Planning to Edit the Commercial

Today is October 28th and we looked over out footage. We had 19 clips overall and chose which ones were the best. I personally liked the clips with a lot of shadows. This is because it will help with the theme of the commercial. Most of our clips actually had really good lighting. This is surprising because there was a lot of glare outside that day. We had a pretty good place to film on the track. I think everything worked out. Dumping the clips onto the computer did take a while. This was because other groups were using all the SD Card adapters. Once we got it on, we made a folder called "commercial" to save the clips. The next thing we did was make sure the clips were correct and and put it on Google Drive.

     On Google drive I made another folder called "AICE Media Studies". This will be for all future clips we put on there. I organized the clips in order of time for the video. I also made sure they were all there. The clips were the right length but I think we will have to slow some down. Because Pinnacle studios wasn't up today we decided to plan our editing process. I think that we should go with an emotional theme. Possibly like the theme of never giving up.

     I think at the beginning we should have shadows and slow the clip down. This is because Sean walks fast it in and it doesn't convey the right theme. In other clips I need to add more shadows on seans face while he runs. and to slow down the race for it to be comprehensible. On the clips where Sean drinks Gatorade I need to color correct and make the Gatorade pop on the screen. I also need to put it in slow motion when he slams it on the ground. I think that the music choice will dictate the theme so I will spend a long time planning it. I also want to make the medal we give Sean more noticeable. This can be done in many ways but I think the best is to use some color techniques. I think we should mainly use jump cuts but we do need some variety. I am excited to edit the commercial next class. 

Filming the Commercial

Today the 24th we filmed our commercial after planning it for a few days. The main character was Sean from my group, I was one of the runners in the commercial. Tim was another runner, and Jake was acting as the coach. Our equipment was a tripod and a camera with an SD card. We took a while to find a place to start filming because it was crowded at the track that day. There were people from other clubs running around it! As we got our spot, we changed a few angles from the storyboard but did not stray too far off the path. For the first scene, I had to stretch as Sean walked up to the starting area for the race. We did 3 or 4 takes of this scene. For the second scene, I held the camera because we went to one of the last scenes. This scene was where the coach hands Sean a Gatorade to drink. We used the tripod for this one so it did not shake and ruin the scene. For the next scene I helped Jake record a closeup of the Gatorade splashing on the ground, for effect at the end of the commercial. We were running out of time, and the camera battery ran out so we had to act fast. We borrowed a battery from another group, for a few shots to finish the film. I ran ahead of Sean for a shot because it has to look like he is losing in the beginning. The next shot, Sean poured water on himself to act as sweat and we got a closeup of him running. For that take, I helped place the actor to set the angle. The last take we needed was all of us running, and Sean barely winning. I feel like I slowed down a bit early but it still worked out as Tim almost beat Sean. I think the clips are not very good by themselves. But they will be really good when I edit it. I am planning to do the majority of the editing as I am experienced. We used a bigger Gatorade bottle then planned, and decided to move the whistle to edit in post. However, for the shot where Sean is handed the Gatorade; he is also handed a medal. This helps the viewer understand that he won. This is because there is no definitive finish line on the track at the time. I feel like I did a good job acting. I wish I was able to use the camera more, however, I was in a lot of shots. I am excited to finish up this project!

Storyboard

We started brainstorming our storyboard today in class. We have an idea of what we want to do for a Gatorade commercial including 3 racers and a coach. We might also incorporate some background fans cheering. We spent a while planning the idea and have created a good film plan. At the beginning we will have a shot behind our protagonist walking up to the starting blocks. We are thinking about having a voice over explain how he is washed up. The next thing we will do is tilt up to above his shoulder. This will show the other racers stretching. I think it well help show the importance of this race to the protagonist. 

The other racers will be wearing racing clothing so the audience can understand. The next scene will be a flash pan to the protagonist on the starting blocks in the foreground of the wide shot. We will have the other racers be unfocused in the shot to capture the protagonists emotion. We will have the race start and our protagonist lag behind. We will then have a close up of our protagonist sweating and looking serious. After that it zooms back out and he barely wins the race after pulling ahead. This will help the audience feel an emotion and be invested in the commercial. Next we will have a medium shot of the Protagonist given a medal and a Gatorade by his coach. There will be people cheering for him. 

The final shot will be the Protagonist slamming down the Gatorade after taking a drink and the camera closing up on the drink. In the background will be people cheering. I think this storyboard is practical and will be good for character development and investing viewers. I think it will keep people interested in the drink. We might end up making some changes to the storyboard. I think it would be cool to have gatorade references in the background. I also think that it would be good to have the logo come up at the end in classic commercial style. We will also be wearing costumes to represent what part we are acting out. I think we will make a good commercial because we have planned it out for a while. 

Editing Blog Lesson

Today we had a lesson about editing and how to use a camera. The first thing we learned was how to connect a camera to a tripod. For this specific tripod  there is a plate that you can connect to the camera and the tripod interchangablly. Flick a lever and the plate pops off. There is a knob on the plate to tighten or loosen it to take it off. Finally the very cool thing I learned, was there is a lever to change the camera height. This is special because it doesn't need to extend the tripods legs and is its own special thing.
       The next thing we learned was the editing process. We have to use pinnacle studios to edit our videos for everything we do this year. On our computer we can create a folder on the desktop. This will be used for inserting the SD Card information into the folder for use. After this, we can search for our footage as it is sorted by date and time. If the footage isn't in DCIM, it is probably in AVCHD so I have to remember to check both. Dumping is the term to dump footage onto the computer, which is an important keyword to remember. Importing is bringing footage from camera to computer which we do with the SD Card. Always remember to import all of your footage as you might need other ones later. This raw footage is the clips you will use to create your film when editing. Once you put your clips in the editing bar, wait for them to render in. If you do not wait it could cause massive issues so this is a good point. If I want to create effects, there is an effects panel which includes transitions, special effects, and more. Right clicking a clip also gives special features like the ability to speed it up. If I want to add text, there is a button with a capital "T" which will add text to overlay my editing. I think this can be useful because it can be a title during my commercial. By using multiple tracks I can change which clips are over another. This is used to create useful effects like split screen and other things!           
           Editing takes up the bulk of my time, so learning how to do it efficiently will be very useful. There are a variety of keyboard shortcuts I can use to make my life easier. For example, using ctrl z to undo an edit and k to start watching. Once I finalize my edits I will start exporting the project. Exporting is taking footage from Pinnacle Studios, and moving it to the desktop. Using Mp4 format with best possible quality and high render, are the best settings. Than you can start rendering your footage which is the final step before you can turn it in. Rendering combines all your clips and makes them smooth out, which is imparitive for the final product.

Planning Blog for Gatorade Commercial

    Today, my group is going to plan for a Gatorade commercial. We already know common tropes of what a commercial should be like and will integrate that when creating our plan. Our current idea is to have the setting be focused around the track at our school. This is always up for change, if it rains we will have a back up plan. The first thing we are doing is starting to watch Gatorade commercials, as we can recreate the types of angles and lighting they use. Our current idea is to have 3 of our group members be in a track race. Our protagonist, Sean struggles, and wins the race as he has prepared and looks serious on the blocks. Coach hands him a Gatorade, he drinks it and slams it down; amplifying the effect. The camera focuses on the Gatorade as we celebrate in the background.

1) Props- Lime Gatorade Bottle (Normal Size), Water (for sweat), Whistle, Medal.
2) Costumes- Sweatbands, Track-like Clothing, Running Shoes, Polo shirt.
3) Schedule- On October 19 we will storyboard our scenes for the commercial, On October 21 we will film our commercial from the rubric of the storyboard and get multiple scenes of everything we need. On October 23rd we will edit the commercial in class and add our overlays such as pictures and special effects. On October 25 our commercial will be done and will be turned in for grading.
4) Location- We will be filming on the track at our school, and on the bleachers.
5) Backup Plan: Actor buys Gatorade from school vending machine, goes to work out in the weight room or the stairs, and slams the Gatorade down to show effect as he works out and is sweating.

 

Research blog: Commercial Conventions

             My group is interested in making a commercial based on Sports drinks as we see a lot of potential in it, but that is always up for change. Advertisements are used today to promote and sell a product/service to the audience. The main conventions I see from commercials such as Gatorade are: specific camera angle and shots to make the item looking very appealing. The iconography of Gatorade is really special and they overuse it in their commercials to ingrain it into your mind. The editing for them is usually pretty simple, but with something flashy at the end such as a football player running into the field as in the Gatorade TV Commercial "Make Your Rival Your Fuel".
           The lightning uses drastic shadows to amplify the sweat and tiredness of the athletes who are drinking Gatorade in the videos. In all ads, there is a common theme in all sounds such as the music, or special effects. If it is an intense ad, then it is connected with intense music and loud, flashy sound effects. Computer graphics, such as text written over the ad, normally appear at the end of an ad to display information. However in Gatorade ads, the text usually includes inspirational quotes to make you feel accomplished and satisfied with the ad.
          Depending on the ad, special effects can be used heavily. Gatorade ads actually use very little special effects, mostly relying on actors emotions as seen on recent ads. While ads based on medicare, usually use green screen and overlays many times throughout the ad. I learned a lot from this research and did not initially realize how much work goes into a short ad.

Introductory

I am Kyle Weiner and I joined AICE Media Studies for my passion of the subject and I am excited to learn more about the class. I always loved editing on Adobe apps and want to expand my skills in future projects. I hope to make a good film project that blows the graders away on the final. I am excited for the future and hope to make fun projects. Last year I did TV Production and it was one of my favorite classes. So far I have learned the same things and more, such as: camera angles, shots, editing terms etc. If I could, I would have taken this class last year. I worked on a film studies class for Duke TIP two years ago, and I plan to do it again this year. I am excited to watch and analyze films in this class.
          My favorite films are The Truman Show and The Usual Suspect. I like these films because they are very pleasing to watch, and have a unique ending that I wouldn't have guessed. I want to watch more films and am excited for new ones to come out. So far we have analyzed the Charlie Chaplin film, City Lights. I thought it was really good for its time, and how it did not use sound was really unique and the start of Chaplin's style. Another project that was very cool was learning how to Storyboard and the process of how a film is produced. I was interested to learn how long each part took, and how important film festivals are for smaller films. Movies like the Dark Knight and other Dramas are probably my favorite. You could say my favorite genre is Drama, and Action, as I look for many aspects that make the film my favorite. The most important aspect in my opinion is character development. This helps you see the film through the characters eyes and makes it much better.
         The best thing I did last year was create a commercial that was around 3 minutes long. It was a blast to record and it turned out really good after I edited it. This makes me excited for the commercial project that we will do soon in the class. I hope to do something that I did not do last year and that will help me learn more about film studies. My favorite part of film is the editing process. My favorite editing tool is Adobe After Effects. I spent most of my summer learning how to use after effects. I will be very happy, and excited if I am able to use it for the videos we film this year. Overall, I am very excited for the future of this class and what we will do.