Production Strategy for Trek 03:

1. After reflecting on your experiences on Trek 01 and Trek 02, and after generating your Ten Questions, specify a promising place in your Trek area you plan to explore in more depth for Trek 03. Make sure the location is precisely identified, if not with a GoogleMaps link, then through a verbal description of what you are trying to find and where. Explain why this site seems promising.

When I go out on my Trek 03 I have though hard about the areas I am going to go in order to find specific footage that I have in mind for my final movie I want to make. The areas that I think will be the most promising are Maryland Ave, Farwell Ave, Prospect Ave, Stowell Ave, and Downer Ave heading South from New Berry Blvd to going North on Kenwood Blvd. What I am trying to find is footage for my final movie, as I have walked to school on the sidewalks of these streets I have noticed there is excellent footage of lines in the pavement, interesting rails, trees, and gating that I think would be perfect to film for my movie.

2. Describe how you will limit your image capturing activities in order to generate enough quality material with which to work. You can use the same strategies you used for Trek 02 or pick new

When I came up with the concept for my final film a few months ago I started paying close attention to the ground I was walking on trying to mark down the best location of spots that had what I wanted to film. I picked the streets above because I have walked them many times to and from school and found that they would be the best territory for my version of Market street. But instead of only focusing on lines in the street I also want to use the trees in the area if I can, hand rails, stone walkways, any kind of interesting gating to make my own movie about the lines in our city.

3. Describe how you will limit your sound capturing activities in order to generate enough quality material with which to work.

As I came up with this idea for my final movie I started to wonder what do I hear as I walked these streets that I intend to make my final movie about. As I thought about it I also paid close attention to the sounds I heard as I walked to and from school. I have picked very specific sounds that I want to capture for this film. As I film the areas that I have picked I am also going to be capturing sounds; it sounds a bit jumbled but when I tried re-walking after shooting I found that I missed out on some cool sounds that way so I decided to carefully do them at the same time. Also I have made a list of sounds that I wanted to catch specifically for this piece so I will also be capturing those. The plan is to capture the real sounds of the area carefully, but to also capture specific sounds that I think will be great for the video. In doing this I think I will be able to mix the audio and make a gem or to.

The Ten Questions:

1. What is something that gives off an interesting shadow to shot?
2. Are there any interesting designs in the streets or sidewalks that can be shot?
3. Is it better to stick to the trails in the lake or to make your own for recording sound or shooting pics or movies?
4. How much does cold weather affect the cameras or recorders?
5. Is it better to have a concept for what you want to film or to just explore until you find something?
6. What do you do if you can’t think of something to shot or you can’t find it or make it happen?
7. Are there any hot spots to take stills or movies in Milwaukee?
8. Can I be in my car or on the bus while shooting or do I have to be always walking?
9. Do you get better images at night, day, dusk, or dawn?
10. Do you get way different sounds by placing the each end of the mics in different spots or do they stay the same?

Trek Assessment #4

Describe your favorite experience, situation, place, or recollection from either of your Treks. Be specific about what happened, how you felt, how you reacted, and why you think this particular experience affected you so much.

When I look back and think about my Treks and what I have accomplished for my self and this class I think the best moments was when was able capture that really wonderful shot of the red flower standing in the sun and surrounded by shadow. I wasn’t sure how I was going to shot it or even how it was look so I took a chance and tried something and when it came out better then I would have hoped it made my day knowing that I shot something really impressive. I suppose it is a feeling that all of us filmmakers get every once in a while that reminds us of the power of what we can do if we try, or take a gamble on.

Trek Assessment #3

Describe three surprises or unexpected situations you encountered on your Treks and in the days that followed. The surprise could stem from your expectations that conflicted with "on the ground" realities, cultural or social issues of which you were previously unaware, feelings and reactions that you did not expect to have, appearances and soundings of things you did not expect, good or bad outcomes of "on the spot" decisions you had to make, or the discovery of "deeper" realities in the materials you brought home. (Again, skip anything technology-related!)

Situation 1: The first thing that comes to my mind is when I went out on my Trek 01 and lost all the recordings I had made that day. It was a surprising situation that I was in but I don’t think it was a bad because I had to redo my Trek 01 and get new sounds. I say it wasn’t a bad thing because I went out again with this new equipment and got to explore new places and get different sounds.

Situation 2: Another situation that surprised me was when we were viewing our Trek 02 films and I had showed my, “A Good Soldier”, film the people around me said they had liked it. My instructor Lilly had said she liked it and the shots in it, she had asked me if I was making political statement about the war as it seems that that was the impression my film had made. I was surprised when I was asked that by my instructor because it wasn’t meant to be political at all at least that is what I thought while filming it. Because I had filmed a G.I. Joe and the film was more about this soldier slipping into the death and what he saw as he was slipping away into the great beyond. The idea of making a political film and statement hadn’t ever crossed my mind up until that point.

Situation 3: when I was out on my Trek 03 I remember the only thing I was sure about was what my final movie would look like. I wasn’t sure what I would do for my other rough draft movies. So I went out on a walk around the area I figured I would go on for my Trek 03. As I walked I did find some interesting things to shoot but nothing that really caught my interest. Until I saw this tree that had all of its major limbs removed and a portion of its side either cut or torn away from it. For some reason I was draw to the tree and so I started to film it. This was an unexpected situation I was in because I wasn’t sure what else I was going to film and then I found this deformed tree. It was one of those moments were you said to your self, I need to film this!

Trek Assessment #2:

Describe, with details, two situations during Trek 01 and/or 02 in which you felt unusually peaceful, at ease, or contemplative.

Situation 1: When I went out to capture new sounds on my second Trek 01 there was this instance when I was down by the Lake front. I remember the sky was gray as the night was coming. I was standing in the grass a few feet above the sandy beach, covered with large rocks. I was standing by a few trees, trying to capture the sound of the wind pass through the leafs. I was able to capture the sound, but I did not end up using it. But as I stood by the lake listening to the sound of the wind in the trees, watching the water, I remember feeling at piece in my surroundings. It will be a moment I will remember for a long time.

Situation 2: When I went out on my Trek 02 there was there was something that I wanted to shot really badly. I had passed this lone red flower on my walks to school everyday. Finally I was able to shot it for one of my movies, after I had shot the flower I reviewed the footage and I was impressed with the play of shadow and light I was able to get from shooting this one flower. Not only did the shot turn out like I wanted but it turned out better then I wanted, I think it is one of the best things I have ever shot. I truly felt at easy after that moment.

Trek Assessment #1:

Describe two situations that aggravated, bothered, shocked or otherwise stressed you during Trek 01 or 02. (Please note that the situation CANNOT be technology-related.)

Situation 1: When I first went out on both of my Trek 1 and Trek 2, the moments hit me much like they did everyone else when I was shocked, aggravated, bothered, and stressed. The first time I went out on my Trek 1 I had gotten some really great sounds that I thought came out pretty good. But when I came to my house to put them into Audacity I had found out that all my sounds didn’t save and that I had lost all of my work of that day. That was both a very stressful time and shock for me. So I had to go back out and redo my Trek 01. But I was able to go back out and get some new sounds for my first Trek and things worked out.

Situation 2: Another time were I ran into a difficult situation that really stressed me out was when I was working on my all Still movie for Trek02. I had made a movie about a stone frog, the underlining message that I was trying to make with this movie was the over use of effects. I was able to get my frog movie to only so far when it came to an over use of effects, I don’t think I pulled it off effectively and I still haven’t found the right way to pull it off. So I guess it was stressful working on a type of movie that I haven’t ever really worked with before; and not being able to get it to work. This was another stressful time for me, working on Trek 02.