Semester 1 Final Exam

PSA

Our first project this year was a PSA. It took about two weeks to complete our finial project. The biggest struggle that we faced was finding an adult actor to play a specific role for our film. Along the way I learned that groups are better than working on a film by yourself. It was nice being able to get other people's ideas involved to make the film better than it would. We struggled a lot with the lighting and we couldn't make the camera film darker so that there wouldn't be a glare to our video. Feedback was defiently to change the lighting and make it better. We changed a lot of how we edited the PSA the first time. Overall, I was proud of the PSA. It sent out a great message for online safety in a serious way.

 

 Short Film

Our next project was a short film. This took about 4-5 weeks to complete. We faced a lot of challenges along the way. We changed our script three times. We had to write a new script because the other ones were not able to execute the way we wanted it to be. We only had one day to film due to our part not using our time wisely. Along the way I learned to be calm in every situation because everything will work out if we all calm down and talk about what we need to do like adults. We changed our script and actors last second. Overall I wasn't as proud of this film as I wish I would have been. 

 Project management 

I could have used my time more wisely in the first quarter. I was able to get all my projects done on time. This quarter, however, I was able to use my time wisely and got what needed to be done on time.  I worked on my menu items when I was finished. If I had extra time on a project I would be asking other people for suggestions on editing etc. Also I would look up videos on youtube and see how I can make the video better. Outside of class I don't do as much as I would like to with my busy schedule. Over the summer I would like to make my own short films because I have a whole bunch of equipment just sitting around not being used.

Strengths

A strength of mine would be able to compromise and get what needs to be done, done. Also, a bit of editing. There is a couple of things that I should work on to be a better editor for myself and others. 

Improvement

Planing things better. It sucked not being able to know what exact days we were filming, what scenes we were filming, etc.. To improve I need to be more of a leader instead of going with the flow if things aren't happening. 

Guest speakers

I learned from both speakers is that, if this is a passion for you, to never give up because there is room for everyone. I learned about equipment and how it is used,which was really cool. I also learned that in scripts if the action takes longer to say then filming the action, you don't necessarily need it.

4D Experience

E-Comm, entertainment kids, took a field trip to B & B theaters to watch justice league. I learned how they used different shots to make the film feel more alive to make it more appealing to the audience. New technology will definitely make the films better and more will want to watch. 

Summary 

The most thing I loved about this semester was being able to work our way to creating a feature film. I would change how we did a short film and PSA instead of working right away on our feature film. Overall, I learned that team work is important when creating something. My goal next year is to keep getting better and better. My final thought is that I'm excited for what things have to come.

Merry Christmas

Dexter menu

    For my menu I chose to do my favorite episode on Dexter, which is season 4, episode 12, "Get away". This episode personally to me had the best writing I have ever seen in a television show. The scene starts and Dexter is trying to hunt down a killer in his town. He tries to be friends with him first so that he is able to gain his trust, so he has the opportunity to kill him because he meets all Dexter's rules. The biggest rule for him is that he can only kill the people if they have killed or harmed anyone. The second biggest rule is to never get caught. Dexter goes over the top and tells the "Trinity Killer" basically he wants him dead and he will be dead. Trinity goes to where Dexter works (Miami-Metro Police Department) and kinda starts to tease him and gets into Dext's head. Meanwhile Trinity has much more in store. 



I really like the cinematography in every episode just because of the fact that it is so different. They use all these shots and it perfectly explains what Dexter is feeling in that moment, which is awesome because I can feel more of the characters emotions (even though Dexter is a psychopath). In this scene to my left Trinity is teasing Dexter by saying basically to stop trying to get me alone I know you want to be the one to kill the "Trinity Killer". This is showing how much hatred that Dexter has for this man. He wants him dead and he's willing to go into extremes to make sure that happens. In this scene I see Dexter in a way excited. He sees him as a challenge / a game and he's very eager to play.

Short film Seperation

I used my script. I got the concept from a song. It basically shows the struggles between parents falling out of love and kids having to deal with the pressure. Our process didn't go quite as plan. It fell apart. Originally we were going to pick another girls script, but things fell through and we ended up not having enough/ the right actors for hers. We planned everything out, meaning locations, costumes, dates, and etc. We did not have time to do storyboards because of the fact that we only had three days to complete this whole short film.  My job was the editor. Their are a couple things that I would change, for one the volume levels and also some of the shots that I had no ability to change.

I was not able to film due to a soccer tournament, however I did find actors and allowed my group access to my house. When I got back home I regretted not being there, but there was nothing I could do about it. I was told that our director Shelby was in charge of watching the dogs by our DP Franchesca and AP Ryan.  That definitely was not okay and to me it felt like Shelby shouldn't have even came. Another thing that went wrong is that my group (DP) decided to use two different cameras. Why on earth? I have no clue. The cameras are two different qualities and looked completely different. I got home and had 30 minutes until I had to leave for my final game. Franchesca had to leave because she got called into work. She took her camera and so I called her. I asked her why she didn't at least leave her camera and her reply was that her mom wouldn't allow her to do so. I had a camera that worked perfectly fine and a way better quality than hers with a tripod and a microphone attached before I left the first time. Little things like that set our group up- for not quit for failure, but definitely in the wrong direction.

What I could do differently was to plan out more. If we did the story boards we'd know every shot to do and not lose track of time. We'd also make a plan to put the dogs into a friends house, so that wouldn't be a problem. I'd also make sure we'd use one camera and film over a period of time, not all just in one day. I'd use the same actors and the same director because I think it'll work out better.

Music Video

This project was to create a music video of my choice.  The music video took about two weeks to create.  My group (Jordan and Darby) wanted the music video to have cinematic feel to it.  Some challenges along the way that as a group we faced were; not being able to all be filming at a specific time and we had some actor issues to coming to the "set" all at once.  All the way I learned that communication is everything. Without it we wouldn't have been able to create what we did. I was given feedback that it was really well done and looks like this would be something a college student would create if not better. Next time I would change some of the editing in the end to make it fit the beginning and then also make my own song to have people come in and help create. My overall opinion about this music video is that it went really well. 

Movie Trailer 

Our project was to recreate a high school movie trailer. My group (same as above) chose to recreate The Breakfast Club. The video took about a week and a half to film and edit. We would have gotten the video done sooner, but we did have complications with some of the actors due to extra-curricular activities.  Along the way I really learned that storyboards are really important. I couldn't imagine how this video would have turned out if we didn't use them. Feedback I was given was that it was well done. Next time I would probably use a different location and older looking actors. My overall opinion about this video was that it was good, but I feel like it could have been better.

Short Film

Our project was to create a script to then crete a short film out of. This took about 3 weeks to create. Some challenges along the way was that we had a group member who wanted to do everything, but was a slacker actually filming. She got actors and everything, but claimed she was too busy to film and couldn't for the first I'd say week and a half. I offered to film for her, but she said she wrote the script so she has an eye for what she wanted. Along the way I learned that you have to take charge even if you are really shy towards people you don't know. Overall, I wish to do a different short film. 

Class Reflection

This semester I used my class time to my befits. The times that I got done early with my project I went around to other groups and in a way joined and helped them out with ideas. I would also look on youtube for ways to make my video look better. To enhance my video if I finished an hour early, I would ask others for opinions that they might have and then also go on youtube for inspiration in editing in a certain way fora different kind of video.  Out of class I do other videos on the side, I just chose not to post them anywhere unless it's perfect. 

My areas on strengths are editing and filming. I maximize this strength by creating more and more videos so I can get faster at editing and see what kind of shots that would work for future films that I produce. Improvements for me is probably getting my ideas out there more instead of holding back what I would have to say

Summary

The most thing I loved about this semester was all the people around me. I feel like we were all a kind of family. No one was excluded in anything. The best video I created would probably be the music video. I liked how that turned out. I would change only one thing about this class. Have the students chose who they want to work with because they probably know who they do and don't want to work with. For example, a group member who is controlling might work for some people, but not for others.  I learned so many things this semester. I learned a lot having to do with editing and working with certain people. One goal next year would be able to just create better projects than the year before. My final thoughts about this class was that it was awesome. I loved being able to come from a long day of learning to video class (not that I'm not learning). It was really relaxing and I always felt comfortable here. I also loved our video teacher Mrs. Smith. She really cared about each and every student, which in all my years of school have only seen her and another teacher do that. :)

Animation end of the year

Technology 

This past year I got the chance to learn how to use different programs in this class. I used photoshop, Maya, After effects, and Illustrator. My favorite one to learn about was photoshop. I feel like this program will be the most useful in the future for my career. It was also fun and easy to use. I got to learn short cuts more the second semester, which made my project management skills better than before. 

Collaboration  

This year in animation, I had to learn how to collaborate with others. This was a good skills to learn because in almost any job you have to learn how to collaborate in a positive way. Working with others can help the final product of what you are trying to create. I didn't have any problems collaborating with others. I listen to every idea that others had and then said my input. 

Communication 

This year in e-com we had to communicate a lot, not only in animation. I realized when you communicate with others you collaborate.  It's important to communicate with your group members and others around you in order to do the best that you can. I personally was good at communication with not only my group, but with others. I got some ideas from a different group that I wouldn't have if I didn't not communicate with them. Communication is important because you have to talk to others just to be social and in most times for a job. 

Project Management

I learned project management by getting my things turned in when it is due. I did a lot better this semester with this skill. This is very important because a lot of jobs have deadlines. Most companies will even fire you if you do not meet deadlines. Along the way, I did face a couple of challenges with this. I needed more time with projects. I also couldn't come in this semester after schools due to soccer practice and or games. In the mornings, I was in other classes asking for help. 

Leadership

This year I learned to everyone can be a leader. I also learned that a leader is not someone who takes charge and wants to do everything themselves. I leader is someone who is on top of everyones job, but not excessive about it. They get the job rolling and have all the skills in the above paragraphs. It's important in any group to be a leader because it will help your final project. The only problem I faced was that a group member who thought she was a leader did not like to listen to other ideas from the group.

Strengths and Weaknesses

My strength this year was creating the finial project. I'm not the best at the animation part, but I got to use my video strength in creating this project. I was not able to edit in this project, which I was bummed because I thought that I would be doing it. There was a lot of mistakes on the editing part. I wanted to fix it, but another one of my group members decided "it doesn't matter we need to turn tis in" even though we still had two days left. My weakness like I said before was the actual animation part like making the spider turn and a certain way (in my final project).

In the future

This class has helped me with all the valuable takeaways. The most important one for me I would say is communication. It taught me to share my ideas, even if I have never talked to the members ever before. I will differently use how to use the green screen in the future for my future for video. I will also use how to do special effects in order to create an amazing project that stands out from others. 

Change

In this class, I only would change one thing. Deadlines. For someone like me (not good at animation) it takes me longer with all the keys and what not. I think that's the only change I would say. 

Summary

In conclusion, I enjoyed having this class with some of my friends. I made some new friends in this class that I would have never if I didn't have this class with them. I don't regret taking this class because of somethings I could take out of this classroom to apply to my strain (entertainment)  that I want to take the next years and in college. 

In this short film, Mickey is going through a glass mirror. It is impossible for someone to go through a mirror and enter into a different world. In a new world there are items that move around that wouldn't actually be moving around in the real world. The Writer in this film is expressing a fantasy throughout a dream. Again, it is impossible in real life to be able to go through a glass mirror and enter a new world.

In this short film, Mickey is getting bounced up and down on a moving chair. It is impossible for a chair to be able to have a face with arms. Also the chair can't physically make someone jump up and down. The writer made it seem that that the chair had emotions and didn't want Mickey to be standing/sitting on him or her.

In this short film, Mickey is jumping rope with the telephone cord. It is impossible for a telephone to be be alive and have eyes and hands. Also the telephone can't have arms and be able to move them up and down like jumping rope. The writer made it seem like he telephone was able to produce actions and was able to have fun with Mickey.

In this short film, Mickey is dancing with the cards and having fun. It is impossible for cares to have legs and to be able to get up and walk with Mickey. Also cards can't dance. 

In this short film, Mickey is standing on a foot rest. It is impossible because the foot rest has eyes and is walking away with Mickey on it. It also had emotions, but is impossible because foot rests can't have emotions.