“Guys Before Fries” is easily the biggest project I’ve ever worked on. It was challenging at times (like when our actress unexpectedly needed surgery and was unable to walk), rewarding (like when we finally wrapped or got a shot we were super proud of), emotionally taxing (being on set with so many people relying on you and volunteering their time is so incredibly stressful), and hilarious (like when the drive-thru lady responded to the lines for the film!) I really appreciate everyone who came together to make it happen!
We started working on this project last semester when we watched Finding Nemo and analyzed the story, type of story, characters, and archs that the movie had.
Sine then we’ve gone through all three phases of making a film: Pre-Production, Production, and Post-Production (and then Product!) Below I will give you a peek into each.
Pre-Production
After many lessons about stories and films, we got to write and pitch an elevator pitch in front of the class. It was extremely stressful, but super fun to get to hear from everyone. Afterwards, we paired up with someone who’s idea we liked, and after having our idea shredded and re-built, my partner Mia and I wrote our synopsis, which is down below:
Once we got our synopsis destroyed and re-built, we wrote our script in StudioBinder. After many, many drafts, we came up with something that we (and Mr. Taylor) were happy with:
We then lined and marked our script, here’s a sample:
Then we went through and made a shot list with all 141 of our shots.
After many, many scheduling conflicts, stress, and lots of planning, we were ready to film.
Production
Production Shots!
One of the most fun parts of production is crewing. It is super bonding and stretching at the same time because everyone is working together and solving problems together. Since we had to help with 5 films, we had a lot of help too, which was great! It was also a perfect time to gain some more experience working with the equipment.
Post-Production
Post-Production, when it is going smoothly, is hands-down my favorite part! One of the main reasons being: I have ctrl-z!
Post production for this project entailed lots of editing, sound effects, matching up dialogues, and color correction.
And without further ado, here is the narrative film in all its glory!