To be or not to be...organized.

Image by Uwe Hermann

This week consisted of taking what skills in film-making I had acquired through my text research and putting them to the test. I will say that it was extremely convenient to have a storyboard on hand as well as scripts for the entire cast.

Thanks to Super-8 editors expressing how important it is to compile a storyboard I was able to conduct, with some assistance, a smooth shoot. This shows me the true value of preparing for the worst really pays off for everyone involved with a project.

I was able to view the scenes that were shot, and noted scenes that the angle of the camera needed to be a bit lower or completely adjusted to a different area of the room. I wasn't expecting perfection, I was hoping for it, but the ending result of the effort put forth was surreal. To observe a project go from just a thought, then onto a piece of paper, and finally have real people perform this thought is mind-blowing.

All in all organization really saved everyone involved with this project time and mental health. I am now a firm believer that one can never be over prepared. Next week I will continue filming and then move on to the editing process.

Buidling a pyramid

Image by Drab Makyo

Now that I have completed the task of creating a script and a storyboard I've come to a block in the road with evaluating. I've had peers review my work to make sure it first off makes sense, and second if the shots I've set up for are possible. Their feedback was helpful in the sense of giving me confidence to carry on and further my project, but I had a feeling too much positive feedback was to good to be true.

I picked up a camera for the first time for an interview with my TV News class. It was then I felt the leeching of fear emerging, sucking all of my confidence away. The preparation to set up for one shot took more time than I anticipated, and every cord, plug, light, battery, and mic had to be lugged to the location. It was not at all what I had expected. This made me for a moment rethink my entire project, which inevitably manifested into another fear sucking boogie.

It was recently announced that a student in the Communication Department, Carolyn Malachi, was nominated for a Grammy. Kevin announced this in class and informed us that she started in this department with no experience with music at all, just passion, and a lot of it.

Now that I analyze my dilemma I understand that all I need to do is put forth the work to further my camera skills, and gain an understanding for making movies. So, this week is strictly dedicated to gaining the knowledge of filmmaking.

Under Construction

I understand with advertising sometimes less is more, and with this particular portion of our campaign I think less color is in order. The peacock ad is intended for both boys and girls, and in our other ads the tone of the colors were soft. In this ad the colors are loud, and in your face. If the hue of the entire ad was toned down to a softer tone the image would be more appealing visually.

I noticed some of the other ads in class displayed information about features the phone came with. Since visually we have a lot going on I wasn't sure if that was entirely necessary to display more type, or if we could just place a fake hyperlink along the bottom of the page for more information about the phone.

All in all the main improvement for this campaign would be to adjust the color of the peacock ad to more of a gray tone.

Let's get visual!

Image by Nesster

Movie making skills are handy in this current day and age. I say this because learning visually now seems to be the more effective route to take when teaching. For example, with YouTube videos individuals can learn how to create scratch disks on Final Cut or cure an ear infection. In order to post these videos the individual creating the video may need some skill in making a video.

Just like with Bloom's Taxonomy the movie-maker needs to first know what he/she is creating, and once this first step is taken they can now obtain the proper equipment to express the message they desire to transmit. Now, not everyone that puts a video on YouTube goes through an in depth evaluation and analysis of what he/she is putting on the web; but there is a thought process that occurs somewhere in between "hey lets make a video" and placing it online. This thought process is what individuals need to have in order to create the video they choose.

So, I agree that knowing basic digital movie-making skills is something that everyone should pick up. Everyone's eye is different, and what better way to express your individuality than visually?

Illustrate with type!

After watching the Hillman Curtis films I've discovered a new appreciation for the world of typography. Which led me to choose Paula Scher, and David Carson as the artists to compare.


Image by Paula Scher

Paula Scher, from what I gathered, was introduced to the term syncopated a term meaning everything is in place except for that one thing. This is a great way to catch the eye with the slight imperfection that makes the type so perfect. She made the statement in her video that "typography is designed to look like they make noise" which helped me relate to the previous assignment with our words and boxes. Scher designed several posters that expressed noise like "Noise Funk" which created a style for the New York public theater. Using this term syncopated allows me to see that imperfections even slight imperfections can create the motion in the message that the artist desires to portray.

David Carson, on the other hand has a different perspective than that of Paula Scher, which is also what drew me to his style. He has been formally noted as the father of grunge, and I assume that this is due to his sporadic placement of letters in his art which is entertaining to maneuver through. Carson believes that the artist should pull form who they are and put that into the work. He says this in a TED interview in 2003 that no individual was raised by the same parents, the same way, with the same background, and that should be integrated into the work that they promote. In the same TED interview he displayed "no parking" signs that were on the same surface but had different font, and asked how the audience responded emotionally to the sign by asking "which one would you park in front of?" I agree with Carson when he states that "who you are" should be portrayed into a work of art that one produces this way there is emotion from the design end that can coexist with the viewer of the work.

These two artists assisted in showing me a new approach and appreciation to the world of typography. Both artists have their similarities with type by displaying it in a syncopated manner; on the other hand the emotion or lack of emotion placed within the piece shows the difference in all work.


Image by David Carson

Streaming is the coolest thing since sliced bread. (Blog 2)

While surfing for the most interesting article I could find I ran across several candidates. One being the Michael and Janet Jackson's music video “Scream”, which is still to date the most expensive music video ever made, 7million dollars. While the music video was quite impressive it didn’t serve the purpose I was in search of.
Then I came across an article on Tech Crunch about a pretty famous hip shaker, Shakira. This article stated that she would be releasing her latest music video, “through a live stream on Ustream, which will be embedded on her Facebook page.” This video is titled "Give it Up to Me" which features Lil Wayne. Now, her claim to fame was to be the first to officially do this stream, but Sony quickly corrected by saying Chamillionare was the first to debut a music video via Ustream. However, this goes to show us, the viewers of music videos, that the Internet is slowly but surly becoming the prime location to view your favorite artists music videos.

It all starts when a story meets a board...

Image by: The Ewan

This project has taken off much quicker than anticipated, according to the schedule that omniplan so graciously assisted me in making. So far, a script has been written, and viewed by eyes other than my directors and mine. I've made arrangements with the cast and crew of this production that I will be documenting, and have several set dates to shoot. Since the entire cast is only shown in one shot, at the end of the film, I will be shooting in increments. Each day will be reserved for specific scenes with specified actors.


Image by: sskennel

My next step to further prepare myself for the shooting to commence is to create a storyboard. After producing a storyboard, or lack there of, in Motion Graphics I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to do one for my capstone project. This will help me see where I need to be for the shot I want, as well as where I need the actors to be positioned to avoid confusion. I feel that getting my idea down on paper will also help me to further develop this project and correct any issues myself or others may see.