This past week we got to experience Justice Leauge in MX4D. MX4D studios provide an experience that places you in the movie. You sit in chairs about as big as an airplane seat and throughout the movie you are experiencing the movement that takes place in the movie. 4D is very precise when it comes to sensory detail. Sight, smell, touch, and sound are all integrated into the movie. When it comes to watching Justice Leauge in the MX4D studio I felt that it took away from the overall feel of the movie. The biggest thing that pulled away from the overall experience was that it was somewhat distracting. In class, we did a recap where we talked about how we felt about the movie and much of what was said was that the 4D effects, did not line up with certain parts of the movie. During fight scenes, your seat was being moved around a lot and it was hard to figure out which character you were mimicking because so much was going on at one time. When it came to Batman or Superman flying, the wind that was blown on you during the movie was very loud so you were very much able to hear the 4D which drew away from the sound of the actual movie. In my opinion, 4D is a really unique experience, and I do not regret going at all. I think that it has to be the "right" movie to experience a really good MX4D effect.
Favorites vs. Least Favorites
I loved the movie as just the movie. I felt that it was done very well and the CGI effects used were amazing. There were not a lot of continuity errors, nor prolonged parts that made the movie drag on. However, I do wish certain characters would have been developed more. Aquaman and Flash were characters in the movie, but I feel that you barely knew anything about them. When it comes to the other characters like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, you are already aware of their stories because of the movies that have recently come out featuring their life stories. I really did not have many complaints about the movie. I loved the cinematography as well as the music, I felt that this movie was directed and executed very well.
MX4D I think is something that would be really interesting to watch in different genres like horror. As I am someone that loves the rush you get from jump scares and things like that. This is something I would love to watch a horror movie in. I think when it comes to our feature films in school, this would help enhance the experience if the effects were done correctly. That was the hardest thing about watching Justice Leauge was that the effects did not always line up with what was taking place. When it comes to MX4D verses a normal 2D movie, I feel that it really does change the normal movie experience. I don`t go see movies very often so it was very exciting to get to experience the movie with all the added effects. As 3D is something I really try to avoid my choice to go see Justice Leauge again would be to see it in 2D as I think that is how the movie would look best.
When adding improvements to MX4D or making changes to the technology, the first thing I would fix would be the smells provided throughout the film. Justice Leauge we got to smell things like grass, and dirt, and whiskey and the only smell that I thought was accurate was the dirt as it smelt like fresh mulch. I would also change how things like snow and ash and fog are produced throughout the theatre. A large group of us sat in the first two rows and while we experience the fog from the front of the movie theatre, we didn't get to experience the snow or ash because it took place behind us.
Overall Thoughts/Conclusion
This is something I was very happy I got to be included in. While I did not like the effects of Justice League in MX4D, I am excited to see what other movies are shown because it really does change the average experience of new movies. There are a few things I wish would have been better, but I am happy that I went and I got to see the movie because it was a very good movie.
Back in August, I approached my entertainment teacher with the idea of bringing back an all-school video in order to promote positive press towards our school. The original idea behind all of this was that with a new school in the district was opening up Olathe Northwest had large changes regarding over half of a new staff, as well as a decrease in students transferring to the new school. The intention behind the video was to bring the student body together and show off the love for our school because it was something I felt we as a school needed. From that point, my teacher Mrs. Smith began helping me plan out how we could make everything work.
"Pre-Production" Process -
Building a Team
The very first thing I did for this project was present it to the two entertainment classes in the eComm program in order to build a team of people who would be helping me with this project. Surprisingly 34 different students were interested from the start which was amazing to see. A power point was presented to them showing Olathe Northwest's first Lip-Dub from 2011, as well as our latest video made in 2015 centered around High School Musical's "We're all in this Together". I had talked to the classes about how I would like this year's video to be the traditional "Lip-Dub" style because it allowed everyone to participate and show off their love for what they spent high school involved in. After getting a team together, our production crew was asked what positions they would like to be apart of (Director of Photography, Editor, Art Director, Location Managers, and Music Supervisor) and filled out small applications allowing Mrs. Smith and I to pick who was right for each part. Our next step from there was to present the idea to administration and get everything approved before we could plan.
Administration Pitch
After scheduling a meeting with the administrative staff, I presented to them the same power point I originally presented to my production team. We sat in a room and talked through all the possibilities and different ideas we would like to have in the video. They asked questions about how we planned to execute this video and how they could help. They agreed with the reasoning behind why the video should be made and they felt that this was something the school really needed due to the changes made. By the end of the meeting, we got the approval for the video and we were able to start planning.
Production Team Planning
About every week we would meet one morning at 7 am and would have breakfast and talks about the different things we would like to have in the video. One of our biggest things was the song as that is the most important part of the video. We worked to create a path to maximize the number of students we would put throughout the school as well as where each group should be based on how many participated and how much they wanted to do in the video. A drone was incorporated to show the entire outside of our school and then we focused on showing off the students, what Olathe Northwest was really about. One thing we wanted to make sure we HAD in the video was a big ending scene with everyone coming together because that showed off what the "Raven Nation" really was. In the time of planning, posters and t-shirts were made for the entire production team. The administration was given shirts as a gift for all their help, as well as additional staff t-shirts for all the eComm teachers and a few additional who were part of the planning and execution of the video.
Prep-Night
As the student director, this was the most fun I had aside from the actual lip-dub. Prep-Night was November 8th, the day before the lip-dub. My production team helped hang up posters, blow up 600+ balloons, do walkthroughs, go over job assignments/final procedures for the next morning. Different rooms in the school were arranged different ways, we figured out where rugs needed to be placed for camera movement to be clean, as well as where poles needed to be moved from what doors. Our final touches resulted in taping sports on the floor where our RFC members (Raven Flight Core) would start their lip-sync section. A small group of us stayed the entire night and by the time we left it was 10:20 pm and the next morning we were back at 6:30 am ready to go again.
Production
November 9th, 2017 was the day my production team and I had been prepping for since the second week in August and the day production took place everyone was very excited but on edge, because we all wanted this to be amazing so it quickly was a reality check that the video was happening. Fox 4 was there getting behind the scene footage of the filming of the Lip-Dub as well as additional people from the district in order to see the process. There were some complications during filming that day. We originally planned for the lip-dub to be shot two times through completely that way we had options, but we ended up having to do four complete walkthroughs because we were running too fast through the path.
Take One/Take Two
Our first two recordings of the lip-dub, you were not able to tell what each group was because we were running instead of just walking. We had an incident at the end of the second run through where the music had stopped right before entering the gym so our last couple people lip-syncing made up what they were doing and people around them had just continued cheering and keeping the spirit going.
Take Three
On our third take it the music had stopped halfway through which resulted in a total reset right after making it past Golf into the commons. At this point, we switched out speakers in order to make the music louder as well as make sure it would work all the way through the school.
Take Four
The fourth time we were able to make it all the way through with the music as well as slow down our speed so everyone was noticeable. By the fourth take, the timing was practically perfect, there were only a few things noticeable about the first three takes to the final take and that was the spirit in some parts of the hallway. It was hard for everyone to maintain the hype by the end of the fourth run through due to all the time it was taking.
Gym Scene
The gym scene was by far the most successful part of this video in my opinion. The entire school came together and we did our "Oh When Northwest" chant and at the very end the student body rushed the floor and balloons were pulled and thrown into the crowned. This really showed the unity and pride our school needed coming together for the shot.
"Post-Production" Process -
As soon as we finished filming in the school, we immediately headed upstairs and the editing team got to work. We started to pick our what shots we wanted to use for the gym, as well as which take we wanted to use versus ones we could not use. The editing team worked Friday, then the following Monday-Wednesday on getting color corrections, nat noise, music integration, clip alignment, as well as transition shots were done. Thursday, November 16th was the day of our premiere to the school and all of us were extremely pleased with the outcome even though there are things we know we can change.
Final Thoughts/Conclusion -
The entire experience behind the lip-dub was extremely fulfilling for me. While there was a lot of stress, I was very happy with everything in the end.
Changes -
There are a few things I think would be beneficial for next year if we choose to do this again.
1. Communication between location directors - During our run-throughs, we had art directors calling and yelling what we were passing so the other side of the school knew what was going on and it made things hard on both ends. The other side of the school didn't know, the calls would drop, different things like that.
2. Louder speaker(s) positioned throughout the school - Everyone needs to know where we are and there were points where I feel like students were a little blindsided by the fact that the camera was right in from of them cause it would be a really quick turn of a corner and it instantly was there turn to get hyped up.
3. Press - I think this would have been beneficial if we were to bring more publicity to what we were doing. Posters being made sooner and hung up for the rest of the students to see and be made aware of. Mrs. Smith made a good point that we could have easily drawn more outside attention from this that would show off our school in a positive manner so that was something to keep in mind for next year.
Those were the three biggest points I thought would have made the video smoother but I know there are others. The week following the lip-dub we got feedback from both entertainment classes where a lot of good points were brought up that I also think will help change how next years video is produced.
Conclusion -
I could not be more thankful for the experience gained from being student director on a project this large. I learned a lot about myself during this time, as well as what it really means to be a leader. Seeing the entire school come together the way they did was one of the satisfying and heartwarming feelings I have ever gotten because I really showed off who we are as Olathe Northwest and that was something I think everyone needed to see. A huge thank you goes out to every single person who was apart of the process because without all of them it would not have been possible. For the future, I hope I will be able to make a second one senior year and find ways to improve this year's video.
