The Hidden Premiered

Well, the title pretty much explains most of it. After months of work, arguments and compromises over the story, tons of caffeine, pop tarts for breakfast on set, seemingly endless film days, and sleep deprived editors, we showed off our finished, polished movie on the big screen. It was an emotional moment for us, letting outsiders see our baby and applaud it. My contribution to the film was as a writer and art director, so here's a little reflection on it.

As A Writer

Well, the first job I had in The Hidden was as a screenwriter. We discussed the story, and split it up so we each had a part to write. I had the first part of the 3rd act. We spent a lot of time with the script, and read and revised it both privately and with the class to see what they thought. And after that, we all met together and revised it vigorously to make the script you all know and love (well, probably not yet). For that job, I was really in my writing element, so I enjoyed it a lot. One thing I need to work on like I do with all my writing: revising. Usually I would leave it alone for a long time, then go back and change everything I no longer like. But we were a little rushed for time, like we were for the whole film. It was hard to figure out what elements of the writing were good, and what needed changing.

As An Art Director

Everybody had to apply for a production role. I didn't really feel too strongly for any production role at first, but I applied to be Art Director, citing my work in Sentio. Well, I ended up with the role, and I quickly began studying what to do with the script. I think the first thing I did as Art Director was during the end of Pre-Production: making a prop list. I read the whole script a few times, and wrote down whatever items I noticed were being used. I got everything one filming day at a time, and usually showed up with everything we needed. For some of the props, I asked around the classroom if anyone could get this or that. Occasionally, I had something at home I could use. As a sort of last resort, I bought some props at the dollar store.

The first day on set, Señor Director Brady Stanfield told me I was in charge decorating the set, taking pictures to keep the continuity of the set, and a magical thing called resetting (the art of running into a room to reset all the props into their original place at the beginning of the shot). I took resetting to heart. The word "Reset" became a mantra, a spell, a calling. Anybody could say it, and thump thump thump...boom! I burst into the room and frantically start moving things. As we all got closer as friends as the film progressed, it became an inside joke. Recently, I was awarded with the Reset Award for my contribution to the film.

At times though, I got a little lazy, and a little too careless with props. Twice, we had to get a prop or two by leaving set. For the most part though, I had everything. Especially when we were nearing the end of filming, I got pretty lazy for the film in general, and doing anything on set. So that's definitely something to improve for next year's film.

In Conclusion

I'm really proud of working on my very first feature film. There was a lot that I could've done better, but it was still a great step to take. I'll keep this all in mind for next year's film. I will be working on this blog as well as another project over the summer, when I have more free time. Until then, see you guys!