THE STORY SO FAR
Hello!
I’m a filmmaker who’s also lucky enough to call YYC home. Over the weeks since COVID began dominating our day-to-day lives I’ve seen social media overrun with negativity, anxiety, and fear. But poking through all that has been post after post on my community groups of people doing a simple (if slightly quirky) thing to brighten their neighbours’ days: painting rocks and hiding them around common community walks. We don’t seem to be alone in this trend, I’ve seen posts from around the world of people doing this simple act of kindness and joy - and it’s inspired me.
I’m developing a short documentary revolving around these cute new fixtures and need your help! Take a look below to see how you can get involved!
Thanks!
-Paige
***NOTE: ALL SUBMISSIONS ARE DUE BY MIDNIGHT MST FRIDAY MAY 15.***
THE DOCUMENTARY
Documentaries are different from dramatized or scripted films because they can change and evolve as the filmmaker discovers more about the story. I’m already so excited with what I’ve seen in the “rock community” - but need your help to capture the magic because of current COVID 19 physical distancing protocols. Let’s turn these restrictions into strengths with this project - by having each of you become budding filmmakers and creating video clips to be used in the movie!
That’s right - you’ll film video of rock-activities on your phone and then upload them to me (using the link below) - it’s that easy!
Here are the contributions I’m looking for:
1 - rock GATHERING & painting
Video footage of you and your family collecting rocks to be painted, and then painting them!
It would be interesting if during this footage, the “painters” would talk about why they chose these particular rocks, and why they chose to paint these particular patterns.
2 - ROCK HIDING
Video footage of you and your family out in the community, hiding your rock masterpieces for others to find.
It would be interesting if during this footage, the “hiders” would talk about why they choose particular hiding spots, who they hope will find them, and what they hope those people will feel.
3 - ROCK SEARCHING
Video footage of you and your family out in the community, searching for rocks.
It would be interesting if during this footage, the “hunters” would talk about the rocks they find along the way, and how they make them feel.
4 - INTERVIEW / CONVERSATION QUESTIONS
Video footage of you and your family answering the following questions (answer as many as you like!):
How did you first become involved in the COVID Rock Painting activity?
Why do you paint rocks (or search for rocks if you haven’t painted yet)?
How has this activity helped you get through these tough COVID 19 times?
What effect have you seen the rocks have on your community?
What is the best thing about the rocks?
Is there any downside to the rocks? Anything bad or negative about them? If so, what and why?
Did you paint rocks before the pandemic? Will you continue afterwards? Why or why not?
Tell the story of your favorite memory related to these rocks.
Tell the story of finding your favorite rock. What about the story of painting your favorite rock?
What else would you like to add?
FILMMAKING 101
STEP 1: lIGHTING
Filmmaking is a visual medium, and so it’s important that the images you capture look their best! The easiest way of doing this is making sure you have lots of light!
Natural light from the sun (either by filming outside, or near large windows) is your best bet, and often looks better than indoor lighting.
Avoid filming at night if possible.
Make sure that you have your camera pointed away from the light source (the window or lamp is behind you as the camera operator) instead of filming into the light.
STEP 2: CAMERA
Shows you watch on TV and movies you watch in theatres are always filmed with a landscape orientation, versus the portrait orientation commonly used when FaceTiming and doing Instagram/Facebook story posts. We’re making a real-deal movie, so make sure to turn your phone/camera so that it looks just like the stuff you see on TV!
If you don’t have someone to hold the camera for you, propping it up against some books, a can of soda, or an unpainted rock is a great way to get it to stay put!
Filming in selfie-mode can ensure you’re capturing exactly what you want to in real time.
Don’t hold the camera too close or too far away for your subject, and double-check to make sure the audience will be able to see everything you see!
STEP 3: SOUND
No Paw Patrol, no podcasts, and no party tunes during filming! Just like lighting, sound is a very important part of the filmmaking process! Before you start recording, make sure you have turned off any loud or distracting ambient noise including the TV, radio, vacuum, lawn mower, dishwasher, etc. We want to make sure we can hear you loud and clear!
Remember your microphone is attached to your phone/camera - so don’t go too far away or we might not be able to hear you!
Remember your microphone is attached to your phone/camera - don’t move your hands around on the phone while recording, it will distort the audio and make you difficult to hear!
Remember - if you can hear a noise, so can the camera! If you hear a loud thump, bump, or bang during your recording - do take two! We don’t want to miss any of the wonderful things you have to say!
STEP 4: ACTION!
The MOST IMPORTANT part of filmmaking is to capture the story - which in our case is you creating this incredible community around the simple and brilliant idea of painted rocks! Don’t take it too seriously, and remember to HAVE FUN!
Be silly, be courageous, be authentic - don’t worry if it’s not perfect - we love happy accidents! In “the industry” we call them bloopers!
Not sure if something is worth capturing? Do it anyway! Some of the best moments of films are things captured “on the fly".
READY TO SUBMIT?
*****SUBMISSIONS HAVE CLOSED. PLEASE EMAIL rockscovid@gmail.com TO RECEIVE UPDATES ON THE PROCESS*****
QUESTIONS?
If you have any questions about the project please email me at: rockscovid@gmail.com!