Editing Blog

12/5  Now that I finished filming I'm moving onto the editing process. Today we are supposed to edit in class and already have our footage dumped. I finished my editing on iMovie so the process was quicker and smoother. I luckily already finished my editing although I want to edit more with special effects and etc. I think its good that I get experimental and try to put effects because not only does it make the video more diverse but it shows authenticity of the creator. If anything gets in my way and I'm unable to edit any special effect I will be okay with it because I got the basics down. I do need to add special transitions because I didn't add any. What I'm interested in adding is different effects such as, fade in and fade out, jump cuts, and dissolve. I have improved with my editing since the last film my group and I. Doing my music video alone has helped me because I can put my own editing ideas in my video without hassle. I'm interested in the filming process and I can't wait for more projects to come.
     We will have more time in other classes as well. Today is the first day for editing and luckily I don't have to use the school's editing software. The one I use was faster and easier because I was able to access my footage from any other device as long as I signed in. I'm glad my editing process was quick and simple. I don't think I could ever handle using the school's editing software. It's a good software although it is too slow and we aren't given enough time. The school should at least change our devices for this class in specific. This class needs speed for these programs and should be given computers like the ones in photography class or comm tech. I shouldn't complain though because I have my own and it works clean. My video came out clean and easy.
     Somethings I look forward to in this editing software is editing colors. I don't know what my next project will be although I would love to make a film that is very colorful. I want to edit it and see if there are any coloring options that will make the colors in my next film stick out. Hopefully, the next project we get is something where we can be creative like this music video. Something that is less forced like our commercial project although something creative like this one because then we can be able to put our mind to it. I'm nervous to see what it will be but I want my editing to improve. I want it to be a major improvement. I will definitely need to manage my time for this next project because I want to get a good grade in the mid-term. This next editing process needs to be quick but the best it can possibly be. Nothing is going to mess this up for me.

Film Blog

12/2 My music video was finally completed over the Thanksgiving break. I took a day and filmed with all my actors. The theme was changed while shooting the video. My original theme was that I would be beaten up by life and I would seem to find happiness. Although the new theme is that I've been hurt but at the end, I would basically do something crazy that would kind of represent the rebirth of a new mindset. I didn't do a storyboard, but it came out better than I expected. I changed the setting of my phone camera that gave it a more smoother shot. If I were given more time I feel that I would have kept my original theme. One minute and fifteen seconds didn't seem like enough time. I understand that it would take longer for the teachers to grade it.
     I'm proud I got to finish it filming and editing the whole video within one day. The editing wasn't hard although now that I'm done I want to experiment with other editing apps. All my actors were in place and did amazing acting. We had to do our little stunt with them multiple times although my stunt at the end was a one-time thing. My cameraman was great I told him how to do the camera movements and angle and he listened and did it amazing. The time that it was shot was amazing too but my lighting could've improved. On the contrary, it did give my film a more dark vibe to it. My plan was to make it seem dark at first because I would hear others' ideas and everyone had the same sort of vibe and I wanted mine to stand out. Everyone enjoyed filming with me and enjoyed my idea, but they thought it was a bit strange. I'm just excited it came out better than I expected.
     I put a lot of commitment to this project and I was a bit annoying to my actors because I would constantly contact them to get a response to confirm if they were coming. I also would like to say that this film does not reflect on how I'm feeling I just enjoyed the song and I wanted some inspiration from the artist. The artist who created the song has a very slow and mellow vibe to most of their songs and music video. My video was mostly filmed at George English Park. I took care of my actor's ride so they were able to get there. I've wanted to film some sort of project like this so I was excited I was given the opportunity to do this. Also, I forgot to include that the project was filmed on Friday the 29th of November. I felt like the date should've been included. I want to do more projects like this with other people and do more extreme films. Some more films could be like mini-movies or more music videos.

Film Blog

11/25 This weekend I didn't get to film at all. For the point being that I didn't have any plans for this weekend to film. Also, my actors were not ready to film this weekend. We all had a plan to do it over the Thanksgiving break because it'll give us more time. This weekend I had other things that I had to work on. This break my plan is either Friday or Saturday to work on this film. I will have to ask my teachers if I'm allowed to use a tripod if not I'll purchase one or something that will stabilize the camera. I want clean shots only in my film nothing crazy. I want to make it look professional as much as possible. The plan is to get it all done in one day, hopefully in a couple hours.
     I will be filming all my shots on my iPhone XR. I did some research and my phone has more megapixels and has autofocus. A basic camcorder like the one we are given has a regular 7-megapixel camera. I'm positive my camera will come out way clearer and smoother. My editing software will improve as well because I will be using iMovie instead. The one I was originally given for my last project was not the best. It lacked speed and wasted a lot of time. If I had the chance to film this weekend I assume that I would've completed it. I'm confident that this won't take too long to film. A couple hours is all I need.
     I don't know exactly how many sentences we need for this blog. I'm assuming 25 to 30 sentences. Just to be sure I will be including 27. This will also be included in my blog to reach the goal. Once I get my film recorded I will instantly get to editing to be ahead as much as possible. This will help me not only get ahead but experiment with my choices. Make it as genuine as possible and original to me. This project will have a lot of improvements. I'm excited to see what the outcome will be. I am nervous although excited.

Planning Blog For Music Video

11/22 Today I'm planning my music video. I'm trying to pick out locations, make sure health and safety procedures, props all in order, costumes, and a schedule. For my music video I might be in luck for the locations. All my locations are close so I don't have to travel far. I'm going to use a basketball ball court and film me getting beat up by a couple of guys so it looks like I was being innocent and I got beaten up for my wallet and phone. After that I want a scene where I'm just walking down a street having my head down looking sad. After I want to go to the Jetties and jump off a ledge I usually go with friends to jump into the water. I want this scene to be second to last so I look like I gave up but I continue after in an alley playing my ukulele. There's going to be a scene where I'm walking down a sidewalk and accidentally run into a guy with his girlfriend and he pushes me to the ground. The point of this is me getting beaten up by life but still managing to get back up and not quitting. All these stunts with danger will be performed by me and I will have a First Aid Kit by me because there's bound to be a lot of injuries. I'm okay with all of it because I do a lot of sports and always get hurt so I'm used to it and I really want to commit to make this the best I can do possible.
      Although many scenes will look unsafe I can guarantee there won't be any situation. My parents are okay with it too because I told them my idea and they loved it but obviously were worried. There won't be too many props in this there is a main prop that will be seen in a couple scenes in the background. It's a black ukulele that will be played in the final scene by me looking all tired but enjoying my music. There aren't any costumes I will be wearing some type of formal clothing. I want to look tired and a mess at the end but I still manage to be happy. There might be some props that will show up on the spot depending how I feel. This won't be easy because I'm directing it all but I'm also acting in it. I know that this will be stressful especially with the actors because they're my friends and they will act up and mess around. Most of these scenes will be filmed at night to give a dark mood.
     For the schedule it will be a mess with my actors. They're are going to play around and make jokes so I have to be the adult in my group of actors. I will have to stay at a friends house to film because where my friend stays is by the beach. I don't have an actual idea for a schedule I'm just going with the flow. Hopefully, I get this all finished within a couple hours in the night. I think that this project will turn out exactly how I envision it. There might be some downfall to it I don't know what it could be but I just know there has to be something wrong. I'm excited to use my phone and my own editing software this time because it will look smoother. I just don't want to have issues with my software.

Intro to New Project Blog

11/14 Today is the beginning of our new project. We finally finished up and turned in our commercial with my old group. On this new project I am working by myself because I want to see how creative I can get on my own. For this project I will be working on creating my own music video. For this project I will be working with better technology for example, my editing program I will be using imovie, the camera I will use is my iPhone XR, and I will probably ask a friend for a tripod because I will actually need it this time. My storyboard needs to be worked on a bit more because I only have a couple scenes that I like. I'm excited that I will have complete control because some of my ideas in the past project wasn't at full potential because I had to share ideas with my group. Now that I have full control this will be a project straight from me. The only downside from this project is that I will have to do a lot of work independently but I'm willing to do it. A complete original except for the song.

     The song that I'm using is called "worldstar money(Interlude)" by Joji. Joji is a Japanese singer, song writer, rapper, record producer, author. He has a very aesthetic taste in style for everything. I do want to use some of the camera angles that he uses for some of his music videos. For the song I will have an idea for a love story or just a boy talking about a girl. I honestly don't know because I have a couple ideas in mind. The song is a very calm and smooth because most of the song uses a ukulele and at the end it has a little edm vibe to it. Then the song ends with the ukulele and some soft singing. The song is about 2 minutes but I'm going to have to crop some of the beginning and the ending of the song. I'm trying to reach exactly 1 minute and 15 seconds because I want to get as much as possible. 

     The music video will include not many costumes the actors and actresses will use basic everyday clothing although at the end I want it to end with the guy wearing a suit and strumming to a ukulele. I want to give it a very dramatic lighting but a mellow lighting because I want it to look a little dark. I will have a couple actors and actresses involved in the video for the beginning scene I'm going to have more than 8 actors involved. For my props I will have this ukulele that's a key prop and seen in multiple scenes. The setting will change multiple times but all I know for sure the first setting will be in a park. The ending scene will be in an odd scene like under a small bridge with the guy wearing a suit playing the ukulele. 

Editing Commercial Blog

11/7    In the last two classes we successfully were able to start editing our commercial. We finally imported our footage onto pinnacle studio. We had some issues because we didn't understand how to turn our Zip folder into a regular folder. With some help from the internet I figured it out. I also imported the footage because my group was very confused. The Pinnacle Studio software was quite difficult. I was right about my guess that the more we play around with it the better we learned because I got to learn how to crop and add in transitions. There were times were I was so frustrated that I wanted to break the computer but I calmed down and kept my cool. My group mates also got frustrated but they remembered our notes and that's what we use for guidance. I am curious to know if we are allowed to use another editing software so I will ask my teacher next class.
     On our first day of editing we got the basics down. Imported our footage and we figured out the transition part. One of my group mates figured out how to crop our footage which helped us a lot with editing and saving time. Today we added in the correct transition because we wanted a fade in and out. Also we decided on a song that we want to put into the background. Now we need to do a mp3 converter of our music and add it into the commercial. I'm going to get a head start and do that as soon as possible. So next week when I come into class I can just add the music. I didn't get to finish editing the end, we want to add in a whole section that just says "Just Do It." We also agreed on putting the Nike logo.
     Overall, it's a fun experience getting to understand Pinnacle Studio. Next project I want to do my project alone to be able to use my full potential. I had ideas that I wanted to be included but they weren't allowed. I want to use my own phone and editing software because I think I would be more comfortable using something that I have more experience in. Hopefully though I can use the tripod with my phone because I want to get smoother takes. Since my teachers weren't here I had to hold back on some questions. My group members and I are all impressed with the outcome so far. I believe if we had more time today we probably would've finished. Today was a PSD day so we lost about an hour. I can't wait till we finish this project to see what our final film looks like.

Editing Blog

10/28  Today was the day to edit for our commercial. I had some issues with the computer. Our computers are very slow, outdated, had confusion with logging into Pinnacle Studios. There was already footage of another group in our computer. Since we have dumped our footage in the computer we will now start editing. The software Pinnacle Studios is very helpful for our commercial. It allows us to quickly access tools we need to perfect our video. Pinnacle Studios is already installed in the schools Media Studies computers. The software needs a username and password to be logged into. We didn't know the password or username, so one of our teachers had to come over and log on for us. 

Most of the time, we were frustrated because we were confused. We expected the editing process to be easier, since when it was described to us it seemed simple. Hopefully after more use of the editing software it will become easier for us. I am expecting more practice on editing with our teacher. We are still not sure if we should delete it or just continue with our editing and disregarding it. We transferred our footage and started to edit. There was much we had to cut out to make the commercial 30 seconds. We had some confusion on adding text onto the clips we wanted. We are planning on adding motivational music to make it like a real Nike commercial. It is important for us to make this as best as we can to get a high grade. Since this is our first video our group has edited we will try to research more on how to edit. 

 My main emotion is frustration. I came into class expecting to get ahead of everyone because some groups still had to film. That idea was out the door due to all of the complications. I am hoping that next class we get to edit again so we are given more time. I do think we will be given two days for this because we were given two days for the filming process. As a self reflection I wish I would be given more time and more guidance. My group and I will definitely finish editing next class. When I all go home tonight I am going to research more on Pinnacle Studios. I'm going to figure out my problems and watch videos on how to fix them. I pray that next class our computers work smoothly. 

Filming Blog

10/25 On the 24th we had to film the whole class and we got lucky and was able to finish. On that day we got to use our equipment for the first time and we all got to commercial. Everyone was included in the commercial. I contributed by filming some of the scenes and being an actor in the commercial. I also helped fixing the camera because my group members didn’t know how put the SD card in and opening the camera lens.  It was honestly a fun experience and I enjoyed it a lot. There were some things that we had some trouble with, for example we had a problem using the tripod, getting certain angles that we thought would’ve been perfect, and the dumping process. Unfortunately we couldn’t bring certain props to personal issues. I brought my Nike Chile jersey, Nike socks, and some Nike running shoes. We wanted to bring more Nike shirts because we thought it would look better in the commercial. 

     For the editing process we actually haven’t started it. We will be having a head start next class because some people didn’t have enough time to film everything. We were able to dump our footage onto the computer. At first there were some issues because the camera’s time and date weren’t set correctly before and we forgot to adjust it. We didn’t lose the footage and that’s what we were freaking out about the most. We followed the rules that we were told but, there was a weird file that was named something completely different so we got confused until we clicked on it. We had some assistance by our teacher and everything went back on track. The more we get to mess around and experience the more we’ll slowly understand Pinnacle Studios. That’s the name of the editing software we will be using. It’s a very interesting software that doesn’t seem hard to use.
     Overall it was a fun experience getting to finally learn everything on our first project. My group and I worked really well together and I look forward. We could’ve improved on using the tripod more for stability because we honestly didn’t use it all. For the specific angle we used we couldn’t us the tripod. I feel bad though because when I was recording I feel like my scenes were not to the highest standard. Once we get to editing we will improve some of our scenes. Our transitions are something that I’m excited about. We all came up with idea together and loved our transitions. They’re supposed to be from one Nike logo on the product to a different Nike logo on a different product. I really hope it turns out the way we envisioned.

Storyboard Blog

10/22 Today we planned out our storyboard. We have our commercial planned out and ready for filming. For the first scene we want to start with a stop watch which will eventually lead up to a person in our group running with Nike shoes with an extreme close up. We will then include low angles to transition into the shoes while they are running up the stairs. Next another person will be running around the track with a long shot, pan, and transition into the shoes. We will have other clips like another member playing volleyball and walking through the halls while all ending up in shoe transitions. At the end of the commercial we will have the Nike symbol. This commercial might have some additional actors and have a lot of Nike props. In our commercial there will be no dialogue just some type of motivational music. 
The outcome won't come out how we want it, but hopefully it turns out pretty good.

Editing Blog

10/14      Today we learned how to use our equipment. We also learned how to check in and out our equipment. We have to get an agreement and whenever we are done we have to bring the camera the very next day unless there's a day off or a long weekend. Our teachers have their own specific way of how to give out cameras. We also have to sign out our SD card reader and media passes for when we shoot in the school. The camera it self is very easy to use. To turn it on and off you simply need to pull out the screen or close it. The camera we are using is a camcorder, so overall they are built to be easy to handle. I've had past experience with it, so I will have some basic knowledge on how to use it.
     We also learned how to use a tripod and the different levers that go along with it. There is a specific lever that makes the tripod way taller so we can have higher angles. For the SD card its very easy to slide it in to the camera. I'm excited to use the tripod because now it will help give us more stability and smoother takes. If we want to do a pan or tilt movement then it will really help us. The physical equipment itself doesn't seem like too much a challenge. In our group we already have people who have had experience with different cameras and other pieces of equipment. What I'm worried about is the SD card because since it's so small it can be easily lost. Now the editing process may be a little complex for me but not a challenge. I'm excited to see what I can do to make my commercial better with editing.
     The editing process is something I'm definitely looking forward to. We will be using the Pinnacle Studio program. When logging in we can only use one persons login we cannot switch logins. We will have to make a folder that has all our footage and if we cannot find it then we will go to a section that says private. After, we go to a couple more other folders and it'll lead us straight to all our footage. When you take the footage and put it into the computer its called "dumping." We are going to dump it into a USB and a Google Drive just in case we lose our footage somewhere. My teacher said always import your footage. Overall, it seems like a lot but I think this will be good because it will keep me distracted for a while. This will also teach me how to edit and I've been excited to learn.

Planning Blog

10/10 Today we will be going over the planning portion of our commercial. We will set up things we need. For example, our props, costumes, schedule, location list, and our back up plan. Each person in our group is planning on contributing something towards our commercial project. An idea for our project is a view of different Nike apparel in different scenes. Our commercial will be very diverse in clothing. For our back-up plan if someone doesn't show up then we will either have a back-up actor or just have one person do everything. Some scenes we will use are the main stairs, the huge wall next to the stairs, and the track field. A back-up scene could be the gym. 

Props:

• Nike Shoes
• Nike Apparel
• Hurdles
• Stairs
• Volleyball
• A water bottle

Schedule:

• Monday, October 14th- storyboard titled planning 
• Tuesday, October 22nd- filming and blogging process
• Thursday, October 24th- editing and blogging process
• Wednesday, October 30th- critical reflection questions

 

Costumes:

• Nike sweatshirts
• Nike t-shirt
• Different Nike sneakers
• Nike Air Force 1's
• Athletic pants 
• Nike headband
• Athletic tops 

Locations:

• Track
• Media Center Stairs
• Wall near Stairs

Back Up Plan:

• Gym as a backup location if it is raining instead of track field
• If someone is absent, another group member will just take their place in the scene
• If multiple people in group are absent, one person can be in all scenes

Research Conventions and Codes

Our commercial will be about the clothing brand Nike. We want to focus on the shoe portion of the brand and ways it can help in sports. Technical codes are connotations that we make when we look at films and photographs. For the technical codes we will focus on bright lighting, quick editing, music for the audio background, and camera angles we learned in the class. Symbolic codes are social in nature. For the symbolic codes our setting will be in the school, we will have props such as athletic wear such as uniforms as our costumes and any type of shoes used in these sports. Some of the shoes that will be shown will come from sports such as basketball, soccer, track, and regular lifestyle street wear.
    We chose this production because it's an everyday product we use and everyone in our group all partake in some certain athletic activity. We want to persuade the people watching our commercial to go out and purchase our product. This will benefit us because when it comes down to prop all of us have something from Nike that we can contribute to the commercial so we don't have to focus on a budget or going out and looking for more products. Our unique advantage is that we are students who are trying to grab the attention from other people like us because we know at this day and age we are all working hard to either enjoy in a sport or make ourselves look better to feel better.

Introductory

Hello my name is Antonio, I am a sophmore in Fort Lauderdale High School. During our "A Days" at school I have 4 classes. On those days I have history, algebra 2, first aid safety, and psychology. Those days are pretty fun for me, I have great classes this year and my plan is to work hard. On "B Days" at school I have another 4 classes. I have media studies, study hall, english, and physics. Overall, I'm doing good in every class I haven't struggled on any subject, although there are some classes I can do better on.
I have a lot of likes, I'm a very diverse kid. I play a couple of instruments such as ukulele, drums, piano. I'm also very athletic I play multiple sports such as soccer, volleyball, and football. I also skate and bike a lot because I feel bad that my parents take me every since I hang with my friends a lot. I like my school a lot. I've made a lot of friends and have been able to combine my old friends and my new friends together and made pretty cool groups. At first, when I came to highschool I was very nervous, but after a year I'm more comfortable and calm.
I have a lot of future goals that I want to work on. I want to work on getting a car and being able to pay for the insurance. I also want to be able to better myself physically because I want to get into better shape. I also want to get into lifeguard training to become a lifeguard because I've heard they give really good pay and there really isn't a lot of work. I want to start saving up for college while I work. There is also a lot of plans that I have in mind to do with friends like roadtrips and etc.