Filming Blog

This past week my group decided that we should film our video so we can get it out of the way and edit stuff if needed. My friend texted in our Media group chat around 10pm on Saturday that we should film on the following day around 4pm. We all agreed except one member of our group. He had left town for the weekend due to a soccer game in Orlando. We kept in touch with him the whole time while we were taking pictures and recording some videos. We thought it was very important to keep him involved as we are a group and we all need to be on the same page. Although every picture looked very good due to our group member camera quality and my skills as a camera man, we had to pick the best ones from that day. Luckily we all agreed on which ones to pick and we didn’t have any arguments over a picture or video.

Unfortunately none of us have a car or can drive, so we decided to invite two of our close friends to help us with the process. They drove us to the different locations where we took pictures and recorded some of our videos. They were also part of our project as we involved them in the pictures when we were playing soccer at the park, and when we were at the beach. We all met up at the park at 4pm on Sunday, we quickly started the process as some of us had to be home early for family dinner. The first thing we did was play soccer and football at the park while one of the group members was taking pictures of us. This part was very fun as we just played around for a while even though we were actually working on our project. After this, our friend drove us to the beach where two of our group members decided to jump off the peer. Before they jumped we all made sure that the area was safe and that the water was deep enough. When we were about to leave we decided to record some of our video and take some pictures at a restaurant on the beach. We ordered a snack so that we could stay inside and we asked the manager if it was fine if we filmed and took pictures inside. He was a very nice man and offered us some help but we gently declined as we could see he was very busy with the restaurant.

After we finished eating we were all sitting down in the plaza talking about our project and all the props we need to buy, and when the next day we were going to film was and especially where. We decided that we were going to film on Wednesday, November 27th, at one of our group member’s house as he lives close to the beach and that’s where we originally wanted to record most of our music video. For our props we decided to buy fireworks and candles that we will use when it’ll get darker, but of course we asked and made sure that one of our parents was available to supervise us while we use this material since we are not familiar with it and it could be dangerous. I believe that my group and I are doing a very good job with the music video because we are already getting ahead and doing most of the work now so that we can finish before the deadline, because if any inconvenience would happen we would have time to fix the issue. I really enjoy working with this new group, and also filming our music video I think is very fun as we get our work done but we also enjoy and have fun doing it. Hopefully nothing goes wrong with our music video and we can finish our filming process as soon as possible.

Story Board

At the beginning of our storyboard it starts off with a adult man on the beach with a book of memories. This will be the establishing shot and it will also be a wide angle. Then, on the next box there is a shot of the book, held by the adult. On this book there is a picture of him and his friends. This is an insert of the book, with the pictures in the book, including pictures at a basketball court or a restaurant. This next step is very crucial to our editing process, as this will probably be the hardest part of the music video. We will lock onto on of the pictures, which will be the friends locking arms. We will then zoom into the picture and zoom out into the actual beach. This will be hard because the smooth transition will be crucial for the flow of the video. We are thinking of doing a fade transition and a color transition.

The next box is a tracking shot from behind the car that we are driving in. This is the first shot of our general flash back scene. We then proceed to meet up with the girls at the beach and begin the main part of our video. We then begin to walk the beach together in the night, this could be adjusted for filming purposes. Then we begin the real fun, the pyrotechnics. The very next square is where we have the pairs playing with sparklers on the beach. This will paint a beautiful picture as the contrast from the sparks and the nights will created that tone. After we have a few visuals of the sparklers, we will have some sort of fireworks like some Roman candles. This will be accompanied by the dancing of the friends. This will be perfect for the music as it is more of an upbeat and party song.

Next, we move into the third phase of the video, which is the relative ending. The first box of this phase is where we will have one of the friends separate form the rest and sit. They will just be watching the moonlight in the calm of the night. We will then fade to the friends coming together to take a picture. This will be a picture that we started of with in the book. It will zoom out and the picture with be in the book. Next we will cut to a wide angle of the adult version of the subject sitting at a table in the beach. He is then approached by the adult version of his date, they are now married and living happily. Then, we will fade to an image of the couple sitting on the beach watching the sunset. Finally, we will have a drone shot of the sunset from high in the sky. Thus concluding our music video.

Planning Blog

In our music video we will have many different locations. Our music video will be based on past memories of a person, so we will have to film in a variety of places. We will first start filming at the person’s house which will be Camilo’s house since he live close to the beach. After we do our filming there, we will be going downstairs to the pool and film there too. After we film in the pool we will go to the beach and do most of our filming their since we have a really big space. When filming in the pool we have to make sure that we are safe before everything. We will make sure we don’t do risky jumps and running around the pool to make sure we are safe. We have to be even more careful when we film at the beach. We will make sure we ask permission to the lifeguard since we want to film a shot there. Our group will make sure we are safe and not doing anything that could harm or interfere with someones routine.

In our music video we will be using many different types of props. At the beach we will use sparkles to shoot one of our scenes. We will use a soccer ball as well since everyone in our group loves to play soccer. Our group is also taking shots in a car. When we film the shots in the house our idea is to show the person that is watching what we like to do with our friends, so we will be using a PS4 to represent that because we are always playing video games together. When we film at the pool we will be using a beach ball and a volleyball. At the beach we will also use soccer goals to recreate a game. We will try our best to make the memories as realistic as we can.

Since we are doing many different memories in our music video we will use many different costumes. When we film at the beach we will mainly be using swim shorts and some of us will be using shirts. Some of us might even be wearing something beach related costumes like a necklace or sandals. When we film at the pool we will be wearing almost the same outfits but with some small differences on the details of the clothes. When we film indoors at the house we will just dress up using normal comfortable clothes that we usually wear at school. If we film at the park we will be dressing up using soccer clothes because our idea is to play a game there too. This project will be really fun and I’m really excited to start filming since we will be filming outside school. We have almost everything planned out and we will try to start filming as soon as possible.

Codes and Conventions

Today November 14th 2019, our teachers, although we just finished our commercial video, they already have a new assignment ready for us that seems very interesting and fun. We have to shoot a music video, and we decided to use a pop rap song called “Rocketeer.” My last project was a success, but I decided to find for a new group because I think that working with new people will develop some of my production skills that I didn’t have the chance to develop in the other group. I’m very excited to work on this project due to the fact that I want to try new camera angles and also improve my editing skills on Pinnacle Studio or iMovie. I think my new group and I will do very well on this project since we were all on the same page when it came to picking the song. Also because our skills are a lot better than when we joined this class and we have a lot more knowledge on how to record a video. Since everyone in the group has extracurricular activities we will have to shoot the video on a weekend. We will try our best to record the music video as soon as possible so that we don’t have to worry about any inconvenience.

My group and I quickly agreed on the song to use for the video. We thought that Rocketeer by Far East Movement, was the best song for our idea for the video. I think it fits perfectly as it has a hype beat that makes you feel nostalgic and it brings your best memories back.

1. In our music video we will be on the beach, so we would be wearing bathing suits. There will be other times, however, were we will be on a basketball court for a picture, in which we will be wearing  clothes for basketball. There will also be a picture that we will be in a restaurant and laughing, so we will be wearing regular attire, maybe jeans and a t-shirt.
 2. In most of the pictures in the book, it will be daytime. This is except for the picture that we will zoom into, which will be set at night. We might use a flash for some shots though.
3. In our music video we will have an adult hat is later in life, maybe a father, that will grab the book an open it. Then the pictures will be of us at the beach or in a restaurant. Once it zooms into the main picture, we will have a few teenagers acting naturally. We will be at the beach playing volleyball or playing with sparklers.
4. We will not be using make-up in our video, as we want to put out a natural and relaxed mood. There might be somebody wearing make-up, but it would be coincidental.
5.  Throughout the video we will be using a hefty amount of props. This could include the sparklers that we are using at the beach. It would also include the book of pictures that will be used at the beginning of the video. There also might be some other props like a basketball at the court, or some food at the restaurant.
6. The video will start off inside of a house, in a room, where the subject will grab the book. Then we will have different settings in all the pictures in the book, like a park or a basketball court. The main setting; however, will be at the beach.

Editing Day Blog

Today in class, we were able to edit our raw footage that my group and I dumped onto my computer, and also on a USB, on the day of filming. Initially our plan was that we would’ve done it on the school computer but I found out that we couldn’t download the iMovie app on that computer. We decided that it was better if we did it on another member of the group’s computer because he was able to download iMovie. We started the editing process, by dumping all footage that was stored on the flash drive to James’ computer. We saved the footage in two different locations, (the classroom computer and the USB flash drive), so it made it easier for us to delete the footage from the classroom computer and use the same footage on the USB. After moving all raw footage into a new folder on James’ computer, we dragged the footage and dropped it into the iMovie app. Once everything was in iMovie, we decided that editing in different categories would be more efficient in getting the best takes in each scene. First, I went through all the film and placed all footage into categories of each scene so that we could see each scene, watch all takes in the scene, and decide which was best to put into the editing area. I did this with all takes in each scene, from the beginning of the commercial to the end of it.

   Once we reviewed all the footage and placed with its scene, I began to put the best takes into the editing area to begin editing. I put the scenes in chronological order so that it would be more organized and the commercial would make more sense. When all footage was put into its proper time frame, we could start the editing process. I began at the start of the footage of the opening scene of our group member using the vape for it to be an establishing shot of her clearly being on school campus  as well as vaping. We didn’t use transitions in this scene because it was the opening one and also we didn't do much editing. During the second scene however, we had trouble figuring out what camera angles would’ve been better for our commercial. We decided that since the second scene is the two effects of vaping, addiction and lung cancer, coming towards the student; it would’ve been best if we used a mid shot to show the effects of vaping. Also, we used an over the shoulder of the two effects walking towards the student. Furthermore, we decided that a transition between the mid shot and the over the shoulder, high angle shot was needed; leaving us with the fade in transition. We ended up choosing this because it would clearly show what the effects were and also it would show the student who vaped facial expression of overwhelmed and scared to really get the danger and seriousness of these effects. With the next scene being a continuation of the effects of vaping walking towards the student, a mood of suspension grows with more intensity as the effects get closer to the student. I thought that the best camera angles for this would've been a high angle that would’ve also been an over the shoulder shot of the two effects gaining onto the student who just finished vaping. This way, the anticipation would slowly grow as the effects gained on the student who just finished vaping.

   For the final scenes of the commercial, we previously decided that it would’ve been our group member, that missed the day of filming, the one to do most of the editing work, with our help of course. In the end of our film the student falls and looks up at the effects towering over her, we used the point of view shot to represent the student. Between the last scene and this scene we decided that the smoothest transition to put in would be a jump cut because it would show how quick it would be for the effects to surround the student who vaped earlier. After this scene, I thought that the best transition for our next scene of my group member and I giving a few facts about the effects of vaping, would’ve been a dissolve effect because it will start a new and different kind of scene. By doing so it made the transition better and a lot smoother. For the final steps of our editing process, we noticed that there was a lot of background noise since it was a regular school day. I realized that iMovie had the editing option that allowed us to turn down the background volume without making it sound like the volume was lowered throughout the film.