Final Video

It is time for the last video project for the semester to be turned in. This time you were to do either a simple demonstration video or you could do your Social Studies project as a video and get credit for both classes. Most of you are doing your video using Photostory instead of Premiere because you have pictures instead of true raw video. What did you chose to do the video on? How is your project going?

Newscast Movie

We are going to use a movie that requires two special effects. Using a greenscreen to filter out unwanted background and the picture within picture effect, where a small picture shows in the corner of the screen. This is the first time you have been required to use a special effect, although several of you have used one by choice in a previous movie.
Using special effects in Adobe Premiere starts easy. You just make sure you have cut the video into the section you want the effect on and then drag the effect onto that section of the video. Then you use the effect control window to make the settings you need for what you are wanting. For example you have to tell the greenscreen effect exactly what color to turn invisible so that the picture or 2nd video behind the 1st starts showing.
Many of you are still trying to finish up the last movie because you put off editing too long. Hopefully you won't make the same mistake with this movie. What do you think about the newscast movie? What problems did you have with the last movie and what could you do different this time?

Communicating the Message

One of the greatest problems with creating a film is when you have to work with others. Everyone has their own experiences and when you write the script you are basing the action on your own experience.
When you say "walk through the door", you have an action visualized in your head. Its more than just walking thought the door, you have a speed, body position, body language, style of entry, etc. All of these are being pictured in your mind. But when someone else reads "walk through the door", they visualize what you are saying differently. They are forming a similar but different way of doing the action. No two people will ever visualize a written action the exact same way, especially if the writing is not very descriptive.
This is why you need to be very descriptive when you write your script. You need to describe how you want that person to do the action. There is a big difference between "walk though the door" and "walk timidly through the door, scraping along the door frame, clutching her books to her chest and holding her head down as if afraid to make eye contact with anyone in the room." or "marched brazenly into the room, chest out, eyes bright searching for a competitor to test his competitiveness against, swinging his arms at his sides as if he was on the parade ground." These are two extremely different images and yet they both mean "walk through the door".
Even when you are being more descriptive there will still be differences in the way the writer, the director, and the actor visualize the action, but now they are small differences which are easier to work out while filming. A good writer will include enough information to give the desired action but leave some interpretation so others can make the action their own.

What problems have you had writing your scripts?

Creating a Mood

Movies without background music would be boring. The music score (the written plan of what instruments play what note at what time) preforms a special function. The music plays in the background and prepares your mind for what is happening in the movie scene.
An exotic style of music will help the viewer believe that the movie is in an exotic location. To build suspense the music will start slow and mysterious and then build up by increasing the tempo (speed) and volume. During exciting action scenes the music will be exciting and quick in tempo. During a love scene the music will be romantic. In a regular movie when the director is using a wide angle shot of a landscape the music will be 'majestic', slightly slower in tempo but with great changes in the tone of the notes.
All of these are called musical themes. The idea of a musical theme is to prepare the viewer for the visual action occurring in the movie and to reinforce that action emotionally using music. Many of the great movies had fantastic movie scores!
Even simple movies can use music to help set the mood. Think about our movie project, "The Door".
There are three shots, or parts, to "The Door". First, the part where they walk up to the door and hear a mysterious sound. This sound, by the way, is an effect, not part of the music score. Then they are scared and can't open the door right away, getting even more scared when they hear a second scarier sound. Last they are relieved when they get inside and close the door. (I know our actors don't really act that way--that's why we are learning about scripts next.)
What type of music should you use for each of these parts? How would the music "help" the viewer believe your story on the door?

Creating a Movie

Many people don't realize what all is involved in changing video into a real movie. It takes a lot of work. A good movie has three steps; Pre-Production, Production, and Post-Production.

Pre-Production involves planning out what will happen in advance. To do this many people use a script and a storyboard. A script is where everything that will happen is written down, what the people say, what they do, what the props are, etc. This can take a lot of thinking!! A storyboard is like a comic strip. You sketch out an image of what the video will be like one shot at a time. A shot would be each action that takes place in the film. Then once you have the script and storyboard you have to share it with the people in the movie and the people that run the camera and microphone. Another person has to get all the material (props) together so that you are ready.
Production is when you make the video. The actors say their lines and move according to the script and storyboard. This isn't easy and normally takes three or four times to get each shot right. The cameraman follows the directions on the script for zooming in and out and the direction the cameraman moves. The soundman records the sound and tries to cancel out unwanted sounds.
Post-production takes a lot of work. This week you learned how to do some post-production actions. Editing a film, putting together different cuts (edited video clips), adding titles and credits, adding a soundtrack and sound effects, exporting the video into a finished movie; these are all steps in post-production.

What did you think about the skills you worked on this week? We started off doing a very simple movie version. Most of the ones you are doing later will take ten or twenty times the editing and use more types of sound effects and music, plus people talking. Think about what that means in terms of your effort you will need to put into the video.

Post Picture Taking

Now you have taken pictures and had a chance to look at the pictures that you took.
Was it as easy/hard as you thought it would be? I noticed several of you had problems with framing your picture correctly and with people moving when you took the shot. I also noticed that you didn't have problems with the light through windows that we had discussed, which is good.
Now you have to select ten of your photos (or the others photos if you want) and put them into a video slideshow using Photostory. What so you plan to have as the theme for your video? You are limited because we are just using pictures from Monday at school, but are doing on friends, the school, what?

Taking Pictures

Today you learned about the digital camera and had your first opportunity to experiment with cameras here in class. While many of you have used a camera before I doubt that you every learned all the different features on the camera. Did you learn anything new about the camera?

You also practiced taking pictures of each other while changing any settings on the camera. Was there any special set up for the camera that you liked the most?

Next week you will be going out into the school to take pictures. Some of these will be used to make the yearbook. Think about what things you would like to photograph during the 1st semester. Make a list of about five things you would want to photograph the most.

Starting a New School Year

Welcome to the new school year. This year I have split this class' blog from the other 8th grade class and it will be strictly about the video class. I also plan to have weekly posts with student comments. Speaking of which here is the first post for this school year:

Now that you have heard my general introduction to Video class I would like for you to think about what we will be doing in class. What do you think you will like the most about the class? Will you be more nervous about being behind the camera or in front of the camera? What kind of videos would you like to be able to do by the end of the semester?

Write your answer as a comment to this post.