GOTTA REEL THEM IN

An Overview

From the very beginning of this project I knew I wanted it to have a very lighthearted feeling to it, seeing as how this would be my last film reel I produce as an Olathe Northwest student. To create this very positive, fun, airy concept I began with a very upbeat, summery song and then picked out my shots that were the brightest and my interesting, which just happened to include a bunch of outdoor ones that helped the concept a lot. The overall story is looking back at memories and appreciating them, becoming nostalgic while at the same time looking forward to the future and everything that comes; I really wanted this reel to reflect how I am feeling about my last semester of senior year. I used this reel to represent my cinematography and labeled it as a cinematography reel because that is most of the work I do as well as producing a lot of quality work through that production role. I was thinking about putting director because I have been stepping into that role more recently but I felt like I didn't have enough work to accurately show that role to the best of my ability.

Broadcasting My Skills

I showcased good cinematography by showing steady shots that were composed very well and were fun to look at and watch. This also goes hand in hand with good lighting because you can not have good cinematography without good lighting. I chose well lit shots that had variation in lighting styles to show difference and versatility. My audio was nothing special because it just consisted of the music but I made sure it was interesting by lining certain actions with in the shots with the audio making it seem like the two belong together when in reality this project was the first time they met. I was also able to show my editing skills this way too, showing my eye and ear for how things can line up and tell a mini story with in a single shot or two. This also allowed for the reel to flow very nice and not feel to long. I made a lot of changes while editing, moving a lot of things around making sure the story I wanted to tell was being told and no moments were lost.

One Last Time 

This is the most proud I have been of a film reel so far, not only in the video itself but the footage within the reel. I am very proud of how I was able to put together the reel and have it make visual sense and be entertaining and nice to look at. I am also really proud of basically every single shot in it, there is not one that I despise watching because it's so bad, which has never happened in a film reel before for me. If I had to do something different I would have gone back and color graded more so the whole thing was more cohesive and better looking. Overall, I am very proud of this and I still need to add our music video shots, I still want to color grade, as well as take one more look at the order and organization of it to see if it would be better if some shot was moved and edited.

These Days -Wallows Music Video Review

This music video by Wallows follows the band as they try and serenade a girl who does not have the same feelings for them as they do for her. This results in them getting hit with rocks causing them to fall to the ground and play the rest of the song with broken bones. The direction of the video focuses more on visual aspects of the characters within to make the video interesting and tell the story rather than lighting or camera movements. This can be seen in the beginning of the video as the boys reach the girls window and begin signing to her, her feelings are then shown through her facile expressions and how she reaches for the sling shot. The shock of the video comes from close ups of their injuries and the humor from a paramedic coming in with a guitar on a stretcher. Overall the story is about a group of boys chasing after a girl and soon learning that she is not interested and how they aspect this fact. I would like to apply the beautiful but simple shot composition and how they can still effectively tell a story with simple push ins and really nothing else; the colors would also be nice to incorporate as well. One element that I already know that was in this video is how using multiple shots can make a video very interesting to watch and very effective for story telling. The creator of the video did a really good job at picking a story that could easily be told through visual aspects only. I wish there was more going on in the girls storyline, we focus on the boys a lot, mainly because they're the band, but I just wish they had the girl do more interesting activities. I love this video and the whole band and their song and the aesthetic of it all and I strive to produce something this good.

We Made Bread

The Foundation 

For our short film this year my group decided to do Cas's script entitled Good Old Boston. The concept of this script centered around a girl of Jewish faith who moves to Kansas from Boston and becomes home sick because there is no one else who shares her faith at her school besides one other person. This story shows the journey she goes on in finding and creating her own community. We were all really excited to bring this story to life due to it showing a community that is underrepresented in film and television. Once we had a finished script we decided our roles with Cas being director and editor, me as DP, Avra as an assistant cinematographer, and Asya and Alexis as art direction. Honestly, pre-production was a mess because there was no organization. We didn't really know what scenes we would be filming on the first shooting day making me guess at what scenes to storyboard first causing us to only have half of them done. Then I was unable to be on set the first shooting day and soon found out that my storyboards weren't used in their entirety making me scared to see what was shot. Casting was also hard due to no one we knew being available making us use our fellow classmates which actually turned out really well.

The Rest

Everything else went good, there weren't any bumps in the road besides having to change a scene from outside to inside because of lose of daylight but other than that it went really smooth. Post also went well, Cas went to town and did a good job editing the footage together. There wasn't really anything to special during this project, it was pretty straight forward.

My Place

Not being at the first filming day kind of messed up the rest of the film for me. On the first day of filming they used the kit lens and also used the kit lens on the second day before I got there meaning I had to use that lens or else the quality difference would've been noticeable. I honestly got mad and annoyed at this especially when we had checked out a 50, I just didn't understand why we used the kit lens, it made our film look cheap and that's one thing that bothers me the most. I also felt like I couldn't do my job effectively when my storyboards weren't being listened to and that I felt undermined. I learned that I need to make it clear what needs to happen when I'm not there and what I expect to happen because I straight up could not make it to the first filming day and to communicate to my fellow group members the difference in lens's. The only scene I'm proud of is the one where she is in her room on her computer in the dark but even that one could be way better.

Learning

I didn't really learn anything technical because I didn't use any new software or equipment but I did learn how much I love the 50 lens and how difficult the kit lens is to work with and the quality difference between the two. However, in professional learning I once again learned how much I need to work on my communication skills because they are always the root of my frustrations when it comes to projects. I just feel like sometimes I end up getting undermined and pushed down by bigger personalities when they don't mean to and it's hard for me to crawl out from under that and stand up for myself. For my next project I will draw from the experiences of me being talked over and my ideas not being listened to and tossed aside to inspire me to be more outspoken and have a conversation about what we want to happen with my group.

In The Future

I would redo this entire project in the future starting with script, adding scenes and lines to make it flow more smoothly and make the story even stronger and impactful to the storyboards, making them really good and making sure everybody understood what each shot was going to look like and then to using the best lens and making sure we have the best lighting possible. I would also schedule more days to film in order to make sure we weren't rushing and then in editing doing more color correction to make the shots look clean and even. Doing all these things would bring the film to its full potential and make the story even stronger. The only thing I would keep the same is the actors, they did good and I liked their interaction on camera.

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.

Where is my Oscar?

Finding Our Subject

Right off the bat my group and I knew that we wanted to a mockumentary. One the sheet one of the topics that was suggested was "The War" and thought that it was so funny and we wanted to do something based off of that premise. After a little brainstorming we came up with making our mini doc about 'the war' between meat eaters and vegans.  Once we had this idea we already had ideas for who we wanted to be casted as our main actors, both who are naturally funny and play off each other so may group and I decided to create an outline of what we wanted to be said and the rest would be improved. Verifying the actors made our job easier by not having to write an entire script and more straight to storying boarding. During this time we naturally just fell into production with Cas as cinematographer, Miles as editor, Shelby as art director, and me as director. Storyboarding didn't take very long which allowed us to move into production fairly fast especially since we knew editing would take a while because Miles only has video 3rd hour. Filming was stressful because on the way to set one of our main actors told us he couldn't make it but luckily Cas was able to step into the role and I took over camera. The rest of the day went pretty smooth and it was a lot of fun. Post went smooth with Car becoming an editor as well working with Miles to order clips and find music and everything. After we finalized the video Cas and I worked on color correction and then I worked on audio. Overall the entire process went really well and the video turned out just how we wanted.

Educational

Throughout it, being in the director role, I worked on areas of the film learning new editing techniques like how to take out wind noise and how to color correct to make people look pretty and the shot more clear in post. I also learned how to adapt on the fly and how to communicate with several people over phone and keeping everyone on track and knowing whats going on. However, I learned that having everyones phone number would make connecting people easier and more efficient. But I was able to use my leadership and project management skills to make sure that the overall project was completed on time.

On to the Next Topic

For the majority I wouldn't change anything besides a few of the criticisms people gave the video. This is probably one if not my favorite project from this year both in the process and the finished product. I will use the experience to help me be a better leader and group member through my new communication skills and lessons as well as a better film maker with the new technical skills and what to look for and add to a film like this.

Praise the Lord This Year is Over

The Light Of My Life

One of my favorite projects from this year was the short film we created. I picked this as one of my favorites because it allowed me to express myself creatively and without boundaries especially since I took the role of director. I overall had a great time because of everyone I worked with, the finished project is something I am really proud of, and I was in a role were I was really happy and able to be artistic. The actually filming process took the least amount of time with editing taking the longest and pre-production taking a good amount of time while being the most stressful. Overall, the film most likely took a month to produce with filming only taking a few hours and the rest of out time being dedicated to pre and post production. Some challenges we faced were finding actors that fit the roles how we wanted them to fit in pre-production and figuring out how we wanted to achieve the blogger style and what camera to use and such as well as what shots would look the best during production. Through teamwork in pre-production we were able to find actors that really enhanced the film as well as using teamwork on set to figure out the shot and camera issues that appeared. Being a director during this short film allowed me to learn new leadership skills and what the responsibilities of a director look like, and realizing I basically do all the responsibilities for all the projects. It also helped me learn how to refine my ideas and create them into something that I am really happy with and can be proud of which is something I struggle with a lot. The feedback we received is that the film would be better and feel more coherent if we kept the whole thing in a vlog format instead of starting with it and then coming out of it and then going back in, as well as one of our shots being used to many times. Sadly we didn't have the shots to change any of the non vlog shots as well as just not having the time to change the repetitive shots. I plan on going over all my projects from this year and making reedits however. Overall, I am very happy and proud of how this short film turned out.



Pt.2 

My other favorite project from this year is our music video, even though I can never listen to this song again. This one took about a month as well but the time spent of pre, production, and post being about the same. This one took a lot more work and had a lot more components to it but really the only challenge we had was conflicting opinions. When deciding on the song I came into the discussions with a very clear and strong vision for one song that I presented to the group with everyone supporting but one person. Due to this one person disagreeing we spent the entirety of class time looking at other songs but eventually agreeing to do my song and idea which was "Talia" by King Princess. Along the way we had more disagreements but instead of shooting it down immediately we would talk it out as a group and possibly try it and see how it would look. Through this project I learned how lighting can be a really powerful part of a film and made me appreciate lighting a lot more. Once again being in a director position but also acting in the video made me learn how to communicate what I wanted the shot to look through words instead of just showing which I am really happy I learned how to do. We got feedback about some shots being to shaky but also that the acting and actor choice was really good because the two weren't weird with each other. We couldn't go back and reshot so we did not change anything. I am also very proud of the vide but I feel like it could look a lot stronger and our location for the interior scenes could be different to add to it even more.



So. Much. Stress. 

When there is a project going on I am always so stressed because I want everything to go well and the finished project to be great. I use class time to talk to my group about what we have done, what we need to do, and who would be able to do what. This allows a schedule and plan to get made so that way we know when things are happening and need to get done;this is also when most of the storyboarding would happen as well. Post-production class time is working with editor and other group members to figure out what shot goes where and any corrections that need to be made. Outside of class I use my time and work on projects by finding actors and telling them whats up as well as finding any costumes, props, or locations as well as texting back and forth with my group telling them what I'm doing and hearing if they are doing anything or have any questions. In all the projects this year I have taken a leadership role in some way so most of the time if theres a problem then people turn to me, which is stressful sometimes but I don't mind it.



Area 

Throughout the course of this year I have been able to see that my strengths are in pre-production work as well as cinematography. At the beginning of this year I started out with a very strong passion for editing and really wanted to go farther in depth with that but through the course of the year, really starting in first quarter I was gently pushed away from it. I was able to go to the cinematographer position however and apply my eye and abilities to this role and grow in this area. I used these new found strengths in the music video for lightening as well as what shots were needed in the short film to make a coherent story and journey. Being first assistant camera for the feature film definitely helped me grow as an artist and I can see a big improvement in my skills and new found strength. My organizing skills and strengths definitely came in handy in pre-production by allowing me to get everything organized and not have everything be complete chaos. While I can see myself growing I definitely still need to work on keeping my pans and tilts smooth as well as keeping lighting and camera settings looking sharp and in focus as well as continuing to work on my communication skills. I still have a long way to go.




That's A Wrap

My role in this years feature film was first assistant camera. This role means I am the DP's right hand gal, helping them basically bringing the film into and actual film from the script by creating storyboards and shot lists, working with the directors and gaffer to hear what they are thinking and want so we can make the film the best it can be. Oh yeah, I was also responsible for helping film the movie. I helped the film be successful by creating a visual and plan for what filming would consist of and what everyone could expect to see as well as being there to get a different angle at the same time the DP was getting one to make the process go faster. I helped get camera equipment get set up and taken down, lens switched out, find the correct storyboard and shot to see what needed to happen, as well as make sure the shots I was getting looked good and that there were no errors so we could the least amount of takes possible. I didn't realize how much I did but yeah, thats how saw my role and how it helped the film be a success. In class I worked with Lauryn, our DP, on storyboards and shot lists, planning scenes, and how the day would go, as well as talking to directors and confirming scenes. Outside of class I worked on storyboards and shot lists that didn't get quite done sometimes staying up to crazy hours to get them done. This was probably the most fun and stressful time.



The Memories

I loved all the people I got to meet and talk to and create relationships with because without this class I wouldn't have probably even talked to them. Not only did I get to meet these people also create lasting memories with them and create wonderful videos and films as well, and thats something I would never give up.  The one thing I wish I did was work with different people on projects because I felt that I only worked with the same people for every project and I wish I got to work with a variety. Overall, I am taking away so many new skills with me from this year both technical and professional. I would like to do more cinematic, professions looking videos and films next year instead of just comedic non structured ones. I just want to say thank you to Mrs. Smith for believing in me and giving me awesome opportunities like being first AC and get ready for next year.



Senior Year

Okay, I'm going to keep this short and sweet because it doesn't need to be long and I'm tired of typing. I don't really know what class I want to be in next year because for me it really just depends on the people. It would be really cool if we could keep most of this class together because that would a legacy, but if I have to choose I'd probably go with Hours 3&4 again because I want French 7th Hour and I don't want this class 1st Hour because then the rest of the day would be gross. Having it 3rd and 4th is a nice break in the day. As for feature film production role next year I really want a leadership role as most seniors probably do, I would love to director because who doesn't want to be director because I would be able to be organized and lead people which are things I enjoy and I would be able to be as creative and out there as I wanted to be but I would especially love to be director if it's a script I am really passionate. DP would also be amazing because that way I'll be able to be hands on the camera more but still being a leader and being able to work really closely with my 1st AC and lead them especially if they are a junior.  DP would also still allow me to create something beautiful and something I could call mine in the shots I filmed. Overall, any leadership role I would be honored to have, with DP or director (or AD) being my top picks.

PSA:Pea Soup is Awesome

Mind Of An Artist

My group decided to do our PSA over drunk driving. Our PSA would essentially be a one shot starting with a close up of a girl in front of a wrecked car and having the camera pull back until the shot is an extreme wide. We would do this two time one with the girl standing and one with her laying on the ground after the "wreck" with blue and red lights flashing to represent the police that show up to the scene. The story of the night would then be told through audio playing in the background. Our video relied heavily on editing and cutting and layering the shots in the right way; thankfully our editor is amazing and put the PSA together beautifully.

Creating The Masterpiece

Pre-Production was pretty simple. We all figured our roles out really fast due to knowing our strengthens and everyone communicating what the wanted to do, I was Director of Photography. Our director had a pretty clear vision of how he wanted the PSA to be and we all liked it so we began story boarding which wasn't hard. The hardest part of pre-production was finding our actors and figuring out a date to film. After asking maybe six people if they were able/want to be in our video we finally found two actresses for our video and a date that worked for everyone. However, the night we were supposed to film was the night the temperatures reached below freezing so we had to cancel. In class we started trying to figure out a new time to film which we successfully did but our actresses couldn't so we had to find new ones. We had actresses by the time the new date arrived but when it was time for them to come to set they were suddenly unable to. The director and I being the only ones there at the time started to brainstorm possible actors when we thought of one. Thankfully she was available but we had to rethink our idea a little. We filmed the shots of her standing and laying down individually and would edit them over in post. It was still a little cold out but was bearable and we were able to complete our filming. In post our editor just went hard on the PSA, working really hard on creating the directors vision while asking the rest of the group for advice on some aspects. 

Important Life Lessons

As DP, I learned that using a different lens probably would have made the video look a little cleaner after watching it on the big screen in class. I also learned and got experience in taking a one shot video.  I have yet to learn and master the steady came but hopefully in the future that will soon be conquered. Professionally I learned how to deal with problems when I have a long time to fix them and a very short amount of time to fix them. I also learned how to reach out to people to have them act in a video and becoming more comfortable with doing so. Knowing that a lot of editing would need to be done allowed us to wisely choose our filming date to where we gave our editor enough time to do a good job. 

For Future Reference

A lot of what I want to do different for next time I can't really control but can prepare for. When filming mainly outdoors it's always a good idea to have a backup date in case the weather isn't working in our favor as well as having backup actors for that date. I would also change what lens I used to make it look cleaner and more professional as well as using a piece of equipment to make the shot more steady. However, I would keep the idea and concept the same because overall it turned out really well and unique. I will always remember to not be afraid to take risks and be creative. 

ONE STEP CLOSER TO GRADUATION

My Semester Works

Short Film- 100,000 Likes

This project had multiple parts. The first one was that all of us had to write a script for a short film idea that we would then share with the class. Th scripts would be voted on to see what one would be our feature film and the others could be used for our shorts. Once everyone had a script written we shared them the class and talked through how they would play out if they were to be a feature or elaborate on the short film script. I had written two different for this assignment because I had two different ideas, I presented the first one to the class because it was say favorite and I felt so strongly and excited about it and seemed like the others did as well. Unfortunately though I was unable to do it, so I went with my other script, it was good but my heart just wasn't in it like the other one. The script that I ended up going with was about a teenage vlogger who is vlogging her day while being stalked. The stalker is noticeable enough for the audience to see but not the main character. This film could be best described as a comedy with a little sprinkle of horror. Due to the time constraint of the project we had to modify the script to a different setting to allow us to film in two days. My group and I overall did a really good job with the time, getting filming done in two days and having four to five days to edit, getting the whole thing done in about a week which as the time allowed, allow us to make it the best film we could. I learned that even though you may face some backs and be told you did something you didn't you still have to push through and produce the best work you can, as well as adding to my knowledge that teamwork makes the dream work and being to collaborate and communicate is key. Casting can make or break a film is also something I learned. The feedback we received from the film are to keep it all in the vlog perspective and to hide the stalker a little more because he was a little to obvious but they also said it was hilarious and a good watch. 

Music Video- Unofficial Official Talia Music Video

This project is one of my favorites, tis one and 100,000 Likes. The assignment was to find a song and create a new music video for it, not recreate one like we did last year. This gave us so much freedom and with a music video you can make anything, whether it be just an aesthetic video or have a story that creates a lot of emotion. The night we got the assignment and groups I went home and just went through so many songs, seeing what ones would hit me with ideas. Then, in my massive search, I listened to Talia by King Princess, and immediately I had a clear vision and idea of what I though the music video should like and the story it would tell. The next day I came into class with a clear vision to share with my team and get their thoughts, everybody was onboard except one person who just wasn't seeing it. To make sure we weren't limiting our choices we spent the next two days looking at songs together but nothing was hitting us as hard as Talia, even though the one person was still kind of iffy we needed a video idea and went with it. We then spent the rest of the week doing Pre-Production, creating beat sheets, film scapes, casting, costumes, etc. ,since I already had a pretty clear vision Pre-Production wasn't to hard. That weekend we went out and shot everything in a single day, this was themes stressful part. We had to make sure we got all the shots we needed in two hours at the beach and then in about an hour and a half in the bedroom. The lights we used in the bedroom were another obstacle because no gels came with them so I had to make my own by using food wrap and markers. We then also only had one working stand so two lights had to be held. The entirety of filming was a mess but the shots and overall video turned out really good and I'm proud of it. Editing was fun because we didn't really have an editor, we all edited together, throwing ideas and getting help from each other. I learned that you're not going to be able to make everyone happy and that telling people no in a nice way is something I need to work on but it's something that is going to need to be done. Overall we got pretty positive feedback, just some minor focusing issues here and there. 

Commercial- iPhone Commercial 

Oh the iPhone commercial. What to say. This video was a mess, straight up just not good, I am not proud of it. This commercial had a lot of potential and I had a really good image of what it could have been in my head and it was just not executed well. The assignment was to create a 30 second to a minute commercial for a product, simple right. My group and I decided to an iPhone because there commercial are always really bright, clean, and cool, like what we were imagining for our commercial to look like. We start Pre-Production once we chose our product and everything was coming together, my team and I were really excited. In Production our communication is just not good, we are very awkward around each other and I don't express how I am feeling about shots and how bad some are looking because I am to scared and for some I wasn't even there. I don't even know how to describe filming because the whole thing was a mess and really stressful and I did not have fun. Editing was then really hard because the shots were bad to the point where I could only so much to fix them and where we had to reshoot some. the bad shots then made it to where no matter what order  put them in the story didn't seem as clean and coherent because the shots didn't look that way. Overall this project maybe took two weeks and the whole thing was a challenge. Thankfully I was able to learn a lot from it like having to speak up when I think something doesn't look good and can be fixed as well as voicing my opinion on song choice. Nobody liked our video, one of the only positive comments we got was the diversity of the cast and that didn't have anything to with the video just who was in it. I would not do this again.

Semester Summary

Overall the only thing I would change is the iPhone commercial, I would change the whole thing, start to finish. My other two project I am really proud of and happy to share with people but my iPhone commercial is not something I would willing share. I worked with a lot of great people, learned new things, and made new friends, these are things I would not change ever. I think 100,000 Likes is the best video I produced this semester with the iPhone commercial obviously being last. I really felt like I was able to do something I wanted to do when producing 100,000 Likes and was just able to go crazy with creativity, it turned out just how I imagined. I feel the same way with my music video but there could be somethings that didn't turn out quiet how I wanted, and we know how I feel about the commercial. Overall this semester was pretty solid, we just had a rocky start.

The Clock Is Ticking

I used my time in class very well, planning out what needed to get done that day to stay on schedule to the video done by the due date. I used a much time as possible in class working on Pre-Production and editing to keep the video on track. If I got done early I would work on the travel videos I am working on, client work I have, or the blog posts we have assigned, there is not a class time where I am not not working or where I don'y have anything I could be working on. I also watch tutorials on editing and filming skills that I can apply to my projects. If I had an extra hour for a project I would go through nitpick all the details and fix anything that could be improved to keep working and to make the project even better. Outside of class I watch a lot of movies and take notice of things they do and if I like it or not, I use movies not just for entertainment but to learn as well. I also think of other short film and video ideas and work on getting them ready to produce to keep my creative juices flowing.

Imperfections and Perfections

One thing I am really good at is having a clear vision and eye for detail. I know exactly what I want and how I want it as well as having a good eye for filming and editing, knowing what a good shot is and what isn't as well as knowing how to put together a strong video in Post. My editing skills are also the skills I am proudest of and I am working on building up my cinematography skills. The areas I need support in on are my abilities to vocalize and explain what I am imagining because it is really hard for me to describe what I am thinking in a detailed, clear way that others can understand what I am seeing. My communication, collaboration and leadership skills are really strong though.

Vistitors

All the guest speakers told me what makes a good video in different ways, Gordon focused on effects and filming and story plot. This allowed me to understand how to create a strong story and then how to use a camera and some effects to bring that to life, he also gave a little incite into what the business is like. Brandon gave a youthful out look into what it's like in the world of advertisement video, how to reach out and work with clients, as well as what makes a good advertisement video. This was really cool to see such a young guy already reach such great heights. Drew showed me how to establish characters and how important they are to the story, without good characters and development you don't have a good story. He was cool to listen to because he had just graduated and had been in the exactly the same spot I'm in and had a good understanding. Overall I learned a lot of great lessons from all the speakers and I'm excited to apply them to own works.

The Big Screen

My role in the feature film is First Assistant Camera (1st AC). I am really excited have this role. I will be able to bring the knowledge of how to create a spooky and thriller style atmosphere using a camera due to watching and paying attention to skills used in horror and thrillers movies to create a tense and scared feeling in people. I am excited to bring in fresh camera shots and movements into a plot this can be seen as generic and make the movie stand amount the others. I will execute this role well by working closely with the Director of Photography (DP) as well as the director and assistant director to make sure the film will turn out amazing. I will be present and hard working on set and speak up when I have a shot idea that could enhance the scene but I wouldn't go off and film whatever I want. Overall, I will work my butt off in the position.

Half Way Done

The thing I loved most about this semester is making new friends and getting to know everyone in the class. I also really enjoyed being able to make a film from writing the script to being apart of the editing process, I really seeing my idea be produced from the very beginning and being able to lead my team through every part. I would have wanted to have different groups or groups that were drastically different because I found myself working with the same people for every project except maybe one or two people. I am taking away a lot of new technical skills as well as having my collaboration, communication, leadership and overall professional skills stronger and more developed, I am not afraid to speak up when I have an idea or something to say. I want to improve my camera skills, work with my new people, and do more outside of school work, those are my goals for next year. I have no final thoughts except I hate blogs.

CALL ME STEVEN SPIELBERG

Beginning of the Masterpiece 

Before we had offically started on our short film, everyone in the class had written a script on their own. These scripts were then presented to the class and one was chosen for our feature film while all the rest had the oppurtunity to be turned into our groups short films. After all the scripts were read and the feature film picked we got into out groups. In picking the script for my groups film, our biggest worry and factor in the decision was time. We were only given a week to produce our short film so we had to make sure we picked a script that could be filmed in a few hours on one day or that could be altered to fit this time constrant while still producing a good short film. The script my group picked was my script entitled 100,000 Likes. My film followed a Youtube vlogger around her school day as she is being stalked, with the stalker being visiable in the background of certain shots. That's all I am willing to give away because I don't want to spoil it, you'll just have to watch the film to see what else unfolds. The film can be described as a comedy with just a sprinkle of horro/thiller in it. This being the last project we would be able to produce ourselves before the feature we wanted to go wild with the concept and make it stand out. 

Watching the Brush Strokes Happen

Since we had chosen my script for the short film I was director so that way I could guide the rest of my group and the actors in what needed to be done and how I imagined certain aspects working out. Miles and Josh were editors, Cas was cinematographer, and Shelby was art director. The first thing that needed to be done was edit the script to a simpler idea that could filmed more easily. This is where we decided to have the vlogger be in high school and just vlog her school day instead of going on a camping trip and vlogging that; the week of this short film was also really cold so we didn't want to film outside. Once we adjusted the idea of the script to fit our needs at the time we started searching for actors as well as rewritting the script to fit the concept. We never did a story board for this film but so many new ideas were brought during filming the story board would have been useless. The filming day itself was so much fun and was everything we needed. Our actors were the perfect people and fit the roles perfectly while also bringing fun and creativity the day as well. While we filmed and ran into problems there were so many creative minds together several ideas were being thrown out and it became hard to choose which one. However, all these different ideas made our film stronger because instead of doing just an okay idea because that was the only one, we were able to choose the best one out of five. Overall, production went very well with us ending up ahead of schedule while still getting everything we needed. Post Production went really smoothly as well. As a director I was confident in Miles' editing skills as well as Joshs' so I didn't have continuley keep checking up with them and helping them. The day before it was do Miles was not at school but that wasn't a problem because him and Josh worked really hard to the point where the film was done, it just needed to text and sound touch ups. We ended up being one of the only groups to have their whole film turned in on time. Overall, this was probably the most stress free, most funny, and the project I am most proud out of all of them this year so far. 

Leading the Team to Victory

Being director for this short film allowed me to learn several skills in the professionalism area. One main part of director is being able to communicate with your team and actors schedules, what the scene should like, where the crew needs to be, what the actors needed to do, and just overall being able to communciate your idea to other people in a clear way. I also was able to practice my listening skills when several ideas were being thrown out and I needed to chose the best one; this also forced me to practice how to say no in a respectful manor as well. Project managment also came into play when editing the script by having to decide what was going to be the most efficant story to film and what time line would give us the most amount of editing time to make sure the film was done in time. This skill came in handy due to the short time frame. Collaberation and leadership are interwoven within the skills I was able to practice, adopt, and build on that falled under communication and project management. As well as professional skills I also learned a new skill in Adobe Premiere. During this project I learned how to warp text and customize it to my liking. 

On to the Sequal

I'll make this last paragraph really fast. I would not do anything different because we never got behind schedule, the film turned out how I wanted it to look and I had fun doing and was able to express myself and what I wanted to do. That being said I would do everything the same because there is nothing to complain about or change. The experiences that will draw from this is that your films don't always have to be so serious or filmed using every single basic in film. You can still make a good entertaing film without being to serious and just being loose and creative with it. 

TKO MORE LIKE RKO

Background of RKO Studios

RKO stands for Radio-Keith-Orpheum which was created in October of 1928. The studio was created when the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theatre chain and Joseph P. Kennedy's Film Booking Offices of America were merged together and brought under the control of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA). David Sarnoff planned and supervised merge to create the studio, eventually giving the studio to Floyd Odlum. In its creation, RKO Studios was one of the Big Five in Hollywoods Golden Age

and was very successful. Overall, the creation of the studio under David Sarnoff was to compete with the introduction and rising popularity of movies with sound and talking. Its first few decades were successful but as time progressed, their popularity fell. In 1957 RKO Studios ceased production due to disarray and a decline in work and eventually dissolved in 1959. Eventually in 1981 the studio was revived by broadcaster RKO General and was eventually sold in 1989 becoming a small independent company under the new title RKO Pictures LLC.

Shining Stars

While RKO Studios is rarely heard of today producing new films, they did, however, produce some of the most famous and influential films in history: Citizen Kane and King Kong. They also helped coproduce other very popular films like It's a Wonderful Life and Notorious, even helping Walt Disney is making Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Fantasia. Some other movies they produced were Little Women, The Body Snatcher and the live action of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Along with some very influential and popular movies they also had very well-known actors from that time working with them. They produced musicals starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers while also having actors like Katharine Hepburn, Robert Mitchum, and Cary Grant. RKO Studios also had some producers and directors working with them as well like Val Lewtons. While they were very prosperous in Old Hollywood they were sadly unable to find the same success in today world.

Get With The Times 

As mentioned in the first paragraph, RKO Studios in now a smaller independent studio and doesn't produce well know movies anymore.  The last movies that the studio released were A Late Quartet which got good reviews and was well liked in 2012 and Barely Lethal which flopped and did not succeed in 2015. One of the more well known recent releases by the studio is Are We There Yet? which was very comedic but didn't receive good reviews as well. Overall, RKO Studios is not what it used to be ad doesn't show any signs of returning to its former glory.

BASICALLY A MUSIC VIDEO PRODUCER

Hit With Inspiration 

When I found out that we were doing a music video I got so excited. That night I went home and went through all my playlists to find a good song where I had a clear concept for the video. In my search I found the song "Talia" by King Princess. The moment I heard the song I had a vision of a relationship where they had broken up and the singer is still in pain from the split so she would be shown in darker colors like blues and purples. Shots of the singer would then be broken up by shots of flashbacks to the relationship and the memories that they had together, being depicted in lighter colors like yellows and light oranges with a little bit of a fuzzy feel. I came in the next day to class and shared my idea and once I did the others were all for it with one person needing a little bit persuasion. Once we has the concept, song and roles picked out we moved to pre-production.

Creating Heartbreak

The roles we decided on were me as director, Shelby as editor even though we all worked together in editing, Marco as cinematographer, and Cas as art director. Pre-production was a crazy time because there were so many ideas flying and there was one person who also has a very strong leadership personality which caused so conflict. We had all decided on the concept that I had originally presented so all we had to do was decided on locations, costumes, shots, and actors. We got Kayla which is friends with most of the group to be the second person in the video while I was the singer. We then started talking about locations and choice to have the flashbacks take place mainly outside in a beach area as well as in some fields and bedroom. For the beach area and field we used Cas's grandmothers backyard since lived right off a lake and used my house for the bedroom. For the singer we placed her in the bedroom where the flashbacks took place while as taking a couple shots of the singer at the beach area as well. After we decided on the color scheme, actors, and locations we started to work on the filmscape which was a great way to illustrate what we wanted the shots to look like and give us a visual. Once the filmscape was completed we began filming.

Capturing Love and Despair 

Actually filming as pretty hectic because we filmed on a Sunday night in three and a half hours. While it was crazy we got some good shots and everything looked good. We utilized a light kit to create the colors for the singer shots but we had to create our own gels due to the actually being missing. The colors turned out good and we got beautiful shots in general so it was a successful shooting day. Post-Production was a long process that took about a full week maybe a few more days. We started off putting the shots in the order we wanted but there being so much footage and ideas about how they should be placed and what should go where took a little time. We had decided to try and match the cuts with the beat which is a cool touch since it isn't to obvious but it's there. Once we finally finished putting all the shots in order we went through and started stabilizing shots. We wish we could've stabilized more but when we added the affect it looked warped and didn't look good but we thought it was okay because the little unstable ones adds to the video. After we stabilized what we could we went back and color corrected and brightened shots. In the singer footage we decided to use only blue for the footage so we had to through and take out the purple and green we had in there originally and add a blue tint to the outdoors ones without having it look weird. For the flashbacks we brightened them to give a vintage type feel and added some yellows. Once the coloring was done, the video was done.

Life Lessons

Throughout the project, I learned that sometimes you'll have to turn down peoples ideas because they don't add anything to the video or they don't make sense. There was also the lesson of all the ideas can't be mine, I have to be able to find the balance between incorporating others ideas and turning them down nicely. Another lesson is that sometimes people will try and take over your position and get on your nerves but you can't be mean to them because they're in their group. Along with learning these lessons I was able to use the 5 Guarantees. I used leadership to guide what the group needs to do to make the video good and what the video as a whole will look like. This also goes along with communication not just with the group but also with Kayla who I had to talk to about what to except from filming day. Collaboration was used in order to get along with everyone and make sure that everyone had a chance to share there thoughts, this was very evident especially during editing. Project management was on point because we got Pre-Production done with filming, we got filming done on time which allowed us to get a heard start on editing which allowed us to get the whole project done one time. We had set a schedule for ourselves and we were able to stick with it. Technical skills on my part, I believe were strong and I learned a lot on the color side of editing as well.

Moving on to the Future

Overall, I think this project went really well and turned out really well; I am very proud of the finished product. One thing I would've done differently would have been to have a longer time to shoot so it wouldn't be as stressful and we got make sure we got all the shots. On the other hand most things I would've kept the same, especially when it comes to picking a concept I am very passionate about. To enhance my next project I while remember to be nice and collaborate well with others in order to continue working as a group and to make sure everyone is putting in input.

I PUT THE PRO IN PROFESSIONAL

The Task at Hand

The project we were assigned to do was to create a music video for a song. In the creation process of our music video we were set out to find already existing music videos to gain inspiration from. We had chosen the song "Talia" by King Princess to create a music video. The idea we had for the video was that we would have one set of scenes take place in a darker color scheme and the other set take place in a lighter color scheme. I had already had a pretty good idea of what the lighter scenes were going to look like but I need a visual video to show how the darker scenes were going to look like. On my search I found the music video for The Weekends song "Call Out My Name". This video was exactly what I was looking for: the color scheme matched, the shots used, and the camera movement were what I was imagining but couldn't quiet explain in words. While I didn't exactly like the whole video, the parts I did like stuck with me enough to remember and use the video for a large part of my inspiration. (The Weekend. "The Weekend-Call Out My Name (Official Video)". Online video. Youtube. Youtube, 12 April 2018. Web. 24 September 2018).

Call Out My Name

The story of "Call Out My Name" centers around a break up and someone trying to get over it but is having a hard time. They portray this by having dark colors and never really bringing in any light shades. The camera movements also adds to the story because them not being stationary allows the viewer to feel the turmoil and energy that the person is feeling. There are also visuals and effects that are supposed to help depict the loneliness the person is going through and how they feel inside. Through the use of camera movements, colors, and effects, the "Call Out My Name"video is able to tell the story of someone not over a break up and is longing for the other person.

My Viewing Experience 

Overall, I throughly enjoyed the music video and was able to draw several pieces of inspiration from it. One of the biggest parts I pulled from this video, or at least tried to emulate, was the lower camera angle and the type of movement the camera had. This was one of the biggest ideas I had for the darker colored scheme part due to the mood and emotion it gave across. One thing that I saw in the video that I have already learned how to do is the coloring in the video not only in lights but also in post-production. One item that the video did was really well was using color and cinematography to capture and translate the mood that song and singer are conveying. The colors show the darker, sadder mood of the song while the camera movements shows all the twisted, confusing emotions and thoughts the person is having as well making the audience feel a little of it as well. However, I think it could be improved on toning down some of the effects because they got confusing and distracting at times.

This video really gave me some good ideas for my music videos and helped solidify some ideas that weren't fully put together.

APPLE, YOU SHOULD SPONSOR ME

Selling Point

My group and I decided to create a commercial advertising Apple iPhone. We chose this product because we though we could make a really cool video and come with an interesting concept. Once we had a product picked out, we started brainstorming ideas for the videos. After we went through a few ideas we decided to have three students in our video and follow them around during their school day, showing all the features in the iPhone and how they can be used for school purposes. At the very end of the video it would be revealed that all the students now each other, using the airdrop feature to share a picture and bring the students together. The feature showcased in the video were StudentVUE with Touch ID, Apple Music, Notes, Calculator, the camera, water resistance, as well as the previously mentioned airdrop. Each of the students was assigned two features and would use them in the video. Overall, the concept of the video was to show how iPhones could be useful to students. 

Growing the Apple 

One of the first things we did as a part of Pre-Production was decide who would take on what roles, I was editor. Once we had decided our roles we started to plan out and talk about how we wanted the video to look with our concept. We though of shots we wanted, the order the features would go in, how many people we would need, props, and so on. After a little bit of discussion we started to work on the script and story board to put our image down on on paper, I worked on the script with the help of Cas and Josh as Cas worked on the storyboard next to me. As work on the script and storyboard we were thinking of the people that would be in it and who we would ask. Since there was three of in the group and we needed three actors we were all supposed to bring in one person. Once we finished writing the script, storyboard, and had our actors we filmed. Filming took about an hour or two for about three days for all of the video. We used classrooms, outside of school, and our school lunch room to film since the video took place a school. When editing came around we had to cut a lot of the shots we had out and rearrange the story a little bit due to the commercial time constraint and due to the quality of some shots. I was able to find some really good shots and was still able to bring the story together how we originally wanted. After I cut the shots to the right length and arranged them in the best order I could figure out I started correcting the lighting and sharpening up some of the shots to make them less blurry. At the end of the video we put a video of the Apple logo that we found on YouTube because we didn't have time to create our own. With that logo came music and it was decided to use that play throughout the whole video instead of the music we had originally used. Adding the music was the last piece that had to be added and once that was done we exported. 

Helping the Apple Grow

My production role was editor of the video. Along the way I learned how sometimes you have to cut some clips in order to make the story make sense and that you won't be able to use some due to something be wrong with it. I also learned how to stabilize shots, correct lighting, and increase the sharpness of shots. One of the big things I learned was how to do split screens with three different clips. 

Meeting Standards

I personally think this whole project was a mess. In reality, I think our technical skills were poor. Some of the shots could have had more light by opening up the iris or could've been more in focus. This affected the overall look of the commercial and didn't make it as clean because you can fix some of it in post but it won't look as good. However, we did have some really good clips that I'm proud of and look very good. Our communication could've been better as well. In Pre-Production it was really good, we were listening to each others ideas and trying to find ways to incorporate most of them and if we didn't like an idea we were nice about it. On the other hand during Production and in Post communication was not as good as it could've been. When it came to shooting we didn't communicate about what we thought of some shots and didn't clearly express how they could've been made better. Then in Post, if I didn't like an idea I wasn't good at communicating that but instead just went along with it. The same kind of goes for collaboration, it was really good in the beginning and stayed good throughout the whole process it just declined a little. Leadership was also kind of a mess. Our director did a really good at making sure we were all on track, making sure things were getting done, and helping where help was needed. I fell bad, however, because I felt like I was taking a leadership role as well and overshadowing the actual director and I feel bad about that but I seem to do it in all group projects. Overall, I think leadership was good I just feel bad for overshadowing at points. I think project management went well, we got the project done. 

For Next Time

If I had to do this project again I would probably want to be either cinematographer and editor, director and editor, or just be more out spoken about my thoughts to ensure that our video was to the best quality it could be. I would also want a better filming schedule because ours for this video was kind of chaotic. However, there are thing I would keep the same. Somethings I would keep the same is the product and the concept because I think that they were really cool and could have been sleek and appealing to watch. 

Having All The Ingredients 

As a whole I think our commercial met most of the objectives of a commercial. I think we met the emotional connection with it being students allowing other students to be able to relate to how it feels to be in school as well as having something available that makes it easier. Even though we should the phone and its functions throughout the commercial we kept the information limited by not having a voice over talking about the phone. Our call to action would be the animated Apple logo at the end; even though this isn't like the old fashioned call to actions the logo still has the same purpose. Our commercial also has positive association and trust building by showing the phone in multiple situations and by people who look trustworthy. I think our key principles of film making could've been better. The writing, audio, and editing were pretty strong but I think the directing, lighting, and cinematography could've been better. 

Overall

Overall I think this commercial could've been better and I'm not that proud of it. 

"ENTER"TAINMENT

Requirements

The task at hand for our first entertainment project was to find a, school appropriate, music video and recreate it. This included having to do a beat sheet, a type of outline special for music videos, a mood board, and a story board for all of out frames. Our music video had to be shot with all the technical aspects we have learned about as well as tell a story. My group and I had agreed on doing the music video for Lana Del Rey's song  Love. Once we picked out our song it was to get to work.

Putting at the Gears in Motion

The first thing we had to do was assign jobs. My job was editor which means I'm responsible for editing the final video but I still took part in pre-production and production. Once we had that done we started to watch the music video for Love to get ideas for ours. After watching it a few times through we started to work on our beat sheet and story board. On our beat sheet we wrote all the information of the song like producer, singer and company, other music videos to inspire ours, etc. Then we started to draw out the frames for our music video on our story board. During this step, we kept coming up with so many ideas that it was hard to get them all down. Eventually we had a really good illustration of the frames of our video. Now that we knew what our video was going to look like, how we were going to do it, where we were going to do it, we needed to figure out who was going to be in it. We had thought up a list of people, mostly our friends, and started asking them, my group and I now had our people. Now we filmed. This part was pretty easy and take very long since we had a specific and detailed vision of what we wanted everything to look like. After we had everything filmed we started editing. Like filming editing didn't take very long since we had a pretty detailed idea of what everything was to look like but we did run into some changes and discussions. The hardest part of editing was getting the person who was lip syncing lips to line up with the words, but once they did it felt really good. The final part of editing was adding some cooler filters and then were done.

Learning Through Experience 

Throughout this project I learned how to work and communicate with people who were going to be in the video and not just my group members. This was different because they had no idea what we had planned so we had to be very clear in explaining what we wanted them to do as well as when and where we would be filming. As the project went on, however, I became better at this and it was easier to communicate what was needed of them. On the technical aspect, I learned how to use color filters and how to scale a video to a certain size. I can use these skills later in my film career if a shot isn't looking quiet right or if I need the clips to look a certain way. These skills will, overall, make me a better film maker.

Change it or Leave it

Overall I felt this project went really well especially since it's my first entertainment assignment and I wouldn't change a lot. The only few things I would have changed is making some shots not as out focus so they didn't look messy. This also goes with stabilizing some shots to make them less shaky because it can look sloppy and make people sick. While I would only apply this to some shots I would like to make those changes. Another change I would make is picking the people more carefully. Our coffee shop couple was the only couple that wasn't dating in real life and the whole thing came off as awkward in the video. It's not a big deal but I think fixing this problem would make the video even better. I can apply these lessons to my next project by paying a better attention to the really small details.

ANIME(TION)

This One Took Forever

This was my final 2D animation where I had to include everything I had learned so far this year. Throughout this project I learned that sometime simplicity is key. At the beginning I started off with a story that was to complicated and cut it back or else I wouldn't finish. The original one would have had to many elements that would have to be created and animated and I just didn't have time for it, so I took parts out. In the end I'm really proud of this project and want more people to see it since I put a lot of effort in it and looks half decent. One of my greatest strengths in this project was probably creating everything in Photoshop before actually animating it. I was pretty good with the pin point tool. One of my weaknesses, however, was the walk cycle. I was able to improve, although, by adding pin points in the knees but I still need a lot of practice and work on it. One aspect about this project I would change is the walk cycle and how my clouds look. I feel like I could've done the walk cycle more smooth but just didn't have time. I'm going to use what I learned from this project to better my future projects and know what I need to work on.

I'm Somewhat Proud Of This

By creating this project, I was able to learn how to do a walk cycle for a two legged creature. I learned this skill by paying attention in class as well trial and error. Additionally, I also learned how to scan something I drew on paper into the computer. I forgot how to do a portion of the scanning so I had to have help for a classmate. I picked this project because I had some struggles with it in the beginning and couldn't get my robot looking how I wanted, I couldn't figure out the walk cycle, etc., but through my trial and error  I was able to produce an animation that I think is decent and proud of. One of my greatest strengths for this project was creativity with making my character a robot and not a human, as well as making the head spin at the end. My greatest weakness was the walk cycle because I did it backwards so I have to make my robot walk backwards. I was to improve, however, by working and focusing on making my walk cycle the best it can be. If I could change anything, I would change how my robot looks because he looks really spotty and messy and I want him to look nicer. Overall, I will use what I learned in this project whenever I'm animating something that needs to walk or move in a similar way. 

This Doesn't Completely Look Bad

By doing this project I learned so much about the animating software, Maya, and several skills as well. I learned how to create dips/a bowl shape out of cylinders, how to combine shapes, add textures using pictures, and what tool to use to align shapes. I learned these things by having to create the towers for my castle, needing to add a stone texture to walls, and making sure everything was even and neat. I picked this project because I'm really proud of how it turned out especially since I was gone when the instructions were given. My greatest strength is probably the textures even though I had some getting them to show up my first time. Once I found out what I was doing, however, it was easy from then one. One the other hand, my greatest weakness was probably creating the towers and beveling. It took me forever to figure out how to get it to work, but eventually I got it down and was able to do it pretty easily since. I'm going to use what I learned when needing add textures an surface and when I'm creating a building. One thing I would change is the size of my towers, the look really big and I don't like them. Overall this project was really fun to make. 

My Favorite 3D Project

Animating this project let me learn how to create holes in a polygon. You did this by putting cylinders through it and then taking out the spaces where they touched, creating hole. I also learned how to light an object from doing a worksheet and watching a Youtube video. I picked this project because it turned out super good and I'm proud of how well I did on it. My greatest strength in this project was lighting the object. I was able to understand the lighting really easily and caught on to it pretty fast. My weakness, however, was getting the holes to appear properly. My first few tries resulted in all . my shapes disappearing but I was eventually able to make it work. I improved on this skill by figuring out what angle for clicking worked the best. I'm going to use what I learned to light the rest of my projects in a professional, appropriate manor. I wouldn't really change anything about this project except make the plane lighter, its to dark. Overall, I'm really proud of this project and think its's one of my best.