Napoleon Dynamite

      Most recently in class we have been working on filming and creating a “recreation” of the intro from the popular movie “Napoleon Dynamite”. This intro has many film elements especially mise en scene, that makes it unique, following the unconventional type of film ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ is. The intro sets the tone for the rest of the movie, and this intro accurately does that, representing a group of people, and giving a retro feel. One part of the film that stands out is it only contains a single overhead camera angle, not having the camera move, allowing only things to be physically placed in and taken out of the frame. The soundtrack that helps set the tone of the film is “We’re Going to Be Friends” by The White Stripes. A well-known, catchy, and lighthearted song, so the familiarity and happiness make it easy for the audience to go along with. Now, more specifically, what is being filmed. The intro starts off with food like tater tots, eggs, a burrito on a plate and keeping in mind its credits, it has names of companies and people on the plate. Then it shows his school ID and U.F.O Abduction Insurance, both with a name on it. The two things are the first time that Napoleon is introduced, and we get to know Napoleon's character. It goes back to food, like school lunches, with classic food like PB&J and corndog's. Then we are shown a sort of ninja star object, a library card, chapstick, candy, and unique sketches. This helps the audience not only the type of person Napoleon is but his interests as well. And in the last few shots the only new things are school supplies, and this helps set the setting of the film. So, the intro isn’t simply just giving credits, it completely shows the type of film it is, involving characters, setting, and all without the audience even noticing how much is being disclosed.  

       In my group of me and three other classmates, we first watched the intro, and some of us had already watched the movie helping the group understand the type of movie it is. Our assignment had the requirements, of only 14 shots, and it had to be 2 minutes. We first started brainstorming our ideas for unique items to use and how to put them into a creative shot the matches the movie. We decided to go stay with the same school like theme and emphasize it to a more general school theme. We chose to convey our ideas with objects like pencils, books, gum wrappers, tissues, school ID’s, and more classroom items. While brainstorming we went through ideas that we personalized to our school experiences, like using lollipops we eat everyday, and macaroni noodles that people eat every day at lunch.  This was the shot list.


Ideas for scenes 

Ella Walker, Kate Kempton, Hallie Renner, Oli Murray 

All are overhead shots  

  1. Opening a laptop and zoom in on a piece of paper with a name on it.  Scroll down to EKHO Productions 

  1. Print out a piece of paper from a printer with the name Lindy Olsen  

  1.  Unravel tape with the name Bob Ryan on it 

  1. Place paperclips to spell out the name Lee Ross 

  1. Pull out a tissue from a tissue box with the name Kate Kempton 

  1. Erase the name Oli Murray from the white board 

  1. Open a binder to reveal the name Robbie Evans  

  1. Drop a student identification card and zoom in on it to reveal what the student looks like 

  1. Unravel paper towels from a paper towel dispenser to reveal the name Sean Covey 

  1. Rip off a hall pass from the pad with the name Jeffery Zacharias 

  1. Roll in a couple of pencils and include one pencil with the name Tim Smith. Then put the name closer to the camera 

  1. Sharpen a pencil in a pencil sharpener then turn the pencil to reveal the name Robert Jo 

  1. Unravel a piece of paper from a stocking to reveal the name Jerome Banks  

  1. Open a certain book to the distributed page and reveal the name Jill Mill. Then put the book closer to the camera to zoom in on the name.  

    After brainstorming and finalizing our shot ideas, we moved onto filming. We had our school setting to film in, and filmed on a classmate's iPhone, and items of our choice. We used backgrounds of tabletops, tops of computer carts, and hallway floors. We made sure we had different backgrounds because the original did. I was more involved in the filming process than editing, even though all the group members were involved in all parts. We had to do every shot multiple time to perfect the overhead, still camera shot, and mise en scene for the clip. Whether something was in it that shouldn’t, the camera moves, or someone can up with something to add to it. We filmed each day for a week during our class period. Once we had gathered all of our 14 clips, we started editing it on Adobe Premiere Pro. We had done a project on this prior to this, and it was difficult, but we were more comfortable with it. We connected all the clips together and added our song. We were given the choice to use the same song or a different one, and the one we chose was “Count on Me” by Bruno Mars. We chose this song because it gave the same friendly, light feel that “We’re Going to Be Friends”. And then when we thought we finished we realized we lost a clip and was short a clip. So, we filmed the last clip with a book and it turned out very nice. But this is the finished product... 


 



 

     


QUESTIONS FOR CRITICAL REFLECTION 

1. How does your opening use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues? 

     I think that that the original Napoleon Dynamite intro reaches outside familiar film convention's, concerning the way its filmed and what's being filmed. Therefore, when that intro is recreated it automatically makes our video “challenging conventions”. And the specific detail I think that made it unusual was the camera angel and stillness of the camera. Typically, films use different camera angles and movements to portray different things, but this intro used items to establish what is needed to get across to the audience. Our specific intro doesn’t represent a very specific group of people, but it’s school themed, so it represents high school students in general. 

 

2. How does your product engage with audiences? 

      Our product engages with audiences because, first of all, it is a recreation of a famous movie. But more in detail, it has a theme and themes, and specifics of products are what targets and attract a certain audience. So, our video is high school themed and made by high schoolers, made with items that are familiar to other students so it will most likely attract a younger audience that is in school. 


3. How did your production skills develop throughout this project?               

   Regarding the whole process of creating this video our challenge and thing that surprised us what the same things. When my group and I went into this project I think we assumed it would be easier than it was, when in reality it was challenging to make a clip look good.  For example, there would always be a body part, or unnecessary background item. Or we realized that that clip idea wasn’t going to look good in general and needed a new idea. And the way we overcame these challenges was just refilming the clip over and over, tweaking things along the way to see what looked quality. So, I believe that our biggest challenge was figuring out the details of filming. Now, I think I am most proud of our creativity; I think that we were creative when coming up with ideas that stuck to our classroom/ school theme. We used basic items and objects but used them in original ways. And last, what I have learned most from this project and will remember for the next projects includes a few things. First, it's important to remember to take time when planning because the planning steps like story boards or shot lists are crucial to a smooth and fast filming process. Also, I learned that the quality of film is harder than it looks and takes time to get. Getting lighting and the right quality will not be something you achieve on the first try. So, take the time to make sure the clips look good and consistent.  

   

4. How did you integrate technologies - software, hardware and online - in this project? 

    We had technology involved in a few aspects of our project, in filming and editing. We used one of my classmates' iPhone to film. And edit the clips on their, like length and frame. And then we used Adobe Premiere Pro to edit our clips. It was our post production editing software. But we didn’t incorporate technology in our items for the actual video.  

 

 

 

 

          

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