20 Steps Challenge

One of my most recent projects was when I filmed the "20 Steps Challenge, " which I filmed by attempting to stop every 20 steps in any direction and shoot a short clip of what I'm doing. The point of this project was to give an insight on what it's like to be me on a regular day. I started at my house, where I filmed myself feeding my dog, then doing my homework, eating dinner, then eventually going to my uncle's house where my cousin just recently celebrated his birthday. I actually didn't end up filming my cousin who had the birthday because when I got there, I wasn't walking around too much because we were mostly just having snacks and desserts and talking with each other. I did, however, film while him and a few of his friends went out to celebrate some more because my younger cousin came over with his dog and we just hung out. I stayed there for about another two hours where I filmed us leaving and arriving back home. Once I was at home, I also filmed myself watching T.V. with my Dad, and then finally going to bed. I thought that this project went very well, however, I felt that I could've done better by shortening some of the shots and there was a small part where I left a shot out of focus for about 3 seconds, but I sped it up a bit and cut it in half. I thought that I did really well in some parts of this video, like when I used different pans to make cool transitions. My favorite transition by far, was when I filmed myself doing homework, and when I looked at my backpack, I panned upwards to my parents and I eating dinner by using the table as a transition point. Forgetting about the out of focus shot and the length of each shot, I think that this video turned out fairly well.  

A Day at Fox4 KC

On November 14, 2015, I had the opportunity to job shadow at the KCTV5 news station. It all started when my AVID teacher assigned us a long term project which required us to job shadow someone that had a job we were interested in. Because I am interested in filmmaking, specifically cinematography and editing, there is unfortunately not many options for me to choose from, so I decided to ask around and find out if anyone worked in the field of photography. One of my good friends ended up having an uncle who was a photographer in Kansas, so I immediately jumped at the opportunity, but before I did I found out that him and his Uncle did not get along very well, so out of respect I decided to find someone else.

After having no luck, I thought that I would have to shadow someone with a job I have no interest in at all, but then my mom actually suggested that I at least try to get in contact with someone from a news station. It sounded like a good idea to me, however, I thought that an email from a random student at a random school would easily get lost on their to-do list. So I tried getting in contact with various news stations such as KMBC9, Fox4 KC, 41 Action News, and finally, KCTV5. After a few days and no reply, I came to the realization that I would just have to make do with what I had. But then on Wednesday, November 11, I received an email from a woman named Jana Calkins who was a managing editor at KCTV. She said that although my deadline (which was November 20) was tight, she would still be able to help. She offered me a few dates on the weekend which started at 2pm and ended at 6pm, depending on whether or not I wanted to stay to watch the news in person, as well as the weekdays which would require me to show up at 4am. I almost questioned why she chose to respond to my email, but then she explained that she has a son that goes to ONW, and that she donated their old news desk to our school which is used for ONW NOW. She also said that she had worked with Mrs. Morris before on some sort of project. I chose to come in on Saturday because I figured that I would at least like to be awake when I'm entering a professional environment.

Saturday came and I was really excited because it was an amazing opportunity that doesn't come around very often. I arrived at exactly 2pm, which was a bad idea knowing that it is more professional to arrive at least 15 minutes before, and it seemed a little empty. I saw a sign on the front door that read, "Visitors must dial 1000", pointing to a phone on the wall. I dialed the number and I heard a very faint voice that was saying "hello", so in response I told them that Jana Calkins was expecting me to arrive. They understood and said that they would send someone to come down and let me in, as their was no receptionist in the lobby. About 2 minutes or so passed when a man came down to greet me. His name was Randy Parrott, and he was the Executive Producer. We walked up a spiral stair case to a large room with a large desk and a lot of other small desks with computers. There were about four other guys there who looked like they were working on something, which I assumed was part of that evenings broadcast. He introduced me to some of the workers and even a few of their anchors. I sat down with them as they were reviewing what their plans were for that days broadcast. After about 20 minutes Randy showed me around a little more and where the editors worked. There were only two editors there because weekends only require about a half of the usual crew. There was an editor there named Jason who I spent a good portion of the rest of the day with. I watched him edit that days news package while I asked him a lot of questions and he talked about how he got into doing what he does. While we were talking he asked me what program I use for editing and I told him that I use Final Cut Pro 10. I was surprised to find out that they actually use Final Cut 7, and he said that in mid-December they would be switching to 10. He also said that they had a room where they installed FCP10, but only one other person uses it. About 45 minutes later he took me to another room with a computer. It was the computer with FCP10 and he said that I could edit a news package just for fun, so he showed me a script to write to and some footage for a car wash fundraiser. After about 15 minutes of leaving me alone to edit, he came in and I showed him the finished project. He said that he thought it was very well done, so he was going to put it into that days show, but once he tried to find the story on that days schedule, we found out that the producer had decided to cut it due to time constraints. Although it was cut, it was still a good experience to have.

Randy then came to me right before the show started and told me that I could go down into the control room to watch half the show and then into the studio for the other half. The control room was really cool.They had a lot of T.V.'s that showed different reporters and different studio cameras. After about 30 minutes, I went down into the studio right across the hall and watched the show from there which was very interesting. It was cool to see all of the equipment they had in use, and I was surprised to find out that only one camera operator was working at the time, but then again it was the weekend.

At just about every commercial break the news anchors would always ask me questions about what I liked to do film wise and what I thought about their station. I also had the opportunity to take a few pictures with the anchors and they took a few pictures of me shown on their weather green screen, which was awesome. Once the show ended, Randy took me back upstairs because it was time for me to leave. Job shadowing at KCTV5 was a great experience and I'm thankful to everyone who helped make it happen, as well as all the crew who made it a fun and interesting experience.

Wing$ Music Video

Story

Recently I have been thinking about making a music video, but I didn't know what song I would choose. I started looking through my playlist, and then I came to the song Wing$ by Macklemore. Once I started listening to the song, I knew that it would make for a good music video because of the story it tells about a kid who loved both basketball and basketball shoes, and he thinks that getting a certain pair of shoes will make him stand out from everybody else and be cool. Once he realizes that other kids in his school have the same pair of shoes he comes to realize that the way he dresses isn't what makes him original, but his personality and the way he acts is that makes him unique.

Process

Another reason I knew that this was a good music video to make was because once I watched the actual music video of Wing$ for inspiration, I already knew that I could cast the perfect person for the role of the kid. I decided to cast my cousin who is in the 8th grade, who loves basketball and in my mind, reminds me exactly of the kid in the actual music video. I spoke to my cousin and asked him if he would play the part, and he said yes, so then I started working on the script. Naturally I didn't want to create the same story with the same shots, so I needed to twist the story a little. When I was't writing the script I was listening to the song constantly to think of new ideas and shots. It took me about a week to finish the script, and then I began to storyboard for about another week. I started to film about three weeks ago and I only filmed on the weekends because I knew that my cousin wouldn't be available during the week because of homework and things like that. I haven't finished filming yet but I recently just finished the beginning of the video, and I hope to finish filming in about three weeks.  

Premiere Pro vs. Final Cut Pro

Premiere Pro

One of the main reasons that Premiere may be considered a better program is because it integrates well with After Effects an Photoshop, which are highly regarded, industry software. When purchased in a bundle, Adobe products form a seamless package that makes it seem as though it is just one application. Premiere is recommended over Final Cut because you can buy the same features for much less money. It is also seen as a better program because it can be used for both a Mac and a PC, which is much more convenient for those who may not be able to afford a thousand-dollar product. Although it used to not be considered a professional program, it recently came on the rise to be considered more professional than Final Cut.

Final Cut Pro

For years Final Cut Pro has been used by professionals and was considered to be more stable and faster than Premiere, however, it may have been based more on the operating system than the software. Final Cut is recommended if money is no object and/or you have an Mac. If you're a serious video professional, Final Cut will most likely not be able to meet your needs, because it lacks many features that are required for pros. Over the years it has been debated that Final Cut has had little regard for professionals, and has been abandoning the professional community over its consumer products.

Similarities

Both programs are part of large software bundles, which are highly recommended because of their power and flexibility over things like audio, graphics, etc. Most of the differences are very minor, however, it isn't recommended that someone should buy one product over the other because of a feature because when they become upgraded once again, they will likely catch up with each other and be even more similar. Although both programs cost a significant amount of money, they both offer free trials that anyone can use.

To Appreciate the Art of Film Editing, You Must Start With a Frame of Reference

What is an Editor?

Editors are the unsung heroes of great movies, and are a largely misunderstood part of the filmmaking process. In an article called, "To Appreciate the Art of Film Editing, You Must Start With a Frame of Reference",  Editors are the part-artists, part-technician, who, the minute the camera starts rolling, begins to organize each days footage to most closely approximate the director's vision. An editor catalogues every single take an actor takes of a line, and recombines them until every scene works. The editor's job "is partly to anticipate, and partly to control each shot that cinematographers get.

The Process

  The actual editing itself in a film doesn't take place until after all of the movie has been filmed and all the actors have gone home. The editors and film directors then work together day in and day out to  see how the finished product will turn out on the big screen. Whether working with film stock or digitally, the first round of film editing starts with the script. Film editors assemble the footage into a rough, or editor's cut, that follows the script by cutting and splicing various shots together. The rough cut shows the film editor where the film needs changes or corrections. The film editor will point these corrections out to the director. Working closely with the film director, the film editor begins the second version of the film, the director's cut. This version smoothes out all the flaws and corrections that needed to be changed. After the director's cut, the producer or movie studio reviews the film. The film editor then makes the third version, the final cut. The movie is then reproduced and put into theaters.

The reason I chose to read this article closely is because film editing is something that greatly interests me, and I think that it is constantly overlooked and under appreciated. What I enjoy most is seeing all the footage that has been filmed and adding different effects and music, and being able to see the finished product come together, knowing the time and effort it took to create it. I think that editing is one of the most crucial roles in creating any film, or video. 

River Bank

Project
During the fourth quarter, we had the opportunity to write, storyboard, and direct a short film. My group consisted of Drew McCall, Bryce Prichard, Tanner Daniels, and I. We initially decided to make a short film about a group of teenage boys who went on a camping trip, but rejected a friend of theirs and told him that he wouldn't be able to "handle it". As the boys are all having fun around a camp fire, they soon separate and eventually "disappear" one by one until one boy remains. The boy soon realizes that the man at fault for the dissappearances of the kids is their friend whom they rejected.

 Process
Our group took about a week to come up with  a complete story, and took a few days to write a script and storyboard. After all that, Drew was able to find four people that were able to be apart of our film, including Drew himself. Due to some scheduling conflicts, we had to start in the middle of the film and work our way back, and then finish at the end. After about five hours of filming,we seemed to be on a good pace because after each day of filming, we planned on editing that part during class time. After a few days of not being able to film, we finally got a day in which everyone was available for a few hours. Drew, Bryce, and I all went to the location to film after school, however one of our actors wasn't showing up. After about two hours of waiting and trying to get him there, his phone died and we couldn't reach him. We unanimousley decided that we should completely redo our story, and make up a new one, which we were able to do in the span of about 90 minutes. Our new story became about two teenage boys out in the woods for a hike, who find a dead body with a wallet full of money. They don't know whether to take the  money and run, or call the police and report it. After much consulting, they realize that they might be framed for the murder because they contaminated a crime scene. After much fighting, one of them decided to go get help, while the other one starts to choke randomly and dies. The reason for his death is the "cursed" wallet, because anyone who has the wallet dies. The money serves as a trap in order for people to take, and once they have it, it's already too late.

Learning Experience
Surprisingly enough, I do not regret anything about our project, because it was a great learning experience that taught us that we should plan ahead better, deal with scheduling conflicts as early as possible, and that we need to manage our time well. We were also fortunate to have used a boom mic, which was excellent for sound quality. I think that's one thing that our video excelled in. We also did not use a tripod at all throughout our published project, because Drew held the camera very still, but we also used the stabilization feature.

Challenges
As you can already tell, we did in fact face many challenges along the way. First, we had some days that we could not film due to some scheduling conflicts. Second, we had to come up with a completely new story with a short time period because of an absence of one of our actors. I think next time, we should get actors earlier and find out days in which they are available, as well as us. We should also leave enough time just incase we are not able to film certain days. Some things I would do the same is that I would use the boom mic again, and probably pick the same crew to film with because they know what they are doing.

In conclusion, I  thought our project turned out very well considering the circumstances, and our editing made it even better. The project was very fun, and I hope that we get another opportunity to do it again.    

"I Want You Back" Music Video

This is my version of our groups video of Jackson 5's "I Want You Back". We chose this song because we thought it would be a fun song to make a video to. But it did take a while to make our song selection and storyboard. One thing I thought we did well was collaboration. Whenever one of us had an idea we would all say what we thing of that person's idea and how it could fit into our story better if needed. One thing I think we could have done better however was choosing our song and making shorter shots because it took us about two class periods to choose our song and some of our songs were longer than ten seconds. The story is pretty much about a high school teenager who had just gotten into a fight with his girlfriend and he realizes that he made a mistake and wants her back. He sees her with another guy and decides he will give her a note that explains how much he loves her. When she puts the note in her locker without reading it, she forgets about it. He then tries giving her all sorts of objects to win her back, but in the end she finds the note, reads it, and decides to take him back.