Video Entertainment End of Year Reflection 2018-2019

The 5 Guarantees are Technical Skills, Communication, Collaboration, Leadership, and Project Management. For the first guarantee, technical skills, I believe that I have learned so much about Adobe Premiere and Adobe Photoshop over the past four years and especially in these last two. I believe it was important because, if I were to continue this path and create a career in the Entertainment industry, then I would need these skills and be able to work my way around Adobe products. I faced many challenges along the way with Technical skills due to issues in the program or in the files themselves. For Communication, I believe that I have changed quite a bit over the past four years, but not so much this year. I used to just let other people do what they wanted and did not try to change anything that I thought was wrong, but now I speak up and let the director or whoever is the department head my thoughts on that particular scene or footage. Communication, in my opinion, is the key to a successful collaboration with others.

Collaboration is hardwired into our brains when we are young so learning to collaborate was not hard at all. I believe it is important to collaborate because it is good to get others' opinion on certain subjects, especially since the person who created the script or treatment is biased to their idea. Leadership is something I've always struggled with because I am not confident in my work or my skills, but I believe it's important to be able to take control of a project and be able to effectively create something that the whole group is proud of. Project Management is something I've had trouble with in recent years due to my schedule being out of wack. I have a part-time job and since I usually only get two days off a week, it makes it a bit hard to get my schedule to align with my group.

I think my greatest strength is that I am willing to do any roles that are thrown my way and that I am able to, now, effectively communicate my ideas and thoughts about something to the leader of the project. I have improved a lot in these areas because of this class. In my freshman and sophomore year, I would let people do whatever they wanted and didn't try to stop them if I knew it wasn't going to look good as well as stick to just editing or doing storyboards. I believe that my greatest weakness is my project management, I don't really have the time to do much working on a video unless I am in class and working on it. I need to improve on this and use what days I have off to work on videos and certain aspects of entertainment.

I will most likely use what I have learned in college and everyday life. I believe that I will be able to use these skills in my future careers and such: communication, collaboration, leadership. I don't think I would be able to change anything about what I have learned, in all honesty. The problems I mostly have are with schedule alignment, which is something I can not fix. But if I could, I would do that. Overall, I believe that these skills have changed me as a person, especially since we were being graded on it and I had to force myself out of my comfort zone. I am sure that these guarantees will help me in future years and move me along on my career path.

Top 3 Projects

For my top 3 projects, my favorite project that we had to do was create a film reel. I have done several of these before but I was absolutely in love with this video and I am excited about how it turned out. I believe that it is a bit too long, but overall, I enjoy how I edited it. A lot of the shots are from one of my favorite cinematographers: Armin Dikic. But, some of them are from me. I edited this to a song I throughly enjoy titled "The Fly" by Cosmo Sheldrake and I believe that the beats were easy to be able to switch shots with. This project, overall, took maybe two days to create. I didn't really face a lot of challenges due to this being a film reel that is all my own style. I learned about how to transition effectively in these shots; for instance, you can't take a really dark shot and put it next to a bright shot and expect it to look nice. I believe for feedback, I was told to brighten it up a little bit and to shorten it. I agreed with both of these but haven't yet reedited it. I am extremely happy with how this video turned out and I hope that I make more film reels like this one. 

This is the second in my top 3 projects of this year. We were told that we had to create a music video, but we could do whatever we wanted other than that. My group and I chose to do the song "Connection" by One Republic. This project took about a week and a half to make with all the shots we needed as well as editing. The only challenges we faced were trying to get the locations to let us film along with getting that hallway shot, people kept looking at the camera. I didn't learn much with the project since we have done music videos in the past, but it was a fun experience. I don't recall what feedback we were given, but I believe that we did well with this video and I think everyone really enjoyed it. I believe that this video was one of our best this year and I really enjoyed creating it.

This is the third of my top 3 projects of this year. We made treatments for short films and from those, decided what we wanted to make with our group as well. We eventually used these scripts to decide on our feature film as well. I wrote this treatment and then the script, I believe this would be an enjoyable short story or book but not really eligible for a short or feature film. We filmed this in about two days and we decided we had to use folly sound when our audio came out funky, which didn't really work out for us. We couldn't really convey the whole video because we didn't have the materials, but it was such a fun process. We did not receive feedback because we turned it in late and we did not change much, but we want to reshoot it sometime in the future. The video doesn't show how much fun we had creating this video. I don't think I've ever had so much fun on set. The video is not my favorite but it is bumped to my top 3 just because of the experience. We got to film in a rundown, partially demolished, house and it was honestly a trip. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into and we even had to wear masks because the air had so much debris and mold, it was amazing. I wouldn't trade that experience for anything.

Overall Experience

Outside of class, I believe I used what time I had efficiently when it came to filming or being on set for every project we had. Outside of class, my friend and I have decided that we want to create a podcast called SauceBox Podcast, which we have worked on and made a couple episodes for. The skills we have learned from this class have truly helped us work on our podcast and made it easier for us to understand the work that goes on behind the camera. I believe that being in Video Entertainment has helped me a lot when it comes to being patient and working through any technical issues I might have when working on projects because we've had so many problems with making these videos and I've learned to not freak out when my clips are not showing up or my video will not export correctly. I use this skill in my career as well when I am dealing with customers who are being difficult and I just try my best to stay calm and collected, which this class has helped me with due to problems on set or in the editing process. 

I believe I need improvement on my project management and procrastination. I tend to procrastinate a lot and have been trying to quit that habit, which has actually been working out for me recently. In our feature film, I was the storyboard artist. I was also the sketchbook artist because our character was an artist, I had to draw for him. I worked with the Director of Photography along with the Art Director to draw and understand the character with the best of my ability. For the first page in the sketchbook, I had called our DP and asked what he thought about the character because I wanted the first page to be something that the main character would identify with. He and I agreed that I should draw birds because he feels trapped and wants to fly away from this life and unreachable expectations of him. Every day, I was creating drawings and illustrations for the sketchbook as well as working with the DP to make storyboards that reflect his vision for each shot. 

Overall, I believe that my favorite part about this year was making the short films, it was so much fun and I couldn't have asked for a better crew and cast. It was one of the best set experiences of my life. I would try to stop the procrastination of my projects if I could, but I throughly enjoyed working on most of these projects. This year has been a rollercoaster of emotions creating each video and it really hasn't hit yet that this is my last time to be able to see all of these people and to make videos like this and be able to critique others in the way that we do. Outside of school, I would like to continue making videos. I have actually thought about making an art channel on YouTube and use the skills I've learned in this class to create high quality videos. I also want to make more film reels and music videos with my friends, those are my favorites to make with them because they're so expressive, especially the film reels. It more reflects a fun day with my friends and every time I watch them I can recall the exact moment I started filming it or when my friend filmed it and I love that feeling of remembering the jokes we made at that moment. I think these four years will stick with me throughout my whole life and I wouldn't trade it for anything. 

Fire Station Mini Documentary

My group has not yet finished the video due to error in both parties' schedules. But, it will be imbedded here once it has been done.

We did not use a script for our mini documentary, we decided we wanted to film and interview the firefighter's experiences in the field and why they chose this career path. The pre-production was mostly trying to get the publication manager at the fire station to let us film with them and interview the crew. We didn't use any storyboards or a script because riding along on a fire truck can be so unpredictable; therefore, we decided it best to, with lack of a better term, wing it. Our production schedule was literally whenever we both had time. It's hard to be able to film when the schedule for these departments are so unpredictable in their actions and if they have an emergency to attend to.

I could not film with my partner on this project because I was working the one day that we had the opportunity to film and there could only be one person riding with the firefighters and the director/cinematographer and I decided it would be best for him to ride with them. We are currently editing it; therefore, I do not have much to say on the editing process yet. Since it was a two person job, we did not really have set roles and such. I did not really learn anything because this is a standard project that we've done several times before.

I believe that we used the 5 Guarantees efficiently, except for time management. Since we were working on our movie and both of us work almost every day, it was incredibly difficult to find the time to work on this project. Even during our documentary work days, we both had to work on the movie. But, we used the communication, leadership, technical skills, and collaboration efficiently, in my opinion. The only thing I would do differently is try to find the time to do this earlier in the month because it has changed the quality of our work. I would do the same aspect, I enjoy what our documentary is about, I just wished we had the time to work on it and make it high quality.

Overall, I do not think that this project will enhance my next project in any way, honestly. I believe it is a fun idea to get in depth with the personal achievements these firefighters have gone through and worked on. But, it was just a bad time and we did not have the schedule to make it work.

"No Sleep" PSA

The original concept that we came up with for our video was an anti-cussing video where we would take common cuss words and replace them with types of food and show the food in a humorous way. We also wanted to do a 1930s themed film where the main actor drops their phone and begins to say a cuss word but they look up and they see they've been transported into the '30s where they can not speak any foul language. After my group and I spoke about this, we decided that we did not have the materials to create a video of that nature and make it look high quality. So, we switched to insomnia, which we thought we could create easier and of a better quality.

The process of creating this video was a bit anxiety-inducing at first because we were given this project when we were beginning to create our feature film and my group and I have significant jobs on this set. But, we persevered and created something when we had time. We did not have a script since there were no words spoken in this video. Our production team roles were slightly mixed since we only the two of us in the group plus our actor. So, Armin was the cinematographer while I was the gaffer, Armin was the editor, I was the continuity supervisor, and we were both directors for the video. The creation of this film was quick and filmed in just 25 minutes, it was also edited in 45 minutes to an hour.

We both had to act as a lot of roles on set and I believe we both effectively did what we needed to do in the short time it took to film and create this video. I did not learn much from this video, it was pretty basic and I have not learned anything. We used an 80D with a 50mm lens, we filmed in 60fps. We were going to use the 25mm lens, but the room was too dark to see the actor, and it would look grainy if we tried to add a filter to lighten it. It was edited using Adobe Premiere Pro. We still find the video to be too dark, but we do not want the film to be too grainy. We used the five guarantees effectively, in my opinion. The only one that we did not truly use to the full extent was Time Management, since we did not turn it in until the last minute.

The only thing I would do different is to try to lighten up the actor a bit more. I would also change the end just a little bit. I would do everything else the same, honestly. I really enjoy how this video came out and working on it was a little bit fun but also kind of terrible. I think I would only take away one thing: make time to work on the pre-production.

Overall, I really enjoyed the beginning process of making this film, even if it was stress-inducing. I would change some things but I thought it worked nicely for what little time we filmed it in.

Video Semester Final Review

In this semester, I worked a lot on my own or with one other person. I have found that I personally like it better that way since it becomes easier to maintain our timeframe and filming becomes more fun. This semester, we worked on a short film, a music video, and a commercial.

Music Video

The project was to take a song that we enjoyed and make a music video for it. It took maybe two weeks for the whole process, one week for planning and the next week to film and edit. A lot of the challenges we faced were the timeframe, some of our actors and crew couldn't be on set because of work or for personal reasons. I believe we were given feedback on certain shots, the class said that some of the shots didn't really make sense, even though they were b-roll. We changed the shots and tried to switch them out with shots that made more sense in that scene. Overall, I really enjoyed making this video because I love all the shots and the colors. I also believe that the story is very clear in the lyrics and such. 

Commercial

The scope of this project was to assign ourselves a product and create a commercial for it. My group decided that we wanted to use Dr. Pepper and make a more controversial commercial about a same-sex couple enjoying the soda. I could not personally be on set because I had to work a lot, but from what I heard, filming was a breeze and was incredibly fun for the cast and crew. It took about two weeks for the whole process. The only problem we faced was making it clear what we wanted to show in the location that we had. Though, we also had a problem with actors being able to make it to set as well. The feedback that we were given was that our story was not really told properly. I believe they said that the story was a little unclear and we needed something else to make it just a little more cohesive. I don't believe we changed much, just the editing. Overall, I enjoyed making the little animation at the end but I am not completely proud of this commercial, unfortunately. 

Short Film

This was, by far, my favorite project so far. The finished product does need to be a little refined, but we had to edit it quickly because of the little time we had to make it. We were given a single week to do everything, which we did not complete in that timeframe. We faced a lot of challenges when we were first beginning, such as location, actors, and sound. We were going to use foley noise, but a lot of the sound we tried to use just didn't fit. I didn't learn much other than we can not make a good short film in a single week, it's virtually impossible with other classes and work taking up our time. though, filming was a huge blast and I enjoyed every second of it. We didn't receive any feedback since our film was not finished on time. Overall, I really loved making this film and I don't think I'd change a lot, plot and filming wise.

Questions

Most of my time in class has been used to study editing techniques and create ideas for our projects. In all honesty, I did not ever finished early on any projects that we've done so far. Once I was done with one, I moved on to another one. If for some reason I was waiting on something or someone, I would speak to my group and ask what they wanted me to do or refine details in the script or editing. Outside of class, I usually will go out with my friend, Armin, and take a camera and film or take photos of anything really. We do it just to practice and we enjoy doing it together since we easily bounce ideas off of each other. 

I believe my strengths are that I am extremely flexible when it comes to filming or taking on jobs on set that needed to be filled. I maximize these by just doing what's asked of me and asking others for advice or stating my opinion when I believe it's relevant. I think I need improvement on my procrastination, I tend to push this class aside if I feel my other classes need more attention. Though with filming or editing, it's more harmful that helpful when I procrastinate. I didn't learn really anything new from our guest speakers since I have already learned most of that stuff from this class or from my own research and have been applying it to my work for a while now. 

In our new upcoming feature film, I am the Storyboard Artist. I am used to draw a lot and making sketches in a short amount of time because of my interest in the art industry. I have also drawn up concept art for our film and given it to our publicists to hopefully get people excited about our movie. I believe I will also have to be on set a lot since I am the one making the storyboards and I will be there to help the DP and first AC clear up and confusion about the shots. 

Summary

I really loved making the short film this semester, it was so much fun and I absolutely loved every second of it. Even though the project didn't turn out the best, I had the time of my life creating it with Armin and our actor, Ryan. The only thing I think I would change is the commercial, I wish we would've gone more in depth with our shots to make the story cohesive and understandable. I don't believe I learned anything new this semester, but I would probably keep the timeframe in mind in the future. One goal I'd like to set is that I want to be more active in the class discussions and stating my opinion when I believe it's relevant to what we we're doing. Overall, I really enjoyed a lot about this past semester and I'm incredibly excited for our feature film. 

"Delirium" Short Film Reflection

The script that we chose was my script titled "Delirium". I wanted the film to be about a man living in a small apartment or house and something is living in the vents, though there's a small plot twist at the end. Pre-production was an interesting experience. Usually, I don't have a lot of ideas that are do-able for a short film, they're mostly ideas that would work for animations. Although, I told my friend about my idea and he was thrilled and told me he wanted to create it. He helped me flesh out my idea and helped me create a script for it.

We did not do a storyboard because our film is silent and so the "script" was technically just a shot list. We didn't really have a production team role either because of our small group. The only people in my group were Armin and I, we had talked to our teacher and asked if we could do this with just us because we wanted to create this film and no one else did and she agreed and told me how my friend spoke highly of my concept therefore let us do work with just us. Our schedule was a bit off since Armin works a lot and I had gotten sick and was out of school for 3 days. So, we filmed for 2 days and got all the shots we needed. We overall filmed for about 12 hours. The second day of filming we went to a house that a family friend owned that was about to be bulldozed and it was incredibly interesting to be apart of. The house was incredibly small and was very scary to walk around in if I'm being honest, but it was fun to look at the history. The editing has been a little harsh since our schedules just haven't lined up and because the school ran out of cameras for us to use, we had to use my Rebel picture camera and therefore the quality is terrible.

My role in the process was technically Director, but since our group was so small, Armin and I did everything and just overall worked together to get the shots we wanted. I really didn't learn much along the way other than having a small group with someone you know and can bounce ideas off of is incredibly fun and helped us complete the shots faster and add shots that we thought would look good. The five guarantees were used effectively I believe. Technical skills were used very nicely I thought with our shots and the communication was definitely used because of our constant review of shots and critiquing each others ideas. Leadership was used throughout the film since we also decided from the beginning what we wanted and we sort of shared the leadership role to come through with our shots. Collaboration was definitely used throughout the film because of our sharing of all the roles, technically. Project management is the only thing that we did have a little trouble on but strictly because of our differing schedules.

I think the only thing I would do different is attempt to get the 80D earlier because of the quality of the film now. I believe I would do everything else the same since filming was so much fun and I honestly had a great time. I think I would love to continue filming in such a small group, especially with someone I know, because it was easy to film and it was very interesting to work with my friend like that since we haven't worked in a group with just us ever. Overall, making this film was incredible and it will probably forever be my favorite film that I've ever been apart of, even if it's not the best.

RKO Pictures Inc.

Who created your studio and when?

David Sarnoff created RKO Pictures on October 23, 1928.

What major stars worked in that studio?

Katherine Hepburn and John Barrymore are major stars that worked in RKO Pictures.

What famous movies did they make?

They made Cimarron (1931), Bring Up Baby (1936), King Kong (1933)

What is the studio known for?

They are known for Fred Astaire - Ginger Rogers Series (Musicals)

Is the studio a major studio today?

No, the studio ceased production in 1953 after being bought by Howard Hughes. 

What movies or TV shows have they produced recently?

They haven't produced anything since being out of business. 

Stromae - "Tous Les Mêmes" Review

I'm not completely sure what the scope of this project was other than to create an alluring music video for a song that he had recently written. In the thought that I am apparently an editor, I truly appreciate the almost seamless transitions from scene to scene. Especially in the beginning with the blanket being pulled up and then it transitioning in to a scene where the blanket had become the shower curtain. Also the color depending on what gender the actor is portraying is very nice in my opinion. 

I'm not completely sure what the story is since I do not speak french and am not able to use lyrics to help me deicide what the story is. Although, I believe that this music video is showing how both men and women react to different situations, or how they are treated in general. It is being told throughout the different perspectives of one person acting as both a man and a woman and having one side of his face done in makeup and having his hair longer and curled while the other half of his head is shaved and has no makeup. I think I would like to apply the longer shots to my videos, I really like the look of one shot takes but that means that everything has to be perfect, which is hard to do. I was already aware of how color can change and affect the characters and the emotions being portrayed, but I really am happy about how they used it here. I believe that the creator did very well in getting the one shot takes nearly perfect, it's amazing. 

I believe that the creator could probably improve on some of the lighting, some of the shadows look really harsh compared to the light background and it is a bit distracting. Overall, I really love this project, I believe that this music video is beautifully done and I appreciate the song as well, all the beats go well with the scene and I love how smooth the transitions are.