Licensed S01E02

Hi guys,

So, remember the web series I was talking about? Licensed? Well, last month we finished shooting all the episodes and now they're on air (some of them) and you can check them out on www.licensedseries.com. Isn't that just the greatest? Anyways, episode 2 of Licensed is an episode I directed and I wanted to share it with you guys.

I hope you guys enjoy it and yes I know there are some technical problems with it but you live in learn.

Oh and check out this article that Life For Film blogged about our web series: http://www.liveforfilms.com/2011/07/10/licensed-check-out-the-first-2-episodes-of-new-comedy-web-series/

Peace out!

Licensed

Long time no post. Will try to be better blogger.

So, we are currently shooting a web series called LICENSED. And it's about a TV license detective who goes door-to-door trying to retrieve TVs from people who've had invalid licenses. In this process, RAYMOND HEWITT, encounters all these weird, outrageous, characters that make it impossible for him to do his job.

Raymond Hewitt believes he's this badass detective and in his head he lives in 'noirsville', when really he's just a TV license man. And we love him for that!

We are on our 7th episode now which will be shot on Tuesday. Raymond encounters a crazy man who believes his TV is time traveling device and refuses to give it to Raymond.

In our previous episodes, we've made Raymond enter underground poker matches held for the rich and infamous, been seduced by a teenager, find dead bodies, have an acid trip and get the job done. And there will definitely be more crazy stuff to come about!

For this project, there's about 20 of us from the Met that are working on it and we love it! It's by far the most realistic/professional thing we've done at the Met. And it feels that way because everybody is so passionate about this project and wants it to do so well that we are all putting 100% of our energy into it. We've all been assigned different roles and then we swap according to our matrix. I've mainly been doing casting because I like it. I like working with actors. Also, in auditions, I feel a bit like Simon Cowell... Especially when we get wack jobs coming in and doing the most OUTRAGEOUS things.

Anyways, I love LICENSED and we plan to open our website/air the episodes THIS Friday - Friday 31st June 2011. Also, follow us on twitter: http://twitter.com/LicensedSeries and like us on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lincensed

AND ENJOY THE PICTURES:

And last but not least, the trailer: https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1969606952222&oid=224916290869383&comments

Please support our web series!

Tumblr

Hi guys!

I just created a tumblr account. I believe my link is http://taratchab.tumblr.com/. I'm not actually sure how to use tumblr but I've put a couple of pictures and quotes on it already. I'm basically going to treat this tumblr as a more personal blog and keep this blog strictly professional (or somewhat professional).

So far, great new, I finished my short film. Will post it up later. I'm currently writing a screenplay which is a dark comedy about a guy who's suing a charity organisation that his girlfriend works at. Any cool names for it? The working title is CHARITABLE LAWSUIT (Sorry for the caps, in screenplays we have to do that. Plus caps lock is always cruise control to cool). If you have any suggestions please leave them in the common section below!

30 Day Film Challenge

Took part in the 30 day film challenge which is on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/30-Day-Film-Challenge/142081795854443?sk=info and here are my answers:

Day 1 - Your Favorite Film: Nightmare Before Christmas
Day 2 - Your Least Favorite Film: Most people will disagree with me but it has to be Romeo + Juliet
Day 3 - A Film You Watch to Feel Good: Mamma Mia. Especially when I watch it with my mom. Or Little Miss Sunshine.
Day 4 - A Film You Watch to Feel Down: Even though this is one of my favorite movies, there is no doubt that it is one of the most depressing... Requiem for a Dream.
Day 5 - A Film That Reminds You of Someone: Factory Girl. I'm one of the biggest fans of Edie Sedgwick
Day 6 - A Film That Reminds You of Somewhere: City of Life. The only great movie to come out of Dubai.
Day 7 - A Film That Reminds You of Your Past: The Lion King
Day 8 - The Film You Can Quote Best: Anchorman. That is one of the best screenplays ever
Day 9 - A Film With Your Favorite Actor (Male): One of my favorite actors, Edward Norton, one of my favorite films with him: Fight Club.
Day 10 - A Film With Your Favorite Actor (Female): Black Swan (Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis)
Day 11 - A Film By Your Favorite Director: Big Fish
Day 12 - A Film By Your Least Favorite Director: Australia by Baz Lurhman
Day 13 - A Guilty Pleasure: The Last Holiday
Day 14 - The Film That No One Expected You To Like: La Dolce Vita
Day 15 - The Film That Depicts Your Life: Toy Story 3, I just graduated when it came out.
Day 16 - A Film You Used to Love, But Now Hate: Bend it like Beckham
Day 17 - Your Favorite Drama Film: The Shawshank Redemption 
Day 18 - Your Favorite Comedy Film: Scot Pilgram Vs. the world
Day 19 - Your Favorite Action Film: The Dark Knight
Day 20 - Your Favorite Romantic Film: Forrest Gump
Day 21 - Your Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film: Avatar
Day 22 - Your Favorite Horror Film: The Ring
Day 23 - Your Favorite Thriller/Mystery Film: The Usual Suspects
Day 24 - Your Favorite Animated or Children's Film: Finding Nemo
Day 25 - Your Favorite Documentary Film: Man on Wire
Day 26 - Your Favorite Foreign Language Film: Old Boy
Day 27 - Your Favorite Independent Film: In Search of a Midnight Kiss
Day 28 - The Most Obscure Film You've Ever Seen: La Dolce Vita
Day 29 - Your Favorite Film As a Kid: Little Mermaid
Day 30 - Your Favorite Film This Time Last Year: Inception

What's on your list? Participate in the challenge!

The Aurora

I just saw one of the most beautiful videos ever and thought I'd share it with you guys out there.

I can't believe this is real. I can't believe that something like this can exist in the world and I've not come close to see anything like it.

The filmmaker of this art work, Terje Sørgjerd, chose to use such intriguing shots. In school, we learn that tracking shots are used to emphasize something. Here, Terje, has used tracking shots in nearly all of his shots, which sort of emphasize the enchanting beauty of the aurora. The music was also well chosen. I think it's meant to be grand and elevating. It's suppose to emphasize the beauty and the helps the audience realize that this is something so unique... So unbelievable. I do also get a little bit of the bittersweet undertone in the song though. It's like the music is teasing me... Telling me I will not be able to see something THIS beautiful.

Anyways, watch the video and tell me what you think.

Also, I just started 'pimping up' my youtube account so check it out: http://www.youtube.com/user/tchabby21?feature=mhum
There's not much on it yet but I will gradually update it. Definitely check out my favourite videos. I got some quality stuff on there.

Screenshots from my film - 'Hidden Agenda'

On the 9th and 10th of April, I shot my first short film at the Met. I had a 13 paged script and 19 scenes to shoot in 20 hours. Most of my tutors said that I should cut down the length of my script because I wouldn't be able to shoot a 13 paged script in 20 hours. It's not that I was being rebellious and didn't want to listen, and that's why I didn't cut down my script, it's because I felt like I couldn't have told the story the way I wanted if I were to cut it down even more. Well anyways, the shoot was a success and we didn't run overtime.

I planned my shots very carefully so that on the day I knew exactly what I wanted to be done and so that I didn't waste anybody's time. We went through the takes with such ease, and the actors remembered all their lines and movements so continuity was pretty much dead on. I had one of the most paramount cast and crew that I've ever worked with. It was a very friendly environment where people were comfortable to express suggestions and we made compromises to satisfy everybody's needs. Sometimes.

I wouldn't say that I sacrificed anything. When an actor expressed a suggest that would help their performance, I was more than happy to change whatever needed to be done to get the best performances from them. And true enough, the footage I got (thanks to my camera and cinematography team) was a lot more awesome than what I thought my film would look like.

So, here are some still from my film (they're unedited).

"Best shoot I have ever worked on" - my DOP.

Int. Therapist's Office

Here is an extract from my script (April Short Film):


 INT - THERAPIST'S OFFICE - DAY


KATHERINE is sitting down on a sofa, in front of DR. CARMICHAEL who is again, writing in her notebook. DR. CARMICHAEL is wearing glasses. She looks extremely concentrated.

KATHERINE (V.O)

Day two of this interrogation. She's asking me stuff about school. I let her know that I liked it and had a lot of friends. Normal people have a lot of those.

DR. CARMICHAEL stops writing and looks up at KATHERINE

DR. CARMICHAEL

What was your favorite subject?

KATHERINE

I really liked art but I only got average grades. My teacher said I lacked passion and vision, even though I didn't think so. 

DR. CARMICHAEL starts writing down in her notebook. KATHERINE looks over to see what she is writing then quickly turns away when DR. CARMICHAEL looks up.

DR. CARMICHAEL

Do you still draw?

KATHERINE (V.O)

No. 

KATHERINE

Yeah, when I have time.

DR. CARMICHAEL makes more notes in her notebook. KATHERINE loses concentration and starts fiddling with her hands. They look nervous. DR. CARMICHAEL glances at them without moving her head up. KATHERINE gains focus and immediately stops when she notices.

DR. CARMICHAEL

Least favorite subject?

KATHERINE

Probably sciences. Especially physics. I just found it very boring.

DR. CARMICHAEL

So you were more of a creative student?

KATHERINE

I guess so.

DR. CARMICHAEL smiles at KATHERINE. KATHERINE forces a smile back, but she doesn't look happy.


DR. CARMICHAEL keeps talking but the sound fades out.

KATHERINE (V.O)

At this point I felt everything I had given her was enough to make her feel I was normal. I tried hard not to zone out but found it difficult to concentrate. Later that day she told me she felt I wasn't in danger to myself. We'd see if I'd be free tomorrow.

The original presentation was lost due to blogger failing to copy and paste properly. Anyways, there it is. V.O means voice over for any of you that don't know, and I haven't come up with a title for the film yet but ENJOY! 

My Edits of 'Wondrous Oblivion' Scenes.

I just finished a 3 week module on 'creative editing'. We were given rushes from different scenes from two movies: Wondrous Oblivion and I Want Candy. Watching the movies after editing these scenes, I believe that the majority of the students in my class could've done a better job than what was used on screen. I do understand that we aren't editing the whole movie and that leads us to spending more time on the scenes and also we aren't cutting lines as we don't have time limit for the scenes, unlike in feature films. I will put the I Want Candy scene in a different post as I think there is a limit to how many videos you can upload on one post. Or my laptop is being stupid and not letting me.

This is a scene from Wondrous Oblivion called Noisy Neighbours. The annoying thing about editing this scene as the boy is a really crap actor and when watching the rushes you can hear the crew members talking to him and telling him what to do. So I had to change the audio tracks a couple of times. Also when the mother is looking up she is listening to the music the neighbours are playing. We weren't allowed to put music so can just hear thuds going on.

The shots we were given were all close-ups and we had to imagine where each person is sitting without being given a master shot (I don't even think the director shot a master shot). The only issue I have with these rushes is that the little girl looks out of place and it's really annoying but we weren't given any other shots. I guess you have to make do with what you have as an editor. This editing exercise was to focus on camera and eye line.

This is another scene from Wondrous Oblivion (my school produced it, that's why we had access to the rushes and that's why so many of our exercises are based on this movie). Had to play around with the audio levels as they were a bit wonky.

Again, the videos had to be compressed in order to put them online that's why the look shite. I still hope you enjoy them! 

April Short Film

On the 9th and 10th of April I will be shooting my first proper short film as a Met Film School student. I've created other short films before the MFS but they're all pretty much crap. If they were on my laptop in London I would've love to share it with you guys but unfortunately they're back home in Dubai. 

My short film is about a girl called Katherine, who has an overdose on painkillers and is rushed to the hospital. The film takes place in a therapists office. There's about to be an interrogation to see whether or not Katherine is in danger to herself and whether or not she needs to be put into a rehabilitation. Katherine isn't suicidal, however she does have a problem. Her boyfriend is a con artist and they're constantly skipping town and changing their identities which leaves Katherine with an identity crisis. She doesn't know who she is anymore. Katherine however doesn't realize she has an identity problem, and she thinks she is being very clever into tricking the therapist into thinking she is 'normal'. With each an every question the therapist asks Katherine begins to realize how she doesn't have a sense of who she is and slowly breaks down.

So yeah, that's my story in a nutshell. The short film will be shot on a 7D camera and will be conveyed through flashbacks and voiceovers. I have a thing for voiceovers and apparently that's not a good thing. I don't know why though. Some of my favorite films have voiceovers - Kick-ass, American Beauty, Forrest Gump, Fight Club, Adaptation, Shawshank Redemption and the list goes on.

I'll post my script online later. I've only done the second draft so far but I'll still post it up.

Vaseline Commercial

Sometime in December 2010 we were told to create and shoot a commercial of some sort. There were no rules, no guidelines, no basic point to start off with (like our other exercises). We were just told to go shoot a commercial about anything. The only rule we had was that it had to be 30-60 seconds long and we had only* about 3 hours to shoot it.

I decided to do a commercial on a product I truly believe in (cheesy, I know). If I'm going to make a commercial/an attempt to make the audience buy my product, then it has to be something I actually use. Therefore I decided to do it on Vaseline Lip Balm Therapy. I use this lip balm every single day (well now I have to because I bought like 50). And no, Vaseline didn't pay me to say this/make this commercial. I'm pretty sure that if they catch me posting this around the internet they will sue me. In the events that Vaseline does see this and are pissed off I should say that USE VASELINE, THEY KEEP YOUR LIPS MOIST AND SMOOTH AND SEDUCTIVE. THEY'RE ALSO GOOD FOR A NUMBER OF THINGS SUCH AS LUBE AND PRESERVING FOOTBALLS.

I needed girls and a make-up artist. Crew we're provided by the school (my class mates). I posted up an advert on www.castingcallpro.com and within a day 20 plus girls replied to me saying that they were willing to be in my student commercial for no money (win!). I couldn't use all 20 girls so I picked the girls that were the most dedicated. By dedicated I mean they answered and replied to my messages. I had to pay for the make-up artist but it was totally worth it. All in all I spent about 85 quid on this commercial.

Here it is:

Some of the quality was lost 'cause I had to compress it to put it online. Sucks, I know.

I directed, edited and wrote it. 

Enjoy!

T.Tchab's out!

*I say 'only' because my teacher used that word. Apparently, 3 hours for a 30-60 second commercial is not enough. I agreed with her at the time but then it took me a bit less than 2 hours to shoot. 

Some kind of video

My buddy asked me a couple of weeks ago if I would appear in a commercial. I'm not too sure if it was a commercial but it was something that displayed fashion around the world... I guess. I suppose it was just a fashion video that focused on playing around with green screen. It was shot by students who go to SAE.

Not one of my proudest work (I am after all a wannabe filmmaker, not an actress) but it was still quite fun. Anyways, I live in Ealing and I find any excuse possible to get to central London.

I'm the Asian in the velvet body con dress with half sleeves. I love the part where I'm laughing hysterically and my nostrils have widen to about 5cms. I'm not even sure I knew they were rolling the camera at that point. 

Introduction

This is my first blog ever. I'm going to use this blog to share information about myself, obviously, and to display my film creations. Whether it be my editing, acting, directing, writing - whatever - I'm going to put it out here to basically show what I've created and to publicize myself.

But first, let me introduce myself.

My name is Tara Tchablakian. I'm 18 years old. Currently living in London and studying at the Met Film School. I'm from Dubai. My mom's Singaporean and my pops' is Lebanese-Armenian. I've lived in Saudi and France but most of my life in Dubai (therefore I call it home). Before I wanted to do film I wanted to become an artist but then my school introduced "IB film" and decided to go for that. I instantly fell in love with the subject and found that doing homework for this class is more like a hobby than actual homework. So from about 16-18 I concentrated on becoming a filmmaker. I first wanted to do media studies and focus in the area before I made films but over the summer of 2010 I decided that I wanted to just focus on creating films and enrolled in the Met Film School. I've done a number of projects since I've been here and I'm willing to share them with you. Even my works that I've done before uni (as crap as they may be). 

I hope you enjoy this blog!

T Tchab