Understanding the Buisness of Film

    The final week on my project was a great wrap up week that in my opinion came way to fast. Ethney and I did a lot of “playing” which was us playing around with different cinematography effects. We worked on things like pulling focus from something that was close to something that was far. You could see the change from the subject going out of focus to them being focused on. It is a nice effect that is used in a lot of films and T.V. shows and it was very helpful for me to work on this. Also, using the steady cam was a huge treat for me. Working with a steady cam was great because, going on in my video and film career, I will be working with them and the chance to use one now gives me a leg up in the future.
     Ethney and I also took time to go over my filming of the last couple weeks to see how I progressed and there is a amazing difference between the first week and this week. You could tell I was a lot more conscious of lighting, framing, headroom, and other aesthetic pieces while filming. I had so much fun just working on these little skills and getting to see how I have progressed over just the past few weeks. Seeing this progression gives me high expectations for myself in the future, as I continue to learn. All through my project, I have been asked to set up and film  for the main reason of getting the practice right in the field. I have practiced using the steady cam, miking people, light people, and so on, so I have the actual practice of doing it instead of just watching somebody do it for me or tell me how to do it in a classroom. This type of learning for me is great because I flourish in a hands on environment.
     There were no huge surprises this week. Everything really went as planed and the only slight hiccup was during the steady cam at the beginning because it was really hard to get the hang of such a sensitive piece of equipment but I quickly got the hang of it. I will benefit from every activity this week going into college. Knowing all of this will put me ahead of my classmates, who may not know any of this, and I will stand out when it comes to internships and other opportunities.

5/27/2011      2 hr day  posted at:3:12

today i worked on a few scattered things since Ethney gave me the last day to prepare for my senior project presentation.  i worked a little on putting together a reel looking at what video i had that i would want to put into a reel. I also worked on a my presentation for Wednesday in the wise. i figured out what i was bringing and how i was going to display it. over all it was a very easy low key day and since it was such a beautiful day outside it reminded me that summer time was just around the corner (hence the sublime quote) and with this blog post I say "Good night, and good luck."

5/26/2011    3Hr posted:3:13 started:10AM ended:12PM

Today I met Ethney at her home and we recheck the exam/library/study video and got it completely finished. We then talked more about the business side of things. we discussed hourly rates, internships, contacts, and reels (a videographers portfolio). after a short business chat she dragged me kicking and screaming in front of the camera to answer the question of where i was attending college. a short side note i had done so much of the filming that Ethney while focusing on me gont confused for a second and said "wow I haven't used this camera in forever." after the filming of me we revisited old technology and played with her Super 8 camera it still had a film cartratge in it. after looking at the camera for a while I collected the videos i need to present my senior project on Wednesday in the wise at 1.

 5/25/2011   3hr day   started:11:30 AM  ended:2:30  PM  posted: 8:32

today was a very late start for me. I started by meeting with Tom Meegan, a sports replay editor, to talk about his job and the video and film industry. it was extremely interesting and informative talk with him and boosted my interest in video that much more (I can not wait to get to college to study this full time.) after a long talk with him, previewing some of his work, and showing him some of mine, I went to Ethney's house to meet with her.

We sat, and edited, and of course sat some more. We cranked out next weeks video which will be a show case of the Lovejoy Library and telling what students hardest exams will be and their favorite places to study on campus. we cranked it all out by 2 o'clock and then talked about her business a little more. since this is my last week of senior project (Over so fast!) there is really not enough time to keep working on another video. the rest of my week looks like my asking Ethney questions about her business, compiling my videos for my senior project presentation, and reviewing what i need to remember about shooting with Ethney.

5/24/2011  5hr   started:9AM ended:2PM    posted at:8:57

today was primarily a "play" day. I met Ethney at her home at 9AM we started looking through the steady cam footage from yesterday. it looked pretty good in some parts. (also pretty bad in others what can I say it was my first time with a steady cam) We pulled into final cut pro some of our favorite steady cam shots and all the shots we had of kids talking about what their hardest exam will be and where their favorite place to study is. After reviewing all of this we decided we did not have enough kids talking. Down to campus we go!

We arrived at campus as assembly started and i manged to make my self pretty well noticed in there as i walked back and forth on stage in the middle of Swaze making an announcement that I'm sure was important. I got some decent footage of the student leaders announcing the new student council. also i got kind words of wisdom about thanking people who have helped you this year. after assembly I dragged kids in front of the camera to have them answer questions. when class started I began completely disrupting classes and invading space. I worked specificly on pulling focus from one object to my subject and back again. also i worked on the pulling of focus as i zoomed and panned to a subject closer than the original.

after ruining a few classes (apparently you can not slip in and out of a classroom full of your friends with a giant camera without disrupting it a little) we headed back to Ethney's imported the footage talked about some up-coming technology that will revolutionize the film and video industry and of course looked at the footage I got today.

11/23/2011 posted at:10:27  started at:9  ended at:2    5Hr day

today was a special treat for me. Ethney borrowed a steady cam from her friend and we ran around campus just "playing" with different shots angles ect. We got all the floors of the learning center. i had a monstrosity connected to me that even the slightest touch would make it swing around wildly. after about an hour of just playing with this steady cam I got the hang of it eventually. (you can see it in my flickr on the right) it weighed just shy of 30 lbs probably and you could feel it on your back and neck like a midget was hanging onto you for dear life. however this was an awesome experience. when i got used to it i forgot how muc work it was and just played and had so much fun.  at one point when invading the tech department Brian Perry commented: "you are having way too much fun with that thing." I i couldn't help but smile cause he had no idea. the steady cam was great. even as it wore on my neck and back i wanted to keep going it was just too much fun although after just getting used to all the things i need to focus on with Ethney's camera the use of the steady cam was added and i forgot to breath again only. (what ever its not as important as a good looking shot any way)

we went back this evening to get shots of study hall, structured study hall, and a few dorm rooms for the upcoming video. All in all it was a great day and i am all too sad to senior project winding down. (but cant wait to dawn those rainbow cords and graduate)

almost forgot senior project video was posted this morning also. it is only 4 of the 22 seniors on senior project but a fun insight to whats going on check it out here.

  I learned a lot about camera usage and aesthetics again this week.  Also, I learned about audio editing and I saw more of the business side of film when I went to the meeting with development at the end of the week. This was another great week of senior project for me. I love seeing my skills grow as I take what I learned from last weeks editing and then apply  it to this weeks shooting. I love working with the film and editing it to get the point across.

5/12/2011   post time :7:58    3Hrs

Today was another low key Friday. It began with a trip down to proctor to have a meeting with development. This was great for me to see. It was my first true experience of business - client relationship. It helped me greatly understand that while I love video if i work in it I am working FOR someone no matter what whether that is a boss or the people I want to pay to go watch something.  After sitting in on the meeting and listen to points development wants to get across in a video I was given the day to work on my reel (a videographers portfolio) and to think about a possible production name and logo. I worked on a 3D text graphic for about an hour and a-half and then put some heavy thinking into a production name which my clutter thoughts got me almost no where.

i also met with my mentor and my fellow Mentoree Jake Hines for a lunch to catch up on how our project was going. We were all doing great and every thing was just fine and dandy. after lunch I got ready for my lacrosse game (or to take photos at my lacrosse game because i'm injured.) all in all a great day and very informative about the business side of Film and Video.

5/19/2011    posted:7:39  4hr   started:10 AM  ended: 2PM

I had a delayed start to my day because of a doctors appointment. I arrived at Ethney's house at 10 and we sat down and started working on the senior project video. and we sat...and sat....and sat some more. while putting the story line together for this video there were a lot of little bits that needed to be worked out. Mainly chopping up audio from interviews to make them coherent sentences. we have to do this in video because unlike print we can not add in brackets what the interviewee meant to say but did not finish the sentence. we had to take parts from a persons interview where they said one thing and move it to another to make it work also we removed "ums" "ahs" and stutters or messups.

the quote at the top of the page came from Zach Lee during his interview talking about some of his obstacles. while editing the audio is a little tedious task it needs to get done. all in all it was a great day the 4 hours of editing and sitting flew by like nothing.

5/18/2011   Posted at:4:30    3.5hr day    stated:9AM ended:12:30PM

This quote by Oscar Wilde could not be more accurate than what my day consisted of. I met up with Ethney at the music studio on campus to get B-roll of Fenny Wilkinson working in the studio. i had him behind the board, talking to friends, telling me about his concert, behind a microphone rhyming, and jamming downstairs. It was tough working around the goons in the music studio who loved to say profane lines while the camera was rolling but after a grueling 40 minutes of takes and re-takes of Fenny faking things around the studio I got everything I needed.

I finished up getting B-roll by 9:40 and headed back to Ethney's house. she had left me her camera and sound kit so I was flying solo in there. when i got back to Ethney's we sat down and began to go through the footage I had taken over the past two days. However, i was given a forewarning before "don't take anything I say about your shots personal it is just feed back and overall they are pretty good, but you should learn from your mistakes."(not an exact quote but the general idea.) Upon hearing this I thought she had go through it already and decided my filming was crap and was about to destroy it. as we got into the importing process though i felt this forewarning was a bit much seeing as every thing she told me about the aesthetics of my shots was useful feedback and not even slightly offensive to me. we continued importing for the next couple hours as Ethney found something in each shot that she loved, that bothered her, or that she would have changed personal.

Today was great for me though. These small mistakes that i mad while filming were caught today and i will be conscious of them from now on. one thing i really am proud of is that since i started my senior project from day one Ethney always commented on how much room I left between a persons head and the top of the shot. This has completely changed since the beginning. Now the majority of the time my head room is correct which really shows me that everything Ethney is telling me is sticking and that idea keeps me working through all these little "experiences". Hopefully, as the headroom did, the few mistakes i made while filming this week will disappear next week while filming.

5/17/2011    Posted: 10:55   5.5 hr day    started: 9AM ended:2:30

Today was a full day to say the least, but a great hands on action filled day. We had two interviews planed for the day. Morgan Prudden at 9AM and Michele Koenig at 10:45AM. This week's project is a video about senior project. Last week while harrassing the kitchen for video I got a quick interview with Zach Lee about his senior project. Today was spent rounding up the other student interviews I needed.

Morgans interview was quick and painless (for me, she, on the other hand, was a bit nervous) when she got there she started right into her roles of intern-e and I followed her with a giant camera that she continued to look over he shoulder to see if I was watching. I sat her down and started firing away with questions. She quickly overcame her camera shy problems and by the end of the interview couldn't stop giving me ideas for B-roll. We finished up with her interview by 10 and headed off to harass Michele.

Michele was a lot easier to get in front of the camera but yet just as nervous. (that camera seems to scare people away) also it did not help with Michele's fear of cameras that we had all the lights set up. However, it really helped me since i got to experience lighting techniques and setup. In the end Michele had a great interview giving the best answers about senior project and perfect, tentative, and smiling subject to work with.

As we left Micheles office we thought about going to the dinning hall to get a quick bite to eat but quickly discovered that lunch was not out yet so headed over to the music studio to get Fenny Wilkinson's interview. He was not there but with one quick phone call he showed up and seemed excited to get in front of the camera. He made the interview a breeze and with only 10 minutes left on the camera I got a few B-roll shots and headed back to Ethney's house to get the footage off the camera and post the Dinning Hall video (we ended up titling it"What's Cookin'?" go check it out)

All in all it was a great day of experience and every day of shooting is easier than the last as the checklist of things to check while shooting becomes ingrained in my head. Thank you to Morgan, Michele, and Fenny for being available for interviews and so willing to get in front of the camera.

5/16/2011    5hr day    start time: 9 AM end time 2 PM

Today i met up with Ethney at her house and we went over the plan for the week.  we set up on her calender the time for the interviews on the senior project video. soon after finishing setting up we went to Franklin fire department to interview Sam Brown about his senior project. the morning consisted of setting up shots and basically stalking Sam with the camera. after collecting enough B-roll to put over his talking we packed up and headed back to Ethney's house to finish up the dinning hall video. after a few hours of sitting it was athletically done and all that was left was the audio editing that Ethney said she would take care of. I headed out at 2PM to go to Diane's therapy to get tortured. currently she has me hooked up to this crazy looking machine that is absolutely destroying my shoulder with tingly sensations (picture in my flickr photostream.)

   This week was a huge step forward for my video and organizational skills, as I jumped right into things with Ethney. From day one she had me doing her job and using the camera full time. This was a great chance for me to learn being the man behind the camera and also a great chance for me to make mistakes, but I learned from those mistakes. I learned all about Ethney’s camera and the technical usage of high end pro cameras. This is great for me because going on in life these will be the types of cameras I use and they are far beyond the technologies of a consumer or even a prosumer level camera. Also, towards the end of the week I got a refresher course on the more complex parts of Final Cut Pro. I have used Final Cut before, but Ethney is much more familiar with it and quickly got me up to speed. I have noticed an increases of productivity on my own projects as well as the work on my senior class video at home.
  
   Ethney has asked me to do everything she would normally do if she was on her own, which is great. I was asked to do things like filming, editing, importing, interviews, formal e-mails, and setting up dates to meet.  This is exactly what I would have to do if I ran a business or if I was working for any company. All these skills are great to have and I am so grateful Ethney has thrown me into it like she has. I was a little shocked at this however. I expected a more gradual dip into it instead of day one being behind her camera filming and asking the questions but now that I am into it I would not want it any other way, it is truly awesome. This week has made me a more skilled videographer all around. I am more conscious of my framing, when I am recording, and pay close attention to what is and is not in my shot. It has helped speed up my time in Final Cut by knowing more short cuts and being more familiar with the interface. Also my audio skills, which were almost none before, have increased a great amount. I am comfortable at setting audio levels and putting a microphone on a interviewee. Also my post production audio skills have increased. Overall, this week has helped me in every way with all of my skills in video. I am more conscious, aware, and careful about everything while shooting now because of the havoc it can cause in post production.

       Truly, this week has been trial by fire and I came out slightly browned, but not burned. However, I have learned so much from this week. Mistakes while shooting are extremely obvious while editing the next day. After seeing these mistakes I take extra care to not make them again next time I am filming.  I am quickly picking up Ethney’s mental checklist for shooting. With more practice next week, I think I will have it down pat. I am amazed by the amount that needs to be thought about while shooting. There is a lot more than goes into a good shot than decent lighting and a beautiful subject.

5/13/2011    Time posted: 6:50 

Started working: 9:10 AM    Finished working: sometime tomorrow

5/12/2011   Posted:3:12    Started working: 9:00 AM finished 2:00 5Hr day

    I learned 2 very important things today. One; school was mad so that once you get into the work force those tedious tasks that you spend all day on (IE 4 hours in front of a computer screen working on a 4 minute video)  doesn't seem NEARLY as bad as a one hour english class talking about what the author REALLY meant. Also I learned that mistake is a great chance to learn. I’ve made a few mistakes over the past few days; too much head room, moving in on shots when I should have stayed wide, and almost dropping and breaking Ethney’s extremely nice and expensive camera. (you know the small things) the list might be a little longer than that but just a taste of a few. However, these mistakes have not gone to waste. From those specific mistakes I have consciously worked on cutting down in head room in my video, I have seriously thought about every shot, (where I move what I focus on and what is and more importantly is not in the shot) and to hold that camera with a death grip.


     I arrived at Ethney’s at 9AM and we sat down. And we sat, and we sat….and sat. Well first we looked over and decided we needed one more shot of art in the dinning hall talking about how fresh the food is which completely paid off because the delivery truck that never showed up last time was just pulling in as we were off loading box after box of fresh fruits and veggies. We took the video we needed and headed back. When we got back we imported and then we sat and edited, and sat, and sat, and sat. We worked from about 10:30 until 2PM on editing the dinning hall video.

   
     I had a huge breakthrough after I left today. I had just spent at least four hours editing this video for a job that might not have been the top of my list to edit but I LOVED every second. I love every second of this project I am learning a ton and I couldn't be happier. ( so much better than english class sorry jane) so today was not exactly exciting for any one not in love with video or film but it was another great day of editing for me and another great day to learn from my mistakes as we watched it back .

Tomorrow Ethney has prior obligations and I will be on my own. I plan to work on my senior class video and specifically working on some special effects with adobe after effects to see if I cant make it absolutely magically terrifically amazingly perfect.

5/11/2011       Posted: 7:35    Started working: 9:00 AM finished 2:00 5Hr day

Third day of Senior project and I have made huge headway on a project started on Monday. Majority of the work for the past three days has been focused on a dinning hall video. Since Monday I have done almost everything for this video with only Ethney giving me tips, ideas, and correcting a few mistakes I have made. This type of learning for me is great. I love just diving right into something and getting my hands dirty. Today I met Ethney at her house to work on editing. I showed up at 9AM and we jumped right in, by which I mean slowly waddled in still having to import all the footage from yesterday, set all the Ins’ and outs’, and capture it. We had some golden footage, Art’s interview, Steve the dinner cook, and Zach Lee working on his senior project. We also had a few junk ones that even looking back just two days I was thinking, “Why would I EVER do that!?” which I think is good news,every thing Ethney has been teaching me and all the advice she has been giving me I am holding onto. Before long we realized we needed the beloved Ednas’ interview to make this a complete dinning hall video. We called the dinning hall to find out that she was leaving in 15 minutes. We rushed into action hurrying over there to get Edna. The interview was nothing short of amazing, all thanks to Edna’s beauty, humor, and overall style. She did wonderfully in front of the camera waving around her spatula the whole time and threatening to hit her co-workers with it until shortly after she said she loved her boss, Art, which then ended in a on camera hug and flirting session between Edna and Art, it almost brought a tear to the eye. After collecting a few more shots in the kitchen for B roll and getting a interview with Zach Lee for next weeks video project; Senior Project,  we headed back to Ethney’s and imported the video. The rest of my day was made up of computer work in the program Final Cut Pro. Putting this clip here and that clip there, then undoing it all because it did not look quite right. We got a solid start on the video by the time I had to leave to be at my game and we will pick up there tomorrow most likely finishing the video to have it posted a few days after.

5/10/2011           posted at: 7:25         started at 9:30 AM worked until 2:00 PM 4.5hr day

I met Ethney at the dinning hall this morning at 9:30 AM. We set up out back at went over the plan for the. we waited on a delivery truck to get a shot of it coming into the dinning hall driveway and unloading the fruits in the back of the dinning hall. While waiting I practiced on the maintenance crew and got warmed up with the camera. The fruit tuck was supposed to show up at 10:00 which would leave us ample time to set up for the time laps shot in the kitchen preparing lunch. While waiting I picked Ethney's brain and asked questions geared towards financial profits and how to know if a job is worth the time. At 10:50 the truck had still not shown so we bagged it and set up the time laps in the kitchen. (For those who do not understand what a time laps is I provided a link on the right) this gave me a chance to better understand the camera. We changed the interval time (time between the frames ex: take a frame wait one second take a frame wait one second ect.) to a one second interval. this made for a nice time laps. first we took a time laps of the kitchen preparing lunch, then we moved to the dinning hall for the hot food line when lunch opened, next up stairs to get a cross dinning hall shot of the hot food line and the drinks, then to the front of dish duty to get people dropping off plates and the front half of dish duty and finally the back side of dish duty for the clean plates coming out. Each time laps was on a one second interval so at 30 frames per second(FPS) that means ever one minute we had taken 2 seconds of video. to have a substantial time laps you need at least 5 minutes of the camera sitting not moving. 5 minutes of the camera not moving comes out to a 10 second clip a lot of time for a short out come. Besides the insane amount of time laps I also worked on a interview with Art and getting B roll footage of people working in the kitchen wether it was chopping veggies, cutting the silver off meat, mixing, or cleaning I worked a lot on different angles and different lighting. After the kitchen we moved onto sneaking into class rooms. To name a few I invaded (and made every student self conscious in) Tom Morgan, Linsday Brown, and Patti Ponds. I worked on pulling my focus, finding places to white balance while running and gunning, and scoping out good shots. My eye needs some work on finding what looks good on camera but that will come with time. All in all today was another great day and cant wait to see how my shots look tomorrow while editing.

 5/9/2011 started at 9AM worked until 2PM 5HR day posted at 3:20

"Run and gun" as Ethney calls it is exactly what a large part of my day was made up of first day. after meeting at Ehney's house and going over the basics. we looked at the projects she had in mind for the next three weeks and decided on a solid project to start on. the dinning hall video seemed to be the best place to start. she pulled out her camera a huge Panasonic HVX 200 and then placed the encyclopedia of a user manual in front of me. we went over the basics of the camera; white balance, focus, zoom, settings, audio levels, and filters to name a few. after getting a small understanding of the camera and a quick rundown of the plan for the rest of the day we headed off to proctor with a goal in mind, coral kids after assembly to answer a few quick questions. For some reason seeing a camera is a complete people repellent.  as i tried to drag people in front of the camera to answer four questions that Ethney had made up we set up camera and tripod in front of the wise and attempted to interview students quickly after assembly. i quickly learned that tripods on this "run and gun" type of shoot DOES NOT WORK.  soon after i ditched the tripod and began hand filming everything. White balance, aperture, focus is the indoor pattern i followed that was slowly but surely it was embedded in me. i started to get the hang of her camera and open up more to grabbing people to question them and direct them in how to respond in full sentences and where to stand. today was a very successful day that taught me a lot and left me wanting to learn more. i am excited for the weeks to come and can hardly wait to play with footage and a camera right now.

Almost time to go. senior Project sign out sheet is all filled out. counting down the minutes.