Sk8.
During my third year at the University of Michigan, I enrolled in a film production course with professor, Terri Sarris.
At one point in the semester, she offered an opportunity for students to design a story board, enter a competition, and, if selected, direct a short film with U-M Film department equipment and crew. My storyboard, titled “Sk8” was selected. The story followed a fantasy of a student in class dreaming about skateboarding, creating a sequence of the student’s teck-deck and a real skate boarder.
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Involvement.
Writer, Director & Editor
Fall 2021
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Project.
Film, direct and edit an original story idea on 30mm antique film.
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Tools.
30mm film
Adobe Premiere Pro CC
Storyboard.
During quarantine, I purchased my first longboard. It was such a great way to get from class-to-class on campus and was a fun solo activity while social distancing. I later joined campus skate clubs, learned tricks, and overall started to adopt skating culture.
So, when given the opportunity to make a film, skating had been my first idea. I wanted to make an energetic, fast-paced film and I thought skating was a great subject for it. Below is my pitched story board, with rough drawings and all, that depicted my film idea.
Shoot preparation.
In order to shoot, I first had to talent scout. Because I would be directing, I couldn’t be the person on the board performing for the camera.
After reaching out to Detroit and Ann Arbor skate clubs, I found a skater, Nate, who was interested in filming with us and could perform all tricks from the story board.
Before beginning the shoot, the crew was trained by professor Terri Sarris on all filming equipment, especially the antique, Canon film cameras. Reels had to be set and locked in a dark room before we could begin shooting.
I also experimented with lighting. I wanted the skate-specific shoot to be colorful and fantasy-like, so the crew used gels to create this effect.
Finished product.
After filming and sending the reels to a professional lab, the video was returned as a digital file. This allowed for editing within Adobe Premiere Pro.
I owe a huge thank you to Terri Sarris who chose this idea and supported the film’s creation throughout the beginning, filming and editing stages. Below is the complete project, written, directed and edited by me.
