Final Reflection

4. At the beginning of the semester, something we learned about was filming Over the Shoulder shots. In my Over the Shoulder video on my blog, Cody and I are the actors. In our scene, the over-the-shoulder shots go back and forth between Cody and me to depict a realistic conversation. Later in the year, we used similar shots in our Values Video. The best scene of this is when Cody helps Lisa up after she falls. Another thing we focused heavily on was Rule of Thirds. This concept is basically setting up a shot so that the most important aspects are in the visual focal points for the audience. Throughout the entire semester, I have implemented the Rule of Thirds in my videos. My Over the shoulder video with Cody shows this concept during our conversation. We placed Cody’s head in one focal point, and my head in another, so the focus would be on us as opposed to the scenery or other elements in the shot. In our values project, we also used Rule of Thirds, especially in our two and three shots. A good example of this is when Lisa in running and trips in front of the Jocks. She is in the right hand focal points, and the Jocks are in the left hand focal points, so they are both equally emphasized. Something else we learned late in the semester was the use of effects in a video. We first did this by doing Sandboxes in Premiere Pro. Demi and I worked together to create two completely different scenes. After learning how to use these effects, we used them in the rest of our videos afterward. In the Jabberwocky stanza video we were assigned to do, Cristabel and I worked on including special effects. One of the effects we used was turning a photo black and white, and making the blood the only part of the photo that was in color. Another thing we did was we made the wood swirly, and we also made a woman fade into the blurry darkness. In The Water is Wide video, we also used these effects. In the beginning, the photo of the little boy sitting at the window shakes calmly back and forth, to give the illusion that he is experiencing a flashback or a dream. Something I learned last semester was how to make titles. The best example of Lower-Third titles is all throughout my Cyberbullying Final Draft video. For every speaker, we have their name and title included. Another example (from this semester) is at the end of our Values Video. The lower third title reads “Lend A Hand”. 5. Some things I definitely learned from other people’s video were from their cyber bullying videos. Something I learned from Elissa’s video was the importance of music. The first draft of her video lacked music, which left an unestablished tone for theaudience. It made me realize that an audience cannot assume what your message is, but they can understand your implications through the power of sound and music. Just adding a simple soft, piano melody would have made this video a lot more effective in portraying its message. Something else I learned from this video is the power of footage. Thevideo simply had images as the video which became very boring and unrealistic. Footage keeps the attention of a viewer, and it also seems very real. Footage lets the viewer envision your message and lets the video-maker become personal with their audience. Cassie’s rough draft of her cyberbullying video made me understand the power of firsthand experience. If someone personally tells their encounter, like Rachel Alva who was cyberbullied, it lets the viewer know your video is meaningful and authentic. It also grasps the audience's attention to emotion, and realization that things like cyberbullying actually occur. It creates a sense of empathy. From Estefania’s video, I realized though this video that humor can truly supplement a message. Although cyberbullying is a serious topic, this group managed to insert comic relief. When Estefania narrates the introduction, it creates a fun tone with the music and her body movement/facial expressions. Another part where humor is effective is when Eddy arrests Cynthia because it is unlikely to happen, especially so randomly at school. In addition, I doubt a policeman dressed in regular clothes would arrest a teenager at school and take their phone away. Another concept was the input of adults. They used three different teachers (Mr. Parker, Ms. Mott, and Mr. Huerta) and let them explain what they think of cyberbullying. Often times, teenagers/students overlook the opinion of adults, but these adults had very valuable, helpful things to say regarding cyberbullying and sexting. I’ve also learned that planning is an essential part of making videos. If you don’t thoroughly plan out when you plan on filming, when you plan on rehearsing, when you plan on creating the actual video, you’re pretty much bound to encounter problems. Something I’ve learned is that proper planning means that I am ready to encounter anything that comes up, and not necessarily having everything go perfectly. A lot of times in class, we would watch films, and Dr. Achterman couldn’t help but stop the films and point out the various camera angles, music, etc.

The Water is Wide

1. In 5-6 sentences, summarize the story you were trying to evoke (suggest) to go along with the music. 2. Choose the sequence of images in a 30 second segment that you are most proud of. Identify the time sequence (e.g., from 1 min. 10 sec. to 1 min. 40 sec.). Describe in detail what part of your story you were trying to suggest or evoke in this sequence. Describe how your choice of images helped suggest the story. Describe how your consideration of colors, shapes, and abstract images helped suggest a mood for this sequence. 3. What percentage of your film is made up of abstract images? Did you have a consistent idea about using a color or shape to suggest a mood? Explain. 4. What did you learn, realize, remember, or discover about the use of abstract images in film? 5. What did you learn, realize, remember or discover about the interaction between music and images. 6. What was the most important contribution your PARTNER made to this film? 7. What was the most important contribution YOU made to this film? 1.The story we were trying to show was the journey of an orphan boy. At a young age he lost his mother in a car accident. He reflects back on his childhood and also looks forward to the future. It's basically a summary of his past and future. With the thought of his mother in mind, he can still be successful. 2.I'd say the part I am most proud of is the first 45 seconds of the film. It summarizes how his mother died, and his own personal reflection on how it happened. We were trying to porttray the sadness of the event. Our pictures are staright forward, but together the pictures and music make the video sad. 3. Thirty percent. We tryed to use a lot of greens (for life and mother-ness) and blacks (deatyh and evil. 4.Abstract images help transition from one scene to another. They can evoke a feeing without a clear understanding if the photo. 5. Music and images are complementary of eachother. Most of all, music really emphasizes the emotion of a film. 6. Cristabel really helped me piece it together when I ran out of ideas. She also made the large bibliography. 7. I chose a lot of the photos.

The Jabberwocky:Stanza Two

We used the effect "Camera Blur" under Blur & Sharpen to give an eerie feeling. The woman seems as though she is looking as she blurs away giving a warning to "Beware!" The next effect we used called "Color Replace" under Lens Distortion. The reason we chise this was to focus on the blood in the photo to create an uneasy feeling for our audience. The last effect we used was "Lens Distortion" under Distort. We decide to use this an the woods to make it seems as through you are walking through the woods and they are trapping you. It also gives a creepy, dillusional feeling. Basically, our entire video was trying to create an unsure, worried sort of feeling.

Special Effects Sandbox Two

The effect we used was Strobe Light. We adjusted the Blend and Random Strobe features to get this product. What this clip gives the audience is a sense of urgency and restlessness.

Special Effects Sandbox One

For this special effect, we combined two effects. The first one we used was Brush Strokes and we changed the Stroke Density. The second effect we used was Fine Edges and we adjusted the Blend. This clip was supposed to imitate a t.v. with "Bunny Ear" attenas. It shows the static and clearness of adjusted a retro t.v.'s attenas.

Star Testing Promotion Video

Our video combines seriousness and comedy to keep the attention of our viewers. We want to promote star testing from a new perspective. If you vote for our video, it will not only make us happy, it will also bring education to the underclassmen of SBHS.

Group Five Director's Cut