Aspect Ratios

1. What are the major differences between the different aspect ratio's?
2. How does aspect ratio affect what the audience experiences in a film?
3. How do filmmakers use these differences to craft their films?

4:3 Academy Ratio reminds the audience of the early 1900s style movies, and is therefore a great device to use when referencing back to such time period. 1:1 Square ratio can be utilized as an effect to demonstrate an unrealistic view or perception. 2.35 ratios are meant to portray a cinematic, dramatic look to the film. For example, science fiction films with this 2.35 ratio turn out great because the dramatizing effect the aspect ratio has. 16:9, which tends to take up the biggest available space, allows the audience to experience the grandness of a certain scene. 16:9 is also effective when portraying a real situation in a film such as documentaries.

The Role of the Cinematographer

What are the key responsibilities of the cinematographer on a film set? What is the cinematographers relationship with the director?

In literal means, cinematographer's role on a film set is to act as the head of the camera department, deciding the camera work, lighting, and framing. However, there is more to a cinematographer's job. They must consider which equipment is the most financially efficient for the ideal shot. They must also consider the time constraints so they do not drag the entire shooting process for everyone. By composing the perfect lighting and camera work for the scene ready, the director and the actors will have a more comfortable working environment. Creative storytelling requires communication with the director so they are able to convey their vision. A working cinematographer should always be aware of how they can make the director's job easier.

Tips for Beginning Cinematographers

What are three key suggestions that this video made that you find useful that you didn't know before. Why are these so interesting?

The cinematographer must defines subject. This means that when regarding the composition, the important body parts must all be in frame. When considering what should be inside the frame, the audience must be put into consideration. What information should they know? What information should be kept hidden? Focal point is also important because a sharp focus on a certain subject inevitably draws attention to that subject. A fuzzy image distorts the concentration of the image. Especially when shooting a human subject, the focus point should be set to the eyes. People naturally draw attention to the eyes, and focusing on them allows more emotion to be portrayed effectively. Headroom, or space above your head, should always be kept open unless the rule is broken purposefully. According to Alfred Hitchcock, "The most important thing in the frame should also be the biggest," and thus, cutting off the head which tends to be one of the most important part of the shot is usually ineffective.

The Language of Cinematography

How is cinematography like a language? What are three techniques of visual language that you realized while watching this video?

Cinematography is based upon concrete understanding of visual communication. Therefore, a certain technique can have a clear indication of what the story is trying to convey. On the contrary, such "definitions" can also be used as means to ironically convey a different message. For these to be used ironically or un ironically, rules of cinematography must be created, much like rules of any language. In order to break a rule, one must understand it first. For example, angles can be used to convey difference in power. If a character is sho from a high angle, it can display the character's weakness. The opposite tact is a strategy in which the camera matches the important character's perspective. This allows the audience to empathize with the character, further indulging them into the story. Camera movement is also an important aspect of cinematography, changing the emotion of the scene according to the direction and style of the movement. For example, if a scene utilizes a smooth, steadicam shot, the audience will be filled with ease and confidence.

Film Festival Edit

What challenges did you run into during the Film Festival Awards Show edit? How did you overcome them? What do you still have left to do?

The biggest challenge I faced was the trouble with exporting. In the process of rendering a certain file or exporting a certain section, it would consistently fail to process the information. As of right now, the problem is not solved. However, I can try reimporting the failed footage, opening the current project on a different project file, or rendering just the additional effects. In addition to exporting projects, I encountered a file saving problem, specifically for the slide show that was available during the festival. Although this was an easy fix by simply adding my own graphics in the video, it would have made the editing process significantly faster had the slideshow not been deleted. Although this was a problem completely blamed on myself, I kept on deleting edited footage because I dragged the clips over instead of copy and pasting. The alt key to quickly copy a clip is useful if it was used correctly.

Fair Use Myths

What are the common copyright myths that this video talks about? Do any of these go against what you thought you knew about copyright? What are three more important questions you have about copyright and how it applies to filmmaking?

Take time to craft a 3 paragraph response to what you've learned about the future of work in this video.

Common Copyright Myths

1. It you're not making money off of it, it is okay

I didn't necessarily believe in this myth because Youtube gives copyright strikes even to those who do not  earn money from the video. Whether it is in the form of money, the one who produced the content is benefitting from the utilized content one way or another. Are there specific guidelines for using copyrighted material when you ARE using it for profit?

2. Commercial use is not okay.

Although it is not a distinguishing factor, commercial use is not an excuse to copyrighted materials out of the fair use laws. How will commercial use be considered okay? Would the content creator have to buy the content from the creator of the used material?

3. A specific number of seconds or less is always fair use

Although it would allow the content creator to feel more secure about using copyrighted material if there was a specific laws such as this one, this is simply not the case. Before I came to this class, I was watching videos regarding copyright that gave me this false information. However, I understand now that that is not the case.

Avoiding Violating Fair Use

How does copyright and fair use apply to Youtube? Write a reflection on three instance where you might have violated copyright on YouTube. Now that you've learned more about copyright, how might you have solved each of these three situations using the fair use clause?

Copyright and Fair Use laws apply very much to Youtube. When uploading content created by another user to your own video, these specific guidelines must be followed. For instance, I once uploaded a video with copyrighted background music. This was a blatant violation of the copyright law especially because no credit was given to the creator of the video. Unsurprisingly, the video was taken down. In order to solve this problem, i simply needed to use a royalty free remix of the song or a entirely different royalty free song. As mentioned in the first scenario, I did not know to include citations for the copyrighted content I took from online. All it took was to simply write the name of their work and the name of the creator in the description below. I was also oblivious to the amount of copyrighted material I am able to use in the project. I have had instances where I used the copyright material for more than half of the video. Simply including more original content would have solved this problem.

Copyright and Fair Use

What are the four points of fair use? How do you think you can you apply fair use to you work that you create in this class?

1. School Work and Education

2. Criticizing or Commenting

3 Comedy or Parody

4. New Reporting

Because this is a film class, many utilization of copyrighted material can be considered fair use under schoolwork and education. In order to follow copyright laws, I would have to search for royalty free music, sound effects. and images when using a portion of the content. The requirement of adding new meaning to the work can be easily accomplished through a creative process to complete the project. Reworking it to be used in a completely different way is similar to the previous concept, yet it is aso important to keep in mind as well. 

Future Jobs

What will the work world of the near future look like? What are the societal challenges that will come up in the coming machine age? How will this change how we look for employment?

In the near future, many jobs will be automated by the enhancement of technology. Those who used to work in this field will inevitably lose their jobs, leading many to seek other means of income. This also means that the development of new technology may create different jobs in the future. Androids with significant skills that equate or exceed capabilities may come into play in the future as well. Technology productivity allows an abundance of supplies and the ease for a certain work to be completed. By removing such tasks, it allows the future generation to spend more time being innovative and entertained. 

21st Century Skills

What are the four 21st century skills? As an advanced student, how do these 21st century skills apply to the work that you are doing in the advance class? 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 an example of how each of the four key 21st century skills apply of your filmmaking career going forward.

1. Creative Thinking

Creativity plays a large role in filmmaking. Although there are specific methodologies to creating a film, the creative process of coming up with ideas of what and how to shoot the story requires creative thinking. For example, storyboarding is required in preproduction, but how and what you storyboard comes as a result of creativity.

2. Communication

Especially because filmmaking is a collaborative effort, communication with the team becomes vital in filmmaking. Efficient communication leads to more effective collaboration, ultimately leading to a better product. For example, communicating important concerns during preproduction can save the overall production in the long run.

3. Information Literacy

As said before, filmmaking requires a team. Often times, the information or idea that on team member thought of requires the other to understand the idea through a written form. The ability to understand the overall flow of the film by looking at the preproduction is vital to better teamwork.

4. Active and Engaged

Being an engaging member of film production is an important when being a part of a team. Not only will disengagement distress other members of the group, it also lowers the change of getting hired for another job. A film crew that is active and always willing to help those around them will be a positive influence overall.

Beginning Year Reflection

You have now signed up for the pilot year of my advanced class. You will be expected to model the professional behaviors of an advanced student and lead student productions. Considering the work you produced last year, what were you strengths and weaknesses of your work? How could you improve your work this semester? What do you need in order to improve it?

Please write 3 complete paragraphs on three different ways you can improve your overall work that you create in class this year, along with an introduction paragraph.

Based upon the horrible mistake I made last year in Skills USA, I consider audio to be a important aspect when improving my films. The Audition interface seems to be complicated and it was slightly intimidating for me during the sound design project. In order to improve the audio quality, I would have to start by learning how to record audio correctly. I was not able to interact with the audio equipment partly due to my lack of interest. Therefore, I would have to push myself to actively use the recording equipment.

The lyric video I am currently working on is entirely composed graphics generated by Adobe Premiere Pro. However, I do realize that learning Adobe After Effects will not only have more functionalities, but it will also improve efficiency of the work. Regarding how I love masking and keying, I think I would be able to learn the software pretty quickly if I set my heart to it.

Going back to the mistakes I made for the film I made in Skills USA, I would like to learn proper lighting. Although I do understand the concept of the three point lighting, I am unable to put that concept to use. I am well aware that there are other lighting techniques available for different scenarios, but I would have to begin with the basics.

Student Leadership

Considering how you behaved last year, select 3 of these leadership qualities that you are weak in. How can you positively develop these leadership qualities going forward this year? How could improving these aspects of your leadership make you a better class leader and filmmaker?

1. Core self-evaluations
Although I would like to consider myself relatively self aware, I still the ability to effectively control of myself. Out of the four related self-perceptions, I believe emotional stability is an aspect I need to learn the most. Keeping strong emotions from affecting others is quite the easy task, however, keeping those strong emotions from developing is a difficult task. By improving this leadership qualities, not only will the filmmaking process be easier for my crew, but it will be easier for myself as well.

2. Extraversion

Because I am not naturally fully extroverted, I can find myself drained when encountering great amount of people for a long time. In order to improve this, I hope to make a conscious effort to participate in team activities and demonstrate the interest I genuinely obtain. The improvement of this skill will help me create a stronger connection with my filming team, therefore earning their trust as a filmmaker.

3. Assertiveness

Regarding how I occasionally found myself keeping in important concerns for the filming process, I believe being up front about such comments will help me become a better leader. As a second year student, I may be able to make unique insights that first year students may not be able to make.

Professionalism

Overall, how do each of these characteristics of professionalism apply to filmmaking? How do they apply to your daily work in this class? Please select three characteristics to give real life examples of how you can work toward improving them in this class.

Please write a complete paragraph on each of three characteristics, along with an introduction paragraph.

1. Appearance
Appearance is important both from a professional perspective but also from an logical perspective. As desirable it is for people to be judged based on the quality of their work, it is most common that appearance plays a large role in the judgment of others. If everyday is an interview for a potentially offered job, dressing professionally is a must. This would include wearing appropriate clothing without obvious distress or avoiding clothes that may be worn as sleepwear.
2. Reliability
Being a reliable worker is a necessary employability skill. This means one must be early to the scheduled time and turning in assignments on time. This may also mean that one is able to complete a task even in sudden notice. The fact that someone can depend on you at all times creates a better chance to be hired.
3. Organizational Skills
Having organizational skills can also lead to other professional skills such as reliability. A messy file storage system can not only be an annoyance for the user themselves, but it is also frustrating for a client because of the inefficiency that could have been avoided. Sorting files correctly in a folder both on the cloud storage and in projects help work to be finished faster.

Goal Setting

What are your 3 filmmaking goals for the 2018-2019 school year? Don't simply copy everything this creator says. Really look down and decide what specific goals you want to set for yourself. Look back at your goals that you set in last years class. Did you achieve them? Why or why not? How can you make steps to achieve these goals? Where will you need to look to gather help or resources?
Please write a complete paragraph on each of three goals, along with an introduction paragraph.

Looking back at the goals I set for myself last year, I can say that I was able to achieve two out of three of the goals. The achieved goals include learning keyboard shortcuts and understanding how to use filmmaking equipment effectively. Although I have much more to learn, I loved learning new keyboard shortcuts that make the editing process more efficient. (Some of my favorite include alt to copy the item and i+o+' combination is quickly eject unusable portions of a clip) With the help of CreaTV and numerous projects, I was able to be proficient at operating the camera. The one I consider to be unachieved is the goal to create more visually aesthetic shots. Personally speaking, I do not see significant improvement in my ability to compose better shots. Roughly analyzing the goals I was able to achieve last year, here are the goals I am setting for this year:

1. Have an understanding of how Adobe After Effects work 
Based on my ability to achieve goals in the editing category, I believe learning the basics of After Effects is a well achievable goal for this year. However, this level of mastery will depend upon how many projects I will be assigned that will require this software. Because I finally downloaded the Adobe Creative Cloud on my own computer, I will have consistent access to this application at home. Unfortunately, the amount that can be dedicated to editing will be limited due to college apps and the 4 AP courses I will be taking. Therefore, the assigned projects' necessity of After Effects will play a large role in achieving this goal. I will most likely be watching numerous hours of After Effects tutorials in my free time despite the previously stated commitments so I hope to gain technical education from Youtube.

2. Understand all of the color correcting panel's functionalities
Last year, I was fascinated by my discovery of HSL Secondary during skills USA. Color Correcting is one of my favorite aspects of editing coming in after masking, keying, and motion tracking. I want to be able to color correct from raw footage so that I get the most data from one shot to work with. I also noticed that the color correcting panel and the Lumetri Color effects seen in the editing panel has slightly different functionalities a couple months ago. I am especially interested in learning color theory and the graphs correlated with color. I would have to click around the software more and actively google when I discover a new function.

3. Create varied projects outside of class
Although I made projects outside of class last year as well, I would like to set this as a goal this year especially because second semester senior year will allow me to have more time. For example, I want to challenge myself to film competitions when I have time. As academics killed my sleeping schedule Junior year, I did not participate in any of the recommended film competitions except for Skills USA. Once all of my college applications are submitted, I want to work on projects outside of my comfort zone. I discovered that working on a wide range of projects help me enhance my skills in various forms. For example, I worked on a vertical video this year inspired by the launch of Instagram TV. Although it was a peculiar project, I learned how to change my interface in order to match the content I am working with. I need to keep an eye out for inspiration for new content to film or film competitions of submit to.