University of New Orleans ScholarWorks@UNO University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations Dissertations and Theses Spring 5-16-2014 The Release: A Thesis Jonathan Frey [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td Part of the Other Film and Media Studies Commons Recommended Citation Frey, Jonathan, "The Release: A Thesis" (2014). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 1798. https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1798 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by ScholarWorks@UNO with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights- holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. 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The Release A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of New Orleans In partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts In Film Production By Jonathan Frey B.A. Tulane University, 2003 May 2014 © 2014, Jonathan Frey ii Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv Chapter 1 ..........................................................................................................................................1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................................1 Chapter 2 ........................................................................................................................................10 Writing ...............................................................................................................................10 Directing ............................................................................................................................18 Production Design ..............................................................................................................38 Cinematography .................................................................................................................43 Editing ................................................................................................................................56 Sound .................................................................................................................................66 Technology and Workflow ................................................................................................69 Chapter 3 ........................................................................................................................................74 Analysis..............................................................................................................................74 Chapter 4 ........................................................................................................................................86 Conclusion .........................................................................................................................86 References ......................................................................................................................................89 Appendices .....................................................................................................................................91 Appendix A: Shooting Script .............................................................................................91 Appendix B: Budget ........................................................................................................118 Appendix C: Shooting Schedule ......................................................................................120 Appendix D: Pickup Shooting Schedule..........................................................................122 Appendix E: Indiegogo Script .........................................................................................123 Appendix F: Crew List.....................................................................................................127 Appendix G: Release Forms ............................................................................................129 Vita ...............................................................................................................................................136 iii Abstract Possessing elements of both dark comedy and dramatic suspense, The Release is the story of Sean Coleman, a young, idealistic documentary filmmaker, who, in fighting for his film's release, discovers that his beliefs may not be as strong as his desire to get what he wants. This paper will examine the total production process that went into the development, creation and finalization of this film. Keywords: film; thesis; release; Jonathan; Frey; short iv Chapter 1 Introduction It was one of those sleepless pre production evenings that launched the inception of what would become The Release. To set up the context… It was mid March and I was feeling the pressures of the prep process envelope me, as I had a late May start time bearing down on me and had yet to accomplish much of the work necessary to begin principal photography. However, all of this prep work I was stressing about was not for The Release, it was for a television pilot entitled Stick Built, a concept my father and I had developed a few years prior loosely based on his experiences as salesman for a quirky prefab home building company. It had always been a goal of mine to make my thesis film for UNO into something transcendent, something that would possess value not just in the academic world, a genuine product that could be developed in the professional world as a tangible, money-making product. Thus, I came up with the (so I thought) brilliant idea to utilize my father’s and my television pilot concept as my thesis film, thereby killing two birds with one stone: a perfect fusion between academia and industry. However, this sleepless night I was experiencing was stirring a fresh and intense set of doubts about the feasibility of my aims. Stick Built, a comedy focusing on a progressively morally ambiguous salesman attempting to make ends meet, was an ensemble piece that called for a large cast of middle-aged characters that takes place in a very specific location. I had made terrific headway in acquiring a location that would work perfectly as the set… in Shreveport. I had also made very strong efforts in my preliminary casting for the show… with a series of New Orleans-based actors. In the professional world, even on the low budget side, this would not be a huge problem. I could 1 simply sign the actors to SAG minimum contracts and travel them up to Shreveport and house them in very basic accommodations. In fact, this would be considered quite a boon to for even the lowest level of funded productions, possible only because of the connections I have been able to forge in both Shreveport and New Orleans through the course of my professional and life experiences. The location in Shreveport would work great for the show and, through the course of some early negotiations, it looked like I would be able to acquire the use of that spot for little to no money. But, as in the case of most things in life that do not end up coming to fruition, there were major obstacles – the most notable of which being that I was trying to execute this show on a student- level budget. The gulf between a student film budget and even the most micro-budgeted professional film is enormous and difficult to convey in terms of the trickle-down it has on the executable possibilities for a production in general. A lack of money presents many challenges, such as impeding a production’s ability to acquire materials, locations and actors, all of which compound to reduce your options from the get go. Without the proper funds, I knew it would not be possible to marry my good location in Shreveport with the team of actors I had assembled in New Orleans, and this was not even taking into account the funding I would need to actually shoot these elements once they were aligned. So, on this sleepless night in March, I was finally getting my head around the fact that my vision of shooting this particular concept – a television pilot as my thesis – was increasingly looking like it would not be a possibility, even with doing everything on the cheap and no matter how clever the production game plan. So, I found myself at a crossroads: dramatically alter the existing concept in order to shoot it in New Orleans at a less than ideal location or shoot it in Shreveport with less than ideal actors, or come up with a new idea entirely. 2 I knew I was up against it in terms of deadlines and timing in order to meet my late May shooting timeline. This was true whether or not I shot a scaled down version of Stick Built or a completely new concept, so it became very clear that I was going to have to act fast. Further complicating the issue was the fact that I was working full time as a director’s assistant to Martin Campbell (The Mask of Zorro, Casino Royale) on the