This is not the average blog post for me but for those who are interested, some things have drastically changed here at Full Sail. I certainly haven't been myself lately or maybe I'm just psyching myself out and just saying that. However I can positively confirm that things are not what they have been. Thus making me believe that I have not been myself.
Some of the first things that I learned about here at Full Sail included the big word "NETWORKING," the ego centric student environment and the thought that at some point during the path to graduation, I would indefinitely encounter a period of denial and disbelief. I didn't believe that it was possible for this to happen but I am starting to see that in all actuality, the feeling of disbelief has just begun. Surprisingly, the three things I've listed above have truly changed the way i operate and approach my daily life. Networking is HUGE and everyone is participating. It's just a big game and everyone has to join in. If you meet the right people at the right time, sometimes you pull a few jobs and/or contacts out of it. But with networking comes the success of those around you, whereas at the start of this program, we are all on the same equal playing field. Primarily because we barely know one another. No one truly knows what they want but they want to explore each and every aspect of the film industry and find their niche in the process. Once they presume they have found their niche they will do anything that they can to find work and in the process attract the attention of those around them. Hens the ego's have then begun and people are fighting internally and externally to find their desired jobs. For instance, we have just started two new courses Directing 1 and Digital Cinematography both of which are the beginning of minor production status. In DCI1, we start the course off by constructing a pitch for a short film in small groups or as individuals. We pitch to our instructors (producers) who will then judge the pitches and supply the groups with a budget to fund their film. This is where things get interesting because as a whole, groups are competing for the "above the line" jobs on their own projects and of the 41 pitches 5 groups will be selected and the rest of the class will just fill in positions. Let me start by saying, I didn't come here to participate in other students films as a productions assistant. Maybe on Final Projects etc., but not for my own class. Although I was very proud of our script and group pitch, we received the feedback we wanted but for some reason that has yet to be explained, we were not chosen. I'll shoot it on my own time.
However, there is has been some good news lately. Last weekend I got to attend a private event at the Executive Airport in Orlando. A friend of mine needed some help on a camera op team and he thought I would make a good addition. So as the night progressed I got to operate a high-end camcorder and roam through a private Little Wayne event featuring Busta Rhymes, Burdman, Gucci and many more. I would just run through the VIP section and film everything in front of me. Eventually I made my way on stage and gathered some great footage of Wayne and his crew. I should have that available soon for a demo reel. Kudos to Tyler Blackwell for hooking me up. I also upgraded to the Panasonic Lumix GH2 which is huge news. I will hack that shortly and upload photos as soon as I have created a rig that I appreciate. I also have a new project available for viewing. It was an interview assignment for Directing 1, in which we were given two days to interview our group members creatively. Once again, I'd have to say our group went above and beyond whereas most groups had decent compositions but no creativity or they simply shot on their Iphone. The link to the project and some of my most recent photos will be listed below. Thank you for your time. Be back soon.
Directing 1 Project: Full Sail Celebrity Watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC7NXzV66jM&list=UUGvY-KCL_kkAt1SrkhufyEA&index=1&feature=plcp
Flickr New Photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kromanek/
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
BACK AGAIN!!
Yes, here I am back again alive, refreshed and prepared to indulge my very view followers with some new mind blowing material. Really, it's some pretty good stuff so brace yourself.
I'll start with the good news, actually it's the most phenomenal outstanding shockingly exhausting yet magical experience I have had in some time. During the months of late October through December 2011 I was busy preparing a treatment and screenplay for a project to accomplish over a two week Christmas break. Over the break I traveled back home to the mountain land Maryland where I would cast some fellow friends and pitch my script to several perspective crew members. I was given a total of two weeks to scout locations, achieve props and apparel, establish a production truck, some low budget consideration and complete production. It was quite the challenge considering the script and idea was rather complex in itself, therefore I needed to make some final adjustments with some helpful assistance, including my gracious mother. I was also in association with two great friends of mine back in Florida to help with the post production both of which foreign exchange students. I put my trust in their hands and it pulled through no different than I had imagined thanks to saturated dreamy visual effects (Oliver Sjoholm) and a brilliant musical composition (Fabian Muschelknautz). Without further ado I'd like to give you a brief synopsis of the project and present both the short film and behind the scenes. The film has been submitted to the "Reel 13 Film Festival" and The Enzian theater "Film Slam" as well as for a submission consideration to play on the big screen at Full Sail Universities campus. Here you go, if you haven't seen it check it out and if you already have, tell someone who hasn't seen it. Thanks!!
This film is about "change" and more importantly the idea that in the end, reality will never change or be cheated. Reality can not be escaped, change is an illusion, change is absent.
"What Stays the Same" Original Film
Behind the Scenes on "WSTS"
I hope you enjoyed the film please leave a comment or subscribe for more projects like this one. Thanks again to all of the participants from assistants to PA's including the following; Shannon Yeatman, Johnny Lapole, Fabian Muschelknautz , Dallas White, Ashley Yeatman, Oliver Sjoholm, Brandon Buhr, Charles Weedon, Lisa Hughes, Terri Romanek, Alex Nelson, Watts Family and Jim House. If you get the chance please check out another one of my shorts that my roommate recently wrote and I accompanied for an acting debut. Check it out here.
"It Ain't All Bad"
In other news I've been working hard in school, just what mother would want to hear. I've been writing new screenplays for projects and am looking forward to the hopeful success of my last film at the Film Slam debut and Q&A late next month.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Crash the Super Bowl! We BETTER!
What a busy and unexpected weekend it's been. Nothing but good things have come from the past few days. Which is a great way to kick start a new month of courses at Full Sail. Since my arrival at school, there has been more than enough happening in my life. By simply scrolling through my previous blog posts you can clearly observe my challenges and achievements from this previous month. Hard to believe it has only been a month. Not that it's a bad thing, it actually went rather fast. I'm just surprised by how much has taken place in this short amount of time. Regardless, I think I ended the month with a BANG! Allow me to explain.
Late last week there were two large cardboard boxes delivered to my front door. What could it be you ask? Possibly two of the greatest purchases I have ever made, besides my playstation and the delicious honey bbq wings from Wing and Pizza Shack back home. Inside box number one was a Panasonic GH1 with multiple hackable patches, a Panasonic 14-42mm lens, accessories and in the second box, a carbon tripod. Although this camera may have some age on it now, it can still easily contend with some of the best DSLR video capture cameras out there. I am more than happy with this device. With the hacks installed, the camera now shoots 1080p at 24 frames and a 44 megabit rate. Which bumps the video quality enough to be comparable with the 5d and 7d. It also uses AVCHD format, which I have always been fond of. As soon as I received the camera, it was time to test it's capabilities.
I started by meeting up with a few friends I had met in Digital Photography. The funny thing is, I had previously hung out with all three of the guys and it turns out they were all hanging out as well. Which to my surprise, I was unaware. Thus we found ourselves hanging out together like we had several of times before individually. Before long, we were already writing down potential ideas and creating future treatments. As a group we instantly clicked and decided it was best to start becoming more active in our field of interest. We have an abundance of great talent in each member and plan to expand. In honor of our lack of rum we decided to name our production crew "Rumgone Productions." At first, ideas for mini online series and comedic episodes were being thrown around then we went even further. We decided to start our production journey with something that would take some serious dedication. On Friday afternoon the group agreed to start constructing ideas for a commercial submission to the "Crash the Super Bowl 2012 Doritos Competition." Not only was this a demanding feet to accomplish, we also had a massive time constraint. As we logged into the official competition site, we realized that the submission date was in THREE DAYS! So from there we got to work. I wrote a rough treatment and stroryboarded the project then we took on this Doritos commercial like vicious wolverines hungry for its hopeless prey. Fourty eight hours later we finally submitted our masterpiece. That's right, no sleep, no lag time, just hard work. Which in the long run was much better for the group because we now have two submissions and loads of extras and a behind the scenes video. All this to start our Rumgone Productions channel. So go check it all out, I'm proud of the final product let me know what you think.
Commercial One:
http://www.crashthesuperbowl.com/#/gallery?video=13787
Commercial Two:
http://www.crashthesuperbowl.com/#/gallery?video=13799
Check out the Behind the Scenes, it's HILARIOUS!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ewy8OVnszjM&feature=plcp&context=C27ae7ADOEgsToPDskIiMA-bt9_QgoCkxrWuY5JC
Late last week there were two large cardboard boxes delivered to my front door. What could it be you ask? Possibly two of the greatest purchases I have ever made, besides my playstation and the delicious honey bbq wings from Wing and Pizza Shack back home. Inside box number one was a Panasonic GH1 with multiple hackable patches, a Panasonic 14-42mm lens, accessories and in the second box, a carbon tripod. Although this camera may have some age on it now, it can still easily contend with some of the best DSLR video capture cameras out there. I am more than happy with this device. With the hacks installed, the camera now shoots 1080p at 24 frames and a 44 megabit rate. Which bumps the video quality enough to be comparable with the 5d and 7d. It also uses AVCHD format, which I have always been fond of. As soon as I received the camera, it was time to test it's capabilities.
I started by meeting up with a few friends I had met in Digital Photography. The funny thing is, I had previously hung out with all three of the guys and it turns out they were all hanging out as well. Which to my surprise, I was unaware. Thus we found ourselves hanging out together like we had several of times before individually. Before long, we were already writing down potential ideas and creating future treatments. As a group we instantly clicked and decided it was best to start becoming more active in our field of interest. We have an abundance of great talent in each member and plan to expand. In honor of our lack of rum we decided to name our production crew "Rumgone Productions." At first, ideas for mini online series and comedic episodes were being thrown around then we went even further. We decided to start our production journey with something that would take some serious dedication. On Friday afternoon the group agreed to start constructing ideas for a commercial submission to the "Crash the Super Bowl 2012 Doritos Competition." Not only was this a demanding feet to accomplish, we also had a massive time constraint. As we logged into the official competition site, we realized that the submission date was in THREE DAYS! So from there we got to work. I wrote a rough treatment and stroryboarded the project then we took on this Doritos commercial like vicious wolverines hungry for its hopeless prey. Fourty eight hours later we finally submitted our masterpiece. That's right, no sleep, no lag time, just hard work. Which in the long run was much better for the group because we now have two submissions and loads of extras and a behind the scenes video. All this to start our Rumgone Productions channel. So go check it all out, I'm proud of the final product let me know what you think.
Commercial One:
http://www.crashthesuperbowl.com/#/gallery?video=13787
Commercial Two:
http://www.crashthesuperbowl.com/#/gallery?video=13799
Check out the Behind the Scenes, it's HILARIOUS!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ewy8OVnszjM&feature=plcp&context=C27ae7ADOEgsToPDskIiMA-bt9_QgoCkxrWuY5JC
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
A Grand Extension
I've decided to extend the previous post with a follow up to some other new projects I have been working on because I believe the "American Beauty" project is worth it's own post. On with some news, after receiving fantastic reviews from both classmates and professors on the previous project, I was then thrown straight into a new project with a new group. This time we were broken into groups of six (again a group full of unfamiliar faces) and told to create an original movie consisting of fifteen to twenty still frame images. The movie can have a score and can be produced to our liking however we must follow provided theme. Our theme was Man vs. Nature, you could only imagine the shorts people came up with. After consulting several ideas in the creative process and pre-production, we finally stumbled upon something worth using. Unlike other groups, we treated it like a professional film and storyboarded each image as if it were a movie. Both myself and another group member drew up each image by hand. I contributed to storyboarding, creative processing and some camera op. Although there were some images that could be re-shot due to focusing, we had to accept our loses and time constraint. We settled for some extra post work. As a group we agreed on the idea of creating a criminal investigation, where nature is being investigated and man prevails. I had a great location we could use and we coincidently had all the props we would need for the project which kept this on the cheap. This project was by far the most enjoyable and I am proud to have received the reviews that we did. Certainly one of the better movies. Here is the movie.
I recently joined an online community partnered with IMDB.com, called withoutabox.com. This is basically a independent filmmakers dream. It allows you to locate and submit either films or screenplays to festivals around the globe. Most of which require a submission fee, but it is great to have this extremely valuable resource at the tips of your finger. I have already been working on a screenplay for a feature project and I felt this would be perfect for a Festival. I now have to complete my feature by early January and submit it to the Hollywood Screenplay Contest. Lets hope I succeed.
Something grand happened today and I don't want to reveal too many details just yet. My roommate and I finally concocted something worth going after. We are working on preproduction now, but the plan is to have the first few episodes done by the start of 2012. It will consist of a new episode every other week and will require much structure and attention. I will talk more about that on a later date, but for the meantime, thanks for stopping by.
I recently joined an online community partnered with IMDB.com, called withoutabox.com. This is basically a independent filmmakers dream. It allows you to locate and submit either films or screenplays to festivals around the globe. Most of which require a submission fee, but it is great to have this extremely valuable resource at the tips of your finger. I have already been working on a screenplay for a feature project and I felt this would be perfect for a Festival. I now have to complete my feature by early January and submit it to the Hollywood Screenplay Contest. Lets hope I succeed.
Something grand happened today and I don't want to reveal too many details just yet. My roommate and I finally concocted something worth going after. We are working on preproduction now, but the plan is to have the first few episodes done by the start of 2012. It will consist of a new episode every other week and will require much structure and attention. I will talk more about that on a later date, but for the meantime, thanks for stopping by.
COULD THERE BE MORE?
More good news, is it possible? Apparently there is always good news brewing here in Florida or should I say Full Sail University. I am very proud to publish some of my most recent projects that were vigorously planned out and have received an abundance of appraisals and kudos. The prime example being the album cover project or lab for this months digital photography course. This lab assignment was rather demanding for the most part due to time. The class was divided into groups of three (for the most part these are people we are unfamiliar with) and told to remake an original album cover of our choosing. Our group when far and beyond expectation, which was the intention. After reviewing several different ideas we chose the most difficult of them all, the original score to the popular 1999 film "American Beauty." Given a twenty-four hour time limit and a lack of material, this was very hard to pull off. We chose this because it was unique and had most likely never used before. Some challenges that arose consisted of, who, what, where and honestly how the hell do we do this. Once we made up our mind there was no turning back. We bought over two hundred sheets of tissue paper or sheet paper and three bouquets of fake roses. We took the photo in the bed of an F-150 truck and in the end needed some post work to compensate for the “square” shape of the album. The professors are very strict as to how the image must be presented and how to stay professional. It is only a 101 course therefore we may not use Photoshop for any of our images and we must stick to the guidelines of the project. However and luckily, given the effort we put into the project the professors were so impressed and lenient that we received authorization to present two images, one Photoshop version and another of what we were truly working with. The result was phenomenal, the classed loved it, the professors said it was the best they had ever seen and suggested showcasing our work for classes to come. The feeling of success was well worth it. I used Coral Mae, who I had mentioned in the previous blog to help us succeed. She was great and (no offense intended) her pale skin made for great contrast in the image.
See the original here: http://www.allmusic.com/album/american-beauty-original-score-r460420
I can't quite wrap my head around why people ended up enjoying what I call "The White Trashy" version on the right, more than the cloned version on the left. But I am starting to believe the same myself, it has a gritty, original feel to it. Something you wouldn't expect to find in the bed of a truck. I will dedicate an entire new post to my next project because I think this deserves a post of it's own. Thanks for stopping by.
See the original here: http://www.allmusic.com/album/american-beauty-original-score-r460420
I can't quite wrap my head around why people ended up enjoying what I call "The White Trashy" version on the right, more than the cloned version on the left. But I am starting to believe the same myself, it has a gritty, original feel to it. Something you wouldn't expect to find in the bed of a truck. I will dedicate an entire new post to my next project because I think this deserves a post of it's own. Thanks for stopping by.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
A Better You Every Day
Tons of great news has surfaced from this past week, but with good news there is always some bad. So in retrospect to my exhilaration, I suppose the bad news would indefinitely come first. Although I am given a grace period of three or four days for the upcoming Thanksgiving break, it turns out that I could be home several days before we undoubtably booked the flight. I only have digital photography this month so this shouldn't have been a problem. Regardless, things all happen for a reason. My final class is a week before my departure for thanksgiving. I could be home for nearly a week and a half and I am certainly not forking out any extra money for a cancellation or rescheduling fee. We will see.
On the bright side, there is much more to praise about than to morn. A few days ago I was given a new weekly photo category for digital photography. Last week I took several architecture shots that turned out extraordinarily well for my portfolio and website. I even surprised some of my classmates by taking a different route, where most students thought of buildings and high rise structures or textures, I was taking pictures of lacrosse sticks. The contrast was vivid and the shallow DOF led to some beautiful shots. This week we were split up into groups of three and told to take portraits. Luckily my group members were willing to step outside the box and aside from taking boring lifeless photos of one another, go out into the field and find some perfect photo candidates. It turns out after traveling to downtown Winter Park, it began to feel like we were more paparazzi than student photographers. We stumbled upon two female subjects who just so happen to fit the bill and were willing to model for our photos. One of which just happened to be a photographer herself so thankfully she knew how to respond to a camera. Considering one of our partners bailed, my friend Hector and I shot a total of approximately four hundred and fifty shots of the girls alone. We received great feedback. You can see my photos in the link below.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kromanek/
But wait, theres more. My storyboards have begun to pile up and I am also working on a future short and perhaps feature that has some serious personal meaning. My roommate Oliver and I recently joined an online novel competition where you attempt to write a fifty thousand word novel in one month. This is highly unlikely but lets just see how it turns out for the both of us. A neighbor of mine and good friend, who is by the way a very talented musician. In fact I believe I mentioned him in a previous blog; he is a godsend. Thanks to him I will be collaborating with a skilled musician in Northern Africa to storyboard future music videos. It's still up in the air so I won't get too overwhelmed but for now this is great news. Another accomplishment is the luxury of campus connections and events. Due to my last test score, I was chosen as one of a small group to attend a private screening and Q&A with Darren Bousman, the director of Saw's 2-4. He actually graduated from Full Sail University, so this will be a great experience for me. It's truly amazing that accomplishments like this can take place in under a months time here in Orlando.
Thanks for stopping by.
On the bright side, there is much more to praise about than to morn. A few days ago I was given a new weekly photo category for digital photography. Last week I took several architecture shots that turned out extraordinarily well for my portfolio and website. I even surprised some of my classmates by taking a different route, where most students thought of buildings and high rise structures or textures, I was taking pictures of lacrosse sticks. The contrast was vivid and the shallow DOF led to some beautiful shots. This week we were split up into groups of three and told to take portraits. Luckily my group members were willing to step outside the box and aside from taking boring lifeless photos of one another, go out into the field and find some perfect photo candidates. It turns out after traveling to downtown Winter Park, it began to feel like we were more paparazzi than student photographers. We stumbled upon two female subjects who just so happen to fit the bill and were willing to model for our photos. One of which just happened to be a photographer herself so thankfully she knew how to respond to a camera. Considering one of our partners bailed, my friend Hector and I shot a total of approximately four hundred and fifty shots of the girls alone. We received great feedback. You can see my photos in the link below.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kromanek/
But wait, theres more. My storyboards have begun to pile up and I am also working on a future short and perhaps feature that has some serious personal meaning. My roommate Oliver and I recently joined an online novel competition where you attempt to write a fifty thousand word novel in one month. This is highly unlikely but lets just see how it turns out for the both of us. A neighbor of mine and good friend, who is by the way a very talented musician. In fact I believe I mentioned him in a previous blog; he is a godsend. Thanks to him I will be collaborating with a skilled musician in Northern Africa to storyboard future music videos. It's still up in the air so I won't get too overwhelmed but for now this is great news. Another accomplishment is the luxury of campus connections and events. Due to my last test score, I was chosen as one of a small group to attend a private screening and Q&A with Darren Bousman, the director of Saw's 2-4. He actually graduated from Full Sail University, so this will be a great experience for me. It's truly amazing that accomplishments like this can take place in under a months time here in Orlando.
Thanks for stopping by.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Future Projects
I've come to realize that boredom is hard to come by here in Orlando. Even on days when I need a break from this social environment and my education, it's inevitable that a new project will be on my plate by the end of the day. Life south of the border is far different than some of my previous experiences, leaving me with no time to have a brief resting period or to be personally constructive. In other words, I am given the time to be scholarly active whether I am in class or labs for eight hours of the day or I am writing a script and/or storyboard for someone else's project rarely for projects of my own. Thus, I am barely finding enough time to contact family and friends, tend to the repulsive smell of two male students in one apartment, the groceries, the dreaded and excruciating pain of having to lug the trash down a flight of steps (that's sarcasm). I'm making this seem so detrimental but it isn't really. At that, I suppose I actually am performing some personal constructive acts every day. My scholarly involvement actually is my passion so I get the opportunity to perform creative processes often.
I have recently thought of some new ideas for future projects and have been frequently finding myself scripting or storyboarding ridiculous shorts that will most likely never happen. However that's no problem, its a good way to exercise my expertise. Furthermore this month I am studying digital photography and have to become familiar with my community to determine several shot types, landscapes, night shots, portraits and architecture. I am also a member of the "DIY" club or "Do It Yourself," which is a great way for me to contribute to my classmates works. I recently storyboarded and did an original screenplay for a simple gum parody a friend of mine is directing. I am also working very diligently on a project that will hopefully take place in the near future. For this project, I share a mutual passion for a particular song that a friend of mine has developed. We will be calibrating together soon to hopefully develop the next big cover and music video. I will be storyboarding that for some time.
But for now, here is some places where you can follow some of my work.
Vimeo Playlist:
http://vimeo.com/user8527329
Twitter:
http://twitter.com/#!/KyleRomanek
I have recently thought of some new ideas for future projects and have been frequently finding myself scripting or storyboarding ridiculous shorts that will most likely never happen. However that's no problem, its a good way to exercise my expertise. Furthermore this month I am studying digital photography and have to become familiar with my community to determine several shot types, landscapes, night shots, portraits and architecture. I am also a member of the "DIY" club or "Do It Yourself," which is a great way for me to contribute to my classmates works. I recently storyboarded and did an original screenplay for a simple gum parody a friend of mine is directing. I am also working very diligently on a project that will hopefully take place in the near future. For this project, I share a mutual passion for a particular song that a friend of mine has developed. We will be calibrating together soon to hopefully develop the next big cover and music video. I will be storyboarding that for some time.
But for now, here is some places where you can follow some of my work.
Vimeo Playlist:
http://vimeo.com/user8527329
Twitter:
http://twitter.com/#!/KyleRomanek
Flickr:
Youtube Playlist:
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