Recently in E-comm we have dedicated our time to a new project: the recreation of movie trailer (set in high school). We were assigned groups in which we would decide which trailer to recreate. My group, which consisted of Shaylee (director), Maddie (cinematographer), Alexis (Art Director), and I as the main editor, decided on The Breakfast Club as our trailer of choice. We dedicated time during school and after for our best attempt of recreation, although we fell short of completion.
The Process Behind The Tragedy
The Breakfast Club seemed like an easy task at first, but eventually as events turned out it proved to be otherwise. First we started by creating scripts and storyboards. I was tasked with the storyboards while our director helped create the scripts. Shortly after, our Art Director created costume lists, and our cinematographer created prop lists, resulting in our pre-production process being completed fast. But, during our production days our actors were unavailable, resulting in the constant change of actors, therefore leading to my group playing the part ourselves. Due to schedule conflicts within the group as well, we ended up with an unfinished trailer. Although we all mainly worked hard, we came close to completion.
Reflection Upon Semi Completion
Although the majority of my group put forth their best effort for completion, our group ran out of time resulting in our submission of a semi completed project. Schedule conflicts, actor changes, and unavailable equipment played a major role in our struggles towards completion. If I had tried to recreate this trailer again, I would be the director and worked with new people to create available time spans, as well as a specific schedule to follow.
As of late in video production, we've spent the past month working on a music video. My group consisted of Blake Gamber as the Main Editor, Addy Osborn as the Art Director, River as the secondary Art Director who primarily filled roles and completed extra tasks if needed, Blake Dane as Cinematographer, and myself as the Director for the video. We went for a story look for our music video, following the concepts of a guy who is lonely and lost, who eventually finds a love interest and becomes content. The story follows a storyline of 3 days that gradually become happier as the character progresses. Overall we had arranged several film dates and spent class time sorting out the specifics as a group, but our project was incomplete by the date of the deadline, resulting in a almost finished video.
The Process
Our group split up the work and attempted to divide and conquer, first by scouting main actors and extras, locations, and props. Addy, River, and I took care of scouting for extras and other necessities, although we did not use majority of them. Afterwards, River and I starting with school scenes on film dates we set. But, during these times we ran into problems such as a school gas leak, extras not showing up, or misunderstood availability of main actors. After school scenes we worked on house scenes at Blake Gamber's house. Addy and River accompanied Blake Gamber to film these scenes. Shortly after we prioritized park and car scenes, with Addy and River accompanying me on several occasions to film, yet none of extras turned up and our actors abruptly had schedule conflicts resulting the scrapping of the footage due to having to refill with different light. Overall we had arranged roughly 11 film dates, and out of those only 6 were able to be used. But, once all, was said and done for the most part we could begin to edit our film, with Blake Gamber's being the priority.
Collaboration
In my personal opinion, I believe the majority of my group worked together to get this project done with the intent of submitting it into a competition. But, there were definitely group conflicts that restricted our capabilities a bit. For example, when we were attempting to set dates for filming the collective group put down their availability for almost every day, except Blake Gamber who left his availability vague stating he is "free any day he is not working" although we had no way of knowing which days he was, which turned out to be everyday. Blake D did not show up to any film sessions and failed to help contribute to group ideas or plans, which made it difficult since someone else had to fill the role of cinematographer on set. Then of course as mentioned earlier, our actors had conflicts such as robotics which was not typically expressed until the date of filming. As a result, reliability was an issue, so setting up dates to film was difficult for the most part. Another issue we ran into was the argument of changing the script on set, which delayed filming. For example, if Addy disagreed with a segment in the script we had to struggle back and forth until we could come to a conclusion, using up time needed for filming. River although was extremely helpful and contributed in almost every way towards the project. She provided valuable insight and much needed help for setting up equipment. Due to these collaboration issues we inevitably ran out of time, yet our project looked rather appealing so the outcome is not that disappointing.
Personal Overview
In my opinion, I tried my hardest to keep the project afloat, showing up to every film session except the one hosted at Blake Gamber's house. I helped recruit extras, check out equipment, and schedule film dates. One flaw of mine during filming was my mistakes of continuity on two of the lunchroom scenes, which I had hoped to redo but we ran out of time. I believe that River, Addy and I contributed the most to this project, whereas our other group mates failed to accompany us to filming or help with ideas in class. If I could do this project again, I would choose more reliable group mates that would help contribute to lighten the workload, and I would focus more on availability and continuity.
Recently in Ecomm, we worked on developing a feature story to demonstrate our skills, and present in class. We were paired up into groups, and tasked with finding unique traits and demonstrating them through a sequence of shots, B-roll, and a full fledged interview. The person I interviewed was Eric Baker, member of the dungeons and dragons club and medieval history enthusiast.
Behind The Scenes:
This project, overall, took roughly 3 weeks to complete. During this time we filmed the interview, B-roll, and edited the final product. At the start we starting throwing things out, trying to come up with a topic to discuss. Once we latched onto a subject, we formulated questions and stayed after school to shoot the interview. Shortly after, we stayed after school again to get footage of the dungeons and dragons club for B-roll. Once we had all the footage we needed, we spent a day putting together the clips and using editing techniques we were taught during class.
Results From This Project:
Due to this project I was able to learn the process of creating a story on film. I learned how to properly use a camera paired with a lavalier microphone, and how to test audio levels before filming took place. I have acquired new knowledge on how to properly interview someone, and how to scout a well suited location to film. Although there were a lot of ideas I have learned to this project, there are also a few things I would change. For example, I was paired in a group of 3, and although I know this was unavoidable, it still made working as a group difficult since we had to work together to make an additional feature story, since the majority of the class was paired in groups of two. Also, it would be additionally helpful if we were taught about the tools in Adobe Premiere Pro to help soften the time spent on editing. I am rather unfamiliar with Adobe softwares, so a large chunk of my time is spent trying to navigate the menus, especially since I'm already accustomed to a different editing software I use for personal reasons.
For our last quarter of e9 we incorporated skills gathered throughout the year in a group based project. The project used skills from video production, graphic design, and animation to make a believable company and presentation to show to our judges (aka teachers). There were many ups and downs with this project, and I would say the most challenging part was the 3d animation and box design because it was hard to get a clear image of what we wanted to do. At first our group started out slow, coming up with various ideas and pitching them to the rest of the group, but then we caught on and split up the tasks to accomplish goals faster. The project took almost all the available class time during quarter 4 to complete, but the outcome was definitely worth the effort. My accomplishments as an individual in the group were not astounding, but they were definitely contributive and credible. I spent my time working on the 3d animation and box design as well as some of the creative construction of the product and company, and with the constructive feedback from my peers I was able to shape my work into pieces that fit well with our company and plan. After working with my group this quarter, I have learned several new skills in fields such as video production and graphic design that I could potentially use in future works for myself. Overall I would say that I'm rather proud of my work and my contributions, but also my group as a whole.
Animation for our website
Animation to put on other's websites
Use of Class Time:
Company banner
During class I would say that I remained a mixture between productive and unproductive. Although I was distracted easily, I still managed to complete my work on time with that being either the use of time out of class or the implementation of my peers ideas or feedback to help me make a solid product. Majority of my work was done during class, but during the filming period we did use time out of class to get a better shot and work on our filming skills as a whole. Also, I spent some time out of class researching potential editing tricks and skills for the commercial portion of our project to possibly improve mine and make it fit with the ideas I had in my head. My team and I also spent time communicating after school to check up on the completion of products that were others responsibilities (although I did try and provide feedback for said products).
Strengths:
After my official first year of E-communications, I can proudly say that my areas of expertise are in the video production and animation fields, especially since those fields are the ones I receive the most joy and entertainment out of. I have had experience with these fields in the past, but E-comm has helped me better my skills and taught me more about the things I love. I try to incorporate my strengths and use them the best I can, whether that be my edits on our commercial or feedback for parts of our project like the logo or animation.
Areas of Improvement:
After realizing my strengths in E-comm, I have also realized the parts that need improvement. For example, I would definitely say that I need to work on my capabilities in the 3d aspect of things using softwares such as Sketchup, as well as my filming skills with the camera and tripod. In the future I wish to improve my 3d models as well as my use of different angles and shots while filming. For these reasons, I believe I still have a long way as an E-communications student.
My Thoughts on Quarter 4:
As a wrap up for the entirety of quarter 4, i would definitely say that I loved working in a group and using everyones specific talents to master and put together a project. If I could restart this quarter I would definitely try and contribute some more to the group, rather than completing my tasks and letting the others figure out there, which then as a result would speed up the process and increase my work ethic. I would say the take away lesson from all this is that everyone has their own talents, and a long road ahead to perfecting them, so it's always better to have feedback from others but still be confident in your abilities. Next year I hope to keep progressing in the fields of animation and video production, and improve my flaws. This year has been a great learning experience for me, as well as a place for me to show off my skills and wind down and just enjoy my hobbies.
This week we have been working on designing a website with a program called Adobe Dreamweaver. We used an original html file and then added on to it, so the original and edited one look different from each other. The original file had a white background with black text and an image of a dog on the left side. Once we finished editing the CSS files of the original html file, we had major differences. In the edited html, we moved the dog over to the right side, and changed the background to black with the middle being an almost white color. We also played with the fonts and their height, and we linked the original html to the newer edited one. These pictures are from the live view of this website.
Contrast:
Contrast was used in this CSS style using colors. The backgrounds are opposite colors, so they contrast well. Also, The tan text contrasts the almost white background, adding to the contrast effect even more. The contrast is much more visible in the edited version than it is in the original html file.
Alignment:
Alignment was used in the edited html file with all the main text being aligned along the left. Also, the main heading and the subheading are right next to each other, with the main heading above the sub heading.
Repetition:
Repetition is used in the edited html file with all the text being one of two colors. The important headings and text are tan, and the poem is black. Also, the line height and spacing is the same throughout the poem.
Proximity:
Proximity is used in the edited html file with the relationship between the poem paragraphs being close together, and the headings being closer together. Also, the dog was moved to give help the layout more.
New Knowledge:
With this project, I have learned how to take an already existing html file and change it up to make it more unique. This project was fun in the fact that you could edit an existing html file and compare the changes to the original html file. Also, the checklist made things easier so overall this project was fun and easy.
My personality type is ENTP which I got as a result of taking the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Test. This sequence of letters shows that I'm flexible with new problems and tasks that I'm given, resourceful and able to create new solutions, smart in terms of reading other people, and bored easily by things repetitive or that stay the same. I quickly react to problems and I'm quick in turning from one interest to another, so I'm constantly experiencing new ideas and interests.
Famous People With The Same Personality Type:
Many people in the past have had the same personality type as I currently do, and some of those include Benjamin Franklin, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Niccolo Machiavelli. All of these people experienced the same sort of thoughts or behavioral patterns as I have. But, a few people who are considered evil have also had the same personality type. For example Mao Zedong, or the Dictator of Communist China also has the same type of personality type as I do.
My Personality Animal:
After I took the Lion/Otter/Golden Retriever/Beaver Test I added up all my points and came to the conclusion that fall into the "Beaver" category. The beavers are very organized and quick thinkers, and they value creativity and respect. But their weakness is pressure by others and trying too hard to be perfect. This category suits me quite well because I believe it aligns with my strengths as well as my interests.
My Thoughts On My Personality Type:
I Believe this personality type does actually represent me very well, and it has helped me realize some of my own thoughts and behavior as well. For example, I believe that I do overthink things and that I tend to stick to a certain type of group of friends. This personality type shows that I have the capabilities to lead a team or stay on task and follow the lead of others, and I have learned that it's good to be prepared and that I can be rather flexible and resourceful if I need to be.
Recently we have been working on a project that attempts to make moving from one place to another more entertaining. We used different techniques such as adding obstacles and different angles to make the movement more enjoyable to watch. We used Ipads and tripods to record the scenes, and Adobe Premiere Pro to put them all together into a sequence of events. This project took roughly 1 week to fully complete both recording and editing.
How We Completed This Project:
We completed this project by separating different tasks and taking each task a step at a time. We first began by splitting up the work between 4 different people, since we worked in small groups on this project. After we determined the director, main actor, side actors, and cameraman, we began story boarding to put together a simple story taking place in the school where a student had to travel from one point to another. We came up with many ideas but we decided on this one revolving around hot pockets because it seemed the most unique of the ones we came up with. Then, we spent the next two days filming various scenes, trying to keep many of the constants the same. Once we were finished with the filming we hopped on the computers and began editing using Adobe Premiere Pro. We added quick cuts, zooms, and other various effects that we needed. The music we used in our film is a few songs we picked from a long list of royalty free songs. After the video was completely edited we exported it and uploaded it to our youtube channels to be viewed.
New Ideas and Possible Changes:
During the making of this film, I learned many new techniques to spice up movement to make it less dull and boring. Obstacles are a must in films to add anticipation and action, and I have learned that now. If I were to do this whole project over again I would film a few scenes different, and have less clips but have them be longer rather than having a lot of short clips so they could all fit together more smoothly.
