Editing blog

        After finally being able to film our music video, we needed to edit. At first, we didn't know which editing program we were gonna use. My group and I discussed about how we would edit the video and what effects to use in our video. After discussing and coming to our conclusions, we decided to use Pinnacle Studio to put the video together. First, we got the computer in class. We then signed into Freya's user and dumped all of the clips onto the computer. After dumping the clips, we uploaded the videos to Joaquina's Google Drive just in case. We then opened up Pinnacle studio, which took a while to open because the computer was slow and running low on battery.
        Finally, Pinnacle studio opened up, and we started to edit. However, Pinnacle was not working correctly. Pinnacle Studio was laggy and taking too long to import the videos, therefore we decided to use iMovie on Freya's phone. We put the computer back and grabbed Freya's phone. All of the clips were already filmed on Freya's cell phone, so we didn't have to transfer anything. My group and I each took turns putting the video together on iMovie and used a various amount of effects and transitions. We used different types of Mis en Scene, added our music, inserts, and colors. We added a grainy vhs aesthetic to fit the vibe. This was Freya's idea. The effect made the music video look like an old music video. We discussed while we edited the video and gave each other ideas.
        Joaquina came up with the best ideas while editing the music video. She helped pick the best transitions. I thought it was best to not use too many transitions and keep it simple. Editing with iMovie was definitely the better choice. It was easier and quicker than Pinnacle Studios. The app launched right away, and it was simple and fun to use. It took us a while to finish editing the video since we had so many ideas. At first, our video was too long and reached up to two minutes. Therefore we had to trim it down and make it requirement. Overall, editing was the most exciting part of the project since we got to execute all of our ideas and see what we created. We were definitely excited to see our final product.

Filming blog

        On Friday, we started filming. We went over to Freya’s apartment after school. Almost everything went like we planned. We already had a few spots planned out to film in. We called ahead of time to ask if we had permission to film. Without permission, we could’ve gotten kicked out. That would’ve led to us having to pick other locations and waste time. We started off by filming in a local cafe. We liked the setting and thought it would fit well with the song. We changed the song to Get Lucky by Daft Punk. We changed it because we wanted a more exiting song with a lighter meaning. This song is pretty much about just having fun and getting lucky with your friends.
        Another setting we used for our commercial is Freya’s neighbourhood. She lives in a very family friendly area. We got some nice shots of the water and playing in a park. We just want the video to give off a free feeling. We want the audience to understand what it’s like to simply let go and have fun, like the actors in the video. We also planned on filming inside of Freya’s room. We got some good shots of us watching a movie and jumping on the bed. Again, that gives off the feeling of teenage freedom and excitement.
        The only issue we came across was that it started raining at around 5 and we had to stop filming. We finished filming on Monday because it was a good day for us to meet again. We visited all the places and even got some good shots at an art show. It was an exciting environment and we were able to get some shots with different lighting. We already have a few ideas as how to edit the scenes. Our friend, Matti, was able to come and be in the video with us. Josh mostly recorded, because he didn’t want to be in the video. We have to start editing today and will hopefully be done by this week. We are hoping to add a grainy, old fashioned filter on it. We will all help with the process.

Not filming Blog

        After all the planning and the storyboarding, we had to plan. We had to plan when we were going to film. Not only that, but also how and the details. We hope to have everything ready by this week. Most groups have already filmed or are filming this week. Because it is thanksgiving break, though, some of us are going away. Because we won’t be home, we won’t be able to film and have to move the date. Since Joe left, it has been easier to coordinate meeting times. Despite that, we still all love in different cities. That makes it difficult to find rides to locations.

        For filming, as mentioned before, we have already picked out location. We are going to so someplace that is convenient for everyone. We chose to utilize fresas apartment. Because it is close to the school and an avenue with many stores, it will be good. Especially for what we have planned, we won’t have to travel very far. For example, in the first few scenes, the actors are located in a kitchen, then a bedroom. Of course, an apartment is ideal for that situation because it’s a realistic living environment for a young couple. It is also small enough to be able to do tracking shots without taking up too much time. That way, we can fit in more plot into the music video.

        Another example of why we are using Freya’s apartment is the next scene after that. It is going to take place at an ice cream shop, with the couple talking. There is an ice cream shop within walking distance that we can film at if we get permission. From there, we will walk to Freya’s neighborhood again and film a scene where they are having a serious conversation on a park bench. That will add to the dramatization of the scene. We will also have Freya’s dog in the scene, as shown in the storyboard. With that, we are hoping it can represent how close the couple actually was. After we finish filming, we will move on to editing. Josh is going to be the main one guiding us and we will be helping him along the way. We are hoping to start this process next Monday.

Planning blog

        For this music video, we started off with a group of four people. It was originally Freya, Josh, Jeo, and me. Jeo texted our group chat and told us that he was not able to work in our group anymore. We asked him why and he apologized and explained to us. He said he had other responsibilities, like being captain of the wrestling team and working at a restaurant. He decided it would be better if he worked by himself because he didn’t want to let us down. We said it was fine and started planning on how to work it without him. Freya and Josh would be the actors and I would direct. I would tell them where to stand and how to act based on the storyboard.
        Location wise, we struggled at first because the three of us live in different cities. Because none of us have cars, transportation is a factor that we have to consider. We decided that we would film in Freya’s apartment. It is close to the school and we can finish in time to catch the activity bus at 5:00pm. We are so grateful that her mom will let us film there and get our work done. We will utilize not even only her apartment, but also her Neighbourhood.
        When Jeo left our group, we decided to change the song since it was originally his idea. We wanted to to something with a melancholy feel to it. We immediately thought of the singer Lana Del Rey. She writes sad lyrics that would be good for storytelling. We chose a song called Dark Paradise because it tells of a love story that ends in tragedy. The male interest in the song dies and she greaves over him. We thought that would be a good thing for the actors to act out.
        Overall, we very excited to start filming. It is a good chance for Freya and Josh to practice acting and for me to get more work with the camera. It will also be a good way for me focus on lighting and angles, which is something we didn’t vary on for the commercial.

Research for Music Video Blog

        In class today, we finished up the commercial and started on our new project. We started off by learning a little bit about how the blogs had to be formatted. After that, our professors talked to us about what to include in our projects. We picked our groups and i decided to work with a new group of people to expand my skills. I was ready to start brainstorming and creating ideas for our project. At first, we struggled in picking a song because we all have different music tastes. We ended up picking a song called "Lost Ones" by J. Cole because it was suggested by our group member, Jeo. The song is a rap song that tells a story about a broken relationship. Our idea for the video is to display a couple arguing and telling a story with their acting. It was interesting to hear every ones ideas on how to express the emotion of the song and the story. So me typical things in rap music videos is storytelling. To go along with the lyrics, they try and portray the emotion and experiences through acting.
        For the actual formatting of the video, we are going to plan out everything we need beforehand. For the costumes, we are going to dress the actors in casual, urban attire to go with the song. Lighting wise, we are going to use dim lighting to give off the solemn lyrics behind the beat. That way, we can visually show off what we need. We are going to direct our actors to use stressed facial expressions. Because of the song's lyrics, they need to show that off well. We are going to give them natural makeup because the setting is casual. Their makeup will match their costumes. Props are going to be  very  simple. We are going to use phones during scenes with phone calls, as we would. We are planning o filming at our friend's apartment. Because she lives close to the school, it will be easy to get there with the equipment. We plan on using all types of angles to demonstrate our abilities. I am excited for this process. I will use my skills ive learned. It will turn out great.

Final Editing Blog

        Today, we did our final editing for our commercial. We had a few issues with the Pinnacle Studio 18 program. Before that happened, we started off the process by picking a song to layer over the video. We decided to choose an upbeat, workout song to get the viewers in the mood. We wanted to promote an intense, energetic mood that made the audience feel motivated. We picked a popular song that is fairly recognizable and upbeat. After we edited that in, we looked back at the story-boarding we did a few blogs back. It was very helpful in helping to remember what editing we were planning on doing. Then we started to move on to the specifics and cleaning up the shots.
        At first, we placed all of the shots on the tracks. Then, we took a good look at all the takes we had chosen. We made sure that every take fit well in the commercial and had a certain way to be edited. We ended up using a lot of raw footage. We had a few clips where we didn't have to add any effects or anything, so that made the process faster. We had to add the program's stabilizer for a few shots to make the camera work look more professional. That wasn't one of our main focuses during filming so i'm grateful that it was in the software. We added certain edits for our shots to move together nicely. We mainly used jump cuts to show the passing of time. At that point, we were almost done.
        As we were getting closer to finishing, we started having some troubles. The official AICE program that we were using was being incredibly slow and not opening. We decided to get another computer and sign into that one. It crashed on that one, too, so we messaged our teacher. The only thing we had left to do was a split screen we wanted to have in the last clip. We were able to get extra time to edit. That was a huge relief to my group and i and allowed us to add any additions we felt were necessary. With that extra time, we added the split screen and perfected some of the shots. The final product came out like we wanted it to. It was also a new experience for me and i'm glad i got to go through it with my group.

Trying to edit blog

        For today, we planned to start the editing process. We were going to dump the footage onto a flash drive, or a google drive, and use a software. The software we were going to use is Pinnacle studios. When we logged on to the desktops we were going to use, we encountered a problem. The software was down on a majority of the computers and nobody could use it. We called over our teacher to help us, but neither of them could access the issue. We cake to the realization that we wouldn’t be able to edit today. That was upsetting because it meant that our schedule had to be moved back a day. Not only would that be a problem for us, but also for our teacher.

        Due to that series of events, we had to change our direction a bit for the day. One of the things we were still able to do was dump the footage. We moved all of the takes from the desktop to a google drive. That way, it would be easier to access it later. We were going to dump it onto a flash drive, but didn’t bring one so we resorted to the google drive. We had the option to re-film today, but we were content with all of our takes and felt confident that we would have enough to choose from. Dumping took around 10 minutes because of our older computers, but we had no complications during it. Our group member, Evangeline, was a great help during that, having some experience with technology in the past. We got to get a good look at all the takes we took and start thinking about which ones we wanted to use in the final commercial. Our teachers taught us well on how to dump and we did it without a problem.

        After we did all the dumping, we started to look at our storyboard again. We did this in order to relate our plans to the editing we had to do. We wanted to do some unique shots to show our understanding of the different lessons. We started off our commercial with a high angle of one of our actors. We, then, do a tracking shot, leading to a jump cut. We liked this idea because it wasn’t repetitive and showed our varied sense of shooting. We started brainstorming different waits to edit the shots. It ended up being a good way to use our class time. We decided on a few transitions and got progress done, despite obstacles.

Filming blog

        Today we filmed our commercial. We took a few takes for each scene and are going to choose them during editing. Having the foundation for the shooting on the storyboard was really helpful. It made everything so much quicker when it got to actually filming because we didn’t have to stand outside and think about what we wanted it to look like. I’m really excited for the editing process and to see how everything comes together. It was extremely hot outside and we had to overcome some obstacles but I think we did a good job at doing with what we had. We all contributed to the project well and I’m glad I picked Carter, Eva, and Lucas to be in my group. We all collaborated well and all had a part to do. We ended up asking some friends to be in the commercial and it was interesting to see how each of them acted differently. I mostly dealt with directing.
        With directing, I had to make sure that everyone was in their places. If the take was wrong, we’d redo it until we were confident that we had enough to pick from and edit. For example, there was a take where Carter was running towards the camera and I redirected it so he was running past it. That way, it looked faster and more intense. I was originally going to be in the video as a football player, but my friend decided we should try getting him instead and it made it look more believable. It was interesting to see how everyone’s ideas added to the process. One of my favorite shots was the shot of our friend, Chanel,  catching a football and running. We zoomed into the Nike symbol on his jersey and fit a really good shot of him. We had a few experiences with shots like that. We always seemed to be able to find what worked best for the commercial.
        Using the equipment was definitely a new experience. I’m used to recording on phones and basic cameras. We were excited to work with the tripods and see what different shots we could do with it. Our tripod, when we first checked it out from our teachers, was missing a part. We realized that when we got to the filming spot and decided to keep filming without it. This, to me, is an example of us dealing with obstacles. We also had a lack of resources because none of us had  soccer ball for the soccer scene. We solved it by borrowing another group’s prop and using it to film our takes. We are looking forward to look over the footage and see how it looks edited. So far, this AICE Media Studies class has been one of my favorite AICE classes I’ve taken. I love learning about film and what goes on behind the scenes.

Storyboard Blog

Today in class, we did our storyboarding. We planned out the actions for our commercial. We also talked about the different shots and transitions and how we would place them in our video. Since, we decided on doing a Nike commercial, we are sticking to mostly action shots. Commercials for brands that sell activewear are normally shots of actors performing different sports while wearing and/or promoting their products. We thought it would be a good idea to include a few different sports and broadcast diversity while doing it. For example, we will have actors if different races, body types, Nationalities, etc. doing different sports while wearing Nike clothing and accessories. Our idea is to show the audience it’s multiple different uses. For our first six seconds, we will show a girl sitting on the steps of some stairs and greeting another kid. In the next box, there will be that boy running on the track while wearing Nike sneakers. The next two boxes show athletes playing soccer and football. At the end, we decided on a split shot of four close ups of the actors. We wanted to promote a sense of unity by showing all of them in a singe shit with a voice over of the “Just Do It” motto. While we did the storyboard, we made sure to write down all the types of shots, like high angles and medium long shots. We are really enthusiastic about being able to film.

Learning About Editing Blog

        Today, we were taught how to edit for our commercial. Before the class, I had no idea how to access editing programs. We learned how to use Pinnacle Studios. First, we were introduced to the process of dumping, importing, exporting, and rendering. For dumping, we had to create a folder on the desktop, which is where we will be doing all of our editing. It was my first experience with SD cards and professional cameras. It was interesting to learn about how to utilize the technology and it got me very excited for the filming process. We also got new dates, which will allow us more time for filming and editing. I liked the way my teachers showed the process on the big screen. It made me feel very involved in the process and I think I’m ready to start doing it on my own.

        The thing I was most nervous to learn about was importing. I was scared that I wouldn’t understand the process and that I would forget important details. Taking notes in our notebooks definitely helped and provided a tool that will be useful in the future. We learned how to deal with raw footage and how to do effects that I would’ve never thought of on my own. We talked about the different AV tracks and how to do voiceovers, along with simpler editing techniques. We were taught that the editing program is great, but we had to treat it carefully, like with most technology. I hope to add edits such as transitions, different speeds, and title resembling the brand we wish to promote in our commercial. My group mates have had some experience with tripods, so that will be a big help. 

        The last things we learned about were exporting and rendering. Exporting correctly is important so we don’t lose any footage. Losing footage would result in having to re-film at the same location. That would lead to us losing time, which would be a big loss, due to our due dates. We talked about how to drag clips from the program to the desktop. Our settings have to be on MPEG 4 and full sides SD best quality. I’m excited to start the filming process. Along with that, the idea of learning about editing different filming methods is so interesting to me. This class has been something new to me that I can’t wait to explore more.

Planning Blog for Nike Commercial

        For our Nike commercial, we came up with a few ideas on how to work with the resources we were presented. We are only allowed to film our takes during class and on our school campus. We decided on filming on our schools fields. We are going to film on our track field, our soccer field, the basketball gym, our media center stairs, and the senior patio. We will ask our friends to star in the takes, so we have more diversity and varied sports. My group decided that we will all star in the commercial, so it feels more personal and like we are involved in the process. There are certain things due each class and that's what we will be focusing on. Our plan is to film and edit in school and have everything ready to turn in on time.
        For our props, we are going to be using their merchandise. We figured that the best way to promote the products and their use is by showing them in the takes. We are going to use products like Nike leggings, lanyards, sweatshirts, shoes, and more to show our talent in action. Props would include basketballs and soccer balls for the shots where we would be on the fields and on the court. We also plan on filming shots on the bleachers with kids doing their homework, so we would need books and notebooks as props.  Our actors will be wearing the leggings and lanyards while doing homework to show the range of their uses. The active wear, like the shoes will be worn during the action scenes.
        We were asked to have a backup for every scene. That would be a place to shoot in case something happens. An example we based our work off of was rain. In our case, if it rains outside where we want to film, we will continue to film there. We decided it would add dramatic effect and a sense of perseverance. Showing the actors training, despite the rain, would motivate viewers. For the equipment, we would cover it with an umbrella to make sure none of it got wet. We want to make sure that our clips come across as inspiring, while still keeping it relatable to the audience.

Research Blog: Commercial Conventions

        For our commercial, we are doing a Nike commercial. Nike is a brand that sells athletic clothing. We chose that because it is a very common type of commercial and we can find a lot of research on it. Nike advertises their products across multiple platforms and is a very well-known brand around the world. Another reason we made this decision is because every member in our group wears their brand and appreciates their quality. Most of us being athletes, we tend to find ourselves purchasing their products. We watched around 6 commercials and felt it would be fun to recreate and create our own version of their advertisements. A common theme we found was the display of people being very active and performing certain sports.
        My group and i felt gravitated towards the brand Nike, especially due to the diversity shown in their videos. They constantly put out advertisements starring people of all races, nationalities, and body types. One of the specific commercials that caught our attention was a commercial that took place in Latin America and there were women playing sports, commonly dominated by men. In this certain area, gender equality was still difficult for the females. We appreciate their approach to women empowerment and the way they shed light on smaller, unknown area who may still be working through problems. By showing the women doing activities like boxing and mixed martial arts, they demonstrate how they can do anything that men can, despite oppression. Seeing them sweating and working hard motivates those who may not feel like they can accomplish their goals. That is why we liked the idea of creating a similar commercial.
        One of the other reasons we chose this option was because of the placement. We decided, as a group, that it would be easier to place in our shots. Due to it's popularity, we all own their products, as we stated before and we can easily use them and promote them in a casual way. We plan to use one of our friends as a model and show them playing a sports. We hope to include tracking shots and different types of angles to add an interesting effect. We will definitely try to be as diverse as possible and show different types of races, body types, and sports, as they do. We admire their advertisement ways and will try our very best to create an accurate, representative video. We picked this option very strategically.

Introductory

          My name is Joaquina and I am a sophomore at Fort Lauderdale High School. I'm pretty much a basic high school student with a busy schedule. I'm 15 years old and was born and raised in Hollywood, Florida. Honestly, the question of what my hobbies are or what i do usually freaks me out. It gives me this feeling that i have to answer with something so interesting that they feel like they have to know more. The truth is that there's not much to me. I obviously have my hobbies like anyone else. I love writing. I hope to publish a poetry book at some point in my life. Nothing feels as exciting as writing a good poem and pouring your thoughts into pretty words that make other people feel. 

          School is apart of my every day life, so it impacts me quite a bit. At this point, i don't even have a favorite subject because they are all so tedious, that it's never fun anymore. My least favorite subject is definitely math. I hate the way nothing makes sense and everything is so concrete. I prefer creativity and freedom. I do pretty well in most classes, except for math, of course, and have a lot of friends. I've learned that life is too short to take myself too seriously, and i try to have fun as much as i can. I'm a very smiley person because i know how contagious a simple smile can be. 

\        Besides school and friends, an obvious huge part of my life is my family. I give a lot of credit to my culture because it has helped formed me as a person. My parents were both born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina and fell in love there. They had my sister there, then moved to the states to later have my brother and i and start a small business. Everything they have accomplished inspires me every day and reminds me of all they have given my siblings and i. They passed on their language, which i speak fluently, and their love for their country. I visit my relatives in Argentina every year and think about them every day. That is pretty much all there is to know. I'm just trying to get through life in a fun and enjoyable way.