Practical Relfection

Since you have all taken a few practical tests, reflect on what you've learned so far. Please write a detailed paragraph on why the practical tests are necessary in this class and you're future career. Make sure to cover at least three different reasons in detail.

The practicals are necessary because they give you valuable experience with the equipment. With the Am class being only two hours long, it is harder to gain experience within the time frame. However, with the motivation to finish a practical, we got hands-on experience on what it is like to use the equipment properly. Another benefit of the practical is that you are forced to learn about unknown parts of an equipment. For example, there were countless buttons on the FS5 that I never knew about while filming normally. Because of the practical where I have to label every part of the equipment, I came into contact with interesting functions of the camera. I also learned about the importance of small parts of handling the equipment. From the experience of failing the practical by saying a word wrong, I learned that it is important to pay attention to the details.

Educating Clients on the Production Process

What are three key pieces of advice that this article gives on educating potential clients on creating videos for them?

     When dealing with clients, it is important to communicate the client's requirements and vision for the video. It will be effective to know firmly when they want it and what their budget is limited to. An easy way to understand their vision is through a sample video. They may have a specific video in mind that fits well with their ideal style. One thing to keep in mind before shooting the video is that you must be approved by a single point of contact. It is very expensive to reshoot an entire video just because a high positioned person who was initially uninvolved with the project has a problem with it. In order to efficiently produce a video for a client, it may be useful to share the production schedule that establishes milestones. With each of these milestones signed off as they go, there will be less confusion and more communication between the filmmaker and the client. 

     When going on to post production, the client should not see a big portion of it. This is to help the creative vision of the editor themselves without interruption. Although it is okay to show them the rough cut, it is not recommended to show them a extremely rough cut. They will most likely not understand the potential of a final cut when shown a poorly done rough cut. 

     As of financial issues, keep in mind that being open about expensive costs will help in the long run. Bringing down expectations can help the clients get educated on the complexity of the production process. 

Guest Speaker Questions

Type up 5 questions that you would like to ask Mr. Steeples about his career:

1. How did you make connections in the industry?

2. If you can give advice to yourself ten years ago when you just started, what would you say?

3. Do you think it is necessary to gain a college education to get into the film industry?

4. What are the benefits of entering a guild?

5. What is your goal as a filmmaker? 

Tips for Pitches

Summarize what you've learned in this article. What are some difficulties you've had with pitching your idea's so far?

The way in which an idea is pitched can make or break green lighting. Here are a few things to keep in mind before the day of the pitch:

1. Be prepared

Before pitching, an idea must be solid with characters and concepts ready to be discussed. This does not necessarily mean the idea must be completely memorized. A note card is acceptable if it helps the pitching process.

2. Know Your Audience

The company the pitch is intended to be towards must be fully understood. Make sure the pitch is works well with their previous and current work.

3. Don't Oversell

A longer pitch does not make it a better idea. Keeping it "short and sweet" will leave time for any questions the potential buyer may have.

So far, I've had difficulties with creating a a valid reason for the activity to be incited. For the current project I am working on, my team and I is having a hard time coming up with a valid reason someone should be chased.

Career in Video Production

Summarize what you've learned in this article in a meaty paragraph.

Compared to 36 years ago, finding companies to contact have become significantly easier because of the emergence of the internet. However, because video gear have become accessible to more people, the competition to be involved in video production have become more competitive. The industry have increasingly popular especially because on the surface level, it seems to be a glamorous occupation, but in reality, it consists of a significant amount of dirty work that is often unnoticed. Recently, the benefits for investing videos is getting recognized. Thus, it is easier to find jobs through collaboration with other companies. In addition, special events jobs such as weddings can be found through word-of-mouth. Legacy videos, a historical family video, are becoming popular as a video to be passed down to upcoming generations. 

6 things to know before you shoot

What are three key things you learned in this video? Why are they so important?

I learned that knowing the call time is important in order to respect the cast and crew's time. The call time should include the arrival time and end time. Normally, the call time of the crew should be an hour earlier than the cast's arrival time, and an hour later than the cast's end time. Furthermore, it is important to have food ready for the cast in crew, as a production team performs the best when fed. These foods and drinks are also known as craft. The availability and the content of the breakfast, lunch, or dinner must be identified before the day of the shoot. It must also be kept in mind various dietary restrictions as well as how the food is going to be obtained. (picked up, delivered, etc.) Knowing the location of the restrooms and having access to them is vital to a productive day at shoot. In some cases, a location can create a difficult situation to reach such facilities. It may be necessary to make arrangements with nearby restaurants or other facilities in these cases.

The Importance of Editing

What does this video say about how people learn? How can you use his guidelines in the creation of your own future videos?

According to the video, some people learn through listening, reading, doing, or most commonly, a combination of all three of these elements. When editing, it must be kept into consideration how the audience is going to absorb the information to reveal the story. One key aspect of editing to communicate a story is to "say it, show it, and spell it." This indicates how the action on screen must follow the character's dialogue. In addition, it will help the audience acknowledge the subject if it is spelled out on screen. Texts will help keep the audience focused on the video as well as communicate the intended message in a more effective fashion. If texts are unfit for the video content, it is important to display what the spoken words are indicating through b-roll. This strategy also keeps the audience engaged in the story because it provides a variety of shots in a single video.

Writing an Effective Video Script

What are the four parts of an effective video script? What do each of these parts do for your final video?

1.  The hook

This part states what the video is a couple seconds of content that catches the audience's attention in a short and interesting way. This keeps the audience engaged in the video to tell them why they should keep watching the video. 

2. Introduction

The introduction should state "who you are and give any additional information related to your video or video purpose." This acts as a reinforcement of the hook and it is also a good time to add any branding elements. 

3. Body of Video

This is the most important part of the video because it consists of the bulk of the information. This is is key to making a video because it is the content the viewer came to see.

4. Call for action

This increases viewer engagement because it suggests commenting, subscribing, or hitting the notification bell. This is especially effective if the video is intended for marketing purposes. 

Title Safe

Why is understanding title safe areas so important even during the era of modern televisions?

It is important to keep all texts title safe because you have no control over where the audience is going to be watching the content. There is a possibility that people will be watching an online video on their phones, laptops, or through a television screen. Each of these devices may be set up differently, causing an unusual crop. If the text is not placed in the correct location, (inside the title safe box) it can result to the text getting cut off depending on the viewer's device. Title safe boundaries can also help keep important subjects in an effective position. By placing these subjects within the title safe boxes, it is more likely for it to be placed in a balanced, desirable position.

Styles of Video Scripts

Summarize the script abbreviations for video and audio that you've learned in this video. Why is it important to know these abbreviations when writing your script?

MUSIC IN queues the music to start, and GRAPHIC queues the graphic to appear. INT. SCENE is the slug/video, which includes the description of the specific scene. CHARACTER NAME/VOC refers to the person speaking in the scene. Some audio abbreviations include NATS for natural sound and SFX for sound effects. When identifying basic shot types, one should use abbreviations such as LS for long shot, MS for medium shot, CU for close ups, ELS/ELS for extreme long shot, MLS for a medium long shot, MCU for a medium close up, and ECU/XCU for an extreme close up. When indicating talent sources, abbreviations such as VO (voice over), VOC (voice on camera), and SOT (sound on tape) can be used. Abbreviations allows quick communication within the script, saving time and space. It is important to understand these abbreviations when writing a script because if all of these words are written out on paper, it will not only be time consuming, but also confusing to the reader.

Writing Video Scripts

In your own words describe what the purpose of a video script is. How should a proper video script be laid out? What are two key important factors to keep in mind when creating a video script?

A video script is designed to have a plan for interviews, graphics, narration, and music. This script consists of a table with columns that is intended visualize what is to be seen and heard. In addition, the video script should determine "what the narrative audio track of the video will be." Furthermore, it can include any additional texts, graphics, or SFX. A proper script should include columns labeled as RT, ST, Audio, Video, GFX, and Music. In the video column, it should include a precise description of the mise en scene. The same precision should be implemented in the audio column as well. When creating a video script, one must keep in mind that it is better to preplan thoroughly than suffer during the production day. Using an extra few minutes in preproduction can go a long way when shooting. If filming an interview, it is important to note the questions in the interview. This process will help visualize the final edit.

2-Column Script Formatting

What are 3 key things that this article says are important about formatting an AV script?

1. Column Labels

When formatting an AV script, it must be labeled with VIDEO and AUDIO. This allows the script to be identified in an easier fashion. However, this is not an extremely necessary step if the columns are already obvious to begin with.

2. Capitalization

If the word is not spoke, it is recommended that it is capitalized. This must be implemented throughout the entire script. Performer's words must be be in the standard upper and lowercase letters. This is intended to allow the performers read the script easier because it helps distinguish which words are part of the dialogue.

3. Description

In the descriptions, abbreviations are accepted because readers who do not understand them do not need to be regarded. Thus, it may include words such as CU and LS. In addition, these descriptions must be in all caps.

The Production Process Wrapup

Now that you've completed (or almost completed) "The Production Process" unit, what are three things that you learned? Please explain each in detail. Why are these three things that you think are the most important to making a film?

I learned that there is a designated sound department to control the audio. This includes dialogue and folly audio. Especially because audio is one of the most important aspects of film, perfecting the audio becomes extremely important to the film. I found it most interesting that the folly audio department has to use various objects in order to enhance the audio. Making sure the audio is captured on set is also important as well.

I also learned that the special effects department has new job in which those effects can be seen on set. For some sets, there is a person designated to work the special effects so the director has a general idea of what is going to be on screen. This is important to the production process because it helps the director visualize the final production.

Finally, I learned that preproduction played a vital role in the production process. In the preproduction process, one needs to have their idea green lighted, storyboarded, and made into a shot list. (As a side note I learned that a shot list does not have to be in the order that it is going to be edited in the final cut.)

Streaming v.s. Traditional TV

How is Netflix changing the television landscape? How will this trend continue into the future?

Netflix allows the viewers to watch whatever content they would like to see whenever they like. In contrast, traditional television only allows them to watch the content at a certain given time. Those who used to be connected to cable TV are now switching to streaming systems. Studies show that younger generations are switching from TV to streaming systems. (the average age of Cable users are increasing) If this trend continues on to the future, Cable TV will disappear from the media as platforms such as Netflix takes over. However, sports programs that are mainly watched live may be what keeps people holding onto the Cable system.