Semester One Recap:
During semester one, a lot of projects and activities took place. We learned through creating PSA's, short films, writing scripts, guest speakers, a lip-dub production, as well as a field trip. At the start of the year, our first project was our PSA, and our group chose the topic of racism.
Racism PSA
The project itself was completed before two weeks. We had the idea of bringing everyone together to create unity instead of the separation between race. When it came to the challenges we faced during the production of everything, the biggest complication was getting actors. We initially wanted a large number of people to be there for the ending shot of everyone holding hands but we were unable to get the number of people we actually wanted. Along the way, we had learned that our planning as a group needed to be a little bit better as none of our times for production worked with every group member. When it came to present to the class, we were given feedback that discussed our lighting. The class liked the concept and the set up of the video, they just felt it would have been easier to watch if it was brighter. We were unable to go back and make changes without redoing the entire video because when it came to color correcting in the editing, everything turned an orange color or a blue color, the picture no longer looked normal. Overall, this is a project I would not consider my best work, but it was a learning experience considering it was the first project we did coming back from summer break.
Short Film
Our next project we created was a short film, that also involved our second assignment of the year, my script. The original idea behind my story was Christopher Robin, from Winnie the Pooh. He grew up in a broken family, with parents who did not want him so I ended up taking that idea and making a story out of it. We had a mother, an older sister, and a younger sister. The mother who is an alcoholic is very aggressive towards the older sister who goes out of her way to protect the younger sister. It was based on family dynamic and who actually took care of one another in the family. We spent an entire day of filming, after a week of pre-production, and three days of editing. The most challenging part of all of this was that we had a camera die right at the end of the production so we ended the film very abruptly. Along the way, we learned that even though you are filming something that will be five minutes when done, it can take you 4 hours to shoot. When my group and I presented to the class, a lot of what we got was positive but some things that people pointed out is that we didn't have a variety of close up shots. There were things in the film that would have been a lot stronger if we had got shots that were closer or conveyed more emotion. They also made notes of the ending, about how the film just ended at the end of act two without any resolution. We were unable at the time to go back and change things like that because it would have resulted in a restart of the entire production process just for that ending scene. Looking back at it now, it would very much be something I would like to change, but our group never took the time to. Overall, I was semi-happy with this project, I look at it and can see a lot of things that need to be fixed but for my second short film created, I would say it was pretty decent.
Class Time
Class time this semester was used very productive some weeks, and not so productive with others. During this semester I took on additional projects like the lip-dub which took away a lot of "menu item" time. A few of us in class spent a lot of class time in pre-production for the lip-dub video which kept most of my attention when things were not happening in class. Once the lip-dub was done, my focus immediately switched to the scripting of Kansas City Savior so it went from on project to another. Any real downtime was spent doing homework, or going over menu items, or working on videos for an upcoming youtube channel a few of us in eComm would like to be starting next semester. Outside of class, most of the eComm work done was centered around pre-production things. It was rare I took home camera equipment this semester. When the equipment was taken home, it was for personal use, working on filming different things, or taking pictures - nothing that was published for eComm.
Strengths and Weaknesses
When it comes to my strengths in eComm, I believe I am strongest in project management and leadership. I spend a lot of time planning different things and keeping what I can organize in class with all of our projects and I feel that is where my skills are used best. When it comes to my communication, I also believe that is a stronger trait of mine, but it still needs some work. Collaboration is something I feel I do well because you can't do all the planning on your own and you end up needing help along the way. My technical skills I feel are my weaknesses in the program because I don't put as much time into the camera work or editing when it comes to production as I do with all of the planning in pre-production. Editing is something I do believe relaxes me once I get into a rhythm or in the "zone" of editing, but outside of that, my technical skills are something that will always need work.
Guest Speakers
During the semester we got the chance to hear from two guest speakers, Gordon Lamb and Joshua Smith. I loved listening to both of them talk about their experience. When it comes to what we learned, I had learned most about the personality behind filming and producing videos from Mr. Smith, and the different times of professional equipment from Mr. Lamb. Overall, I was very very happy listening to them and learning about all of the equipment and experience both of the guest speakers had gone through. They were able to give us not just information over the film industry, and production but also over things they had learned in their life that helped them be where they are today and that was really important, I felt when speaking to a group of high school students.
MX4D Experience
Our field trip this semester was something I was really happy I got the chance to experience. We were able to sit through a movie and had numerous features actually you and your senses to feel as if you were actually in the video. The biggest takeaway from the field trip for me was that, when it comes to production, there are higher standards of how this movie can be shown so trying to make it realistic is important. The new technology in the film industry I do believe is very cool, but it is also something I feel needs to be executed correctly otherwise it can ruin a whole production.
Summary
The first semester, I thought was great. My favorite part, of course, was the production of the lip-dub because that was the project I got to take on as my own with a whole team of people. It was one of the most positive and fun-filled experiences I had had throughout high school and I am really really thankful for that. If I could go back, I would put a little more time into our first two projects because I know they can be a lot better than they are now, but it has to be something everyone in the group is dedicated to, not just a few group members. One of the biggest takeaways I learned this semester is that no matter how much you plan, not everything will go the way you want it to, and that was probably one of the hardest things for me to be okay with considering I always spent so much time planning things. My biggest goal for next semester is to have a quality feature film that runs smoothly. When it comes to our eComm class we know our strengths and we know our weaknesses, and we have to be able to work as a team around those things. Aside from all of that, I am genuinely very thankful for everything that happened this semester and I'm looking forward to coming back after the break and hitting the ground running without feature film.
