Portrait of a Place: "Walking Down The Street!"

Portrait of a Place from Kyerra Dexter on Vimeo.

Who says Tuscaloosa's downtown isn't a lively and exciting place? It's filled with great restaurants and businesses and students, locals and visitors can be found enjoying the scene on any given day. This short film shows all of the wonderful things Greensboro and 6th Street has to offer. It encourages the viewers to visit the location and indulge in the food, companies and scene!

Post #5 Reflections

TCF 312 has helped me remember the skills I've learned in TCF 201 and it has expended my cinematography knowledge as well. It has given me an opportunity to see what filming something is like with the lighting exercises we've done, which shows how hard it is to light a scene for a particular look, and with Dr. Raimist constantly asking us questions that challenge our memory. Asking what lone C-stands are called for instance or what words to use for certain directions are some of the questions that get our baby film brains going. Working on sets help me learn terminology better and I am growing more comfortable with being on location.  So far my strengths have been responding to directions. I've worked as grips for both of our onset exercises and when I am told to jump, I jump and fairly quickly I might add. I am eager to be a DP because that seems to be the most challenging job thus far. Creating a look based off of what a director envisions. I anticipate having this position because it allows me direct people to create something that has an awesome mise en scene.  I aspire to do this as a career so I look forward to practicing it and whether or not DP is truly what I want to do. Being given that opportunity couple with the activities I have done so far in this class, as united to become a rewarding experience for me and I look forward to learning and doing more as the year progresses.

Blog #4

The City at Night. I choose this because often times taking pictures at night can be hard to do because small lighting can cast shadows over things that make up the scene, however in this photo, the street lights and building lights work together to make an easily identifiable scene. It’s taken from an angle near the edge of a building so I go t the feeling that was walking into the scene and stopped to admire city that illuminates a darken sky.

Mountain Landscape. I am a sucker for the natural world. I think it’s beautifully fascinating with it’s rich greens, glorious blues, fluffy whites, etc.  In this photo the photographer obviously used the lighting from the sun to capture this mountainous scene. It’s taken at an angle on a hill near a cottage like home and the position allows the photographer to look down and across the magnificent landscape that takes my breath away. Glorious! I wonder if he or she used some type of filter to make the colors so vivid or some kind of editing once the pictures were developed or uploaded. Whatever the method, this happens to be one of my favorite pictures thus far. It makes me want to go there, sit on top of the hill and watch the day turn into night.

The Tree.  My next photography is a picture of a tree with a falling sun shining through the branches and leaves. If you haven’t notice yet, I’m choosing this geological collection of pictures to analyze but anyway, I like this picture because of the timing. It seems like dusk is approaching and the photographer either planned this or it just happened but everything works.  He or see also used the sun to light the photo and this light has brownish glow about it as the rays with different shades running down each, create lines of light piercing the holes in the tree. It is almost magical the way it makes the tree turn into a shadow that is manipulated by the glares around it. I love it. I think about the Lion King for some strange reason even though this tree is nothing like the African ones drawn in the film! 

Blog Post #3

I can remember going to the movies as a little girl, watching whatever Disney film that premiered and leaving the movies captivated like I was Mulan, Princess Jasmine, Snow White or Simba.  I developed a fondness for the cinemas ability to distract me from reality and engulf me in its magic, entertainment and craft. As I got older, I found myself addicted to every movie channel on my satellite lineup and when I discovered behind the scenes shows that detailed all the elements that made a movie successful, I found my calling.

“I want to be a filmmaker!” I told my mother.

“A filmmaker,” she said reluctantly.  Her reaction frightened me and her long pause didn’t make my emotions calmer. “Well,” she finally said as she loosen the muscles in her face, “you better be good damn filmmaker if you’re going to buy me a house. Spike Lee, Juile Dash, Antoine Fuqua and Gina Prince-Bythewood should be your inspiration!” With the approval from my mother, I pursued Telecommunications and film at UA with a media production track. I tried to enroll in this TCF 312 class countless times and received a lot of rejection but since I finally received the override, I hope to learn the art of cinematography. I want to make films that are beautiful, crisp, well crafted and entertaining. I believe this knowledge will help my ultimate goal of being a filmmaker that is worthy of being listed amongst the Lees, Dashs, Fuquas and Prince-Bythewoods. I want to create films that give my viewers the same impression I had leaving those Disney movies as a child and I want to, like my mama said, buy her a house with the revenue I get from executing this goal.