In this thesis paper, I will recount the creative and technical processes of making my graduate thesis film, KOOL. I will describe how the story was developed and written, then analyze the phases of pre-production, principle photography, and post production. I will then evaluate my leadership skills, and strengths and weaknesses as a film director.

This paper describes the making of It’s Me, Sarah, a University of New Orleans thesis film. It explores the process of creating the film in three parts. Part one will examine the pre-production, including the writing and preparation for the shoot. Part two will detail the production, including the shooting affairs. Part three will cover the post-production process, which will include the editing. The document will then reference these three segments regarding the film’s theme and will conclude by evaluating whether the final film achieves its intended conception.

In this paper I will discuss the making of the short film, The Piñata, from its inception to its path of being submitted to festivals. I will discuss the steps taken to complete the processes of development, pre-production, production, and post-production. In each section of this document I will relay the decisions I made during my experience being the producer, writer, director, editor, and casting director of The Piñata.

The following report describes the conceptualization, pre-production, production and post-production of the film The Remnants of Civilization & The Dawn of Anxiety. It also contains the original film script and shooting schedule as supplemental material. / text

Moving images and sounds are processed creatively after they have been recorded or computer generated. These processes consists of design activities carried out by workers that hold ‘agency’ through the crafts they exercise, because these crafts are defined by the Moving Image Industry and are employed in practically the same way regardless of company. This thesis explores what material constraints there are for such creativity in contemporary Swedish professional moving image postproduction. The central aspects concern digital material, workflow and design work as distributed activities. These aspects are coupled to production quality and efficiency at the postproduction companies where production takes place. The central concept developed in this thesis is ‘creative space’ which links quality and efficiency in moving image production to time for creativity, capacity of computer tools, user skills and constitution of digital moving image material. Creative spaces are inhabited by design agents, and might expand or shrink due to material factors. Those changes are coupled to parallel changes in quality and efficiency. / Audiovisuella Medier

My family is a collection of characters and big personalities, often with very strange, but brilliant characteristics and interests. When looking for a model that would be consistent with the look and concept I envisioned – witty, comedic, populated with eccentric characters, with carefully and specifically detailed visuals – the films of Wes Anderson, particularly The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), Moonrise Kingdom (2012), and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), came to mind immediately. Each of his stories is very deliberately structured with a playful sense of chaotic charm, which is the tone I hope to capture in my storytelling. And, not coincidentally, I noticed that when people talk about my extended family, they refer to us as ‘the real-life Tenenbaums,’ meaning that each person is unapologetically who they are with larger-than-life personalities. Growing up hearing wild tales of life with my grandparents in their New York apartment from my mother and extended family, I was inspired to create my own film version of these stories. In choosing to emulate this director’s style within my film, I intend to capture the light-hearted spirit of my family in a manner that is easily recognizable and which is in keeping with its character.

This project explores the question of originality and appropriation in the creative world by using mashup video as a medium. How can old repetitive stories be deconstructed and transformed into something new? I have created alphabetically ordered montages of shots/scenes containing words/letters from superhero films. By doing so, I do not provide a concrete answer to what is really original in today’s world, but rather encourage the audience to actively participate in the viewing experience of the carefully structured ontology and see the infinite possibility of the modern-day mashup culture.

This Capstone Project encompasses two videos, each representing different ways to visually structure the experience of “the city”. The first video, "My Way or the Highway", is a 5 minute piece examining Los Angeles Transportation systems. Through observational footage and a poetic editing style, I compare and contrast the experience of traveling via public and private transportation. Through this video I aim to encourage the viewer to consider their own transportation options whether it is in Los Angeles or anywhere else around the world. The second is a 12 minute video, titled "A Correspondence" structured as a correspondence between Seattle and Los Angeles as if they were personified discussing what it means to be a developing/growing city and the responsibilities it entails. Visually I present a combination of footage from L.A. and Seattle to create an "impossible city" making the viewer second guess from where the footage originates, emphasizing the difference between learning about a city from others and learning about a city through experience. In "A Correspondence" I aim to provide an experience that forces the viewer to realize their own interactions with cities and how their view is shaped by their specific experiences, making everybody's view of a city subjective.

Our Sound Our Silence is a performative documentary about student of color activists at Scripps College. This video project attempts to highlight the fatigue, emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion these students experience from having to work within the institution to advocate for their survival. This video project also attempts to speak to the importance of self-care for students of color and especially for those involved in activism and organizing on campus. I wanted to use the creation of this video as a means of self-care and process of healing for myself, my collaborators, and my community.

Death, dying, and the actual loss of life are some of the broadest sweeping concepts that typically evoke a wide array of emotions from sadness and anger to fear and despondence. It is unlikely that the first words associated with death are comedy, humor, or laughter. However, that is precisely what creators and comedians of dark, death, and gallows humor seek to achieve. For my senior capstone project, I have created a short fictional narrative film encompassing the traits of a dark comedy. However, noticing that few dark comedies delve into topics surrounding suicide, I wondered if it was possible to achieve the same comedic and filmic effects with suicide as dark comedies do with death. Is it possible to generate humor from suicide and desiring death? What is implied if humor is derived from the inability to reach death on one’s own volition?