Chosen Path Project Blog

Now I know….

tots09 — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:27:42 +0000

I thought it was over last week. I really thought it was the end. I was very wrong. We showed our piece in class to our professor and the other students. It was the final draft we were supposed to present. As I watched the movie play, I had a mix of emotions. I was so proud to see what I was watching and at the same time, I felt frustrated. I was frustrated because I knew that there was something missing. I was frustrated because I knew that it could be better. We are adding some new things. I don’t want to give too much away in case some of you who may be reading this may be going to our viewing Tuesday night. I am feeling more and more excited. I think I finally understand what it is to be a director. I haven’t felt this connected to this piece until now. Once I felt that frustration, it motivated me like crazy. I felt responsible for making it what I knew it could be. Kareem and Katie have been by my side in the edit bay and I think they are just as excited as I am. This is what you call passion. This is what it’s all about. We could have settled with what we had and been ok with it, but we knew we could do better and we never gave up. Katie and I watched it together in the edit bay. She turned to me and said, “Wow, we made a movie.” I knew exactly what she meant. It was awesome and I felt great. Let’s hope everybody likes it. Even if they don’t, I am happy because I love it.

Wrapping up…

ktbenben — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 03:11:17 +0000

Our last draft was due last week.
Our piece is pretty much all done, but right now we are working on polishing it and bringing it to the next level. Right now, it’s good, but sometimes good isn’t good enough. With all of the work we have already put in, we want to knock this out of the park. We are trying to wrap up all revisions for the screening in two days! Hopefully, we will meet this very final deadline. If something goes wrong, and we aren’t able to get it to disk on time there are going to be issues. I hope everything pans out alright.
As for now, we are all giving the last surge in our efforts, hopefully our determination will pay off and our screening and overall, final product will be a success!

sink or swim

ktbenben — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:47:00 +0000

WOW! Tomorrow we turn in our final product! I’m actually at a loss of words, well maybe its more of an overflow of emotions. Thinking back to our first videos, I know we have all come so far. It’s hard to believe this final piece is something that we did! On the flip side, of the high notes of completion that we are celebrating, there is also a sad part. Our crews have become our second families, and I know as we all go into the world in our separate directions, we will always have an appreciation for the lessons we have learned together.

I’d like to thank all of my crew members for challenging me everyday, and for being so dedicated and committed each step of the way!

So, tomorrow we shall all see how our piece goes over!

Id like to remind everyone our premier is this Tuesday at 6pm in the Mary-Ann Wolfe Theatre at Biscayne Bay campus of Florida International University.

5 Shorties and a G presents The Chosen Path, 100% completed.

Kareem — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 08:17:03 +0000

A few months ago we were students struggling to come up with an idea. Then the problem then became choosing one of our ideas. We worked together and went with The Chosen Path, an idea for a short film that we believed we could make happen. Then the challenge was making the script a reality. I am pleased to say that we have succeeded. After many nights, mornings and months, The Chosen Path is now a completed short film.

As I watched the final version of the film, I couldn’t help but reflect on the very first TV production course I took at FIU. I recall Professor Sheerin saying that particular class would either make us or break us. I remember the very first time I held a professional HD camera and not being able to find the on switch. Now two years later, I’m sitting in the same classroom, thankful that I was never broken and looking towards the future, hoping that I will make it in the production world.

Graduation is just around the corner and I’m pleased to say that The Chosen Path short film is the highlight of my academic journey at Florida International University. I’d likes to thank my production crew for being entirely dedicated to this project, working together effectively to produce good quality material and our professor for being the fuel to our fire, encouraging us to succeed. I’m proud to be a member of the 5 Sorties and a G production crew.

It’s not over til it’s over

tots09 — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 07:04:50 +0000

So here we are. We are coming up to the end of the semester and the end of this journey we embarked on three months ago. It’s almost two in the morning. I guess I haven’t learned by lesson about procrastination yet. I will be graduating next semester, so maybe I’ll get it by then. I’m still working on trying to figure out how to get my slideshow out of my computer. It’s another assignment that we have to do for this project. This stuff never goes well this late at night. I’m sad. I mean, I’m happy because we are reaching the end and I think we’ve done a great job, but I’m sad because it will all be over soon. It’s funny how when you are doing these things and working hard you can’t wait until it’s over and then when it is, you don’t want it to be. I’ve had an amazing time with my crew members this semester. I thought that we might be able to push the limits and do something different and creative. I never expected to work with such a great group of people and have so much fun doing all this painstaking work. We were very lucky to have been able to share this experience together. I don’t think that FIU is doing the right thing by getting rid of this program. I know that these are hard economic times and cuts need to be made, but this program is special. It’s for people who are not afraid to follow their passion. It’s for those of us who have chosen a different path then most. Thank you Professor Sheerin for always being the best and worst critic. I know you are always pushing us to be better. I think we are all better people for it. We will miss you. Ok, enough mooshy mooshy. I must continue on my journey. It’s been great guys. Thanks! Best wishes to all.

Final Draft

Shalini — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 06:23:35 +0000

Today is the last day of classes for the Fall Semester and it is also the day which all the videography advanced students were awaiting. Today our final and complete version of The Chosen Path is due and I am very happy with what I saw in the editing room. This past semester, I could not have asked for a better crew. As a crew, we all got along really well and I will always remember this project for the rest of my life. This was my first attempt of being part of a film and working with my classmates has just been a blast. Every time I saw the edited version of the film, I could not help but remember the behind the scenes action that took place, whether it was while we set up for the shoot or during a take. I am very happy with the result of our short film and after today I look forward to the premiere on Tuesday 8th December, 2009 @ 6:00PM. I just want to say lots and lots of thanks to the cast, Professor Sheerin and the best crew a person could have for everything.

Last Post :(

chosenpathproject — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:10:36 +0000

Wow I can’t believe this is the last week of class, and that this is the last post. All I can say is that this has been an extraordinary experience. For the past couple of years I have been taking TV Production courses, but this one was exceptional. I want to thanks once again all my crew members.

Shalini: you are a great girl, thanks for being the best producer ever.
Kate: thanks for all your dedication in this project, girl you are crazy.
Taty: you rock, thanks for allowing us to use your house, and for being a great director.
Mona: My friend your script was the best. Lol
Kareen: hey buddy, thanks for everything, thanks for all your dedication and hard work, you are the best.

This has been a hard semester for me, and to be honest all I wanted was for it to be over, but finally it is over, and I can truly say this has been one of the best semester in FIU by far. I wish that the school of TV production wouldn’t have to close, but I guess everything happens for a reason, thank you to all who made this possible.

The Chosen Path has been the best project I have work and participated in since I first enrolled in school; I believe that all the moments we shared will always be with us. This is the End and the Beginning for all of us.

Sayi

Thanks

chosenpathproject — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 03:37:08 +0000

Our second draf was last thrusday. Honesly I tought that our project was really good, I’m sure that the last details such as the music will make this project a total success.

I want to take this time to thank all of the people in my crew, all of you are special and have awesome talents. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to work with you guys.

To sheerin, a special thanks for showing us what you have, thank you for your honesty and for letting us know when we do something wrong. Thank you all whom had the time to read our blog.

Thank you .

Happy thanksgiving.

Sayam

Shoot @ Tatiana’s house

Shalini — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 02:33:22 +0000

So on Sunday, Tatiana, Mona and I re-shot a couple of shots for the present day scenes in the film. They were all point of view shots. I know for sure one the ring shots would be used because the original shot in the film was shaky. As for the extra point of view shots we did, I am not sure if they will make it into the final piece. The shoot went by really quick, so there is not much to say about the actually shooting process on Sunday. However, there was something interesting that did happen when I got to Tatiana’s house. If you all aren’t already aware of this, but I am deathly afraid of dogs and Tatiana has one at her house (if you weren’t aware of this already). When I got to her house, I met Tatiana outside and she told me that Sasha (her dog) was inside and I started panicking immediately. She told me not to worry because her fiance was taking her out while we got our shots done. I decided to wait outside since Sasha was still in the house. I stood to the side of the door, so when Sasha comes out the door she would not see me. That did not work too well for me because the moment Sasha came out the door, she spotted me and barked. All of a sudden she started approaching me and the leash kept getting long and longer and I saw no one holding the leash. I got so scared that I screamed out, “Oh, my God!” I then saw Tatiana’s fiance holding the leash and he started laughing and so did Tatiana and Mona, who might I add was inside the house. Thank God nothing happened to me or Sasha (from my scream). By the way, all this happened in a few seconds, I just told it the way it felt at that moment. Anyway, my phobia did not end because when we were finish shooting and I was walking out the door, Tatiana’s neighbor had her door opened and two bulldog started coming up to us. I ran back into Tatiana’s house and closed the door to protect myself. The funny part to that was that they never even barked and both Mona and Tatiana were petting them. Even though they seemed harmless, only one thing was going on in my mind and that was these dogs were going to eat me alive. Anyway, Tatiana’s neighbor saw me afraid and she took them back into her house. I’m telling you, Sunday was scary for me because of my fear of dogs. I do hope one day I could conquer this fear.

We are starting to wrap it all up!

ktbenben — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:33:55 +0000

Our second rough draft was due last week. We did alright. I was hoping to be a little bit further by then. But overall, I dont think we were that far off from where I hoped we would be. We had everything shot. We just ran out of editing time to smooth it all out.

There were a lot of times where we would have gladly stayed up all night to edit our project. Unfortunately, FIU edit bays arn’t, and cant feasably be, that accessable.
Just like deadlines in “the real world” there are constraints and frameworks of guidelines you have to play within. For our team, the edit bay availibilites are one of those realistic constraints.
I’m pretty sure that if you asked anyone in our crew we would say that we don’t resent that. Its just a realistic fact.

Anyway…
We have been editing every available moment that the edit bays are open, and overall the piece will deffinetly be done by our final deadline in 2 weeks.

I’d like to thank Charles Mabry! He is one of our classmates, but is in the multiple sclerosis project (multiplesclerosisproject.wordpress.com). He has willingly, and for no benefit to himself given of his time to our project. Not only will he be seen in our film as Danny, the drug dealer, but he has composed several of the tracks we will be using in our piece. His musical tallent is quite a special gift and we value him greatly! THANKS CHARLES! (personal imput for a certian professor who reads this blog: I think Charles deserves some extra credit for going out of his way to help us.)

Overall, this has been such an amazing last 2 1/2 months and I know I am deffinetly going to cry when it is all over. For those in our class who are graduating this semester, I know that the rest of us, who will be finnishing next semester, will miss you! For those who do not know, FIU has canceled there Television track and we are some of the last few student to finnish up the program. Due to this, I think, we have grown pretty close and I know our last few classes and our premiere on December 8th will be emotional.