JuiceMedia

This week we recreated a scene from Wes Anderson’s “Moonrise Kingdom!” The students received a piece of paper with each frame on it, a box of props, and FilmNorth’s professional film equipment. They broke out into three groups: set design, EQ set-up, and a team that figured out how to light the scene frame-by-frame.

The students had one day to shoot and another to edit. Overall, the students agreed that it was a great exercise on lighting and felt like being on a real film set. We had everything from a DP to a cord wrangler. Another rebuild-a-scene is forthcoming next session!

Week one of JuiceMedia is complete! On the first day, we jumped right into mock 48 hour film projects. Students broke out into groups then received a genre, prop, and line of dialogue that they had to craft their film around.

Students had 20 minutes for pre-production, a day to film, and another day to edit. Many groups had to improvise their lines and decide upon locations minutes before filming. On the last day, we screened the films–the youth room was filled with laughter and excitement! You can watch the videos here: https://vimeo.com/channels/filmnorthyouth.

Can’t wait for next week, when students begin pre-production on a 4 week video project of their choice.

The final screening was a blast! Before the event began, students helped set-up, doing everything from arranging chairs in the screening room to stapling together the         brochures. They included the film titles and run-times, as well as the students’ artist statements.

Students and families snapped pictures in the JuiceMedia Photo Booth before filtering into the screening room. People chose a prop to pose with and got goofy!

We placed an Audience Choice Award sheet in the brochure. After the films played,
audience members wrote down which films should win everything from “Best Visual Effects” to “Best Art Direction.” Interns tallied up the results and the award ceremony began! There was a Q&A as well. Audience members asked many questions, including the inspiration for the students’ films and what their biggest takeaway from JuiceMedia.

The screening concluded with celebratory pizza, snacks, and cupcakes. Everyone chatted and mingled while celebrating the accomplishments of the students and the wonderful films that they produced.

What an amazing event to wrap up an amazing session! We’ll see everyone again during the JuiceMedia Fall session, which runs October 1st-December 12th. Have a happy summer!

The students have been busy with everything from pitching, pre-poduction, production, and post this week! Pearl (shown on the left) pitched her idea for a video poem last week and has begun shooting it on FilmNorth’s Canon T2i. She is having her younger sister narrate the poem “America, I Sing You Back,” a poem that celebrates the diverse cultural landscape of the US. She is planning to film various students in their after school clubs that emphasize the importance of diversity. Before JuiceMedia begins, Oli has been leading the students in short warm-ups, ranging from stretching to improv games. In the photo on the right, Tujee is smiling during a warm-up activity.

Emma (shown on the right) has been sifting through public domain Western films to include in her video. The video will follow two siblings who escape a cult and unintentionally reenact the only film they were able to watch, which is a Western. In the photo on the left, Elliott handles the boom to capture audio for Baine’s film. Umpha the intern graciously agreed to act, scoring the role of main character! What an exciting week!

Also, thanks to Emily the intern for giving a super informative audio workshop! She gave a long list of websites to score great audio/music on, showed us what software to use to make our own music, and did a tutorial on cleaning up iffy audio in Premiere. 🙂

This Tuesday, the globally recognized photographer Wing Young Huie gave a workshop for the JuiceMedia and SPNN students. He is most famous for his street photography project where he took pictures of people on Lake Street in Minneapolis. He then posted the photos on storefronts all along Lake Street. In this way, Wing was able to share the photos that he took with the community members that he used as his subjects.

Every member of Wing’s family was born in China except for him. He was born and raised in Duluth, MN. This allows him to focus on identity in his work. He asked us: Who gets to decide what our identity is? The students all got a chance to participate during the workshop discussions and Wing gave the students a few project suggestions, one of which is to go up to people that you find compelling and, after taking their picture, ask to try on their clothes, then have them take a picture of you. Wing has done this, and explained that it makes for interesting photographic exploration.

And just like that, the intro projects have been completed! The students made these incredible videos in just two days. Many of the returning members taught the new members how to use Premiere, as well as the cameras and mics. The intro videos were screened yesterday. A lot of laughter accompanied the screening! Every one was proud of their work. The videos can be found on the FilmNorth vimeo page.

After the screening we began pre-production for project 1. Project 1 can be essentially anything the students wish to make, with the option of making a video poem. While the students were storyboarding and script-writing away, they got to interview one another for the intro video. This session the students are asking each other to describe what they want their creative future and possible legacy to look like. Here’s to embarking into project 1!

Despite the slew of cancellations due to bad weather, an awesome group of students were able to come for the first day of JuiceMedia! We had the students get into groups then gave each group a prop, a line of dialogue, a character trait, and a genre to include in the short film that they have 2 days to plan, shoot, and edit.

Everybody introduced themselves, including our 4 interns, and answered the check-in question: “What’s your favorite movie?” Answers ranged from “Into the Spiderverse” to “The Fantastic Mr. Fox.” Everybody was excited to discuss the movies that they enjoy most! Here’s a photo from the stop-motion film that Ainsley, Teah, and Noah are working on:

We can’t wait to screen the films on Tuesday! Until then, happy filmmaking!

 JuiceMedia’s Fall 2018 final screening took place yesterday! It was a well-attended event full of pizza, cookies, and amazing youth films. Baine and Na’Riyah kicked things off with a short overview of what they learned and did in JuiceMedia over the semester. They discussed the scavenger hunts, the video poems, the final projects, and learning how to do every part of video production from storyboarding to editing with Premiere Pro.

There was a photobooth that guests and students took fun photos in before the screening. JuiceMedia’s prop box was put to good use! 

After the screening and a long, long round of applause, there was an award ceremony. Every student received a custom-made award with the new JuiceMedia Official Selection Laurel on it.

Once all of the students received their awards, they took a seat up front and the Filmmaker Q&A commenced. A parent asked if the students enjoyed their time with JuiceMedia and there was a resounding, enthusiastic “yes” from the students all at once. They answered what their biggest takeaway from JuiceMedia will be. Many of the students said that they would never had made a film without all of JuiceMedia’s support and resources. Teah mentioned that JuiceMedia allowed her to become more confident in herself, and that she “came out of her shell.”

What a truly incredible group of young filmmakers! Many of the Fall 2018 students will be returning for JuiceMedia Spring 2019 and will be submitting their work to local and national film fests, including the TCYMN showcase this Spring, so be on the lookout for some great student films! Thank you so much to everyone who made this JuiceMedia session so truly wonderful.

We also had a photobooth for families and students to take pictures and play with JuiceMedia props. Here’s a slideshow of some of the photos:

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The JuiceMedia student filmmakers are in the midst of production on their final projects of the semester. They’ve only got a couple weeks left before the final screening. These short films are whatever the students want them to be — complete creative freedom from conception to final edits. I sat down with Liam to talk about what production has been like on his film so far.

“Acting wise, hasn’t been going bad,” Liam says, “and directing wise? It’s coming along okay.” For his project, Liam has been working in front of and behind the camera. He directs it and he acts in it. He’s tried it before — last summer — and knows how hard it is to balance both sides of production.

It is not easy.

“I feel like if you have more people, the more you can accomplish with filmmaking,” says Liam. He cites all the classic big block busters as evidence: success comes from collaboration. But Liam isn’t completely alone in his filmmaking process. Other JuiceMedia students work along side him to realize his script through both acting and camera work.

Watching the other filmmaking going on all around Vandalia Tower, the power of collaborative effort can be seen in every single one of the other films being made!

-Lily

Joanna visited JuiceMedia today to discuss her filmmaking career. She told us about getting proper lighting, how she gets jobs, and her creative process. Joanna owns a film production company called Kohler Productions. With Kohler Productions, she films what non-profits and various industries and organizations ask her for, and talked about how that helps her create better films. The restrictions that come with an unexpected job help her decide how to overcome them.

She talked about how filming projects in Israel and her friends and family had helped her get into film. She mainly focuses on social justice issues in her films. She says if you’re passionate about filmmaking then you should stick with it, even if it can be hard to get a start.

Having Joanna visit JuiceMedia was a delight!

-Teah