Friday, May 25, 2018

Letter to Yourself

Look back at your experience over the last year here at Film/Video Production. Reflect on what you've learned, accomplished, the friends you've made and compose a letter to yourself on the first day of class in the beginning class. Imagine that this letter couple be delivered to yourself on that day and he/she could read it.

What advice would you give your past self?
Would you tell them they are going to have a great experience?
What would you warn them about?

Dear me on the first day of school,

Dear me thats so confused where the bus is supposed to pick me up,

Dear me thats bewildered that theres only one other person from Leland sitting with you on a giant bus,

The year ahead of you is a wild ride. This friend that you're about to meet after school today would even describe "a wild ride" as an understatement. I won't describe it much in detail because that would ruin the fun. You know that you already have the motivation to try anything and everything because it took you quite the commitment to take this class. Hold on to that motivation. It'll carry you through so many experiences that you won't even believe at this point. By the end, you'll be making a cheesy little speech how the class is all about the effort you put it. You'll be making that speech and thinking how fake it sounds but also how true it is. Some of it is stressful. Some of it will be REALLY stressful... but hold on tight and don't kill yourself with stress. It'll be alright. Don't worry, most of it will be an amazing experience. Exciting, jarring, and amazing. Make sure you make the most out of it.

From, Your Future Self

Thursday, May 24, 2018

The Most Valuable Experience

If you had to pick three things that you found the most valuable from this class experience, what would they be? What do you feel overall that this course has helped you prepare for?

1. I was able to edit every day.
One of the biggest reason I wanted to take this class was because I knew I wasn't going to have much time to make films outside of school. This year, I already had 3 AP classes on top of SATs to take. Thus, it was valuable for me to be able to come to class, sit in front of the computer, and have the opportunity to edit nearly every day.

2. The equipment
Through this class, I was able to have access to professional cameras and editing software. It was especially valuable for me to have access to the adobe creative cloud. When I first came into class, only had a vague idea that I liked to make films. Once I came to this class, and through the access to premiere pro, I realized that I loved editing the most about filmmaking.

3. The reality of the film industry
I took this course in order to see if filmmaking was a serious pursuit for me. Learning about the reality of the industry through Mr. Furtado and the filmmaker I interviewed at the coffee shop for an hour gave me an idea of what it is like to pursue this as a career.

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Best Unit

What unit did you enjoy the most? Why? What are three things that you learned from the unit? What are two things that you'd like to know more about? How could this unit be improved? Please give detailed input.

I enjoyed the documentary unit the most because I love shooting B-roll and allowed the most creativity within the edit. Compared to videos with fictional storylines, documentaries gave the freedom to choose where each of the shots should be placed. I this unit, I learned the importance of variety in shots, necessity of abundant B-roll, and the cruciality of good audio. I was thankful that my group was able to record audio because many of my friends seemed to struggle with audio issues whether they were not able to record correctly or recorded in the wrong location. I would like to know more about how to shoot better B-roll. Although I had a couple shots I was satisfied with, I was still unhappy with most of the shots that I took. I believe this was partially due to the fact that I had very little movement in my camera work. I slacked off using sliders and even tripods in exchange for efficiency. 

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

End of Semester Goals

Look back at your goals for the Fall and Spring Semester blog posts. Were you able to achieve your goals? Why or why not? What could you have done differently? Looking back at them, what could you have done to focus more on your goals in the course?

Looking back at y first semester goals, I am proud to say I have achieved all the goals to a certain extent. Regarding learning new editing techniques, I discovered HSL secondary, keying, masking, and many more strategies that have helped me create better videos throughout the year. Although I was not able to use all of the equipment I wanted to use, I have a greater understanding of how I need to treat filmmaking equipment. However, I am not sure if I came to be able to create more visually pleasing shots. Looking over my documentary, I found that my B-roll was mediocre at best. I still only have a scarce understanding of how visually pleasing shots are composed. Although I made various videos outside of class, I should have focused on making more videos on my own to improve my B-roll.

Monday, May 21, 2018

Documentary Reflection



1. What have you learned in the documentary assignment? List three different things that you have learned and what you learned.
2. What has this assignment taught you about video production?
3. Was this assignment a good final project of the year? Why or why not? What did it teach you to improve you production skills?
4. What mistakes did you make on the project? How could you avoid them next time?

1.1 - Use a tripod or a monopod to stabilize shots
1.2 - Shots lists must be detailed even for documentaries
1.3 - Shots that require heavy duty equipment are visually appealing but also take up time 
2 - Video production requires preproduction even if it seems like a spontaneous shoot
3 - This assignment was a good final project because I finally got to shoot B-roll. Although it wasn't a complete compilation of all the skills we obtained throughout the school year, I think it generally required us to use most of those skills. I learned that having a shooting subject thats in one single location is much easier to shoot compared to a subject that moves around. Keeping that in mind, I will like to focus on single-location subjects more in order to get maximum B-roll.
4 - I made the mistake of slacking on video equipment. It was always easier to use a camera hand held, but this also meant that the footage was shaky. I also didn't hold B-roll shots long enough to be used in the documentary.

Thursday, May 17, 2018

Shooting Outdoors

What are 3 considerations you must keep in mind when shooting outdoors? How would you use a reflector? Why?

1. Use the silver reflector when reflecting harsh light and the white reflector when reflecting softer light.
2. Angle the reflector to bounce off the sunlight towards the subject.
3. Let the subject adjust to the light from the reflector before shooting the scene

You would use a reflector when there are harsh shadows from outside light source. When handling the reflector, you can alternate the position from the sides to the bottom. 

Documentary Mistakes

In your own words, which of these three are the most important? Why? If there were one more mistake that could be added to this list, what do you think it would be?

"Not asking a question or choosing a theme" is the most important because it dictates the story of the documentary. If the film does not have a specific theme, the entire storyline is going to be vague. I think not shooting enough B-roll should be included into the list of problems. Personally, I found that a large percentage of the shots were no able to be used. Thus, shooting an excessive amount of B-roll was actually necessary in order to make a decent documentary.

3 Point Lighting

What are three key points that the presenter makes about lighting? Why are each of them important? What is one point that you would like to learn more about?

1. Key Light, Fill Light, and Hair Light
These are the basics of lighting a subject. These can be altered according to the story or scene. I would like to learn more about these basics before going into other subcategories.

2. Hair light separates the subject from the background.
Having a hair light allows the face to rick out from the rest, thus drawing more attention to the subject.

3. Key light is the strongest light on set.
Only using a key light can create a dramatic look. However, it may not be the most flattering look when working with a model.

Monday, May 14, 2018

Documentary Treatments

What are 3 key things that this article tells the viewer to keep in mind? Why are they important?

1. Proposals should not be neutral information
Proposals have to gain the interest of the audience. If it sounds like textbook information, it will not be able to have the elements for a good story.
2. Have dynamic characters.
Characters within the documentary should have a incentive to accomplish a specific goal. This way, the audience will be able to relate to the character more and encourage them. Thus, the documentary will be more inclusive of the audience.
3. Include a climax
Although it is a documentary, it should include some fashion of a storyline. Therefore, it must include a climax that the audience can feel excitement for.

Shooting B-Roll

What is B-Roll? Why is it important for a project? What are 3 things to keep in mind when you're shooting B-roll?

Thursday, May 10, 2018

Nanook of the North

What are 2 things that the filmmaker did that are controversial? Why were they? Do you think the film was "authentic" after reading this article? Why are why not? Why is this film so famous?

1) Some of the scenes were staged.
For example, the famous scene where the seal gets pulled from the shore was originally supposed t be a bear and the means of killing these animals was realistically a rile instead of a harpoon.
2) Over exaggeration 
The igloo houses were twice the normal sizes although they are authentically made by the people. 

I don't think the film can completely be considered to be authentic. However, regarding the time period and the true depicting of inuit skills, it can be labeled as generally realistic. This film is famous because it is one of the first documentaries to attempt an accurate depiction of another culture.

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

What is a Documentary?

What do you think a documentary film is? Why are they interesting and important? Please list 3 different reasons in detail and your justification for each.

I think a documentary film is a video that discusses a certain real-life topic providing specific details regarding the topic. They are interesting because they often focus on specific topics that are often less known to the public. If the video is short, it gives a good overview of the topic. If the video is long, it gives the detailed specifics about the topic. They are important because they give the audience a well rounded idea of the topic. Because documentaries require the creator to research the topic thoroughly, their knowledge gets directly translated to the film. They are interesting because documentaries cannot be fully planned from the beginning. The film will always be influenced by the uncontrollable circumstances.

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Storytelling Unit Wrapup

What are 3 things that you've learned in the storytelling unit? What are 2 things that you'd like to learn more about? What is one thing you're still unsure about? Why? Please be specific and use vocabulary you've learned in the unit so far.

What I learned
1. Show Don't Tell
2. Actions are louder than words
3. Good artists borrow, great artists steal

What I want to learn more about
1. The effects of color and combination of colors in storytelling
2. Lighting techniques that tell different aspects of the character in the story

What I'm still unsure about
1. Character developement
Although we learned many different types of conflicts a character can go through and some of the typical archetypes, I don't understand how to adjust that into my own storytelling. I feel like I simply know rigid facts without understanding the application of it.

Monday, May 7, 2018

Ira's Advice



How does Ira's advise relate to what you are going through in the class so far? What are the key points that he mentions in the video? How could they be applied to you? What part of his advise seems helpful?

So far in my creations that I've made, I never had a product that I fully loved. I always had some sort of flaw to critique, some regretful decision I made, etc. It frustrated me that no matter how hard I tried, I was never satisfied with the end product. In the video, he repeatedly emphasized that EVERYONE goes through the phase of being unsatisfied with their work. He also mentioned that successful creators pushed through these times to get to the place they are today. This can be applied to me because occasionally, it feels as though my work will always be unsatisfying. Watching already successful filmmakers can ruin self esteem. However, knowing that even those "successful filmmakers" I see online most likely went through a phase of dissatisfaction encourages me to keep making films. 

Friday, May 4, 2018

Samurai Films and Star Wars

How did Kurosawa influence George Lucas? What parts of the samurai film did Lucas incorporate into Star Wars? What is the most interesting thing that you learned in this video?

George Lucas found Kurosawa's Seven Samurai and fell in love with it. Lucas gets his inspiration from Kurosawa in his Star Wars as seen from "jidai" and the sword fight scenes. Storm troopers were modeled after samurai armies and Yoda was characterized after another character in the samurai film. I found it interesting how many of these aspects of the film were incorporated into the film.

Thursday, May 3, 2018

The Hero's Journey

What is the hero's journey? What parts of the structure stand out and seem the most important to you?

A hero's journey is series of multiple steps a generic hero takes throughout the story. This includes existing in an ordinary world, getting a call to adventure, refusing the quest, accepting the call, entering the unknown, etc. I thought the refusal to accept the quest was the most significant. This adds more realism to the character because it is natural for anyone to fear the unknown at first.
Refusing the accept the call encourages the audience to relate with the character as well as support the character to accept the call.

Character Archetypes



Which archetype seems easiest to write? Which do you think seems the most difficult? Why? What archetype do you understand the least? Why? What kind of hero's do you like telling stories about?

The Hero's Journey seems easiest to write because it can be shaped into a form that allows the audience to be indulged into the righteous character. This archetype requires the main character to have admirable traits which is relatively restricted to certain characteristics. I think Meeting Ourselves in Shapeshifters is the hardest because it is mostly based upon psychological transformation. This is also the archetype that I understand the least because it involved the concept of animus which I am not very familiar with. I like telling stories of a hero whos status is not completely out of the ordinary. I like to follow along to a story that tells how an ordinary person is and can be a hero too.

Tuesday, May 1, 2018

7 Basic Plots



Pick two of these plot types that most interest you and write about them. Why does each of these plot types interest you? What makes them seem more interesting than the other ones? Which two of the plot lines out of the seven would you like to use for a future video project? Why?

1. Rags to Riches
This interests me because I see the biggest potential for character development in the plot. A character who lives a completely opposite life (in poverty) suddenly changing the lifestyle with wealth, power, and a mate seems to be able to leave room for the character to grow. 

2. Comedy
This interests me because compared to the other plot lines that inevitably create heroic movies, it contains humorous aspects to it. The hint of dramatic conflict in the middle is a nice addition to the otherwise completely light hearted plot.

Of the two, I will most likely use the comedy plot line because the other plot lines require a longer length to develop. It has the most potential to be found in a good student film.