Reflection
Today we began a new unit, the creation of noise and sound effects for a comic. Though we knew how to use inbuilt computer recorded sound effects, we were told to create the sounds ourselves - we were to be foley artists. This means that we will have to experiment and maybe research the tools we will use to create these noises.
As a guide for our sound creation process, Charles and I began a storyboard in which we detailed the specific noises that would be heard in each individual scene of the comic. Thus, we created a storyboard which was quite different from regular storyboards, since we did not plan shots or camera techniques, but to organize the scenes and the sounds we would need. In this way, we altered an existing skill we possessed into a very helpful new process of planning.
Evaluation
Today we tried to plan out our complete soundtrack through storyboarding. Since we tried to experiment with inbuilt sound effects within Soundtrack Pro before starting our project, we did not finish the storyboard. However we did end up with at least an idea of how we would proceed. This inefficiency was caused in part by the absence of two group members who were on a geography trip. In future, we will make sure that people have different jobs to do and ensure that we have two or more jobs being done simultaneously (documentary/storyboard and planning/sound research/sound design and creation).
Thursday, May 05, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Reflection/Evaluation for 15/4/11
Reflection
Today we finalized our post-production process and exported our video. During the process, there were several problems, most of which were relatively minor. The audio equalization in the video was problematic. The song conflicted greatly with the original audio from the recording sessions, such as the basketball bounces and speech.
Due to our ineptness with the program, it took some help from Ms. Wong and time to explore the program to find an audio edit zone. This allowed us to reduce the volume of the ambient noise and balance the audio. After this, we exported the video successfully. This experience helped me understand audio editing within movies a lot more.
Evaluation
Today I found it really fulfilling and felt a sense of achievement today when our group exported our final video and placed it into the drop box. The sense of accomplishment in completing a project such as this was enjoyable and the fact that we were the only group to make the deadline was also rewarding.
I also enjoyed the learning experience during today's lesson and also in previous lessons. I am now a little more acquainted with the software used to edit videos professionally, and while I still have a long way to go before I become efficient with the program so that I can use it effectively, I think I have learned a lot about editing and the filmmaking process in general throughout this project.
I will, however, continue to make videos for fun occasionally and expand, through experimentation, my knowledge of the program. This will help me be more comfortable with the program in future.
Today we finalized our post-production process and exported our video. During the process, there were several problems, most of which were relatively minor. The audio equalization in the video was problematic. The song conflicted greatly with the original audio from the recording sessions, such as the basketball bounces and speech.
Due to our ineptness with the program, it took some help from Ms. Wong and time to explore the program to find an audio edit zone. This allowed us to reduce the volume of the ambient noise and balance the audio. After this, we exported the video successfully. This experience helped me understand audio editing within movies a lot more.
Evaluation
Today I found it really fulfilling and felt a sense of achievement today when our group exported our final video and placed it into the drop box. The sense of accomplishment in completing a project such as this was enjoyable and the fact that we were the only group to make the deadline was also rewarding.
I also enjoyed the learning experience during today's lesson and also in previous lessons. I am now a little more acquainted with the software used to edit videos professionally, and while I still have a long way to go before I become efficient with the program so that I can use it effectively, I think I have learned a lot about editing and the filmmaking process in general throughout this project.
I will, however, continue to make videos for fun occasionally and expand, through experimentation, my knowledge of the program. This will help me be more comfortable with the program in future.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Reflection/Evaluation for 13/4/11
Reflection
Today, we went to refilm Nic Tse's singing and dancing performance scenes. This was because of the previous failed attempts at filming Nic trying to perform. He was extremely shy in previous lessons, and his singing and dancing scenes were not very good due to this.
This lesson, Charles and I had to convince him to perform with more passion and flair instead of singing and dancing in a very machine-like and robotic way, without impassioned movements. We managed to solve this problem and get him to act more enthusiastically by placing an iPhone, with the song playing, into his hood, and then setting up the camera to record before moving away so that Nic could record alone without suffering from stage-fright.
We thus had to use static shots to film Nic Tse's parts, and thus it was virtually impossible to create interesting, rhythmically-enhancing camera movements, which detracted from our film's quality. However, this was essential to ensure that the scenes looked good instead of having poor performance scenes.
During editing, Nic and I watched more music videos in the hip-hop genre while Charles and Alastair carried out the technical parts of editing. We tried to find more post-production editing techniques which we could incorporate into our video as editing continued, but we decided that what we should keep our video simple so we didn't include too many editing effects.
Evaluation
Although we had some setbacks, we managed to successfully finish our filming today and then moved onto editing. In terms of completing our goals for the day, we managed to achieve all of them, which is good, because we were then ahead of schedule for editing.
Since we could not have so many people crowding around one computer at a time, we only let Alastair and Charles deal with the technical issues in editing, while Nic and I moved to another computer to watch more music videos. We provided feedback and proposals on editing choices and what clips should be included and where, but we decided to keep the video simple so only very few of these were actually implemented.
Today, we went to refilm Nic Tse's singing and dancing performance scenes. This was because of the previous failed attempts at filming Nic trying to perform. He was extremely shy in previous lessons, and his singing and dancing scenes were not very good due to this.
This lesson, Charles and I had to convince him to perform with more passion and flair instead of singing and dancing in a very machine-like and robotic way, without impassioned movements. We managed to solve this problem and get him to act more enthusiastically by placing an iPhone, with the song playing, into his hood, and then setting up the camera to record before moving away so that Nic could record alone without suffering from stage-fright.
We thus had to use static shots to film Nic Tse's parts, and thus it was virtually impossible to create interesting, rhythmically-enhancing camera movements, which detracted from our film's quality. However, this was essential to ensure that the scenes looked good instead of having poor performance scenes.
During editing, Nic and I watched more music videos in the hip-hop genre while Charles and Alastair carried out the technical parts of editing. We tried to find more post-production editing techniques which we could incorporate into our video as editing continued, but we decided that what we should keep our video simple so we didn't include too many editing effects.
Evaluation
Although we had some setbacks, we managed to successfully finish our filming today and then moved onto editing. In terms of completing our goals for the day, we managed to achieve all of them, which is good, because we were then ahead of schedule for editing.
Since we could not have so many people crowding around one computer at a time, we only let Alastair and Charles deal with the technical issues in editing, while Nic and I moved to another computer to watch more music videos. We provided feedback and proposals on editing choices and what clips should be included and where, but we decided to keep the video simple so only very few of these were actually implemented.
Thursday, April 07, 2011
Reflection/Evaluation for 7/4/11 - Music Video Presentations Review (Day Four)
Ref;ection
Today, we continued once again with our music video presentations, which I critically evaluated again:
Dean Dyus: Stan by Eminem ft. Dido
* Thorough description of themes.
* Very few screenshots to show lighting.
* Description of lighting was good, but could have been more in-depth.
* "I'm not going to do this, 'cos I don't really care." Lack of enthusiasm.
Anne Mancini: Strawberry Fields by The Beatles
* Very good analyzation of colour.
* Good description of camera techniques.
Myself
Davis Wong:
* Good analysis of lyrics.
* Good relation of video to moods.
* Good analysis of transitions.
* Good analysis of colour and relation to time.
Then, we continued with filming and finished our shooting of Nic's singing scenes.
Evaluation
Today, we continued once again with our music video presentations, which I critically evaluated again:
Dean Dyus: Stan by Eminem ft. Dido
* Thorough description of themes.
* Very few screenshots to show lighting.
* Description of lighting was good, but could have been more in-depth.
* "I'm not going to do this, 'cos I don't really care." Lack of enthusiasm.
Anne Mancini: Strawberry Fields by The Beatles
* Very good analyzation of colour.
* Good description of camera techniques.
Myself
Davis Wong:
* Good analysis of lyrics.
* Good relation of video to moods.
* Good analysis of transitions.
* Good analysis of colour and relation to time.
Then, we continued with filming and finished our shooting of Nic's singing scenes.
Evaluation
Tuesday, April 05, 2011
Reflection/Evaluation for 4/4/11 - Music Video Presentations Review (Day Three)
Reflection
Today we continued with some music video presentations, and once again I critically evaluated these presentations:
Katherine Pemberton: Bad Romance by Lady GaGa
* Good explanation of effects of colour and lighting use.
* Good analysis of silhouettes.
* Good explanation of camera techniques.
* Good explanation of symbolism.
Charles Wan: 21 Guns by Green Day
* Good introduction of music video themes.
* Good analyzation of lighting and colours.
* Good description of camera techniques.
Beatrice Chia: Can't Nobody by 2NE1
* Good analyzation of lighting and colours.
* Nice analysis of editing and transitions.
Saskia Leung: Firework by Katy Perry
* Good explanation of camera movements and distances.
* Good description of editing.
After a few of these presentations, we then proceeded to continue our filming further. Today, we managed to film most of Nic Tse's lip-syncing and dancing scenes. This means that we only have to complete his dancing and singing scenes later before we move on to editing.
We did not learn much in today's lesson, apart from a few experimental trial-and-error learning experiences when filming the lip-syncing scenes, where we figured out that actually singing the song makes the lip-syncing more realistic than simply mouthing the words.
Evaluation
We worked very well today to complete most of the singing and dancing parts of the music video. This is thanks to Nic's hard work in memorizing the lyrics of the song so that he could lip-snc it without delays in filming.
However, Nic had some problems with dancing, especially with other people watching. For this reason, we will most likely refilm some of the dance scenes with myself and possibly Charles dancing in synchronized movements with him. Also, I have taken it upon myself to teach Nic some moves so that he isn't so self-conscious.
This means that I will probably have to spend some time planning dance sequences and choreographing group scenes, which will be time-consuming. However, we only need to re-flim a few scenes so this will not be too hard. Researching the dance moves that are common in Mando-pop music videos will probably be very helpful in this endeavour.
Today we continued with some music video presentations, and once again I critically evaluated these presentations:
Katherine Pemberton: Bad Romance by Lady GaGa
* Good explanation of effects of colour and lighting use.
* Good analysis of silhouettes.
* Good explanation of camera techniques.
* Good explanation of symbolism.
Charles Wan: 21 Guns by Green Day
* Good introduction of music video themes.
* Good analyzation of lighting and colours.
* Good description of camera techniques.
Beatrice Chia: Can't Nobody by 2NE1
* Good analyzation of lighting and colours.
* Nice analysis of editing and transitions.
Saskia Leung: Firework by Katy Perry
* Good explanation of camera movements and distances.
* Good description of editing.
After a few of these presentations, we then proceeded to continue our filming further. Today, we managed to film most of Nic Tse's lip-syncing and dancing scenes. This means that we only have to complete his dancing and singing scenes later before we move on to editing.
We did not learn much in today's lesson, apart from a few experimental trial-and-error learning experiences when filming the lip-syncing scenes, where we figured out that actually singing the song makes the lip-syncing more realistic than simply mouthing the words.
Evaluation
We worked very well today to complete most of the singing and dancing parts of the music video. This is thanks to Nic's hard work in memorizing the lyrics of the song so that he could lip-snc it without delays in filming.
However, Nic had some problems with dancing, especially with other people watching. For this reason, we will most likely refilm some of the dance scenes with myself and possibly Charles dancing in synchronized movements with him. Also, I have taken it upon myself to teach Nic some moves so that he isn't so self-conscious.
This means that I will probably have to spend some time planning dance sequences and choreographing group scenes, which will be time-consuming. However, we only need to re-flim a few scenes so this will not be too hard. Researching the dance moves that are common in Mando-pop music videos will probably be very helpful in this endeavour.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Reflection/Evaluation for 29/3/11 - Music Video Presentations Review (Day Two)
Evaluation
Today, we again reviewed other people's presentations:
Nicholas Tse: Tui Hou by Jay Chou
* Good description of colours, and effect of this upon mood and message of the song.
* Good description of shot angles and distances and also how this helps to connect the viewer to the subject.
* Good description of visual transitions.
* Organization of content was bad, with multiple repetitions.
Luisa Lobo: If I Die Young by The Band Perry
* Good ideas, but oral presentation made it hard to hear what was being explained.
* Explanation of film concepts were a bit vague.
Cynthia So: Hello Again by JUJU
* Thorough explanation of the generic music video techniques, which is slightly unnecessary since we all know them.
* Good explanation of lighting to generate mood, and the use of camera shots to show facial expressions.
* Very deep description of techniques used to evoke emotional response.
* Good exploration of thematic functions of film concepts.
Georgie Reading: Rolling in the Deep by Adele
* Good acknowledgement of colour/lighting usage.
* Good examples of camera techniques.
* Good analyzation of effects and editing.
Nicholas Sung: Fix You by Coldplay
* Good observations relating to lighting and its effects.
* Accurate descriptions of camera distances, which sets the scene and later presents the sadness experienced by Martin (the singer).
* Very good descriptions of angles to emphasize the band's stature and also the dramatic scene of the huge audience.
* Very good, but brief, explanation of the rule of thirds.
* Editing descriptions were good.
* Presentation was over the time limit.
Evaluation
I stayed on task and created constructive criticism for presenters to improve in future. In my presentation, I can use some of what I saw today to improve my own analysis.
Today, we again reviewed other people's presentations:
Nicholas Tse: Tui Hou by Jay Chou
* Good description of colours, and effect of this upon mood and message of the song.
* Good description of shot angles and distances and also how this helps to connect the viewer to the subject.
* Good description of visual transitions.
* Organization of content was bad, with multiple repetitions.
Luisa Lobo: If I Die Young by The Band Perry
* Good ideas, but oral presentation made it hard to hear what was being explained.
* Explanation of film concepts were a bit vague.
Cynthia So: Hello Again by JUJU
* Thorough explanation of the generic music video techniques, which is slightly unnecessary since we all know them.
* Good explanation of lighting to generate mood, and the use of camera shots to show facial expressions.
* Very deep description of techniques used to evoke emotional response.
* Good exploration of thematic functions of film concepts.
Georgie Reading: Rolling in the Deep by Adele
* Good acknowledgement of colour/lighting usage.
* Good examples of camera techniques.
* Good analyzation of effects and editing.
Nicholas Sung: Fix You by Coldplay
* Good observations relating to lighting and its effects.
* Accurate descriptions of camera distances, which sets the scene and later presents the sadness experienced by Martin (the singer).
* Very good descriptions of angles to emphasize the band's stature and also the dramatic scene of the huge audience.
* Very good, but brief, explanation of the rule of thirds.
* Editing descriptions were good.
* Presentation was over the time limit.
Evaluation
I stayed on task and created constructive criticism for presenters to improve in future. In my presentation, I can use some of what I saw today to improve my own analysis.
Reflection/Evaluation for 25/3/11 - Music Video Presentations Review (Day One)
Reflection
Today, seven people presented their music video presentations on a selected music video of their choice. They then had to use their knowledge of camera techniques, editing techniques and the use of colour and lighting to create a music video.
Ryan Chang: As Good as I Once Was by Toby Keith
* Extensive description of the music video.
* Mistake with camera movement name.
* More effort talking about narrative instead of film concepts.
Alastair Hirsch: This Too Shall Pass by OK Go (Rube Goldberg Machine)
* Describes making of the video.
* Good description of camera shots and colour/lighting use.
Brandon Tang: This Too Shall Pass by OK Go (Alternate Video - Marching Band)
* Good analyzation of artist style.
* Good description of camera shots used.
Bradley Justice: Thriller by Michael Jackson
* Good analyzation of colours, lighting and camera techniques.
* Good tying back of film techniques to message and emotional aspects of video.
* Good description of older video techniques (No special effects)
Aaron Zweig: Collide by Howie Day
* Good description of colours/lighting and emotional response.
* Good analyzation of editing and effects of this.
Emily Sun: I Want You (She's So Heavy) by The Beatles
* Good explanation of types of music video.
* Good analyzation of thematic significance of camera techniques.
Dylan Smith: Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson
* Good analysis of shot types, especially the non-traditional "dutch angle".
* Very thorough analyzation of shot distances and effectiveness of these.
* Explanation of generic terms could be more succinct and better related to the music video itself.
* Colours/costumes well analyzed and related to themes.
Evaluation
I took down some notes and basic information for each presentation today, but I found that quite a few people neglected to talk at depth about film concepts, and instead talked more about the song or other non-film related subjects.
For my presentation, I will try to focus a great deal on film techniques instead of talking about other aspects of the video.
Bryce Lim
ecyrblim@gmail.com
Today, seven people presented their music video presentations on a selected music video of their choice. They then had to use their knowledge of camera techniques, editing techniques and the use of colour and lighting to create a music video.
Ryan Chang: As Good as I Once Was by Toby Keith
* Extensive description of the music video.
* Mistake with camera movement name.
* More effort talking about narrative instead of film concepts.
Alastair Hirsch: This Too Shall Pass by OK Go (Rube Goldberg Machine)
* Describes making of the video.
* Good description of camera shots and colour/lighting use.
Brandon Tang: This Too Shall Pass by OK Go (Alternate Video - Marching Band)
* Good analyzation of artist style.
* Good description of camera shots used.
Bradley Justice: Thriller by Michael Jackson
* Good analyzation of colours, lighting and camera techniques.
* Good tying back of film techniques to message and emotional aspects of video.
* Good description of older video techniques (No special effects)
Aaron Zweig: Collide by Howie Day
* Good description of colours/lighting and emotional response.
* Good analyzation of editing and effects of this.
Emily Sun: I Want You (She's So Heavy) by The Beatles
* Good explanation of types of music video.
* Good analyzation of thematic significance of camera techniques.
Dylan Smith: Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson
* Good analysis of shot types, especially the non-traditional "dutch angle".
* Very thorough analyzation of shot distances and effectiveness of these.
* Explanation of generic terms could be more succinct and better related to the music video itself.
* Colours/costumes well analyzed and related to themes.
Evaluation
I took down some notes and basic information for each presentation today, but I found that quite a few people neglected to talk at depth about film concepts, and instead talked more about the song or other non-film related subjects.
For my presentation, I will try to focus a great deal on film techniques instead of talking about other aspects of the video.
Bryce Lim
ecyrblim@gmail.com
Monday, March 21, 2011
Reflection/Evaluation for 21/3/11
Due to food poisoning, I wasn't able to help my group today. However, they managed to get along quite well with filming the parts in which I did not act.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Reflection/Evaluation for 17/3/11
Reflection
Today, we finished taking photographs for our storyboard. This time we had a basketball, so we took many shots because we had to have shots of ourselves shooting and with the ball in mid-air. This meant that we had to spend a large part of the lesson taking photos for the storyboard.
Once again, we used many shots because of the multiple angles, distance etc. required because of the intensive action/movement scenes. We had to use our skills to predict what types of shots would be good in the filming, and take photos to create a good storyboard that includes representations of these anticipated shots.
Evaluation
We learnt a lot about camera techniques through experimentation with taking photographs for the storyboard. We were able to complete the pictures in time, which was good.
However, we did go off track occasionally when we began to fool around with the basketball, taking shots and wasting time. We can make ourselves a lot more efficient in future by exercising more self-control.
Today, we finished taking photographs for our storyboard. This time we had a basketball, so we took many shots because we had to have shots of ourselves shooting and with the ball in mid-air. This meant that we had to spend a large part of the lesson taking photos for the storyboard.
Once again, we used many shots because of the multiple angles, distance etc. required because of the intensive action/movement scenes. We had to use our skills to predict what types of shots would be good in the filming, and take photos to create a good storyboard that includes representations of these anticipated shots.
Evaluation
We learnt a lot about camera techniques through experimentation with taking photographs for the storyboard. We were able to complete the pictures in time, which was good.
However, we did go off track occasionally when we began to fool around with the basketball, taking shots and wasting time. We can make ourselves a lot more efficient in future by exercising more self-control.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Reflection/Evaluation for 11/3/11
Reflection
Today, we were very productive. We finalized our script, listened to the song a bit more, and began to take still pictures for our storyboards.
It was a lot more complex and time-consuming to take photos this time compared to our previous minute-long movie project, since there is a lot of movement and action in our video. Also, because music videos utilize a lot of shots (a large combination of shot distances and angles) and transitions, we need a whole heap of footage and stills.
We didn't actually have a basketball, so we had to take stills of ourselves posing as if we had a basketball. This was not detrimental, but it was slightly unusual to pose in weird positions without a ball.
Evaluation
While we didn't finish taking photographs, we did take far more than we needed in order to have a surplus of available images to use in our storyboard. Since we are doing a video with a lot of action in it, we need to have many pictures so that the requirement for complex shots don't force us to use substandard photos.
My basketball skills are quite bad, so I should practice a bit more to get up to a better ability level. Also, I obviously still need to expand my understanding of music videos and how people behave in them. Apart from this, I will need to broaden my exposure to Jay Chou's music, which Nic Tse has already helped me with a little.
I really enjoyed this lesson, since it allowed us to further our progress in the filmmaking process and because we were able to expand our knowledge of camera techniques through experimentation.
Today, we were very productive. We finalized our script, listened to the song a bit more, and began to take still pictures for our storyboards.
It was a lot more complex and time-consuming to take photos this time compared to our previous minute-long movie project, since there is a lot of movement and action in our video. Also, because music videos utilize a lot of shots (a large combination of shot distances and angles) and transitions, we need a whole heap of footage and stills.
We didn't actually have a basketball, so we had to take stills of ourselves posing as if we had a basketball. This was not detrimental, but it was slightly unusual to pose in weird positions without a ball.
Evaluation
While we didn't finish taking photographs, we did take far more than we needed in order to have a surplus of available images to use in our storyboard. Since we are doing a video with a lot of action in it, we need to have many pictures so that the requirement for complex shots don't force us to use substandard photos.
My basketball skills are quite bad, so I should practice a bit more to get up to a better ability level. Also, I obviously still need to expand my understanding of music videos and how people behave in them. Apart from this, I will need to broaden my exposure to Jay Chou's music, which Nic Tse has already helped me with a little.
I really enjoyed this lesson, since it allowed us to further our progress in the filmmaking process and because we were able to expand our knowledge of camera techniques through experimentation.
Reflection/Evaluation for 9/3/11
Reflection
Today, we began to shortlist our song choices for our music video unit. Our starting point was Jay Chou, since this is Nic Tse's favorite artist in Mando Pop. Jay Chou is a 31-year-old Taiwanese signer who combines Mando Pop and other genres such as rap, hip hop and regular western pop. His diversity makes imitating him less of a challenge for me, a newcomer to Mando Pop, since I am already familiar with western genres such as rap, hip hop and pop.
Later, after much deliberation and YouTube searching, we decided to make a music video of Jay Chou's collaboration with NBA star Kobe Bryant of the LA Lakers, named "天地一鬥". The music video was created for a Sprite commercial and is about basketball.
There wasn't any new knowledge introduced today, but we had a niche genre, since we will be creating a basketball-themed video. We thus began to study camera techniques that would make filming a fast-moving sport such as basketball effective and aesthetically pleasing. My prior experience of watching football games on television means that I am highly familiar with what works and what doesn't when it comes to filming a fast motion sport.
We began and completed the rough draft of our script for this music video today, with a lot of help from Alastair, which gave us a good starting point for considering how our video will actually come together.
Evaluation
To expand my knowledge to enhance my filming of this video, I will need to practice basketball and work at my technique. Also, I have to become familiar with the lyrics of the song, which are in Mandarin, since I will be acting them out. In addition, I probably need to brush up on some dance moves just in case I need to dance in the video.
Overall, I think we worked very well, especially Alastair, since we managed to finish our entire first draft of our script today in one lesson, which is a pretty good job. I look forward to starting the filming of this video.
Today, we began to shortlist our song choices for our music video unit. Our starting point was Jay Chou, since this is Nic Tse's favorite artist in Mando Pop. Jay Chou is a 31-year-old Taiwanese signer who combines Mando Pop and other genres such as rap, hip hop and regular western pop. His diversity makes imitating him less of a challenge for me, a newcomer to Mando Pop, since I am already familiar with western genres such as rap, hip hop and pop.
Later, after much deliberation and YouTube searching, we decided to make a music video of Jay Chou's collaboration with NBA star Kobe Bryant of the LA Lakers, named "天地一鬥". The music video was created for a Sprite commercial and is about basketball.
There wasn't any new knowledge introduced today, but we had a niche genre, since we will be creating a basketball-themed video. We thus began to study camera techniques that would make filming a fast-moving sport such as basketball effective and aesthetically pleasing. My prior experience of watching football games on television means that I am highly familiar with what works and what doesn't when it comes to filming a fast motion sport.
We began and completed the rough draft of our script for this music video today, with a lot of help from Alastair, which gave us a good starting point for considering how our video will actually come together.
Evaluation
To expand my knowledge to enhance my filming of this video, I will need to practice basketball and work at my technique. Also, I have to become familiar with the lyrics of the song, which are in Mandarin, since I will be acting them out. In addition, I probably need to brush up on some dance moves just in case I need to dance in the video.
Overall, I think we worked very well, especially Alastair, since we managed to finish our entire first draft of our script today in one lesson, which is a pretty good job. I look forward to starting the filming of this video.
Reflection/Evaluation for 3/3/11
Reflection
Continuing on from the previous lesson, we watched the rest of the movies that we had made as part of our initiation minute-long movie project. After this, we split ourselves into groups of four for our next assessment. Our group members are Nic Tse, Alaistair Hirsch, Charles Wan and myself.
There wasn't new knowledge introduced to us today. Instead, we were supposed to watch existing music videos in order to discover techniques ourselves. Since our assessment is a music video, we needed to find a music genre and a proper song that will be suitable for us to film, since the techniques used in music videos are diverse and vary widely in different genres.
After some brainstorming within our group, and some input from Ms. Wong, we decided to pick Mando Pop as our genre. Nic Tse is quite an avid listener of Mando Pop, so his knowledge of some good songs was helpful. We then decided to make a music video of Jay Chou's collaboration with Kobe Bryant. This means that we will create a basketball-themed video.
There were a few film skills utilized today, such as noting the camera angles and movements required to make filming a fast-moving sport such as basketball effective and aesthetically pleasing. Looking at different music videos also gave us ideas and inspiration for our own video.
Evaluation
I have very little prior knowledge of Mando Pop, so to expand my knowledge I could listen to more of Jay Chou's songs in order to better understand his image and attitude in popular culture. By doing so, I will be better able to represent him in film.
Expanding my knowledge past Jay Chou would also help, but for this I will need to get support and recommendations from Nic Tse so I can find proper Mando Pop artists.
I think that we used class time well today, since we have already managed to decide on a genre and begin work on studying features of Mando Pop songs. This lesson was very fun and informative.
Continuing on from the previous lesson, we watched the rest of the movies that we had made as part of our initiation minute-long movie project. After this, we split ourselves into groups of four for our next assessment. Our group members are Nic Tse, Alaistair Hirsch, Charles Wan and myself.
There wasn't new knowledge introduced to us today. Instead, we were supposed to watch existing music videos in order to discover techniques ourselves. Since our assessment is a music video, we needed to find a music genre and a proper song that will be suitable for us to film, since the techniques used in music videos are diverse and vary widely in different genres.
After some brainstorming within our group, and some input from Ms. Wong, we decided to pick Mando Pop as our genre. Nic Tse is quite an avid listener of Mando Pop, so his knowledge of some good songs was helpful. We then decided to make a music video of Jay Chou's collaboration with Kobe Bryant. This means that we will create a basketball-themed video.
There were a few film skills utilized today, such as noting the camera angles and movements required to make filming a fast-moving sport such as basketball effective and aesthetically pleasing. Looking at different music videos also gave us ideas and inspiration for our own video.
Evaluation
I have very little prior knowledge of Mando Pop, so to expand my knowledge I could listen to more of Jay Chou's songs in order to better understand his image and attitude in popular culture. By doing so, I will be better able to represent him in film.
Expanding my knowledge past Jay Chou would also help, but for this I will need to get support and recommendations from Nic Tse so I can find proper Mando Pop artists.
I think that we used class time well today, since we have already managed to decide on a genre and begin work on studying features of Mando Pop songs. This lesson was very fun and informative.
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
Reflection/Evaluation for 1/3/11
Reflection
Today, we added a title screen and credits to our minute-long movie, before exporting the movie to the desktop and putting into our public folder for Ms. Wong to see.
After this, we learned about music videos by watching and researching the techniques used in them. From my observation of various music videos, I found some common techniques used to achieve certain effects. Most videos had fast transitions, cutting to the next scene without needing to waste time with fancy fade-in methods. Music videos also typically contain a story line or plot of some sort, which is obviously closely related to the lyrics of the song. The scenes themselves are always related to the lyrics in some way, and events often coincide with specific beats or melodic components of the song. Also included a lot are dance scenes, or a scene which shows the artist singing or lip-syncing the song.
However, some music videos have distinct differences. Indian Bollywood-style songs always involve a group of people dancing in unison. Some Asian music videos follow the same type of format too. Many music videos also incorporate some form of emotional content, but certain kinds of music do not have this, such as some rock music. In many Western videos, there are far more cuts and shorter takes than in Asian/Bollywood videos.
After researching music videos, we had to review some of our classmates' videos:
First film, Aaron: Good use of audio, though the music is from Inception. The camera angles used were effective. Zoom and close-up shots were very good.
Second film, "Grades and Pressure", Charles: Very good acting. Good closeup shots.
Third film, "Do You Want Some?", Anne and Cynthia: Bad transitioning. Camera angles were good, but distances were quite bad.
Fourth, "We Only Work for Our Parents", Alastair: Nice acting, mediums shots good.
Fifth, Georgie/Katherine: Good audio use, camera angles and distances were very good.
Sixth, "Something": Black and white film effect was very good, camera distances and movement was good too.
Seventh, "Sex on the Beach", Bradley, Dean: Camera angles and distances was very effective. Storyline was slightly random.
Eighth, "Something", BT and Davis: Black and white film effect was very good, while the camera movements and the distances were very effective too.
Evaluation
I think I worked quite well today. Nic Tse and I finished our minute-long video in about 10 minutes, which was good. We also managed to do some quick research on music videos and evaluate our peers' videos. Overall, we achieved what was required of us in the time period given.
Today, we added a title screen and credits to our minute-long movie, before exporting the movie to the desktop and putting into our public folder for Ms. Wong to see.
After this, we learned about music videos by watching and researching the techniques used in them. From my observation of various music videos, I found some common techniques used to achieve certain effects. Most videos had fast transitions, cutting to the next scene without needing to waste time with fancy fade-in methods. Music videos also typically contain a story line or plot of some sort, which is obviously closely related to the lyrics of the song. The scenes themselves are always related to the lyrics in some way, and events often coincide with specific beats or melodic components of the song. Also included a lot are dance scenes, or a scene which shows the artist singing or lip-syncing the song.
However, some music videos have distinct differences. Indian Bollywood-style songs always involve a group of people dancing in unison. Some Asian music videos follow the same type of format too. Many music videos also incorporate some form of emotional content, but certain kinds of music do not have this, such as some rock music. In many Western videos, there are far more cuts and shorter takes than in Asian/Bollywood videos.
After researching music videos, we had to review some of our classmates' videos:
First film, Aaron: Good use of audio, though the music is from Inception. The camera angles used were effective. Zoom and close-up shots were very good.
Second film, "Grades and Pressure", Charles: Very good acting. Good closeup shots.
Third film, "Do You Want Some?", Anne and Cynthia: Bad transitioning. Camera angles were good, but distances were quite bad.
Fourth, "We Only Work for Our Parents", Alastair: Nice acting, mediums shots good.
Fifth, Georgie/Katherine: Good audio use, camera angles and distances were very good.
Sixth, "Something": Black and white film effect was very good, camera distances and movement was good too.
Seventh, "Sex on the Beach", Bradley, Dean: Camera angles and distances was very effective. Storyline was slightly random.
Eighth, "Something", BT and Davis: Black and white film effect was very good, while the camera movements and the distances were very effective too.
Evaluation
I think I worked quite well today. Nic Tse and I finished our minute-long video in about 10 minutes, which was good. We also managed to do some quick research on music videos and evaluate our peers' videos. Overall, we achieved what was required of us in the time period given.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Reflection/Evaluation for 23/2/11
Reflection
Today, I used the video editing software Final Cut Pro for the first time to edit my video. The program was entire new to me, and the fact that it is intended for use by professionals made it very hard to grasp as compared to iMovie. Learning the new skills needed to use a professional video manipulation an editing software was a major task for this lesson, and took up a lot of time.
Previously, iMovie was the only video editing software I had ever used. After being acquainted with such a user friendly and easy to use application, graduating to Final Cut Pro was quite difficult. However, the very good quality of video produced by FInal Cut Pro and the huge number of extra features it has compared to iMovie made it very useful in creating a skillfully crafted movie from some amateurish video clips.
Final Cut Pro was very complex and difficult to use at the beginning, but after much experimentation and some fooling around with keyboard shortcuts, I soon discovered how to use it quite efficiently and quickly allowing Nic Tse and myself to quickly find the correct clips, cut out the parts that were not required, and to join all of them up with transitional effects.
Evaluation
Final Cut Pro is a very difficult program to use for a new user who is unfamiliar with professional video editing software (i.e. myself). Learning more about the features of Final Cut Pro is relatively simple over the internet, and the fact that I also possess this software at home is helpful too since experimentation is probably the most effective method of learning in this case.
We managed to finish editing the bulk of the film today, leaving us only to put in a title and credits during next lesson. This is quite impressive in my opinion, since the program was completely new to us and we managed to learn how to use the program as well as to edit virtually the entire video in only one lesson. Nic and I also had a lot of fun observing our quite amateurish acting and some very hilarious potential bloopers. We did laugh a little too much and too hard, which might have made the difference between finishing editing the entire video and what actually got completed.
In future, our new skills in using Final Cut Pro and a more self-disciplined approach to viewing funny video clips will help me to edit videos much faster and more effectively than today.
Today, I used the video editing software Final Cut Pro for the first time to edit my video. The program was entire new to me, and the fact that it is intended for use by professionals made it very hard to grasp as compared to iMovie. Learning the new skills needed to use a professional video manipulation an editing software was a major task for this lesson, and took up a lot of time.
Previously, iMovie was the only video editing software I had ever used. After being acquainted with such a user friendly and easy to use application, graduating to Final Cut Pro was quite difficult. However, the very good quality of video produced by FInal Cut Pro and the huge number of extra features it has compared to iMovie made it very useful in creating a skillfully crafted movie from some amateurish video clips.
Final Cut Pro was very complex and difficult to use at the beginning, but after much experimentation and some fooling around with keyboard shortcuts, I soon discovered how to use it quite efficiently and quickly allowing Nic Tse and myself to quickly find the correct clips, cut out the parts that were not required, and to join all of them up with transitional effects.
Evaluation
Final Cut Pro is a very difficult program to use for a new user who is unfamiliar with professional video editing software (i.e. myself). Learning more about the features of Final Cut Pro is relatively simple over the internet, and the fact that I also possess this software at home is helpful too since experimentation is probably the most effective method of learning in this case.
We managed to finish editing the bulk of the film today, leaving us only to put in a title and credits during next lesson. This is quite impressive in my opinion, since the program was completely new to us and we managed to learn how to use the program as well as to edit virtually the entire video in only one lesson. Nic and I also had a lot of fun observing our quite amateurish acting and some very hilarious potential bloopers. We did laugh a little too much and too hard, which might have made the difference between finishing editing the entire video and what actually got completed.
In future, our new skills in using Final Cut Pro and a more self-disciplined approach to viewing funny video clips will help me to edit videos much faster and more effectively than today.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Reflection/Evaluation for 21/2/11
Reflection:
Today, we began shooting our film and learnt a lot about the difficulties involved in doing so. The classroom we had planned to use was occupied by a class, so we had to move down to the library. Setting up the camera was quite quick due to the storyboard planning, though the added ability to film from in front of me instead of behind me due to the lack of a wall ahead of me allowed us to experiment a little.
We also had to fiddle around a little bit with the tripod for the camera. Although this wasn't at all damaging to our filming, it was important to learn how to properly use the camera stand for future purposes. The camera tilt and pan function was very useful in reducing the potential for shaking the camera and improving the smoothness of camera movements.
Evaluation:
We filmed in the library, and managed to finish by the end of the class as required. Since our script called for some very unusual and comical moments, it was extremely difficult to restrain myself from laughter at some moments. This meant that we had to reshoot several times, which took up too much time. I also diverted slightly from the script's dialogue, and improvised slightly, which was probably not too beneficial since it made the other people in my group laugh.
Overall, however, our group managed once again to complete filming on time before the end of class, and we also managed to import all the video clips onto the computer so that we won't need to waste time next lesson preparing the clips for editing. I did remain focused today throughout filming, and the difficulties we faced were nobody's fault. We did have a lot of fun in filming, though in future we should learn our lines a little more thoroughly to avoid wasting that one minute where we had to memorize them.
Today, we began shooting our film and learnt a lot about the difficulties involved in doing so. The classroom we had planned to use was occupied by a class, so we had to move down to the library. Setting up the camera was quite quick due to the storyboard planning, though the added ability to film from in front of me instead of behind me due to the lack of a wall ahead of me allowed us to experiment a little.
We also had to fiddle around a little bit with the tripod for the camera. Although this wasn't at all damaging to our filming, it was important to learn how to properly use the camera stand for future purposes. The camera tilt and pan function was very useful in reducing the potential for shaking the camera and improving the smoothness of camera movements.
Evaluation:
We filmed in the library, and managed to finish by the end of the class as required. Since our script called for some very unusual and comical moments, it was extremely difficult to restrain myself from laughter at some moments. This meant that we had to reshoot several times, which took up too much time. I also diverted slightly from the script's dialogue, and improvised slightly, which was probably not too beneficial since it made the other people in my group laugh.
Overall, however, our group managed once again to complete filming on time before the end of class, and we also managed to import all the video clips onto the computer so that we won't need to waste time next lesson preparing the clips for editing. I did remain focused today throughout filming, and the difficulties we faced were nobody's fault. We did have a lot of fun in filming, though in future we should learn our lines a little more thoroughly to avoid wasting that one minute where we had to memorize them.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Reflection/Evaluation for 15/2/11
Reflection:
Today, we had a refresher on the types of camera angles, movements, and distances we could use in our minute-long film project. It was quite interesting learning about different techniques, and how they could be used to enhance the experience of an emotion that the director wants the viewer to feel.
Some of what we learnt included:
Camera Distances:
Establishing Shot - An general shot which displays the subject and the its surroundings.
Long Shot - A shot of the actor's full body, displays movements of his whole body and the background setting
Medium Shot - A shot of the actor above the waist, focusing on the actor's upper body gestures
Close-Up - A shot of the actor above the shoulder, focusing on the actor's speech and/or facial expressions.
Extreme Close-Up - A shot of the actor which displays a very small portion of his body, such as an eye or a wound, to portray the actor's emotions or detail.
Camera Angles:
Eye Level - An angle of neutral viewpoint.
Bird's Eye View - An extreme high angle shot, taken from directly above the subject
High-Angle - A shot from a high perspective, exaggerating the shortness of the subject and implying that it is weak.
Low-Angle - A shot from a low perspective, exaggerating the height of the subject and implying that it is strong.
Dutch Angle - A titled shot, suggesting confusion or imbalance.
Evaluation:
Later, we tried to incorporate this knowledge into our storyboards, but the internet connection was extremely slow. This caused me to lose track a little and start a game of Chess while the Scribd page loaded, though I did stop when the page finally stopped loading. We then went ahead with editing our storyboard to include our newfound technical knowledge in filmmaking. This was the first time that I had become distracted, though productivity was not adversely affected.
Today, we had a refresher on the types of camera angles, movements, and distances we could use in our minute-long film project. It was quite interesting learning about different techniques, and how they could be used to enhance the experience of an emotion that the director wants the viewer to feel.
Some of what we learnt included:
Camera Distances:
Establishing Shot - An general shot which displays the subject and the its surroundings.
Long Shot - A shot of the actor's full body, displays movements of his whole body and the background setting
Medium Shot - A shot of the actor above the waist, focusing on the actor's upper body gestures
Close-Up - A shot of the actor above the shoulder, focusing on the actor's speech and/or facial expressions.
Extreme Close-Up - A shot of the actor which displays a very small portion of his body, such as an eye or a wound, to portray the actor's emotions or detail.
Camera Angles:
Eye Level - An angle of neutral viewpoint.
Bird's Eye View - An extreme high angle shot, taken from directly above the subject
High-Angle - A shot from a high perspective, exaggerating the shortness of the subject and implying that it is weak.
Low-Angle - A shot from a low perspective, exaggerating the height of the subject and implying that it is strong.
Dutch Angle - A titled shot, suggesting confusion or imbalance.
Evaluation:
Later, we tried to incorporate this knowledge into our storyboards, but the internet connection was extremely slow. This caused me to lose track a little and start a game of Chess while the Scribd page loaded, though I did stop when the page finally stopped loading. We then went ahead with editing our storyboard to include our newfound technical knowledge in filmmaking. This was the first time that I had become distracted, though productivity was not adversely affected.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Reflection/Evaluation for 11/2/11
Reflection:
Having finished our script the previous lesson, we began to take photos for our storyboard today. A new member was added to our group today, Cynthia. While integrating her into the group and familiarizing her with our idea for the project, we managed to make some small edits to the script.
We walked all around the school looking for a good place to film. After finding an empty classroom, we took some pictures to capture the angle at which the movie would be filmed. The use of pictures and forward planning in a storyboard to remove future potential obstacles in camera placement when filming was very useful knowledge. Possible problems with lighting and angles at which all characters were improperly presented were taken care of before the actual filming took place, saving some time for when we do get down to shooting.
Evaluation:
Lighting and angles were some aspects of storyboard planning that took a lot of time to experiment with. Examining the use of angles and lighting (and the camera positioning and techniques used to adapt to the environment when altering the light is not possible) in successful films would be helpful in discovering the most effective methods of creating a certain atmosphere in the scene.
After taking shots of the location we intended to shoot in, we soon discovered that we were supposed to take photos with the characters in the frame, which meant that we wasted quite a lot of time. The actual taking of the storyboard photos took less than five minutes, though. We also spent a lot of time changing camera batteries, walking around looking for suitable filming locations, and making mistakes in understanding what we were supposed to do, but the process of planning camera angles, sizes of frames and character placements was a valuable learning experience.
Despite these drawbacks, we still managed to use our class time reasonably well, finishing on time before the end of class with time to spare. In future, hopefully we will listen more carefully to instructions and interpret them better so that we will have more time before the end of class to do other housekeeping activities. The fact that we did finish the script in the class before did remove the need to waste a lot more time, however, and we did have a lot of fun learning about different camera placements and how they affect the viewer.
Having finished our script the previous lesson, we began to take photos for our storyboard today. A new member was added to our group today, Cynthia. While integrating her into the group and familiarizing her with our idea for the project, we managed to make some small edits to the script.
We walked all around the school looking for a good place to film. After finding an empty classroom, we took some pictures to capture the angle at which the movie would be filmed. The use of pictures and forward planning in a storyboard to remove future potential obstacles in camera placement when filming was very useful knowledge. Possible problems with lighting and angles at which all characters were improperly presented were taken care of before the actual filming took place, saving some time for when we do get down to shooting.
Evaluation:
Lighting and angles were some aspects of storyboard planning that took a lot of time to experiment with. Examining the use of angles and lighting (and the camera positioning and techniques used to adapt to the environment when altering the light is not possible) in successful films would be helpful in discovering the most effective methods of creating a certain atmosphere in the scene.
After taking shots of the location we intended to shoot in, we soon discovered that we were supposed to take photos with the characters in the frame, which meant that we wasted quite a lot of time. The actual taking of the storyboard photos took less than five minutes, though. We also spent a lot of time changing camera batteries, walking around looking for suitable filming locations, and making mistakes in understanding what we were supposed to do, but the process of planning camera angles, sizes of frames and character placements was a valuable learning experience.
Despite these drawbacks, we still managed to use our class time reasonably well, finishing on time before the end of class with time to spare. In future, hopefully we will listen more carefully to instructions and interpret them better so that we will have more time before the end of class to do other housekeeping activities. The fact that we did finish the script in the class before did remove the need to waste a lot more time, however, and we did have a lot of fun learning about different camera placements and how they affect the viewer.
Monday, February 07, 2011
Reflection/Evaluation for 7/2/11
Reflection:
Today's overview of the upcoming semester's work was intriguing, and I now look forward to creating my own projects with future knowledge. The focus on sound and techniques in using this to evoke emotional responses in the audience is particularly interesting, and I look forward to learning more about manipulating sound and how this can be used to alter the perception of a scene in a film.
We gathered into groups to begin writing a script based on the AOI, Health and Social Education.Using Celtx was a new experience for me, and it is very convenient and useful for script writing. I am happy to be accustomed to it already so that in future I will be able to use it more efficiently and creatively.
Evaluation:
Improving my understanding of the AOI would be useful, and going to the IB website to learn more about it would help a lot if it is necessary to edit the script. Reading the scripts of successful movies may also give me a better idea of how to write a good script.
I think I worked quite well today, remaining focused and not being distracted. The writing of the script was fun and yet effective, since we were able to complete it within the allotted time. I particularly enjoyed adding a line that both provided humour and also broadened the focus of the scene to include a different aspect of the AOI. I think that working effectively is important, but the fact that I had fun as a group while doing so was a very good experience.
Although our lack of knowledge today contributed slightly to some delays, a similar approach in the future to learning and working would be successful.
Today's overview of the upcoming semester's work was intriguing, and I now look forward to creating my own projects with future knowledge. The focus on sound and techniques in using this to evoke emotional responses in the audience is particularly interesting, and I look forward to learning more about manipulating sound and how this can be used to alter the perception of a scene in a film.
We gathered into groups to begin writing a script based on the AOI, Health and Social Education.Using Celtx was a new experience for me, and it is very convenient and useful for script writing. I am happy to be accustomed to it already so that in future I will be able to use it more efficiently and creatively.
Evaluation:
Improving my understanding of the AOI would be useful, and going to the IB website to learn more about it would help a lot if it is necessary to edit the script. Reading the scripts of successful movies may also give me a better idea of how to write a good script.
I think I worked quite well today, remaining focused and not being distracted. The writing of the script was fun and yet effective, since we were able to complete it within the allotted time. I particularly enjoyed adding a line that both provided humour and also broadened the focus of the scene to include a different aspect of the AOI. I think that working effectively is important, but the fact that I had fun as a group while doing so was a very good experience.
Although our lack of knowledge today contributed slightly to some delays, a similar approach in the future to learning and working would be successful.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)