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.