I DID NOT LIKE THIS SEMESTER AT ALL

Works of Art


The First One 

This semester we had three assignments to be completed. The first one being a simple camera assignment for us to demonstrate our knowledge of different shots and angles as well as lighting, audio, and writing. This one didn't take that long because it was pretty simple, we filmed everything in about two hours and got editing done in the same week. While we were filming here at Olathe Northwest the fire alarm went off which pushed back filming by about 20 minutes, scaring me and my group members into thinking that we wouldn't be able to finish filming in time and would have to reschedule. Finding actors was a little hard at first, which it usually is, but in the end we had to many actors and had to send some home, so everything ended up working out. The main thing I learned through this project was how to lead and teach juniors and help them get the experience and knowledge they needed to be successful. Some of the feedback we received was that the audio wasn't good and sounded like the people were underwater but the biggest piece of positive feedback we received was that the camera work was really good and that the depth of field looked nice. This made me feel really good and proud because thats what I was in charge of.  In the reedit we went back and fixed the audio so it sounded cleaner as well as color correcting a few spots. Overall, this is probably one of the projects I'm most proud of from the semester even though it was so simple.

The Second One 

The second assignment we had was a commercial. For this one I branched out a little and got to work with Lauryn which I have always wanted to do on one of these projects. This project didn't take that long either, we filmed in a day with editing taking about a week or so. The main challenges we ran into was how to get some of the tracking/ running shots because of the steady cam not having all the proper pieces and weights. We ended up using a longboard which I stood on with the camera as Lauryn or Cas pulled me. Actors for this video wasn't to hard to find because we all knew people that would fit the look we wanted it was just a matter of contacting them and setting up a filming day. Along the way I learned how important art direction and costuming because not having a clear idea of costuming and not keeping it cohesive caused the message of the commercial to get lost. There was also some miscommunication with editing I guess because it wasn't edited the way it was imagined also causing it lose its message and quality.  Most of the feedback we were given was about the length of the commercial, the color grade, and people not understanding what message we were trying to go for.  We unfortunately did not get to change anything because in order to do that we would have had to reshoot which was not possible but if we were able to reshoot we would have had our actors all wear the same colors and edited it differently. This would have been my favorite project from the semester if the editing style was different because I'm really proud of the shots I was able to get.  Nike Commercial


The Third One

The short film was my least favorite project of the semester. We choose Cas's treatment to do the short film which I was really excited about because I thought it was a good treatment but the execution of it did not live up to what it could've been. This one took the longest out of the three so far with three individual filming days and about a week and a half of editing. There were a lot of juniors in our group all wanting to get their hands on a camera which is great don't get me wrong but it was hard to find a balance of letting them set up the shot with me only helping a little but and me stepping in to ensure the shot looked the best. I was also unable to be on set the first filming day so whatever the filmed that day I had to match the rest of the film with and use the same lens, which was the kit lens. Overall, I am just not proud of how it turned out visually and know it could have been a lot better. The main thing I learned with this project is to communicate with my group members a lot more and be honest about what I think. We have yet to receive feedback but I honestly don't think it will be good just from the shots I had seen. My dream for this short film is to reshoot all of it with longer filming days so that way we can make sure we are getting all the shots we need at the highest quality.  I did not like this one.

As for my treatment, I'm really proud of it even though there are some changes to be made. This story is one Iv've been wanting to write for a while and expand on I just never had the time really but this assignment have me time to think about it and plan out the whole plot. I choose not to have as a short film option because I want to do it a very specific way and if it didn't turn out like that I knew I would be upset; I plan on still writing the script for it however.

Within the Classroom

We used our class time to get a lot of pre-production done as well as editing, we set up schedules, wrote scripts, contacted actors, and put together the whole film in post. We stayed productive on the days we got done early by thinking through all the shots we had storyboarded and saw if there was a better idea and confirming scheduling. In post we would go through and fix some color grades as well as audio issues that could be better. Outside of class I personally watch different movies to get more creative ideas and inspiration as well as youtube videos on different techniques and tutorials.

Strong Suits

My strengthens are definitely in script writing and cinematography. In screen writing, it's definitely character dialogue and character development and in cinematography it's finding away to make the shot interesting but still look very nice. I maximize these strengthens by practicing them as much as I can and expanding on them so that way I can be the best I can. I also try and teach other people how to improve in those fields so that way they can grow as well as understanding what I am doing. Like everyone, however, I have areas I would like to get better in such as editing and communicating. I used to be pretty good at editing having that be the only thing I did, but over the years I've done it less and less becoming rusty in the area. Editing used to my big passion and I want to find my love for it again as well as just having that skill so I can work on all parts of the project. I've always been really bad at communicating with my team members gradually getting better over the years. I am just always so scared I will come off as mean. This is something I have tried to get better at and something I have seen improvement in. I did a lot of client work for the district this semester  with live streaming and recording a series they had on teenage mental health and a presentation they had over vaping. The video files are pretty big and the videos themselves are pretty lenthgthy so I'm not going to embed them but they are all on my Youtube, which is just Sophia Saunders, if you want to check them out.

Vistors 

Throughout the course of the semester we have been visited by several different people all coming with different knowledge. Honestly, I'm running out of time to write this so I'm just going to this generally, I have learned a lot about the technical side of film by seeing a lot of different equipment and understanding camera settings more to post production and how important it is to label correctly as well as understanding the professional side of the industry and how you may not have the fanciest stuff but that doesn't matter, its all about how you use what you have and making opportunities for yourself. I can apply this to my works and my future by remembering what is important as well as having an edge over the competition by knowing how equipment already works and how to be efficient.  I can also be resourceful and see how to use things in a way that might not have been thought of before.

Feature Film

In this years feature film I am the publicist. I have been executing my role and will continue by working closely with my content creators viewing us as more of team rather than my telling them what to do. I also plan to stay on top of what is going on with the feature film and keeping out feed fresh and updated as well as keeping out theme consistent. I honestly don't bring a lot of knowledge besides just knowing what people like and don't like as well as knowing what looks good.

Final Reflection

This semester I really enjoyed getting to know the juniors in class especially the ones I sit next to and the ones that are on my social media team. I would liked to have worked with other people however because I find myself always working with the same people who I don't really have the same artistic style as. My big take away from this semester is that I need to learn how to communicate. My goal for next semester is to produce a project I am a hundred percent proud of because I have yet to do that. For this upcoming semester I am very excited to see our feature film come to life as well as being able to do all the smaller projects like the music video and PSA. No final thoughts.