Thesis Film: Mark (Short)

"Mark" is a Mystery Thriller short film. Mark is a dectective who works for a drug squad in Chicago. Detective Mark chases a serial killer who killed drug dealers that Mark has to arrest. Mark keeps chasing the killer, but Mark ends up facing horrible truth.

I wrote the script, produced, directed, and edited the whole film.

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Mocked EPK for press, and Story Structure. Feedback from these items allowed me to build up the story in more detail and more emotionally than before.

Screen Writing

I pitched three stories in class and got comments that this story could be a perfect fit for a short film, so I started to write outlines and rough drafts. After I wrote the whole story, I got feedback from the class and revised the script. Thanks to the feedback, I was able to make a deeper, more complete story.

Three Outlines > Five Drafts > Three Locked Script

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Producing

As a producer, I had to make a budget, plan for shooting, and scout locations, actors, and crews for each day. I also had to plan the most efficient and reasonable shooting schedule for saving money and time. Having these responsibilities while also directing my film was difficult, but I lerned a lot from that experience.

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Directing

As a director, the most important thing for me was finishing this movie as safely as we could while filming all pictures that we wanted in a limited time. This required a good strategy and good communication with other crews, because I had to figure out what I wanted for each scene. Script breakdown, storyboard, breakdown shots, and shot designing were tools I used to plan the details for each shot.

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Editing

I used Premiere Pro for rough cuts, Davinci Resolve for color-grading, Davinci Fairlight for sound mixing, and After Effects for the logo and graphics.

RAW

Premiere Pro Cuts

Color Graded

Ending Credits

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Davinch Fairlight Cuts

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Opening Logo

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QC (Quality Control) to deliver picture and

VFX breakdown sheets for the editing phase

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Marketing

I designed the movie poster for the premiere session of this film using Photoshop, Illustrator, and Canva. I also created a social media account and ran it to promote the film.