Documentary Proposals

You will create a documentary as your next MAP project. The classes will create a total of 8 documentaries. Groups will be formed based on needs of the director/producer. The projects we produce will be based on the quality and professionalism of the proposals you create today.

Your final assignment for the semester is to write a documentary proposal. Please click on the following link to access the proposal. You have the entire film final period to write your proposal.

Your proposal must be completed to be considered as one of the 8 films we will produce.

Your proposal must be on the google drive at the end of today's final for credit and to be considered.

You will copy and rename the proposal file such that it stays in the google drive.

Click here for the proposal (remember to make a copy and rename it with your last name)

You must UPLOAD YOUR FINAL PROPOSAL HERE to the shared google drive folder.

Tuesday, December 10th - Ken Burns and Story

Please watch this video featuring Ken Burns describing 'story'.

Play Video Here

Your upcoming documentary project is not an MMJ news story, neither is it a PSA, it is a story deeply rooted in a complex and important topic. Your job is to find a unique story to tell about the topic 'Poverty in America'.

Please answer the following blogspot questions:

1. What does Ken Burns mean by 1 + 1 =  3?
2. What is an emotional truth according to Burns?
3. How does he make 'the dead' come to life in his work, specifically how does he do this with Photography and Audio?
4. Where might you find a story about Poverty in America?
5. How do you dig to find the Poverty in American story where 1 + 1 = 3?
6. What kind of person would make an interesting character to build story around? (ie., what about poverty from a child's perspective, or the perspective of a parent, a sister, a social worker, policeman, clergy, non-profit agency worker, historical figure, city counsel member, non-profit foundation worker). 
7. What conflicts might you find, what inciting incidents? (ie., a child who goes to school but has just lost their home, a parent coping with bills that cannot be paid, a child is too hungry to do homework, a worker who has been laid off due to corporate downsizing)
8. What are your initial thoughts about poverty in America? What message do you think you want to convey in the story you will tell through your documentary?

Introduction to Documentary

Blogspot Question:
Discuss your familiarity with the documentary genre by describing the most interesting documentary you have ever watched. How did the documentary inform your point of view? What made it credible or believable?

Monday Agenda:

• Polling/discussion around documentary genre
• Documentary 'Defined' by Academy of Motion Arts & Pictures, Videomaker
• Ken Burns-why should we study his films?
• Civil War Documentary, 8 media elements. Watch 15 min and log what you see.

Log by time and describe:

1. Photography-what does he do with photos that makes the visual more appealing (be specific, more than, 'he moves them', what specifically do you see at times, how are they moved)
2. Newsreels/Archive Footage
3. Interviews-with who, how does he tell you who is being interviewed?
4. Audio-music, narration, sounds, be specific-what do you hear? Is the music of a certain timeframe, or more contemporary? What instruments do you hear in the music?

Tuesday: 

Complete watching Civil War, Episode 1. 

Thursday:

Preparing for your documentary

Mood Board and Storyboards

Today you will upload the planning stages of your production worth either 20/10 points in your grade, depending on your project.

For poets, the key pieces are your story/mood board and a detailed shot sheet. Please upload everything here in this folder. To move your work to this folder in google, simply copy your file, and then 'move' your file to the designated folder (the link provided in this paragraph). Double check to make sure your file is there by the end of class). Make sure you are logged in.

Again, see link here for an example of a mood storyboard. I expect your storyboard to have images in boxes, narrative audio and camera instruction clearly identified. Each box should also have a duration that is derived from your audio narration. When complete, share with me and everyone in your group.
You may share at cleather@lgsuhsd.org

Mood board-elicits a certain emotion through visual style

Mood board, aggregated pictures describing potential shots

For Icons the key pieces are your media component list and evidence of your share folder.

If you look back on your project descriptions from this blogspot you will see that the storyboard (for Poets) does not require any drawing in the google draw tool itself. This was an option given to students who wanted to try drawing, using the pen stylus and tablet. Some students who wanted to experiment and push boundaries and had some artistic background demonstrated some success with drawing with the drawing tool. However, the project is fine with just images from Google representing shots and moods you would like to establish for your piece. It is also very convenient for sharing and making comments. Two very successful examples include Torrens/Lee/Davey project, and Chen/Lee/Aggrawal projects. In both cases groups tried drawing and sourcing imagery. The most impressive part of the Chen/Lee/Agrawal board is the collaboration that occurs in the comments section where the group discusses roles, challenges, how many After Effects shots, etc.

Most important was how the collection of images and assemblage in the mood storyboard allowed the group to begin a discussion around the kind of shots desired, the kind of look and emotion desired for their piece. That is exactly what a mood board should do, as seen in the Torrens/Lee/Davey outcome at class end.

What I have asked from you is a mood storyboard. The concept of mood board requires a collage like approach to creating a storyboard. If anything it frees you up from drawing and allows you to source images on the web to use as reference points.

Mood boards are heavily used in industry these days and very much a part of the visual performing arts curriculum at the college level-well worth understanding. Once you see the benefit, you will appreciate in a sense how they make the storyboard process easier for people who do not like to draw, and provide flexibility to those designing the production.

Vancouver is a hotbed of production activity. The link here describes the active use of a mood board in a production by university students at the Vancouver Film School. This school is a feeder to the multitude of production, gaming and design companies in Vancouver, Seattle and more.

Mood boards are a staple these days in the visual design process as applied to print, web, animation, video, etc. Having a really solid one in your portfolio would position you as a student who understands the most contemporary approaches to achieving strong visual imagery.

Tuesday-Nov 19th

Poets-please respond:

1. Describe the visual imagery of your poem? What will unify the look and mood of your poetic representation?
2. What is the most challenging aspect of your production? How will you meet the challenge?
3. Have you recorded the narrative of your poem yet in the way you would like it read, for timing and expressive mood? (if not, make this the first thing you do today, even as a scratch audio track using your iphones if necessary-you may do this quietly outside or in the audio room).
4. Send a message to the student in the other period telling them your plans for the day, and where to find anything they might need access to.

Icons-please respond:

1. What different kind of media are you using?
2. How are you maintaining continuity across all icons?
3. What are you using to introduce and conclude your media project?

Poets/Icons Monday

Class period for productions: 5 Blocks, 2 Mondays, Due Dec 5th, end of class

Poets:

Due the end of this week for credit/10 pts each:

1. Storyboard that details audio/narration, camerawork, duration. Please see here for example of what I am looking for. Your options for visuals are quite simple. You may source photos representing the mood of the shot you would like to create, or you may draw a picture. If you draw, you may use a pen stylus and work in Photoshop to create pictures. Then Save the Photoshop file as a jpg, or simply cut the picture out in Photoshop and paste it in the google drawing file.
2. Shot sheet, please use the template here as a guide. This is the format you should use.

Poet Blogspot response for Monday: please tell me your role in the project and when you plan to have video to edit. Who will be your editor? How many class periods will you reserve for editing a final piece? What about music and appropriate sound effects, what are your plans? Remember, music usage must fall within legal copyright limits (see me if you do not know). 

Icons:
Icon Folder Here

Due the end of this week for credit/10 pts each:

1. Content Folder that includes video, photos, text or snippets from the web screen captured for inclusion, audio. Please see here for link to shared drive-upload here.
2. Planning Guide please use the template here as a guide. This is the format you should use.

Icon Blogspot response for Monday: please tell me your role in the project and when you plan to have video to edit. Who will be your editor? How many class periods will you reserve for editing a final piece? What about music and appropriate sound effects, what are your plans? Remember, music usage must fall within legal copyright limits (see me if you do not know). 

Icon/Poets

Blogspot Question of the day: Read Cinematography: Theory and Practice pg. 38-41 (under production links on right side). When you have read the excerpt, look at this link which is an excerpt from Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards. Take any 3 shots (by timecode) and describe the concepts of visual organization, visual weight and visual tension apparent in your selected shots.

 ICONS:

Mozilla has released a new mashup tool called Popcorn Maker. Check it out here

Follow the tutorial here.

Popcorn Ted Talk (2012, Software Preview)

Classroom Assignment:
Please collaborate with others from your Icon groups and experiment with Popcorn as a tool for future projects. Icon groups could use Popcorn as a way to create a mashup that integrates not only multiple videos, but other media content as well including maps, websites, photographs, audio and more.

Icon groups may begin to gather content for your mashup right away.

POETS:

1. Filmmakers on poets projects will continue to look at the visuals capable with After Effects. Please look at the following tutorial and re-create a similar scene using 3D camera view and a simulated effects such as rain. Please check in with Mrs. L. when you have completed the tutorial and have applied that knowledge to a photo.
2. Please access this file on the google drive. This file is a drawing file that can be shared. It is the basis for the construction of a storyboard for your visual interpretation. When you have your poem selected, you will spread the lines, stanzas out over this storyboard and start to create visuals that will help tell the story. Before shooting video or gathering photos, it is important to record your narrative to obtain duration of lines and stanzas. This will allow you to create a storyboard with timecode ins/outs and set durations. 
3. Poets will create a detailed storyboard for their poem to be handed in by the end of the day Monday Nov 18th. Poets should also hand in a production plan that details a shot sheet that details location and schedule of production. Do backwards planning. Determine how much time you will need for the final edit and plan backwards to create a realistic production schedule.

By Friday you will narrow down your media assignment to the poem you will visually interpret. This week you will spend preparing for that visualization by learning more about what After Effects can do and if it might be a useful tool in the art of visualization.

Filmmaking and Animation as Art

When you make movies, shoot photos or create animations, you are engaging in art forms. How do you express art in your filmmaking or animation work?

-----------------------

Please complete the following self assessment:
Map 2 Music Video Self Assessment

Scripts and Dialog

Please read this short and to the point article about writing dialog.

The author has written a number of well known movie scripts, books, etc.

Taking the information from this short piece, write a short dialog (60 sec) between two characters. Here is your information, now fill in the pieces:

• Ext: High School Exterior, lunch room (or somewhere students eat lunch)
• 
  
• Action: 2 friends are having a conversation with each other. 
• 
  
• Dialog: you fill in the blanks. 

Please use script format.

After writing, have 2 friends perform the dialog.

Reflect on your work at the end of the class period in today's blogspot comment area. Here are the reflective points:

1. Upon listening to your dialog, how was the flow?
2. Did your dialog lend itself to conversation?
3. What would you do to improve?

Use Rawscripts so that you can share your script with 2 friends and me!

Poets/Icons

 Please see the link here for a project sample from last year.

Credits: Ehrland Hollingsworth, Michael Eschen, Kayla Berlinberg

Please see the link here for an introduction and project guidelines for your second MAP project of the year.

Intro to Screenwriting

Scriptwriting Activity Overview


Blogspot Response (Monday): 
Please listen to the following interview with Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon.
Respond to this blogspot by identifying what they think about formula. Do you think formula is a good thing or a bad thing in scriptwriting?



Assignment for Week of November 3rd:
Read the following article on scriptwriting, the 8 major plot outlines linked here.

Read the linked article, the 8 major plot points in the Lord of The Rings

After the two reading assignments above, find a short TV episode from either Spongebob, Phinneas & Ferb, or Adventure Time. Watch the episode with your scripting group. Identify with you group, using yellow stickies (Mrs. L will provide) placed on the whiteboard the 8 plot points in the episode. Once you all agree that you have the plot points check in with Mrs. L for participation sign off.

------next class

In your scripting group, you will watch this episode of Firefly, a Josh Whedon television program, a little over 10 yrs old, known for its interesting plots, excellent writing, and well developed characters. Please analyze the episode using this attached plot outline template. When complete, upload your plot outline for your group to this google drive folder. Please make sure all names are in the title of your document, (e.g., lee_stark_ingle.pdf) and save as a pdf to upload.

McKee and Scriptwriting

Please upload McKee written question responses here.

Thur Oct 17th

Agenda:

1. Review storyboards as a class.
2. Review shot sheets as a class.
3. Review green screen requirements as a class.

Based on your understanding of the storyboard, shot sheets and green screen scenes, what do you personally need to do today to move the project forward?

What are you waiting for that you do not have yet?

Who do you need to talk to so that you can get what you do not have yet?

A few key reminders:

1. By the end of the day I need a date for production to begin (studio/shoot) and the estimate of time it will take to complete the shoot for the scenes in the shot sheets. (Billy, Mihir)
2. By the end of the day I need a list of green screen requirements, specifically, how many green screen scenes/shots, what/who is being keyed, over what background? (Burke/Rebecca, Aditya)

For those of you COMPLETELY done, or waiting for something you do not yet have, please start the scriptwriting section with Robert McKee to the upper right of the blog. You are required this semester to:

1. Read or watch the McKee interview (1 hr. Big Think)
2. Answer the McKee reflections questions
3. Read the article under 'McKee Specifics' and be prepared for upcoming group work around the article. In order to do the upcoming group work you will need to have read this material and answered the reflection questions.

Please turn in your reflection questions here by October 25th, unless you are actively involved with the music video during class time. All students will need to do this work eventually.

Thank you

Tuesday Oct 8

I am sorry to report that I will not be in today as I am sick. But you are in the capable hands of a great sub so you should be able to carry on without any problem.

The following is due today at the end of the class period:

1. Director/AD-check in with all groups on progress/problems, read this entire list and make sure your teams are working.
2. Writers-please complete a script today in script format that includes all lyrics, scene breakdown, and what actors will be doing in each scene. EMAIL what you have to me at the end of the class period-no exceptions. (cleather@lgsuhsd.org)
3. Rob and company, and Nima and company (art), please begin sketches of scenes working with director. If you can begin storyboards even better, although that might be a challenge without the completed script, but do what you can. The main thing is to complete the script so storyboards can move forward. Artists-in the absence of a script for today, work with director and AD to identify all scenes in the piece.Roughly sketch out the scenes. Ryan H.-please work today with your director to get this done, as well as your musical work. Spend 50/50 time on each.
4. After Effects-

WATCH this video on keying. 
please download this tutorial file-click here.
Read through the document and download this folder of content to work with. Click here
Using the provided files make sure you can:
1. Pan and resize the long strip provided left to right over time.
2. Key a green screen or blue screen clip on top using keylight.
3. Apply an effect of your choice.
4. Save your project so that I may look at your work on Thur.

1. Band-continue to practice. Please take the mp3 file provided in period 1 by Blake and Morteza-put it on the computer in the audio room, and try to play with it to get the timing of the song. (Both periods can use the file, it is an mp3 file--blake please put it on the computer desktop in audio room).'
2. Production crew-continue to practice shoot set up. TODAY please work on shooting a scene using green screen and light the set trying to reduce any green cast on the actors. Camera is in my long closet-when done, please move lights to the inside set (Kitchen) and roll up chords/cables. Leave nothing on the floor that could fall or be tripped over. Each period should clean up and turn off lights. Please upload your work to the mediaserver drive. 
3. Editors-please set up directories on the mediaserver drive for daily upload of production work. Take 1 file from the After Effects group and integrate it with Final Cut. What problems do you encounter? Discuss with the after effects group how to make sure you are all using the same format, size, etc. Make sure the production crew is shooting to a size that will work for you in post production. Your final output can be DV-NSTC. 
4. Editors-please take the mp3 file mentioned earlier-(on the audio room computer desktop), and import that song into Final Cut. Using solid colors to make video clips, begin to block out where obvious cuts could happen based on the beats in the music, particularly base beats.  When the script is complete (hopefully end of day), you can block out the scenes using solid colors and edit to the beats using solid color video clips until real video starts to be provided. These timings can be very useful for the director and production crew in terms of shot and scene timing. 

thanks all. Remember that today is worth 10 pts on your project, those 10 pts will be based on your ability to demonstrate this work on Thur.

Thur Oct 3rd

10 min blog response:
In thinking about the founding fathers and their journey from Declaration of Independence through Constitutional Convention and the eventual Bill of Rights, who were the heroes in our story? Name at least 3, and identify what makes them heroic.

Please see the Heroes of the Constitution project folder linked to right on the blog to see the project staffing assignments.

Due today:

1. Leadership team will meet to establish key dates/milestones
2. Writers will review all ideas from the class (mailed to Samie and Sydney in periods 1 and 2), taking the good ones.
3. Writers/leadership team to finalize important concepts that must be featured in the video, key people to be featured.
4. AD will write to Ms. Thurmond to secure/source costumes, props, etc. Comes up with possible (rough draft) actors, costume requirements, potential props, furniture, makeup, etc.
5. Band/Musicians-will try to learn song
6. Production crew will start to plan for shoot in terms of perfecting depth of field, lowlight, keylight, green screen (and reduction of reflected green in talent on cam) and rim light shots, monitoring audio on cam for levels with good signal to noise ratio, practice with boom, practicing these concepts to perfect them. By the end of class you will have several practice shots that successfully demonstrate these concepts so you will know how to apply them to the music video when ready. Production lead and crew will determine other technical issues you might confront and how to deal with them, for example, how might you get audio into the studio for lip sync during the recording of actors?
7. Production and post production leads will come up with a strategy for daily transfer of media from cams to server.
8. Post production leads and team members will strategize how to do daily backups, share files, and store files, coming up with a plan to support the project from an edit standpoint. What are the various file types, where will they be stored?
9. After Effects group will start to learn the software by looking at video tutorials and working with the effects. Please click here for a link to Adobe TV (or access through the sidebar). Do Getting Started Tutorials 1- 11. 
10. Effects Lead will come up with a list of possible effects that may be needed and identify how those effects might be produced. This can be done through existing knowledge or google research, or work with Mrs. L. 

Lyrics and Story

The song is We Can be Heroes by David Bowie.

Here's Bowie's original music video from 1977.

Here is the Wallflower's remake of the song from a few years ago.

Today's goals:

1. Grouping/assignments
2. Rewrite of lyrics
3. Conceptualize the story we want to tell
• Key people 
• Key Events
• Location of events
• Conflict
• Acts (are there 3 or more...what happened, and what happened next)
• Symbolism to include

Original Lyrics:

I, I will be king
And you, you will be queen
Though nothing will drive them away
We can beat them, just for one day
We can be Heroes, just for one day

And you, you can be mean
And I, I'll ----- all the time
'Cause we're lovers, and that is a fact
Yes we're lovers, and that is that

Though nothing, will keep us together
We could steal time,
just for one day
We can be Heroes, for ever and ever
What d'you say?

I, I wish you could swim
Like the dolphins, like dolphins can swim
Though nothing,
nothing will keep us together
We can beat them, for ever and ever
Oh we can be Heroes,
just for one day

I, I will be king
And you, you will be queen
Though nothing will drive them away
We can be Heroes, just for one day
We can be us, just for one day

I, I can remember (I remember)
Standing, by the wall (by the wall)
And the guns shot above our heads
(over our heads)
And we kissed,
as though nothing could fall
(nothing could fall)
And the shame was on the other side
Oh we can beat them, for ever and ever
Then we could be Heroes,
just for one day

We can be Heroes
We can be Heroes
We can be Heroes
Just for one day
We can be Heroes

We're nothing, and nothing will help us
Maybe we're lying,
then you better not stay
But we could be safer,
just for one day

Oh-oh-oh-ohh, oh-oh-oh-ohh,
just for one day

Music Videos

 

Soomo Publishing

Original (One Republic)

Watch a music video that promotes one of your favorite musicians (Please be sensitive to those around you, nothing inappropriate for the classroom).

With a friend, or individually, identify the production and post-production techniques you see in the video. After identifying at least 10 techniques, write about how you would approach setting up such a shot, or how you would achieve such an effect, or how you would approach the edit. Write up your findings and submit them to this folder. Make sure all names involved are included so everyone gets credit.

You will as a class make a music video (Due Oct 29th, end of class) that will be a satirical/theatrical production themed 'Heroes of the Constitution'. You will as a class (not groups but entire class):

1. Determine roles/jobs for everyone in the class
2. Understand the song "Heroes" and artist, David Bowie
3. Rewrite lyrics based on your knowledge of the heroes of the constitution
4. Create story or themes
5. Make (and keep) a schedule
6. Make a detailed storyboard
7. Design sets (real & digital)
8. Plan costumes
9. Plan for props or design props
10. Prepare/decorate studio
11. Make digital sets
12. Conduct a shoot(s) with proper lighting, camerawork
13. Review material from shoot for quality, determine reshoot needs
14. Post Produce - Create effects and edit the piece
15. Transform the original audio, remove or lower the voice track
16. Record the new voice track (singer)
17. Add foley in music appropriate to actions on screen
18. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse (and sing!)

Assessment:
Collaboration-100 possible points (10 pts per block period, 2 pts per mon)
Individual Contribution - 50 pts
Final Product (rubric based) - 50 pts

Tues Sep 24

In looking at the resulting material from your shoot, what would you improve the next time you set up a shoot?

What can you do now in editing to fix or improve any of these problems?

Is it best to fix in 'post production editing', or get it right during the shoot?

Tues. Sept 24- Animators, Perspective and 3D sets

Start here with an overview on perspective. Go through it in detail and read every bit of it. When ready you will have a discussion with Mrs. L on the rules of perspective and what you have learned (or may already know).

THEN START:

Animation Tutorials:

Animators will complete this series of tutorials to equip yourself with the knowledge necessary to build Digital Sets for the upcoming music video project.

1. Simple Digital Set-do this tutorial!
2. Simple Perspective Tutorial-look at this tutorial to see how to set up single point perspective. Try it. You do not have to decorate with materials, but set up the perspective with the lines to better understand how single point perspective works.
3. Great tut on matching perspective in a shot with the awesome Burt Monroy. Using an Independence Hall interior shot, composite a layer over the interior shot and place in perspective. What you composite over it is up to you. Be creative!
4. Watch making a perspective room using Illustrator's Perspective Tool. Please try this. Recreate the perspective and room you see in the Independence Hall photo.

HAND IN:
1. Tutorial 1 outcome as jpg file (lastname_tut1.jpg)
2. Tutorial 2 outcome as jpg file (lastname_tut2.jpg)
3. Creative solution to #3 (Lastname_tut3.jpg)
4. Creative Solution to #4 (lastname_tut4.jpg)
Hand in here

WHY (you ask)? Because you will be creating digital sets for the upcoming music video. As such, you will be working with the director/producer and camera people, lighting designers and others to figure out what the visuals for this music video will be. This will require you to most likely recreate some interiors and get the 3D correct.

A process could be:

1. Principal decision makers pre-visualize each shot/storyboard is made that is specific to camera angles, placement of actors (mise-en-scene)
2. Artists who can draw (Ryan-that's you and others), will draw what the above people are visualizing, checking in with them, making sure to visualize what they 'envision'.
3. Illustrator is used to establish the 3D perspective for the scene and serves as a template for the set. The Illustrator file is developed based on Ryan's drawings either loosely, or formally. 
4. Photoshop is used to make the corresponding walls-they will be designed FLAT, not in perspective, so imagine you are creating one big wall, with everything on it (Pictures, wall paper, insets, inset pillars, even fireplaces, windows, curtains, statues (close to the wall), etc).
5. The resulting Photoshop walls are then assembled in Illustrator using the 3D tools.

Alternates:

1. Establish the 3D plane in Blender, texture map the photoshop walls in Blender. 

2. Use Photoshop for the whole thing.

production

You will have a 15 min slot in the studio in which to shoot your piece. How will you use that time? How can you get in an out in 15 min such that all groups can finalize their shoot early enough in the process.

Scene from your IR Book

You will be making a short scene from your IR Book this week and next, while reviewing media arts concepts. Describe a scene from your IR Book in which the character reveals a deep emotional truth. What happens to the character? How is the audience informed? Is there dialog between characters?

Describe the mood of the scene. How would lighting help suggest a mood?

Where would you place characters within the scene?

How would you shoot the scene in terms of camera angles, framing and composition?

Week of Sept 15th...

Animators-please check here for your assignment this week.

Filmmakers-please check here for your assignment for this week and next


Monday Sept. 16th:
VideoMaker Magazine, The Dark Knight, Lighting Deconstructed
VideoMaker Magazine, Outdoor Lighting
VideoMaker Magazine, 3 Point Lighting

Tuesday Sept 17th:-please check out the Canon Vixia hg20 Manual (it is linked in the upper right hand corner of your shsfilm.blogspot.com. Look at the Advanced features starting on page 45. Read through this section with a camera in hand. Be prepared to use the following concepts in your next production:

1. Cinema mode (24fps)
2. Shutter and Aperture adjustments (aperture relates to depth of field)
3. Special Scene mode (and options)
4. Exposure adjustment in manual
5. Backlight correction
6. Audio monitoring

Each IR Group should check out a camera and set of lights for their IR Project for this Tues/Thur. All groups will use the same lighting/staging set up in the studio. A small group of filmmakers will set up the lights, another group will set up a dedicated camera.


Tuesday Demo FCE (approx 20 min):

1. Audio gain normalization
2. Audio fade in/out
3. Audio markers/sequence markers
4. Transitions
5. Effects

Monday, Sept 23rd: Garage Band Demo for foley effects, export to mp3

Final Cut Survey

Please take the following survey. Answer honestly so that I can see what you know, want to learn about Final Cut over the next couple of weeks.
Thanks

Survey Here

Depth of Field

http://www.izzyvideo.com/depth-of-field/

Please view the above link. After reading the entire thing (for about 5 min), work with your group to identify how will you apply depth of field concepts to your commercial work. Each person will provide 2 examples of how you will use DOF in your work on this first project.

If you do not understand the concept, or how to achieve the look, SEE ME!

Data Vis

The attached infographic (data visualization) is a result of feeding all of the words of moby dick into a software program, eliminating all 3 letter and below words, and finally displaying all the rest of the words visually. If you could feed the words of a book into a software program that would allow you to manipulate and display the words in a different way, what would you do? How would you visualize the words of a book in a single frame?

30 second commercial

How will you complete your 30 sec commercial by the end of class Thursday?

What will you do today?

What will you do Thursday?

Vertigo Alternate Ending

List 3 different alternate endings for Vertigo. (this is your blogpost).

When finished, work in groups of 2-3 to collaborate on the attached film analysis for Vertigo

Hand in all classwork to: this linked folder

3 Ideas/Approaches/Solutions

Why do clients normally expect to see 3 ideas or solutions when promoting a product or service?

Vertigo's Mise en Scene

Describe Hitchcock's techniques and use of composition and mise-en-scene.
See here for mise en scene

10 Minutes: Visual Storytelling

1. For those of you who have watched Inception, why is Christopher Nolan considered an expert at visual storytelling? Provide some specific examples from the movie that demonstrate this expertise. How can you enhance and refine your visual storytelling practice?

2. For those of you who have not watched Inception, consider the concept of visual storytelling learned last year in Media Arts 1. What are the components of visual storytelling? Site an example of excellent visual storytelling in a movie you have seen recently.

3. For all-how is visual storytelling useful for connecting with the audience?

4. For all-Where in the planning process do you most take visual storytelling into account?

First (non-map) project

Commercial:

Thur August 22-

Thur Sept 12-watch commercials in class

Purpose: Assess your knowledge of production, conceptualization, scripting and collaboration. To get us going having some fun!

Assignment: Working in groups of 3 (your  choice of partners) you will produce a 'humorous' commercial for a real or fictional product. Length will be 30 seconds. The funnier the better. You will finalize your project by uploading it to youtube for the purpose of analyzing audience reaction to your work. If you cannot find a partner team I will assign you to a team. Teams must be inclusive. YOU will absolutely loose major points for exclusion of people in your group.

Demonstrate:
You can work and have fun at the same time!
You understand that the best collaborative experiences result from  highly skilled people in different areas come together to make something.
You can do this completely on campus (do not do this over a weekend, I want to see your work)

Learn/Explore/Review:
Use all of those production techniques to your advantage. Camera angles, lighting, camera operation. You will need to include logo and purchase information as well for your product. Convince me as a consumer that I not only need your product, but must have it!

Schedule:
8/22: Script/plan-script due end of class.
8/26: DOF overview, work with cameras, finish script, planning, act/rehearse for production
8/27: Production Shoot
8/29: Shoot-Milestone: Production shoot complete by end of class.
9/3: Transfer to Final Cut, Log Shots-identify problem areas, concerns
9/5-9/9: Edit, produce audio, develop graphics/animations.
9/10: Edit, Combine, Finalize---UPLOAD!
9/12: Watch/Popcorn and party!

Movie Prompts:
1. What interested Spielberg in making movies?

2. Give an example of how Pixar used the 3 act story structure in any of their films.

3. Why do film critics describe Christopher Nolan's Inception as a master work of visual storytelling?

Welcome to Film 2013-14

Welcome to the new school year. To begin, I'd like to get to know you better and learn how to best support your goals and learning this year. Please fill out this survey about yourself. The survey will be counted as participation in the first week of class. '

Period 1: Introduction Survey  
Period 2: Introduction Survey