VIDEO CREATOR: LANCUN

VIDEO CREATOR: LANCUN

This year, I am returning to undertake the 48 Hour Film Project challenge.

Three years ago, right after I graduated college, I jumped right into making videos/movies with 48 Hour Film Project 2007 in San Diego. I did this because at the time, I did not have any experience making videos or movies, and just wanted to dive in – almost like a two day bootcamp, and tried every aspect of the process. What I mean is that I tackled writing, directing, producing, and editing myself, and wanted to know what they were all like and what I liked best.

In college, I studied theater and my heart was in directing and writing, but videos and movies are slightly different because the film world is a whole other dynamic compared to the stage. At the time, I only read two books to get me prepared: $30 Film School by Michael W. Dean, and a school textbook called DV Filmmaking. Before 48 Hour Film Project 2007, this was my only training – and this was before I was making YouTube videos. I knew absolutely nothing other than what these books taught.

In $30 Film School, Michael W. Dean talks about basics of filmmaking from the perspective of man that learned on his own. He advocates against the film school system, and how learning on your own is the best way. Of course, this depends on who you talk to — there is no right or wrong way — but film schools have the benefit of helping with contacts and learning things you may not focus on while learning on your own. In the book, Dean explains how he made two movies with his DV camera that were accepted into film festivals. Just starting out, I thought this was inspirational because three years ago, I didn’t even own a camera. I figured I could eventually afford a DV camera and make stuff on my own.

The DV filmmaking book was more technical, and I learned stuff I never even thought about. I focused on aspects I needed for the project, and went forward. Yet, I may have missed some vital technical things I should have known. You’ll see what I mean soon.

I did the 48 Hour Film Project in San Diego 2007 because my girlfriend (now ex) lived there at the time and I figured that if I made a crappy movie it wouldn’t matter because who really cares about movies in San Diego? I figured this experience was a learning experience and if I made it for Los Angeles at the time, and it sucked, I’d give a bad impression to the Entertainment Capitol of the World. Of course, this was only my thinking and probably had small truth to it, but hey, I felt comfortable with just making whatever for San Diego, and wouldn’t have to worry what people thought.

Again, I didn’t have a crew. It was just me, my ex, my sister, and the actors, who were friends I worked with at Starbucks. Two others I found on Craigslist, but that’s another story. I tried to record separate audio, and did, but when editing came around, I didn’t have the time to put the separate audio in the cut — and of course I learned how important audio really was — even more important than what the footage looked like. People would rather watch something with bad visuals and good audio than good visuals and bad audio.

48 Hour Film Project gives you a genre to use, then every team has to have a certain prop, line of dialogue, and character. So my team, then called AGproductions because this was before I was on YouTube, received the spy genre (we also needed to have a spoon in the film, the line “get that thing away from me”, and character Alex Gomm, County Inspector). I had no idea what to do with this, and spent the whole night coming up with something random. The TV show Cheaters came to mind, and I thought of how they spy on cheating lovers so the victim can get revenge, so I wrote a script about a relationship spy who is tricked by a rival to be put out of business. It made sense on paper, but the video itself is a whole other story. Here is where I learned that you make three different movies during production… the one you write, the one you shoot, and the one you edit. This is very true, because I wish the one I edited/filmed was like the one I wrote. I eventually titled it, Spy County.

After I spent the night writing the script, it was already time to shoot. The actors were ready to go, and well… one of them didn’t show up. Yep, here’s where finding people on Craigslist isn’t always the best bet. I blame myself, because I picked someone who only had some acting experience. I don’t remember my reasoning at the time (I probably didn’t have any reasoning), but I only remember calling him the morning of the shoot and only receiving his voicemail. I didn’t have a back up plan. Looking back, this was all part of the learning experience. I should have had a backup. The guy that bailed was the one that played the rival spy. Luckily, Lauren, who played the other bad guy, had a friend who had time to spare.

Shooting day was fun, but I had no idea what I was doing. I don’t know how many times I’ve said this already, but I laugh today because looking back… I really didn’t know what the hell I was doing. I almost felt bad for the actors because I probably didn’t guide them the way I should have, but whatever, can’t change that now. It felt like nothing went right that day, and I realized it was mostly because I wasn’t as prepared as I should have been.

All was said and done, and I edited the thing, barely got any sleep, and still was 10 minutes late turning it in… yep, I didn’t make the 48 Hour deadline. I was pissed. And you know why? BECAUSE THREE YEARS AGO I HAD NO IDEA HOW TO CONVERT THE VIDEO INTO A .MOV FILE FROM iMOVIE! My ex was speeding to the drop off location, and there I was in the car with my laptop trying to figure out how the hell to turn this thing into a video… I guess I missed that part in the DV Filmmaking textbook.

The next week, the video was shown in a movie theater… in front of people. I was nervous. My family came to see it. My ex and her friends. I had my own little audience with the audience that was already there. Since the video was late, it was disqualified from competition, but they still show it in the theater with the others… and finally, there it was, up on screen.

The first thing I noticed was… huh, it doesn’t fill up the whole screen. Why doesn’t it fill up the whole screen? I came to learn another little technical tidbit that most kids today know uploading videos to YouTube. I shot Spy County in 4:3 aspect ratio, not 16:9 widescreen. I don’t think the camera I used had 16:9 widescreen, and even if it did, I probably wouldn’t think to switch it over. Sitting there, I had no idea about aspect ratio. I didn’t know what it was. I was clueless. I was sitting there thinking… why doesn’t it take up the whole screen?? That’s one lame moment for me I will always remember.

Then, I realized how crappy my editing was… only to learn years later it was because the shots I took weren’t even basic shots. No establishing shot, no master shot, nothing. I was just shooting. Shooting what I thought looked right, only to realize that when it was all put together, not so much. People in the theater laughed… at the editing. The bad sound. Humbling experience, thankfully, I wasn’t hurt by it. I could only smile. Something I made was shown in a movie theater. I was hooked.

High points? The opening title sequence wasn’t bad. It was probably the best thing about the video. Also, people laughed at the jokes that I wrote, thanks to my actor’s delivery of the lines. The biggest laugh came from the bad guy getting hit by the spoon. Good times.

What I learned from this experience:
1.) Audio is very important
2.) Difference between 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratio
3.) Having backup actors, or more dependable actors.
4.) An experienced crew is needed
5.) I’m not really a fan of editing.
6.) Planning my shots, or being more prepared, is crucial.

And there it is… I then uploaded my video to YouTube and AG Entertainment was born.

Now here we are, three years later. A variety of different videos under my belt. More confidence. More experience.

I signed up for 48 Hour Film Project 2010… Los Angeles.

I’m ready to go. With three years making videos on YouTube, continuing my writing efforts, and reading as much as I can, I look forward to this 48 Hour Film Project as another learning experience, but this time, I’ll be more prepared and experienced than before.

This time, I look to win.

- Anthony J. Gomez

Later on, I added some basic stuff to it. It still isn’t that great, but it’s slightly more watchable than the original. Slightly.

VIDEO CREATOR: LANCUN

Lancun’s thoughts on E3 2010: Nintendo

It’s difficult for me to summarize my feelings on the Nintendo E3 conference simply because I’m so dumbfounded at how well they did. To put things into perspective, I’ve only followed E3 for about five years now, and only followed it seriously for three. You can imagine my surprise to find actual effort and competence in their presentation last month; it’s a stark contrast to the horrid tripe that was let loose for as long as I’ve seen E3.

To begin, I’ll discuss the obvious thing we were going to hear about: the new Legend of Zelda, now titled Skyward Sword, for the Wii. Now, I’m not going to ramble on about timelines, theories, or anything like that. To be blunt, I’m legitimately excited for this game, but I was hoping to learn a bit more behind the game. I mean, for nearly a year before its release, we knew nearly all of the basic premises behind Twilight Princess, but the things we do know so far sure are exciting.

I’m dying to know how the Master Sword came to be; I’m excited for the long-overdue 3-D transition of the Sword Beam, and I’m excited about the usage of the Wii MotionPlus for advanced swordplay in combat. The game looks absolutely gorgeous: the solid texture design of Twilight Princess meets the colorful, bright world of The Wind Waker. It’s sure to be a good title, so if you’re a Zelda fan, I’d advise you check it out.

Second, the big unveiling of the Nintendo 3DS, their big successor to the media darling that is the Nintendo DS. Where the Wiimote and the Stylus have pushed immersion with gameplay, the 3DS is sure to bring immersion from a graphical standpoint, and that’s exciting. I unfortunately didn’t have the pleasure of viewing the 3DS in person, unlike AG; however, from the footage he showed on camera, it’s plain to see that the 3-D textures do stick out at you and do function properly, unlike the absolute failure that was the Virtual Boy. The 3-D depth slider is absolute genius on Nintendo’s part. It allows a wide audience to play and enjoy the portable and not be alienated by how much or how little 3D there is because they can control it with just a quick motion with their finger.

What about games though? The Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360 have all had lackluster launch titles with a few exceptions, so there was never any reason for the average gamer to buy these systems so early on in their shelf lives. Even the DS had to ride the coattails of one of the greatest launch games in history (Super Mario 64) to have a big impact at the start of its life.

Well, from the looks of things, the 3DS is taking this mold and shattering it. First up is Kid Icarus: Uprising. Now, despite not being a big fan of the series myself, this is a title that’s long overdue for Nintendo. The fans have been very vocal about a new installment ever since Pit was announced in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, so it’s only fitting that he should be one of the frontrunners for their newest handheld. The gameplay looks like a departure from traditional platforming, which isn’t a bad thing considering that it’s more difficult to develop a platformer in 3-D. Rather, it seems to have taken a sort of Sin and Punishment gameplay approach, which certainly isn’t a bad game to draw inspiration from. And though I don’t harp much on graphics, the game is gorgeous, and just playing it in 2-D is an exciting enough concept, let alone the dazzling 3-D display that we will be treated to.

But no, Nintendo isn’t satisfied with just one killer ap knocking their new handheld out of the park. Whether they’re launch titles or not, there’s going to be remakes of two top-tier N64 titles on the new handheld very soon after its release. Alongside these titles, we have a port of one of the best games released for the PS2.

First up, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Right away, I’m dumbfounded by the screenshots I’ve seen of this game. We don’t know very much about it yet, but if I were Nintendo, I’d do more to the game than just give it a graphical update (which it’s starting to need anyway). They need to take the time to implement changes that reflect the original intent of the game. As I’m sure some of you are aware, OoT was meant to be released on the N64-DD. The finished product is very different, and more brief than what was originally going to be intended. The Wind Temple and Ice Temple are two concepts that the original game scrapped, and just ended up being small areas in Ganon’s Tower and the Ice Cavern. While these new temples aren’t important now, because of the impact of the original game, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to make the medallions equipable-items with special abilities as had been originally intended.

Moving on, we also have a remake of Star Fox 64. For those too young to remember, Star Fox 64 was the game that introduced us to the Rumble Pak, a feature that was built-in to the controllers in every system made afterward. The smooth mechanics and fun, multi-path map made the game a blast to play for hours on end. I know the big question on everyone’s (except mine, apparently) is what they’re going to do with those horrible memes spoken by Peppy. I, myself, could give a damn about a barrel roll, and am more interested in the game itself.

We also learned about the re-release of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater for the 3DS. Immediately, I’m concerned about what version they’re going to be porting. If it’s the Subsistence version that features Metal Gear Online, I think Nintendo needs to be careful. They’ve ducked and ignored online gaming for a long time now, and many of us are starting to get pissed about the horrific Friend-Code system they use now. When they release the 3DS, they need to start phasing that shoddy format out, because online play isn’t just some option you play for a gag on Quake anymore; it’s a growing phenomenon amongst many serious gamers, and this system is just a major turn-off for a great deal of us. That said, I’m expecting great things from this re-release of Snake Eater, and hope many die-hard Nintendo fans can experience the magic of this game for the first time.

Even though the 3DS stole the show, Nintendo also announced the rebirth of Donkey Kong Country, showed two “epic” games in Kirby’s Epic Yarn and the humbly-titled Epic Mickey. I’m not going to cover these games simply because if you’re a fan of Donkey Kong, Kirby, or good 3-D platforming (in the case of Epic Mickey), you’re sure to pick up any of these titles.

Suffice it to say, Nintendo batted 1000 at this year’s E3. This really pointed back to the golden age when Nintendo was hands-down THE company to support. With that said, it’s a tremendous time to be a gamer, and certainly the most exciting in over a decade.