. It’s not scary, almost cartoon-y. Me and Cody plan on buying a few stuffed bears from GoodWill and tearing them limb from limb, so we can recreate our bear in the manner of Frankenstein’s monster. I am still deciding on whether I will use strings or metal rods to animate it.

[joshuahammaren]

[joshuahammaren]

Insomnia Bear

Treatment

            We begin in X’s home as she and three friends finish up studying. It is late and the group decides that it’s time to go home and get some sleep before the test in the morning. X argues that they should stay and study more but the group declines and heads home. X tells the last girl that she won’t be able to sleep and her friend responds with “it’s not that bad”. Right then lightning strikes foreshadowing just how bad it is. Now alone, X glances over at her bedroom door. She cracks her door open and sees a bear inside! A loud growl scares her and she slams her door shut. Back in the living room X tries to calm herself down. “It’s okay, its juts a bear. I can get it out. It’s just a bear.”

          X looks around her house for something to lure the bear. She finds some honey and makes a trail of honey dots leading from her room out of her apartment. She sits and waits behind a couch. An hour has passed and she waits some more. She’s bored and hungry. Her stomach growls so she decides to cook some food. X puts something on the stove and steps outside while she waits for her food to cook. She sees someone across the complex also struggling with a Bear. While she’s outside the bear creeps out of the room and steals the food from the stove. X runs in and tries to catch the bear but it scampers back into her room and begins to eat the food loudly. Frustrated, X eats an apple.

           X decides to try and sleep on her couch so she grabs all the pillows and blankets that she can find and makes a bed. She lays down but it is not very comfy plus the sound of the bear still eating is keeping her from falling asleep. The sound proves too much and X gets up and goes outside for a walk.

           Outside, X walks by two twins under a lamppost selling corn dogs. She tries to start a conversation and mumbles something like, “There is a bear in my room…” The twins behind the cart throw an indifferent ‘hmpf’ her way. One of the twins mentions that whenever there is a bear in his room he uses bear spray. He hands her a bottle and she heads back to her apartment to try it out. She sees the same guy from before still struggling with his bear.

           Inside, X opens her bedroom door ready to spray. She jumps in and starts spraying but this only provokes the bear into attacking her. She runs out and slams the door, cut and bleeding form the encounter. Panting, she looks over at her clock and sees that it is 6am. She yells in frustration and begins kicking things all around her apartment. She walks outside and sees that the guy struggling with his bear now has his lights off and seems to have fallen asleep.

X storms off to the street vendors. Under the lamppost X gives them back their spray and says, “It didn’t work.” The street vendors again, ‘hmpf’ her way. X ‘hmpfs’ right back at them and turns around to go back home.

           X is in her apartment and she’s considering what to do. The growls and noises have stopped coming from her room and it seems to be getting brighter outside. X picks up a baseball bat that was lying around and straps on her bicycle helmet. She takes a couple deep breaths and gathers the courage to confront the bear. She puts her hand on the doorknob and pushes it open and leaps inside. But there is nothing in her room. It’s empty and everything is in exactly the right place. She walks over to her bed and collapses onto the sheets with her helmet on and bat in hand. The sun is just now peaking over the horizon as X begins to snore.

The End

[joshuahammaren]

Repulsion - Roman Polanski - 1965

[joshuahammaren]

The Double (2013)

I don’t want to be a boy held up by string.

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