Pre Production: It was interesting to be a director for this movie. Parker and I originally came with the idea and I really loved it. When we were planning the preproduction Maggie made the story board while the rest of us came up with the lines. We knew we wanted to have a shot with a long line and another scene of someone pushing another person. Additionally, in the beginning we wanted a scene with Nancy being body guard and her advertising the deluxe fast pass. However, that was going to take to much time for our 30 second commercial. Something we knew we needed was a lot of extras. We also had to have a fast pass made, so Adam agreed to make one for us which was a huge help.
Filming: The first day we went to film, Devin was not there. So we asked Nick to help us out. Maggie did the lights and Luis played the role of the lunch man. The first scene we filmed was a scene that we had rehearsed the day before. This was the scene of Parker pushing the two people out of the way to get his lunch. We then filmed some close cuts of parker winking at the camera and flashing the fast pass to show us the product. The next day, we filmed the line scene a couple of times in different ways. We wanted Parker to be a little person at the back of the line who seems so powerless, and I think we placed the camera in a perfect way for that to happen. We then filmed and another pushing scene except this time we filmed the boys who were left over nodding. I had trouble instructing the boys to exaggerate the nod. I also really wanted the nod to be all together and it was hard to coordinate this without having the voice over done. So I said the voice over and Maggie instructed them to nod. This worked really well.
Post Production: In post production, I was the one who was editing the film. I knew I wanted the first part to be darker and duller. I wanted it to be like a cheesy infomercial where everyone is all sad before they get the product. So I turned down the saturation and play around with the colors. Then, after Parker receives the product, I turned the saturation higher and brightened the scene. One thing that I will learn for next time is that in my favorite shot, the product is in it. This is the first scene which is really disappointing but I decided to use it anyways but I thought it was perfect aside from the fast pass in the corner. One thing I still need to do is add voice over. I also need to edit better to make it cheesier.
I watched the movie Goodfellas because I had never seen it and wanted to watch something different. This is the story of Henry Hill and his wife Karen Hill through their adventures with an Italian mob. When Henry was young, he always dreamt of being a part of a mob. He worked very hard to advance himself through the ranks of the mafia. When he gets older, he enjoys a life of luxury and wealth, with many connections. However, he is obvious to the horror that he causes. Through a drug addiction and a few mistakes, he ultimately falls from the top.
I liked the narration throughout the movie. It always enjoyed having a narrator to help keep track of what was going on since at times I got a bit confused. The narration was simple but mainly made the movie easy to follow since their was multiple subplots and a lot of things to keep track of us. The narration also gives and inside look of Henry and Karen Hills emotions and how they would deal with everything that was going on around them. I also enjoyed how the movie was a true story. I have always been a big fan of movies with true stories. It made the movie more exciting to watch. In the movie, I did not particularly enjoy the violent scenes with a lot of blood and gore. In one scene, one mobster is beaten by a group of men and later is killed. It was pretty violent. At some points the movie was a bit confusing and it did not help that I watched it over the span of several day. The acting in this movie was phenomenal. I especially thought that the main character, Henry Hill, was played by a great actor, Ray Liotta. I also though that the of Tommy DeVito by Joe Pesci was awesome. The lighting in this movie was generally darker, which added to the suspense. Since the movie was all about crime, it fit that most of the movie was in the dark. Additionally, the music in the movie was mainly suspenseful and happy. For being a movie all about crime, I found that there were a lot of uplifting and happy songs in a way.
One thing I noticed because I had taken this class was that all the people stood remarkably close together when talking. This also created a sense of secrecy and urgent which really fit the plot of the movie well. One final thing I noticed was that the very lost shot of the movie has Henry Hill looking directly at the camera which I found to be a very interesting choice that the director made.
I would definitely recommend this movie for anyone who is looking for a true story about something different and exciting. I would also suggest this movie to anyone who likes a drama or crime film. This movie shows people a whole other side of life. It allows people to escape and momentarily join an Italian mob. While I don't usually like these types of films, this one was great.