Thursday, August 31, 2017

Editing Unit Goals

Take a moment to determine three goals that you'd like to make that you can complete by the end of the editing unit. What are these three goals? Why have you chosen them?
Goal 1: Master short cuts
Mastering short cuts can help me edit with any softwares, since short cuts are interchangeable in most. This will help improve editing speed immensely by shortening time on a mouse and allowing more time to be used for the real editing process.

Goal 2: Learn how to achieve continuity through the edit
Picking shots that flow well together help the entire edit flow. Additionally, being able to use transitions effectively between the shots will help bring the edit together. I also want to be able to bring audio into the edit effectively.

Goal 3: Understand the basics of color grading
Color grading footage has the power to portray the message of the entire film. I want to be able to color grade the content without the help of LUTs or any pre-made color grading system in order to enhance the footage. I want to be able to understand the color chart, and how to use it in order to equalize the white balance.

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Copyright and Fair use

Explain the concept of fair use in your own words? How do you think you can you apply fair use to you work that you create in this class?
Fair use means to utilize the creation of someone else through educational, critical, entertaining, and publication uses. Copyright must be followed in order to protect one's rights for their creation published online. Using without permission, giving credit, or responsibility for the content posted can be considered a violation to the creator's rights. For this class, I believe copyrighted material will most often be used for educational purposes. Images and songs will be used to practice editing and filming, which can be considered an educational purpose. Education is one of the fair uses, in which one can use the creation of another without permission.

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

21st century skills

What are the four 21st century skills? How do you think you can apply each of these to your work in this class going forward into the year? Be specific and give at least 3 examples.

The four 21st century skills are critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration. Critical thinking can be used to solve problems in class. Common sense and some critical thinking can help solve a problem one was not warned beforehand. For example, some critical thinking can help a student overcome small hurdles regarding film equipment. Creativity is key to filmmaking because it adds an artistic approach to the film. Creativity is also required to think outside of the box for new ideas for a film. Communication with the teacher and students are important. Miscommunications between a teacher can lead to academic problems, while miscommunication among students can lead to poor teamwork. Good communication leads to good collaboration. Having good collaboration skills can help a student achieve a great, efficiently made film as a team.

Monday, August 28, 2017

Digital Citizenship

What do you think that digital citizenship is? What does it consist of? Why might it be important?

I think having digital citizenship means to be a part of the community on the internet. Digital citizenship consists of reliability, initiation, and professionalism. Reliability can be built by always showing up on time and finishing work correctly and time efficiently. One who holds initiative will always seek out new responsibilities, enthusiastic to exceed the expectations given to them. Professionalism can be observed from a positive attitude and the ability to leave personal problems aside from work. All of these skills regarding digital citizenship is important because these will ultimately help one get hired for a job. Film makers would want to hire workers who are professional, reliable, and initiative to help them create a film.

Friday, August 25, 2017

Employability Skills

What are employability skills? Give three examples of what you feel are effective employability skills that you think could help you get a good job. Why are they important?

Employability skills are a set of skills necessary to become a employable worker. Communication, for example, is an important employability skill. Communication helps connect with coworkers in order to collaborate and complete a large project. Communication is also key to being an employable because it is a critical skill to have during emergencies. Being able to easily contact allows the hectic situation to be as collected as possible. Creativity is also a skill one may consider when employing a person. Without creativity, humans can be easily replaced by robots. People are employed for the their creativity, their ability to think outside of the box for new ideas. Having a creative employee at work allows the company to grow through new products and company management ideas. The most important employability skill to have is critical thinking. Organizations prefer to have workers who can solve their own problems because it allows more time to finish important work. Critical thinking also have the potential to help others overcome their problems in times of need, therefore allowing the worker to become a valuable worker.

Thursday, August 24, 2017

Set Safety Wrap Up

Now that you've completed the set safety and etiquette lecture, why is it so important? What parts of it do you think will be difficult to follow? What parts would you like to learn more about?

Safety on set is important because film sets have the potential to cause serious harm or even death depending on the amount of caution one has on site. There are large quantities of heavy equipment on set which can fall at any given moment when handled incorrectly. On a set where explosions occur, crew members can be seriously burned if he or she is not in the assigned position. If one refuses to follow correct procedures for film equipment, unlucky individuals would have the suffer the consequences. Constantly being alert would be the most difficult to follow. Objects such as cables and props are very easy to move or trip on when one lacks alertness. I would like to learn more about fire safety. I still do not feel fully prepared on what to do or where to go in case of a fire emergency. I would like to know how to use fire safety equipment more thoroughly.

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Teamwork

Watch the following video below and write a 1 paragraph reflection on the following prompt:
Teamwork effects the flow of the filming process and the overall safety of the environment. While one scene can take up hours of work singlehandedly, a team working on a set together to form a scene can take minutes with the help of teamwork. Being able to work as a team can help people use their time wisely, as well as have enough eyes to regard safety concerns. As seen from the short clip, although only one person may recognize the threat, the one person is able to spread the word to everyone in order to ensure safety of the whole team.

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Injury

Write about a situation where you witnessed someone get injured because of unsafe conditions. How did this make you feel? Why did it happen? What could have happened to prevent it.
Years ago when I was in elementary school, I encountered an injury happen under unsafe conditions. It was recess, and my friends and I decided to play jump rope with our hoodies. This was obviously unsafe, because hoodies are much heavier than normal jump ropes, which makes them easier to get caught up in and trip. We ended up tripping on our own hoodies, making us all feel foolish especially because the teacher who passed by us told us to stop because it was dangerous. It was easy to prevent this injury. My friends and I could have simply thought through with our actions, or took the teacher's advice more seriously.

Monday, August 21, 2017

Set Safety

Why is safety on a film set important? What are 3 different dangers that you should identify on set?
Safety on a film set is very important because it can lead to fatal injuries when safety is not regarded.  Injury upon a person on a set can slow down the production. The first danger one needs to identify on a set is the danger of tripping. If one gets caught up in cables of large equipment, heavy weights can fall upon yourself or others on set. Even if it doesn't injure someone else, it slows down the set by causing preventable fixes. Another danger that must be regarded is the danger of fire. Lights and electricity can very well be the cause of fire, which has the potential to ruin multiple film equipments as well as people on set. The location of exits and fire extinguishers must be identified before a shoot. The use of sharp objects is another safety hazard that must be precautioned for. Materials such as hard metal or glass can permanently damage someone's limbs. In order to be ready for any incident of injury. One must make sure to always have a first aid kit at an accessible location on set.

Friday, August 18, 2017

Three Films that Inspire You

     For many years, films have inspired countless audiences all over the world through a screen. Whether the audience is left with the beautiful imagery, or the touching message behind the movie, great films leaves one with a thought. I am not an exception. Some of the favorite films of mine such as Up, High School Musical, and La La Land continue to have a lasting impact on my life.

     Up (2009) is an animated film by Disney Pixar, about a old man who loses a wife and goes on a great journey to fulfill their lifelong dream of exploring South Africa. This film portrays the message that coming face to face with death causes one to live their life to the fullest. When Carl lost his wife, he was hit with the reality that life only lasts so long. This motivates Carl to go on the adventure he and his wife have been keeping off for so long. What made this movie so memorable is the section in the movie where it tells Carl’s life with his wife in a couple minutes, without any words. This scene is so powerful, because it forms enough background information about the wife which allows the audience to further understand the weight of Carl’s loss. The film continues to be meaningful to my life because it contributed to my life philosophy to pursue a passion while I can. This philosophy challenged myself to talk to people I usually don’t talk to and take classes no one else is taking (such as a film class not offered at my home school) because the film taught me how life is too short not to try new things.

     High School Musical (2006) is an original movie by Disney, about a popular basketball captain and a shy girl who breaks out of their comfort zone to pursue musical theater all while falling in love in the process. This film has a strong messages that argues new opportunities can be found when one breaks free from their emotional constraint. The characters overcame hardships of emotional constraints such as the stereotypes of a basketball captain and shyness in order to become true to themselves of what they love to do. This film became the base of the mindset of trying new things. As a child, watching this film and subconsciously absorbing the message of it helped build my life philosophy explained above. This film represents my childhood, and is also memorable in a way that it introduced me to the world of film. This piece was a great hit for children all around the world, including my friends as well. How captivated one can be through a film for many sequels surprised me in a way that may have contributed to future interest in video production.

     La La Land (2017) is a film directed by Damien Chazelle, about a woman dreaming of becoming an actress and a man dreaming of opening a Jazz cafe, falling in love. The plot the film conveys the message that love for something may force another love to be sacrificed, but happiness can still be achieved. Even when the two characters sacrificed their relationship for their passion, they both led a separate, yet happy life. This is one of my favorite movies because every scene of the movie is artistically composed by incorporating vibrant colors. Every second of the movie seemed to be worthy of a still photo. This movie is important to me because it was able to create a fond memory with my family. I found that my parents’ reaction to the movie and sharing the love for the story with them made this a memorable film for me. It reminds me of not only the strong message of the film, but experiencing a beautiful story with my family. A film with an ability to please such a wide range of audiences was shocking to me.

     Movies are an inspiration for many. They become a part of someone’s life by giving them the experience of extraordinary stories, scene by scene. Up, High School Musical, and La La Land continues to be part of my life, impacting me by giving fond memories and strong messages to live by. Films will continue to reach the heart of many, shaping someone’s life through a bright screen.

Vertical Video

Why is vertical video a bad idea? Have you taken one? Why?
Vertical videos are a bad idea because most video outlets are created for horizontal videos. Vertical videos suffer the threat of being cropped incorrectly or simply having to see the video in lower quality. The black borders that appear on the screen to modify with the vertical video is dead space that could have been used more effectively. In addition to the problem with platforms to export, many editing softwares do not regard vertical videos as an option, and it is fairly difficult to professionally edit a vertical video.

I have taken vertical videos, especially when I post on apps such as Instagram and Snapchat. Instagram and Snapchat are both designed to be seen vertically, and vertical videos increase the amount of space taken up by the video on a mobile device. Posting videos on these apps horizontally makes more dead space than a vertically taken videos. Many famous filmmakers post vertical videos on these apps. Youtube also had an update where a vertical video with black borders are available to be seen vertically in full screen on a mobile device.

Thursday, August 17, 2017

Why are Movies Magical?

Here is a great video essay by a high schooler on the magic of film.
Movies are magical because they let you experience a story out of your life. It allows you to feel the emotions of the character through their heart, and see the world through their eyes. These stories can be fictional, yet film allows one to feel a connection to an impossible situation. A person is able to understand the pain or anger a character feels through a great film.

Movies are special because it can teach a lesson even without the failure. It is often said that a lesson cannot be learned without personal failure As long the film has a strong ability to connect with the audience, important lessons can be learned, which is an important aspect of a film especially in one's childhood.

Films are special to me because they can make a story seem like yours, as a part of a ever lasting memory. The suspense, the sadness, all of the emotions I felt within the film can be recalled even after the film. Memorable movies I have seen in my childhood continue to impact me with the lessons it taught me.

Films have the power to become a part of my life.

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Setting Beginning Goals

1. Learn new editing technics and master the process of editing in Premiere Pro
Memorizing shortcuts is the first step to being able to edit faster. These shortcuts will help me reduce the time on my mouse and allow a more efficient editing process. I would also like to find new effects in video and audio editing and master using these. Video editing softwares include various functions, and combining these special effect functions can lead to a better way for a story to be told.

2. Understand how to use film making equipment properly
I hope to be able to learn when and how to use filmmaking equipment. Using specific types of equipment for specific types are shots must be very important to filmmaking. Not only this, I hope to be able to fully understand all of the functions of the equipment to be able to take advantage of the technology.

3. Create more visually pleasing shots
I want to be able to form better composition within the frame. This will require learning the basics of composition and understanding what kind of format is required to effectively tell the story of the video. This may also include learning new ways of color grading. Certain color combinations can convey a certain message, or have a certain effect on it. I look forward to learning some color theory as well.