Sunday, December 16, 2012

Finalizing your Movies

This week you have time to finalize your films in class.  Hopefully all of your scenes have been shot and you are ready to put it all together. 

YOU CAN PUT THIS TOGETHER IN IMOVIE OR AFTER EFFECTS.  Whichever program you feel the most comfortable using.  There are not going to be effects really.

You need to have your logo at the beginning of your film.

Thank you Video:
We will be filming the Thank you Video two days this week!  Hopefully we can get this done before break........We'll see how much time we have.  I am really looking forward to filming it though-it should be fun!


Sunday, December 9, 2012

SHOOT, SHOOT, SHOOT!

Recommended Movie to see:  MEMENTO

Put your Best Photo's for this unit and the final Photo video with your logo onto your Blog sites. 

Today I will meet with each of you one on one to see what your video footage looks like so far.  You should have AT LEAST 3 scenes completely filmed.  BUT that does not mean you might not have to go back and re-film them or add to them. 

Remember you should only stay on a camera position for no more then 5-7 seconds.  There is no reason why you can't shoot the same subject/position at 2-3 different angles. 

Every night this week you will be responsible for shooting 2 scenes per night.  By the end of the week you should have all of your footage shot.  

During class time all this week: I expect you to be working on the editing of your footage 

  • Avoid long shots. More than a few viewers will be watching your video on a screen that's small enough to fit in their hand. Giving them long shots with a tremendous amount of minute detail that is important to the message of your video is pointless because they more than likely won't be able to see it and could even be frustrated enough to avoid future videos you post online.
  • Background matters. Even though small details will elude most viewers, you can bet that someone somewhere is going to see that embarrassing stain on the wall behind you or that photo of you in your Princess Leia costume just over your left shoulder. And if the right person (or wrong person) sees it, it could become fodder for the entire internet community. That's the kind of viral video you don't want.
  • Keep it short and slow it down. These might sound contradictory, but if you can keep a slow, comfortable pace in a short video, you've created a Goldilocks video - one that's just right. People often shout and race through the information in their personal videos. It almost looks like the room is on fire and they're trying to get out of there as quickly as possible. Even with the frantic pacing, they manage to create a 10-minute video that wastes everyone's time. Three to five minutes in a natural speaking voice is much more effective. 
 The single most important part of telling a good story is asking throughout the entire process:
"What is the story all about?"

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Story Boards

Hi Guys-

Sorry I am not there with you today.  Please work diligently on your Story Boards.  I want to see a substantial amount of them on Thursday with good detail like the ones I showed you on my blog (especially the first few scenes that you want to film).   I think that the story boards will be something you will need to revise as you are filming, so we are going to be filming and continuing to work on the Story Boards simultaneously.  You will need to find some time to do some filming almost every day while we are doing this assignment (starting on Thursday) in order for us to finish it before Christmas break (and that is a must finish date).

If you have any questions send me an email or Facebook message, I'll be checking them throughout the day.  Good Luck and see you all on Thursday!

Mrs. Schneid

Monday, December 3, 2012

Your Story = A Video

Now we are going to take your stories and turn them into a video.  Let's watch the following video created by Ester Boller-the girl from the first set of pictures.  But before we do that I want to share her story with you so that you can see what it is like to take a story and create a film out of it.

Ester's Story:
Where I don't Feel Alone    

    On May 28, 2012, my brother Daniel committed suicide. For several years before his death, he suffered from a severe mental illness that took his rational mind, and he just wanted peace from the torment.
     Soon afterwards I began wondering what would’ve happened if he hadn’t ended his life; what would he be like in 10 – 15 years from now? I’ll never know these answers, but I hope with my whole heart that in heaven he found peace, happiness, and freedom from his suffering.

    This is a self-filmed video.

Music: To Build a Home - The Cinematic Orchestra.
Older dancer: Mia Bendele - En Croix (Homeschool Ballet) Dance Fort Wayne.
Younger girl: Me

http://vimeo.com/50036890

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:
 You already have a song and a story.  Hopefully you chose a song that truly fits your story.  The song will be your guide for your video.  Here is what I would like from you:

1.  Break down your song line by line.  Or beat by beat.  EXAMPLE:  At the beginning of the song-take the first line or beat.  What could you show that would represent the song words or beat that would also portray your emotion from your story?   

2.  You clearly should have a beginning, middle and end.  (think of these as your 3 different emotions)  BUT, like you saw in Ester's video, you can travel back and forth within the backgrounds to help bring your video together. 

3.  Using sticky notes I want you to create a story board.  Using sticky notes will allow you to move scenes around.  I want to know the details here.  This section will be due by Thursday when you walk into class.  So lets discuss Sticky notes and storyboards.  THIS IS FOR THE ENTIRE SONG YOU HAVE CHOSEN.

Things you should have in you sticky notes:
The Scene # Every location change should be a new scene.
The lyrics to the song or beats to the song (to identify what section you are working on)
Camera Angles (54 DIFFERENT camera angles shown in Ester's video) how many different angles will you use in each scene and tell me how.
http://vhsadvancedfilm.blogspot.com/2012/11/camera-anglesshots.html
How and why to use different Camera Angles: CLICK HERE
How and why to use different Camera Angles part 2-CLICK HERE
Estimated Time- for each scene - base it on the music length-?(EX: how long is the piano section)
Explain what we will see-tell me exactly what I am going to be seeing in this clip 
Connection to the lyrics-explain how you used the words in the song to help portray your feeling/emotion or to help set the scene of what you are trying to portray.

Example of what I want to see in your Sticky Notes, using Ester's video:




Remember: you are trying to use the emotion from your story as your guide/inspiration for the whole film.  You came up with 3 different emotions.  I should see those emotions portrayed in your video.