editing blog

 This class I started to edit the music video. We finally finished filming all of the footage on Tuesday and were ready to begin the editing. When editing we faced many challenges. First, the school laptops are very old and super slow. It took forever for everything to load. From just turning on the computer it took almost twenty minutes for the computer to even start. Then after the computer finally loaded getting onto Pinnacle Studios was another challenge. It would always show the message that the computer could not load Pinnacle Studios. So after three computers of showing the same message we went to talk to the teacher for help. She noticed that we were trying to import straight from my jump drive rather then creating a folder then importing.
 So we made the folder and imported the footage into the folder. At that point we were finally able to start editing. For the first couple of clips of the video, everything was going smoothly. Then when we were nearing the middle part of the music video we noticed another problem. Some of the footage was blocked by Pinnacle Studios. We couldn't view the videos while we could see others. Once again we went to our teacher for help. She was very confused because she never saw that problem before. She thought that it was because we filmed it on our phone but every other clip that was showing up was shot on the phone as well. So we made the choice to give up on Pinnacle Studios and use IMovie instead.
Everything was going so much better with IMovie until we yet again faced another challenge. When we were done editing everything the music video was only forty seconds. It has to be at least one minute five seconds.  But we figured out some ways to add more time. We are going to add a title slide and an ending slide. These both will add more time. Also, if we still need more time we will film some more footage. These things should get us to the correct time. Although we faced many difficulties we got the music video done. It was a long process but I am happy it is finished

filming blog 2

Two weekends ago I started filming our music video with my group mates. We were able to get majority of the video filmed. We still have a little bit more to do. It should not take us more than an hour to finish the filming process.  I was unable to film during the Thanksgiving break. I went up to my grandparents house in Vero Beach, about two hours north from where I live. I got back last Saturday so we could have gotten together yesterday, but all of us were busy and it did not work out. We are trying to get together sometime during this week to finish.  It is very hard sometimes to make plans after school since all of us play sports and do extracurriculars. If it doesn't work out for us to meet during the week we will definitely get together over the weekend.

We are all trying very hard to meet up as soon as possible. If we finish the filming in the next couple of days I will have more time to edit. I will be able to use class time. Editing takes a while so the more time we have for it the better. I do not want to be up very late sunday night trying to finish the music video. Also, I will have to do the critical reflections questions so we are trying to get the filming done fairly quickly. If we have to film over the weekend we can, it is just easier during the week. Tomorrow in class I am going to dump the footage we have already shot and start editing that footage. We can always add the new footage to the older ones once it is filmed.

All we have left to film is the last fifteen to twenty seconds. Part of the issue last time we filmed was we kinda got distracted. We would get distracted or goof off when we should have been using the entire time we had to film. This time I am going to make sure we don't get of tract and focus. The editing process will be very similar to the commercial editing. The main difference is the music. Last time when we tried to add music we added a virus to the computer. This time I know how to do it better so that should not happen.

Filming blog

 Last class on friday I checked out a camera and tripod in class in order for me to film over the past weekend. When I checked out the camera I  first had to fill out a camera rental contract then turn it into a folder. Then after that I got the camera and the tripod. It is a simple process and takes no longer than five minutes. I then carried the equipment back home.  I was able to fit the camera into my backpack but, I had to carry the tripod. Once I got home I plugged in the camera to charge. It can take a while for the cameras to fully charge so I wanted to make sure I gave the camera enough time to charge. The camera stayed charging overnight. My two friends, Ana Mazin and Kol Bennett were coming to my house later that day to film the commercial with me.
They arrived at my house around one o'clock in the afternoon. When they got to my house we gathered the equipment then went outside to my backyard to start filming. When I opened the camera I checked the SD card slot and I realized I did not have one. I made a huge mistake of not checking inside the classroom. Since we did not have an SD card we couldn't film on the camera. But, we decided to film on my phone. Using the phone was actually easier then the video camera since we were all more comfortable with phone cameras anyways. Some shots took multiple takes since it was hard for us not to laugh or make mistakes. We were able to film mostly all of the commercial but we did not finish. They both had to leave around three thirty so it was kinda hard to film all of the commercial in just a few hours.
We are planning another time during the next few weekends to get back together to film the rest of the commercial. We do not have that much last and should not take us more than a hour to complete filming. Tomorrow I will return the camera and tripod to class. I will have to check out the camera again when we decide on when we are filming again. I can't just keep the camera at my house in case anything happens. After we are all done with the entire filming process I will move the footage to a computer then begin the editing process. Then it is time for mid terms then winter break! I am looking forward totwinter break

storyboard

 For the first scene it will be an eye level shot. The lighting will be natural lighting outside. The acting is in the facial expressions since it is a music video and we cant speak. We will be wearing no makeup and our costumes are just everyday clothing. There will be no props in this scene and our setting is outside in my backyard.

From the first scene to the second scene the only thing that changes is the camera angle. In this scene we will be using an over the shoulder shot instead of eye level.

 Again the only thing that changes going into the third scene we will be using a pan shot. Everything else stays the same.

Going into the fourth scene we have a few more changes. The setting is now inside the bedroom and the lighting is harder. We will be using a low angle since the actor is sitting. Everything else stays the same

The fifth scene is back to an eye level shot. The setting is the same as in scene four

In the sixth scene everything is exactly the same as in scenes three and four.

Now onto the seventh scene we will be using a tracking shot. The setting now goes back to the backyard. The lighting goes back to the natural lighting from before. Everything else stays the same

The eighth scene is the same for seventh scene expect for the shot  Instead of a tracking shot we will be using a wide shot and a zoom in to get the emotion from that scene.

The ninth shot- Everything stays the same expect for the angle. The angle for this scene is waist up

The tenth shot- We will be using an eye level and medium shot. Every thing remains the same

For the eleventh shot we will be using a zoom and eye level shot like the previous scene

For the twelve and final scene we will be using a eye level and mid shot. Scenes six through twelve everything stays the same expect for the angle and camera movement. The costumes and makeup is constant throughout the entire video.

Planning Blog

The location for our music video is my house. I choose to do this as the location because our story line takes place at school. Since we are not allowed to film at school we can set up desks and chairs to look like a school setting. We will be filming in my backyard which has a pool. For our health and safety we will have a flotation device near in case somebody falls into the pool. We also all know how to swim in case of an emergency. We also have a first aid case if anyone trips and falls outside. We have water so we do not get dehydrated when we are outside. Our video is very safe and we are not using any weapons or doing anything that is dangerous. The safety precautions are very general.  

For our props we will be using folding tables and chairs as desks in a classroom. We will also be using stationary such as pens and paper. In  addition we will be using a cell phone as one of the props. We will be using very little props in the video. For our costumes we will be wearing everyday clothing such as jeans and t-shirts. Since we are simulating a school scene by wearing normal clothing we will be able to show the school setting more convincingly. By having intense costumes would take away from the school effect that we are trying to create. Since no one generally wears intense clothing to school. 

Our final music video will be submitted on December 9th. But in between now and then there are many things we have to do before the final product is ready. Today the 18th of November I am doing the planning blog.  Next class I am doing the storyboard for the video. We are filming the video this weekend. After we film we will have to edit. The editing process will take a few days. Next week is also Thanksgiving break so I am trying to get as much as I can done this week so I do not have homework over my break time. In addition after every step in the process I have a blog due. The planning blog and storyboard blog is due on Thursday the 21st of November. 

music video reaserach

Intro 

The commercial was a very interesting experience. Some things I was very good at in the commercial was following the storyboard. We were very good at staying on track. I am very good at staying organized and on top of things. Something we could have worked on was the editing process. For both me and my partner this was our first time editing. Especially adding the music. I had a very challenging time turning the music into a MP3 file. For the music video I hope the editing will be more of a smoother process since we will have a little more experience with Pinnacle Studios software.

Song

We are doing the song Roar by Katy Perry. We are doing this song because it is a very upbeat and energetic. Roar is a very popular song so we can connect to people with the video due to the popularity of the song. It has a very inspiring message in the song of standing up for yourself and not giving up.

Conventions 

 Genre- The genre of Roar is pop song. Pop is a very upbeat and known for using electrical guitar, drums, keyboard, and bass. 

Camera angles/ shots- Many of the angles in the shots in the pop genre are close up or mid shots from the waist up. There is not a lot of pan or tilt shots

Sound-  Much of the pop genre is upbeat and has a strong beat following. The mood of many pop songs is energetic or a party song

Editing-  In pop a lot of jump cuts are used. In addition a lot of times the editors will use cross cutting and reverse shots.

CLAMPS

Costumes-  In pop videos the costumes are usually fairly simple. Many of the "costumes" is just normal everyday clothes such as jeans and a t-shirt.

Lighting- Much of the lighting in pop videos is bright lighting. As well as much of the lighting is soft.

Acting- Pop music videos usually have little acting. Mostly it is everyday moments such as walking or talking.

Makeup- Much of the makeup in pop videos is natural makeup. No intense eye makeup or bronzes. Just basic concealer and maybe a little powder. To make the effect of not wearing any. The natural makeup is so the singers and actors do not look washed out by the lighting. 

Props- Many videos do not have intense props. Just everyday items such as a cell phone or a wallet

Setting- Pop video's setting is everyday setting. From a city setting to a country. The setting in the videos changes according to the story line of the video

Editing : The final commercial

Today in class I put the final touches on the commercial. The final touches included any last minute edits and adding music to the commercial. When I got into class today I grabbed my laptop and plugged in my flash drive. You have to make sure to grab the same laptop you used before since all the footage is on that one computer. The entire editing process was a lot easier than I expected. I expected editing to be very difficult. The time I have edited in the past I found to be challenging, but using Pinnacle Studios was fairly simple.  There was pretty a button to do everything such as cutting or detaching audio. The only hard part was adding the music.

To add music to the commercial there are many steps you have to take. You first must look up a copy right free music from YouTube and find one you like. Then you have to convert it into an MP3 file. To do this you copy the url from the video and paste it into a MP3 converter. There are many websites that are  MP3 converters. But you have to be careful some of the websites contain virus. This actually happened to us, and weird ads were popping up on our computer and we could not get rid of them. Next class I have to talk to my teacher about the problem. Hopefully this virus doesn't affect any of the work I did.

Anyway we were never able to download the audio we wanted to use. But we found an old audio already downloaded into Pinnacle Studios. We liked it so we ending up using it for our commercial. All we had to do at that point was drag the audio clip onto the first bar on the editing page. We were able to cut the audio to fit our footage. It worked out perfectly. I am still worried about the virus on the computer. I do not know how to get rid of it or how it got there. The last step in this process is our critical reflection questions. They are a few basic questions about our experience with the entire commercial. The commercial  doesn't look like a nice, professional commercial you see on TV but I am very proud of what we accomplished.

Editing

Today in class I had to film a little bit more of footage. Once again I was in charge of pressing the record button and directing the actor. I was actually in one shot though, I was acting as the coach looking at her stopwatch. Once we got back into class we dumped all of our footage onto the same computer as last time. Once we dumped I moved all of the footage from today and Thursday onto a flash drive. This process took about 10 minutes since the files are so large. I got all the footage we need for the commercial and won't be filming anymore. I am moving onto the next stop in the commercial process: editing the footage. But unfortunately the program we use to edit, Pinnacle Studios, crashed on the computer. Meaning we will have to postpone the editing process until the system is fixed
The commercial is being put off until further notice. During the time we might be starting our next project. Our next project is creating a music video. But we might not do the music video either since the music video also needs editing. I am not sure what we are doing next or when the system will be back up. Our teacher is extending the deadline and will not penalize our grade. I will continue writing blogs every class period. I am hoping the editing software will be open again soon. I have never edited before and I am looking forward to being able to use it. Once the system is back up and we finish editing the commercial will be finished and uploaded.
I am not super surprised that the system crashed. Our computers are very old and slow. They still work okay but when many students have gigabytes worth of footage trying to upload all at once, the system can not handle it.. I think the school system should invest in brand new computers. Living in a society that is technology dependent schools need money for software.  But I also understand that school budgeting is very tight and there are more important factors to spend money on such as structural problems in schools. For the money the school board has the computers are the best they can get. I'm guessing the software will be back up and running again in 1 to 2 weeks.

Filming

Today in class we started to film for our computer. I had the job of filming with the camera. The first thing I did when I got to class was get the camera sign out contract. I filled it out and got all of my equipment to start filming. The equipment included the video camera, a tripod, and a SD card. Once we got our stuff we headed to the track to start the process. When we go onto the track we unpacked our props and set up the camera. For our props we had two bottles of Gatorade, an American flag, and fake medals. To set up the camera you must place the SD card into the camera then place the camera onto the tripod. Extend the legs of the tripod and make sure to tighten the screws on the legs.
When we were filming I was in charge in moving the camera and pressing record. It would take almost five to seven takes for each shot. We were on the track filming from 9:25 to 10:25 so about an hour. We did not complete the whole commercial yet so we are filming some more on Monday. At about 10:30 we went back inside the media classroom so we can dump our footage onto the computer so we wouldn't loose our stuff. Dumping means moving footage onto the computer from a camera. In order to do this you need a SD card reader. Once you get the card reader you place the card into the reader then into the computer. Open a folder onto the desktop and open the reader on the computer. Transfer the stuff into the folder. We actually had some trouble doing this. My partner Kol and I could not find the footage on the computer so we transferred tthe footage onto our teacher's laptop and she put it on a flash drive for you. Afterward we were able to transfer the stuff onto the computer we were using. Make sure when you a dumping give yourself plenty of time because there could always be problems with the computer and it takes sometimes up to ten minutes to download onto the computer.

Storyboard

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Our commercial opens with our athlete, Kol,  running on the track practicing for the Olympic trails. Our athlete starts to give up hope and slow down. While running the camera the camera will shoot him at a full body shot. Kol stops for a sip of Gatorade. After the drink of Gatorade Kol gains more energy. While he is drinking it's a eye level camera shot. Kol crosses the finish mark,\ and then he looks at his coach in the sidelines holding a stopwatch. Kol made the Olympics! He ends up winning the gold medal in the end.

Editing Lesson Blog

Today in aice media studies class we had a lesson on basic editing and how to use the camera. Our camera includes the video camera, a SD card, a tripod, and a card reader. To set up the camera you turn in on by opening the camera. Place the SD card in the slot in the side of the camera. To attach the camera to the tripod you unscrew the screws in the tripod and put into the holes on the bottom of the camera. Just tighten the bolts and the camera will be set on the tripod. You have to extend the tripod legs. You do this by just pulling out the legs. You can film pan and tilt easily with the tripod.

 We will use this editing for our commercial after we film. To edit we use the program Pinnacle Studios. Make sure you dump all of your storage onto the computer before editing. To dump your storage you first take the SD card from the camera and put it into a SD card reader. Then place it into the computer. Open a folder on the desktop. Click on the Pinnacle Studios icon. Click on the import button and click on it.  Look for the footage in the DCIM. If your footage is not in DCIM then go to private then look in the stream. The stream holds everything on the SD card.

It is very important whenever using Pinnacle Studios to wait for everything to load before moving onto the next step or the computer and the system will crash.
Make sure you import all of the footage into the second line when looking at the screen. Once the footage is on the line you can add a title on the screen anyway by clicking on the T button. You can change the color or the font. You can also add music to the third line of the screen by downloading music from YouTube. You can change the exposure and brightness of each slide in the video. Once the video is done you have to export it. To export you click file then save as. You can save it to the desktop and put in into the folder you created earlier. That's it! The commercial is done.

Planning blog for Gatorade Commercial

This blog is about a  Gatorade commercial that I have to do for Aice Media. In this blog we will talk about our plan for the commercial. This plan will include the props, costume, schedule, location and a plan B just in case. We plan to be done filming on October 21 which is the class period I will have to film by. Below is a list of the components of the commercial. Everything from props to setting is in the bullet list below. Our commercial will be completely finished by the end of the month.

Props

• Plastic Gatorade Bottle 
• Green Reusable Bottle 

We plan to use these props by drinking from the bottles promoting drinking the Gatorade.

Costumes 

• Normal everyday clothes like leggings or shorts. 

We are using everyday clothes to show kids drinking Gatorade in their normal lives at school.

Schedule 

• Each day we are writing a new blog to go along with the commercial making process.
• Each day is a new assignment for the commercial

Each new blog is about what we did that day for the commercial. 

Location

•  All around the campus of Fort Lauderdale High School.

We plan on using multiple locations on the campus to give a bigger effect to the commercial 

Back up Plan

• If it is rainy we will film underneath a covered area such as the covered walkways in the school
• If one of us is absent we will find another person to help us with our commercial. 

Research Blog

The normal conventions for a Gatorade commercial are athletes or people working out. The subjects of the commercial normally drink a bottle of Gatorade before winning the big game or after the huge workout at the gym. The  majority of the commercials end with the subject taking a big sip from the Gatorade or slamming the bottle down on a table. A lot of the commercials are endorsed by professional athletes including J.J Watt, Dwyane Wade, Serena Williams, Tiger Woods, and Katelyn Tuohy. The entirety of the commercials are action packed. Gatorade endorses athletes from all major sports.
Common lighting for the commercials is hard lighting on the athletes. Gatorade creates shadows on the subjects. They often use natural lighting from the moon or sun. Majority of the sound in the commercials is natural sound. Whether it's the subject breathing hard after a run or the alarm clock in the morning. Something Gatorade uses voice-overs or fast upbeat music.










                                         

Introductory

Hi my name is Julia M and  I am 14 years old. I am a freshmen at Fort Lauderdale High School. I live in Fort Lauderdale Florida. I live with my sister, my parents, my dog, Tupelo, and 2 cats. I like to think of myself as a little shy at first but once you get to know me I am very outgoing. I try to have a very positive outlook on life.
I am on my high school swim team and I enjoy staying active. On the weekends I like go to the beach or going swimming in my pool. Basically anything in the water. I do theater as well. Currently I am in the production of Addams Family.  I do most of my theater over the summer for a theater camp. I have been going for 6 years and it's one of my favorite times in the year. I get to see my best friends and do shows together. Also in the summer I go to an overnight camp in Cape Cod. I have gone for 2 years. You get to meet new people and do really fun things like paddle boarding or doing color wars.
My favorite subject in school is English. I really enjoy writing and I might want to be a journalist once I'm older. I have always found writing and reading fairly easy maybe why I enjoy both so much. My favorite books would have to be the Harry Potter series. I just love all the characters and the story. I love traveling. I love visiting new places. One day I hope to spend a year abroad or travel the world. I feel like traveling is the most important thing in the world.