Filming

  Coming to the day of filming we were already doubting our original plan and how it was going to play out.  We sort of got lazy and forgetful at the fact we had to film. So the morning of filming everyone came to school with literally nothing but a planned storyboard and a Halloween mask. Our red riding hood costume idea backfired, due to the fact that Amina could not find it. Thinking quick on our feet that day was our biggest accomplishment. We took one of the old cheerleading outfits from the dance room and dressed Amina up in that, so that part of our plan was the first minor thing we had to altar. Secondly, once we obtained the cheer uniform, we went to class and checked out our cameras, and began to bring our storyboard to life. We had Josh and Amelia as the "directors" of our film, while Amina and I did most of the acting with the help of a few extras. We did plan on shooting extra scenes just to be sure we were not short of the time limit we have for our project. But once we edit I feel as if it'll be perfect.
   The whole time we were filming, personally, I believe the process was going well. One thing we did good on was, giving a precise storyboard, although some things did change, the camera angles and different shots that we documented were present in the film.  More than one shot was taken of some scenes and in other scenes we felt comfortable enough to only do our scenes once. We thought it would take us a lot longer than it did to record our commercial, but we got it done in about a hour. Giving us time to dump our shots on to the computer to prepare for filming. We are really excited to edit our film on Monday we got great feedback from peers and teachers. Our biggest issue will be working with time and not against it. making sure that everything is edited properly while staying on a tight schedule. Joshua is surprisingly really good with the camera and the whole tech aspect of the project so he is definitely our strongest link right now. Also we strongly believe we have a creative idea and now we have to execute.
   Lastly filming was a total success, although there were a few things we could have done differently. For example our communication and our actual willingness to do the commercial could have been better. We were all kind of lazy and didn't realize that this was our only shot at passing AICE media. One thing I found that worked to our advantage was actually thinking on our toes, we came up with some great ideas while shooting the middle of some of our scenes. We also didn't disagree or argue we kind of just heard everyone's ideas and put them together into a cohesive piece of work. Which I feel like that's what made us such a good group. All in all we have a great project prepared for Cambridge and for our teachers to see. The only thing holding not only a few of my group members back but others as well is keeping up with blogs. Sometimes they can be a challenge to keep up with. And we have to also work on/ practice more on our angles, shots, etc...

Storyboard

For our project we came up with a few combination of shots, angles, editing, etc. to visualize a fantastic commercial. 

Shots: 

Long shot, two shot, close up

Angles: 

POV, over the shoulder, oblique 

Movement: 

pan and tilt

Editing:

Insert, Fade out, Jump cut, Reaction shot

Mis-En-Scene:

Location: At FLHS in the hallway and senior patio

Costume: Halloween costumes, regular outfits, masks 

Props: Fake knife, cups for party, speaker

Lighting: Natural lighting (outside)

Editing Lesson Blog

  Today in class, we learned everything it takes to editing a good video. She began to teach us the proper etiquette behind the used of the camera. The camera is to be used solely for AICE media purposes only. Before students can use school equipment, they have to sign a form to ensure they are responsible for their equipment. We learned how to edit, cut, and export. These are all the foundations for making a good video. We also used how to use a tripod and camera. We learned how to attach the tripod to the camera and connect the adapter.

Raw footage is when footage is uncut and not edited. However, the key to a good video is to edit the footage. When editing, students have to move their footage to a SD card, in a DCMI folder. If the footage isn't their then the students must go to private, which is called, an AVCHD, in order to find their footage. To import a file the students must get a picture from the computer and pinnacle studios. Students must also highlight their footage and put it on a desktop, to dump it. To import students need to open pinnacle studios and click import then desk studios. There are certain AV tracks for certain things. AV Track 1 is for titles, AV track 2 is for building, and AV track 3 is for music.

Today in class we also learned how to cut. To do this students must put their playbar where they want to cut. After this they must go to razor blade and split their clips. We learned that effects editor allows students to create transitions and effects onto their video or file. This also allows students to change speed, mute their video, create a voice-over, or delete some of their footage. Students can then type what they want and place it into AV track 1. To export students must go from the program to desktop and make sure it is on mp3. Something important to remember is to make sure everything turns out smooth and looks professional.

Planning Blog for FLHS Commercial

Once we thoroughly discussed our plan for our commercial all the way through. We decided to capture the first annual Fright Night event, taking place at Fort Lauderdale High School. As our audio we will be using a voice over, as well as some instrumental music throughout the entire commercial. Our idea, is to have Amina, who will be playing the role of little red riding hood, walk through an empty hallway as she is on the way to a party. As she is walking, something fall out of her basket. Amina or Little Red Riding Hood decides to bend over and pick it up. As she begins to stand up she sees this very tall man with a mask on standing in front of her with a bloody knife. The screen will then fade out into the next scene when she wakes up on the floor in the middle of a dance party. She wakes up confused as to what just happened. The scene will then jump cut to her partying and trying to forget about what just happened. That is until she sees the same man with the mask on walk by her again. Our cameraman Josh will get a close up of Amina's face and we will then end the commercial.

We will be using a few props, such as the fake bloody knife Charli will be holding, when she stands in front of Amina. We will also utilize cups to make the party scene a little bit more believable. Our costumes will consist of a red riding hood costume, a scary mask, and the extras in the scene will also have on costumes as well. The scheduled itinerary we plan on following is: today ( October 10th) plan our commercial, do some pre storyboarding, write a script, and come up with who will be doing what. Next class period (October 14th) we will do a final storyboard and make sure our plan is properly thought out. The location our scenes will be taking place, is in the hallway by building 21.

Although we are confident in this plan, our plan b will be to focus into the day in the life of a FLHS Cambridge student. Where we will be filming a kid in the program inside of a classroom, displaying the daily things they will endure. This plan was actually our original idea until Fright Night became apparent to us. In our backup  though we were going to use a voice over with some hand held camera action. Using different editing techniques to make a good commercial. The idea was to have the voice over display all the good qualities of being a student in the program while the actual image displayed was a kid sleeping, being late to class etc. Kind of showing the reality of highschool but doing so in a funny way.

Research, Codes, and Conventions

   As a group, we have decided to do our commercial on Fort Lauderdale High School, in the process of making our decision; we decided that most of the other topics would be overused. During our research we noticed that most commercials of different schools, used the same opening shot. Either it was an establishing shot of the school or it was a wide shot, capturing the day in the life of a student that attends the school. Most commercials also used closeups of the students face and zoomed in
on the students smiling. Most of the commercials used voice overs for the sound. Any other sound used in the commercials were, sound bridge, score, and non-diegetic sounds.
   The lighting used was natural lighting. The location of all the commercials, were the same. Schools, libraries, our in classrooms. Everyone in the film, had on regular clothing; looking just like your typical college student. The set design for the commercials used, was the basic class and library setting. There was no type of makeup or special effects makeup used, so we wouldn't have to worry about capturing that aspect of the film.
   In the process of making our film, I feel as if we will arrive to a few issues. Our main goal of our commercial is to make sure we not only meet the requirements of the assignments but, make sure we do a good job at highlighting the main features of what it is like to be a student a student at FLHS. So what we do want to stray away from is having too many ideas and trying to input them all into a thirty second commercial. Being that it is our first time filming I would like to start as soon as possible in case we run into any issues with our camera or we need help with something. We will be focusing on the day in the life of a student who is in the Cambridge and Law program at FLHS. 

Introductory

   Hello class, my name is Charli. Somethings you should know about me are, I am a very outgoing person, I am super friendly and I have a whole lot of personality. I am also a very adamant person, with that being said I like to stay on top of my work, whether it be school or my job. I strongly believe in having a good work ethic. And I can tend to be goal oriented, sticking to something and achieving it the best way possible is one thing that satisfies me. I would describe myself as someone who is always laughing and making others around me laugh with the things I say and do. Being that one unique person that really stands out in the room. I love to be super creative and create these images in my head that I try to bring to life. My main goal in life is to become a person of many talents, being that I am good at a lot of things currently; my future will reflect all my hard-work now!
   I really do enjoy helping others in any way I can, I tend to put a lot of people before me.  Another thing I really enjoy is fashion! Being able to express who I am through my wardrobe is so important to me because it literally makes me who I am. I've always been artsy so I do enjoy painting and drawing. As I got older I began to paint clothes and to sew different things as well. Being overwhelmed by school work is one major thing I dislike. I try to get everything done to the best of my ability, but sometimes it does get the best of me and I tend to give up (SOMETIMES).
   Being that I am in the Cambridge program at Fort Lauderdale, I take a certain number of AICE classes, media being one of them. These classes can be sort of challenging at times, yet I always find myself pulling through with the grades at the end of the quarter. Another challenging class I take is AP English composition. That class is VERY hard considering I hate anything participle phrase related! AICE Media is the one class where I feel somewhat free in, everything is pretty much independent work. At times that can be hard for me because I do tend to like teachers reminding me when work is due. I really look forward to this class throughout the year and I can't wait to continue blogging!