My critical reflection

My Critical Reflection

The Art of Comedy

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The Full Story

Before I finally share the final excerpt of our documentary, I would first like to mention the full story.

The Full Story
 This documentary follows two comedians, Chris Perez and Robert Solomon, as they try to uncover the art of comedy. Our reason for making this documentary is because we believed that stand-up comedy is sometimes looked over as a hobby and is not considered an art form. We wanted to showcase the importance of comedy, and truly demonstrate that it takes more than just a good joke to be a comedian. Our main focus is Robert Solomon because he is just starting out as a comedian, and Chris-already being a comedian- serves as the voice of reason. We also wanted to capture Robert live as he performed for his second time stand-up comedy.

The 5-min Excerpt
The 5-minute excerpt that we chose was the first 5 minutes of the documentary. In these first 5 minutes we have an introduction of the characters, and an introduction to out story. For our opening credits, we chose to make it funny, and visually express each comedians' personality. We paired our intro with some fun, quirky music that kept thatfun feel to the film. We chose not to do a voiceover narration because we wanted the artists to tell the story themselves.  This also kept the feel of the documentary light and fun.

Making the Poster

    In order to make the poster the way I pictured it,  I had to use Photoshop. I had never, ever used Photoshop in my entire life. So I grabbed a computer, looked up "how to make yourself a cartoon on Photoshop," and then just started working. I had no idea what any of the Photoshop terminologies  meant let alone what they did. I'll admit i got stuck a couple of times, and sometimes the computer would freeze for no reason. But after 9 hours, I have to say that I couldn't be happier for the way this poster came out.

How to make yourself a cartoon: click here

Photo-Shoot

    During our interviews with Robert, not only did he walk into my house with a green mini-skirt, he also wore a Brazzers shirt. Although this was a bit inappropriate, it was part of Robert. It was his daring jokes and fearless attitude that made Robert such a great guy. I thought that his bold statement spoke a lot about comedy, and it was then that I came up with the Idea to make Robert into a cartoon for our poster.


  On Wednesday night, I had a photo-shoot with Robert. I just told him that I wanted him to wear his mini-skirt, his Brazzers shirt and to just be himself. Robert did just that.

 

The Million Dollar Idea

Bob Marley

    On Saturday April 11, I had the opportunity to meet Eduardo Sanabria (Edo), a very respectable and talented cartoonist, in my art class. He showed us a bit of his work and taught us the basics of cartoon art. What's interesting about his art is that he utilizes both his skills for art and Photoshop to create very unique cartoons. His class inspired me to do something similar for our documentary poster.

Eduardo Sanabria

Steve Jobs

  For our poster, we knew we wanted it to be fun and capture the essence of comedy. At first, we were going to use a photograph of Robert performing, but then I came up with the idea to use what I had learned in my art class and apply it to our poster. I had the idea of using a photograph of Robert, and make it a cartoon with an influence of pop art. This would make the poster more intriguing and unique.  My only setback, however, was that I had never used Photoshop in my life.

View  more of Edo's work here:   Edo's Pinterest

Plan B

   Finally, the night we had been waiting for. Robert was going to perform stand-up comedy live at Improv. But then, an hour before the show, Robert calls me and tells me that the club was closed for the night. We were counting on this night to showcase in our documentary, this footage was critical for our documentary. But there was nothing we could do, so we devised a plan B. We decided that we would use the first 5 minutes of our documentary where we would introduce Robert and Chris, and then our story-line would lead up to Roberts big night.
 

Interviewing Robert

Robert Solomon

      The next day, Christina and I interviewed Robert Solomon. The interview was not what we expected at all. He was hysterical, and made us laugh the entire way through. When he walked into the room and was wearing a green mini skirt and his T-shirt read: Brazzers (an adult-video company). Having talked with him the night before had really helped him open up with us. The best part of the interview was that it wasn't a normal interview. When he made jokes, we would play along with them, making it more fun and natural. We wanted to capture Robert as himself and at the same time get a great interview. We managed to do both, and I love how Roberts personality and great comedic timing made the interview so fun to watch.

Meeting Robert

    Robert Solomon is a unique 19 year-old with a passion for comedy. Our documentary is based on the art of comedy, but it mainly focuses on his story. On Monday night, I had the opportunity of interviewing him for the first time. I went to his house with the expectation of getting filler shots of his room, and anything that described Robert.

"However, when I got there, I realized that he was actually really camera shy."

     I was able to get some footage of him talking and items in his room that were meaningful. Afterwards, I felt like it was my job to make him feel more comfortable. So I turned my camera off and just started talking to him. I wanted to know who Robert Solomon was, and I knew that if I didn't do something to make him feel comfortable, he wouldn't have been himself on camera. I told him that on Tuesday we would be doing the interview portion with Christina, so to just relax. I put my camera away, and for the next hour, I talked to him and got to know a little about Robert Solomon.

Drawing Inspiration

I have never made a film, let alone a documentary. I researched for ways to make a documentary but then came to the realization that I'm a visual learner. I found this website where they shared the short documentary films of the week. After watching a few films, Christina and I stumbled upon a documentary film, "If I Die On Mars," about an upcoming launch to mars in 2025. Not only was this documentary very inspiring and honest, but it was visually mesmerizing. We wanted to do an opening similar to theirs because it introduced the interviewees and the plot of the documentary in a very creative way.

Click here to watch video:
 If I Die On Mars

First Day of Filming

On Wednesday night, Christina and I went to a comedy writing class at Blue Dog Acting Studio where we met up with comedian Chris Perez. Apart from doing standup comedy, he is also a teacher at the studio. Christina and I joined the class for the night and later we interviewed him. The class itself was so incredible. There were a group of young girls writing comedic lyrics to a blues track and then improvising verses to another blues song. Chris himself was probably one of the coolest guys I had ever met. He was so welcoming and encouraged me and Christina to film. We had the opportunity to watch some great acting pieces written by students and I even got to sing some blues. This project has really opened up a whole new passion for filming that i thought I never had.

The Art of Comedy

 

For our documentary film, we decided to do it on the art of comedy. We will be following the lives of comedians and finding out why they enjoy making people laugh.  Luckily we were able to two extraordinary comedians that do standup comedy, Robert Solomon and Chris Perez.  I'm very excited about this documentary because I share a passion for the stage and I truly appreciate the job of a stand-up comedian. We will also be going to Improv, a comedy club, to capture the magic of comedy. I'm so excited to film this documentary because not only is it something that I've never done before, but working with these people is going to be so fun. I just want to say that this project has really given me the opportunity to go to some incredible places. I can't wait to get started. 

Finding our Focus

In the beginning of the year, Christina and I wanted to do a documentary based on the arts. We were planning on interviewing different types of artits such as musicians, dancers, artists, ators etc. Unfortunately some of our plans were not going to work out, so we decided to start from scratch.

. Before we came up with a new idea, I found a blog, udemy, where author Matthew John discusses what to think about to come up with a documentary idea. One of the biggest things that caught my attention was one of the firts things Matthew had said:

"Make a movie about something that you're passionate about."

Christina and I are both fasinated with poeple. We love finding what makes people happy, sad, excited. We love learning about people and their passions. Luckily that day I had heard hat a friend of ours had done a stand-up comedy act at a club called Improv. I have always admired people who can get up in front of a large crowd and make people laugh. Instantly, we knew we wanted to base our documentary on him. 

https://blog.udemy.com/documentary-ideas/

Critical Reflection

Here is my critical reflection, I hope you guys enjoy it just as much as we enjoyed making it.

                                   Limitless Critical Reflection

Limitless

    Well here it is, Limitless. I cant believe we finally finished our short film. I'm incredibly proud of how it turned out. We got some incredible shots and I have had the time of my life making this film. We go to go to some really great places and meet some incredible people. The best part is that we got to dance while doing this project.

Final Day of Filming

  That same night, Christina and I went to a dancing studio in Ft. Lauderdale called "Drums." My friend had invited me to come because it was an "after hours studio", meaning they would open the studio to anyone who wanted to come and dance for free. The Freestyle hour started at 10:30 pm, where we were able to film all types of dancers. This place was filled with passionate dancers who just danced what they felt. There was no instructor, no class, just music and a bunch of people dancing.

    I have to say that coming to this place reinforced our beliefs as to why we wanted to do this in the first place. There was no judgement, people just spoke through dance. Whatever they were feeling, they expressed it through their movements. I was so inspired by this group of people. Each individual had their own unique style of dancing, and we were honored to witness them all in action.

   At 11;30, they do something known as "presentation" where 3 or 4 dancers showcased a rehearsed piece. This was breathtaking to watch. Every emotion that the dancers felt, we felt. I was overcome by all the energy and passion that was on the dance floor. It's hard to explain how great this opportunity was, and I was so emotionally moved by these people.

   Ironically, the guy that owned the studio and was the head teacher had actually gotten into an accident that prevented him from dancing to his full potential. His story was very similar to our story. It just reinforced the idea  that we were trying to incorporate into our film; dance is a lifestyle. People will do anything to have the opportunity to dance again.

Filming Day 3: The Adventures of Christina and Laura

  The following day, Christina and I went to the beach with a speaker to capture people just having fun dancing. We had hoped to motivate a crowd of people to just dance.  After getting lost several times, we finally made it to what the GPS had pinned as the beach. We didn't recognize absolutely any of our surroundings, and when I looked up I saw maybe 10 police cars scattered around the street. It's important to note that Christina was the one giving me directions. Anyways, I kept going hoping to find the beach, but ended up reaching a gated port guarded by policemen. We had hit a dead end and the only way out was by talking to the cops. So after being scolded by a police officer and her threatening to take my license away, we were able to turn around where we met up with another kind officer who gave me directions to the beach.

 Finally, after an hour of driving, we finally made it to the beach.  It didn't really strike us of how difficult this task was going to be until we got out of the car and stepped on to the sand. I told Christina that we had to let go of all our shame and just suck it up. We blasted some Brazilian Caribbean music and just started looking for people.

 We wanted to film all kinds of people, big people, little people, old people and young people.  We first stopped these two old ladies who seemed classy, but not fancy enough not to dance. After giving them a warming speech about how we wanted to film for our project, they responded "We speak french" in French. Of course being the President of French Honor Society and having reached AP French, I thought I had this in the bag. But as soon as I opened my mouth, nothing came out. And after two minutes of struggling and spitting out random words in French, the ladies turned to me and said "Yeah, you don't speak French." and walked away. Embarrassing, yes, but that didn't stop Christina and I from trying.

We kept trying and were lucky enough to film some girls dancing, but 20 minutes into our adventure, the speaker died. Much rejection followed after these 20 minutes. I don't know if people were just too embarrassed to dance or if they were scared of two motivated girls and a speaker. Needless to say, we were able to get some footage, but not the footage we hoped. This is a day I will never forget.

Filming Day 2

   On Monday March 23, we went with our main character Maggie to film her dance. We met up at a public outside stage by our neighborhood which in the story is the place where Maggie practiced since she was little. We tried to shoot similar shots that we got with little "Maggie" to mirror their dancing and emphasize that she's always been a dancer.

  Maggie has suffered a terrible car accident where she broke her right leg and tore her ligaments. Due to the severity of the accident, the doctors tell her that she will never be able to dance again. After a year of physical therapy, she is able to walk again. Like any stubborn dancer, Maggie is willing to risk everything to dance once again. The shots captured in the film opening are the shot of Maggie dancing for the first time after her accident. In these shots she is trying to push through the pain as she slowly starts dancing. Unfortunately, her body gives out just as she is about to take her first leap, and she falls.

Christina and I were lucky enough to work with the incredible actress and dancer Magali Trench. She was ready to do whatever we asked of her and even imputed some ideas to make our idea come to life.

Working the script

  For our film opening, Christina and I wanted to do a narration with the main character introducing her story and establishing the plot of the film. Our film opening starts in the middle of her story. All the audience will know is that she is a dancer and she has suffered a terrible injury.

  While we were writing our script, I visualized an opening similar to Step Up 2 The Streets. I loved how the beginning was a narration and it featured street dancers. There are so many ways to describe dance, but sometimes dance speaks for itself. I wanted to combine our narration with the movement and the emotion seen in dance as well as with our script.

  In our script we began by introducing the main character through a series of memories that she had when she was a little girl. We explained that her mom was the reason she started dancing and how she was her biggest inspiration to pursue dance. Afterwards, we began talking about dance, and what it meant to her. This particular part was the most important part for Christina and I because we were able to put into words what dance meant for us. As I talked about in my previous post, we wanted to show dance in different ways and really emphasize how it was a form of self expression.

  At the end of the script, we said that two years ago her mom had past away of Leukemia. Although this is a critical reason of her story, it's not what's holding her back.  The script ends with her falling, which is essentially where the middle of the film begins.

Film Day 1

Little Maggie: Elanna

  On Thursday afternoon, my partner and I went to the Weston Dance Academy to recreate "Maggies home videos". We filmed three girls around the age of 10 taking ballet classes at the academy. We filmed a series of different shots; close-ups of the feet and hands, and a long shot of the dancers. We particularly concentrated on one little girl, Elanna, who resembled Maggie. We got a couple of clips of her dancing on her own and training with the other girls. Theoretically, we want to edit these videos into looking like home videos. We purposely made some of the shots a little shaky to capture that homemade look.

Casting

Dancer Magali Trench

  For our film opening, my partner and I had one actress in mind from the very beginning, Magali Trench. Because I've been involved in the theater program, I have had the opportunity to watch and work with this incredible actress. As a dancer and an actress, we knew Trench would be an incredible fit for this role.
 
   Our story begins with a young dancer who has suffered a terrible accident and is told that she will never be able to dance again. Of course like any dancer, she is stubborn, and will do anything to dance again. For our film opening, however, we are putting together a series of clips that capture the true essence of dance. We are planning to go to a dance studio and film little girls dancing. To recreate some home videos, we will have one of the girls be little Trench. We will also capture other forms of dancing such as street dancing and the common boogie.

Visual Representation

EMOTION

PASSION

FLYING

STORY

FREEDOM

Before we began piecing our film opening together, we asked ourselves what dancing meant to us, and what it meant to the world. With each reponse, we matched a visual that we felt captured the magic of dance. These responses included: flying, story, freedom, emotion, and passion.These images all represent dance in some way. Whether its getting your groove on to your favorite song, or dancing with your favorite person, dance has some type of impact on all of us. For our film opening, we want to capture some of these unforgettable moments and bring them to life.

A New Beginning

  After much planning and trial and error, my partner and I concurred that our short film idea was not going to work out. The setting that we needed to recreate as well as the actors we needed to recruit were a bit farfetched. However, we still wanted to have that same artsy theme present in our film opening. After brainstorming some ideas, we came to the conclusion that we wanted to base our film on dance.

  Dance is more than just a sport, and although it doesn't require any speaking, sometimes it speaks louder than words. There is so much passion, emotion, that goes through each movement. This is something we wanted to show in our film opening. Our biggest conflict, however, was finding a way to visually express dance in a completely new way. We began looking through some photography that captured dancers in different settings. One picture that really spoke out to us was a dancer using the elements around her (picture on the left). We were facinated with the idea that dance is "what you make of what you got."

Film Opening

  For our film opening, Christina and I wanted to do an opening to a film that correlated to our documentary. We wanted to incorporate that same theme of simplicity and creativity. Before we came up with our idea, I asked Christina to think of games or toys she used to play with when she was little. I asked myself the same thing. I recalled of one memory in particular. When I was four years old, I had recently moved to the United States from Colombia. We lived in a small apartment with inflatable mattresses as our beds and boxes as our toys. My brother and I would construct spaceships and race-cars and castles with these boxes. We would sometimes jump into the dumpster and grab pots and pans that people had thrown away and played house with our neighbors. This very idea of creating something out of nothing inspired us to construct a similar story for our film opening.

 We also conducted research and stumbled upon a famous Brazilian artist and photographer Vik Muniz, What was so interesting about his artwork, is that he constructs murals out of garbage. Yes, garbage. He collects just about anything that people want to throw out or give away and he recreates a photograph of his own with garbage. He also works with chocolate, peanut butter, and other foods to recreate these famous paintings such as the Mona Lisa. He was the perfect example of an artist who made a living from scraps of garbage.

 Our film opening is about a young boy with a vivid imagination who lives in a poor neighborhood in New York. With no toys and no education, he looks for different ways to entertain himself using the elements around him. Inevitably, he begins to use trash from the dumpsters to recreate an image.

Coming Up With the Idea

 My partner Christina and I decided to create something that would incorporate both our passion for the arts. For our final project, we wanted to showcase the life of an artist. We were fascinated by the idea that artists could make something so marvelous out of something so simple. Really, I was inspired by a video I had seen of a man in the streets of New York creating music out of trash cans, bins, and a scraps of metal. What other people saw as garbage, he regarded it as music. From then on, our idea of documenting the life of artists was born.
Art, in its many forms, is sometimes overlooked or categorized as a hobby. The life of an artist is characterized as a hard life; with little to no pay and the common cliche of waiting tables on the side. But art is something that takes skill and talent. It's not just having the capability to produce a masterpiece, but also having the creativity to do so, I like to think of art as a blank piece of paper; there are no rules, no boundaries. Truly you can make anything out of that white piece of paper; the possibilities are endless.