Undoubtedly, our film project “The Pursuit” is the result of painstaking effort from each group member. The plot itself was the product of a vigorous exchange of ideas: I first came up with a story which my groupmates did not like, and then Jason suggested that we do something with a stalking theme. Thus, we ended up doing a film along the line of films “Seduction” or “Fatal Attraction” and heavily influenced by the thriller genre.I became the sole cameraman, with Charice, Jason, and John as the main actors, and Gale as my co-director and co-editor of the film. Among the problems that we encountered in filmmaking were the limitations in time and resources such as equipment and technical knowledge in filmmaking. For instance, none of us knew how to edit a film and we were using a handheld camera that made most of the shots shaky. Most of us were also not used to acting in front of the camera, which made it necessary to retake most of the shots as the actors were laughing.Being a collaborative process, we tried as much as possible to be involved in capturing on film what we had in mind and to be present at all shootings, which was difficult given our different class schedules. To resolve these issues, we asked Bob from the IMS to teach us how to edit the film, and then we just maximized the resources that were available to come up with a good film. A notable scene in our film is John’s dream scene, which depicts our effort to use the mis-en-scene to show John’s real side of being sweet despite his obsessive and geeky personality.In this scene, we first showed a close-up of a picnic basket with flowers, wine, and fruits before showing John and Charice in a picnic, and then zoom out to a wide shot to show them and the things around them. We situated the camera above so that the angle of the shot shows his full profile in the natural light and shows his unique personality. Lastly, we intentionally blurred the shots and made the music softer which succeeds in suggesting to the viewer the dream-like and fantasy quality of the scene. An area that I would like to improve in the film is the transition between scenes.I think the film would benefit from longer transitions. I would also like to refine the quality of the background music as it sounds choppy and distorted in some scenes, although I would have to study sound editing in order to do this. All in all, producing the film project was a very challenging but fulfilling experience for me. It made me realize that jobs in the film industry are as difficult as any other jobs around. However, it also forced me to learn a lot on both the creative and technical aspects of filmmaking such as editing, which I am confident would be very useful to me in my future film projects.
Calculate the present value of the proposed overhaul of the Maracas and then *write just one paragraph!*
Rio Negro, Inc. (RNI) is in the business of transporting cargo between ports in California and Washington. Its fleet
includes a small dry-cargo vessel, the Maracas. The Maracas is 25 years old and badly in need of an overhaul.
It is March 2016, and Michael John, the finance director, has just been presented with a proposal that would require
the one-time expenditures shown below in Table 1. If the proposal is accepted, these expenditures will be made in
the next few days. Mr. John believes that all these outlays could be depreciated for tax purposes in the seven-year
MACRS class (see Table 2 below for rates). Overhaul of the Maracas will begin as soon as the expenditures in
Table1 are made, but the vessel will be out of service for several months. The overhauled vessel would resume
commercial service in one year. RNI’s chief engineer’s estimates of the post-overhaul operating costs are in Table 3.
In addition to the overhaul described above, the chief engineer suggests installation of a brand- new engine and
control system. Installation of this new engine would cost an extra $600,000 (This additional outlay would also
qualify for tax depreciation in the seven-year MACRS class.). However, if the additional equipment is installed, it
would result in reduced fuel, labor, and maintenance costs as shown in Table 4.
The operating cost estimates in Tables 3 and 4 are current for March 2016. However, these costs will increase with
inflation, which is forecasted at 1.25% a year. Depreciation and operating costs attributable to the overhaul of
the Maracas will begin one year after the vessel is put back into commercial service. The revenues from operating
the vessel will be the same for both types of overhaul.
Even with the proposed overhaul, the Maracas cannot continue forever. After the overhaul, its remaining useful life
is estimated to be only 12 years. Its salvage value when finally taken out of service will be trivial. Thus, Mr. John
feels it is unwise to proceed without also considering the purchase of a new vessel. Racette