Editing

Today we got in the classroom with a new assignment. We had to upload our footage that we filmed last class and edit it. After we edited we were supposed to write a 30 sentence blog about it. But when we logged on to the computer, we saw that Pinnacle Studios wasn’t on the computer. Pinnacle Studios is the software that we use to edit our raw footage. We talked to our teachers about our predicament immediately. They were kind and understanding and told us to try and find a new computer. We couldn’t find any open seats. Our teachers told us about how one side of the classrooms computer’s doesn’t have Pinnacle Studios downloaded. They talked about how administrators were supposed to come and fix it but they haven’t gotten back to them.

Cambridge was also emailed by our teachers so that we can work around our issue. Our whole class is now writing blogs about what we would have done editing. I imagine that if we had pinnacle studios downloaded we would have taken a look at all of our footage first. We filmed a lot and had a lot of different shots and ideas for our commercial. We checked with our teachers to make sure it was okay to film inside hallways of the school because we know it’s restricted to film inside classrooms. Luckily our teacher said it was okay, which is good because most of our commercial is filmed inside a building in the hallway. For our commercial we kept the effects needed to a minimum. Once we have all of our footage on the computer we will just need to cut it together. We did a vlog style commercial where you follow a student named Thomas to class. 

Thomas talks about how the school has an amazing Cambridge program and other academics. Thomas talks about the sports and shows the viewer around the campus. Because Thomas does all the talking I don’t think our editing will be much harder than any hard cuts of the footage together. It is pretty egregious that we cannot edit on the computers. We are stuck here writing blogs about an assignment we cannot complete. It must be even harder for the other groups who plan on doing things like special effects and voice overs. I think that because our schools Cambridge program is so important, our software should be prioritized. I guess the staff don’t believe a 30 second commercial is worth doing extra work. But at least because of this delay we have more time to film anything we missed last class. I hope we get the ability to edit our commercial next class.

filming blog

When we were filming I helped participate by filling out the waiver first. Once we filled out the waiver and checked out our equipment we headed around campus. I helped my group creatively by coming up with places to shoot and ideas. We knew we wanted an opening shot of the school but we didn’t know where to do it. I found a place in building 21 on the second stairs. Another girl in my group, Maya, was filming and she did a very good job with the camera angles. Overall our establishing shot has the main Fort Lauderdale High School sign in the bus loop with the sun rising above it.
Once we had our establishing shot we started thinking about the theme for our 30 second ad. I came up with ideas including interviewing people, just a voice over ad, or a vlog. We decided on a “day in the life” theme by following around a student. We followed around Thomas, one of our group members, as he walks to class. Thomas shows the main features of the school. I came up with an idea for me to throw a sports jersey in the frame so Thomas could catch it and promote the sports teams at Fort Lauderdale High School.
Some technical issues we faced were that we felt limited by not being able to go in the classrooms. We didn’t know how to promote the school if we couldn’t go in it. Another issue was that we took a lot of footage and our camera died so we decided to film the rest on an Iphone. Gavin, a group member, has to go back to the media room to gather props because we decided our storyboard wasn’t good enough. In the end, we had tons of footage from trial and error mistakes. But I think i contributed enough on the creative aspect and our commercial will turn out well.

group reflection

     For our commercial we decided to start off with a zoom of our school logo on one of our buildings this will give the viewers and idea of what our school looks like as well as a pleasing introduction. We will then switch to a time lapse of the point of view of a student going through their school day this gives the kids watching the commercial the feeling that they are the ones walking through their future high school halls. We will include a list of our sports and then a pan of all of our fields to advertise our athletics we will conclude the commercial with a list of our clubs and ways for students to get involved.

     Making this story board is very important for the production of our film. This is because we are limited in the amount of time that we are allowed to have for filming so it is critical that we have the correct planning in order. With the correct planning in order like we have done for our story board we can film more efficiently and affectively. That is why we story board.

Editing Blog

Today in my class I learned about how to edit and film. First you need to check out a camera. We take an agreement form from a Cubbie at the front of the class and fill it out. Once it is filmed out we bring it to the door near the teacher’s desk. Write down your equipment information on your form. Your equipment information includes the number written on your camera. Then place your form in the class folder. The class folder can be found at the front of the room on a table. The next step is filming. When filming just open the camera and it will turn on. Press start and stop to film different takes. If the camera runs out of battery there is a charger in the bag that you can use to plug it into a wall. When filming around school make sure to write all of your group members name’s on the hall pass. If you are trying to hook up the camera to the computer, the first step is to remove the SD card from the camera. The camera has a door on the side where you can push it in and out. Put the SD card into the SD card reader and plug the USB into the computer.

When we go on the computer we need to make a file folder to keep ourselves organized. We will move all of our footage into that folder. We  cannot save it into the computer because as soon as we removed the SD card our footage will also be gone. Once we make the folder we will bring up our SD card and our footage will be organized based on the date it was filmed. If we can’t find our footage we will go to the private folder and click AVCHD then click again to whatever pops up and we will be in your stream. In the stream is everything on the SD card you are using. Once we access all our footage, we need to drag it into the very important folder. Take the SD out and put it back into the camera. Put the SD reader in the basket at the front of the room. When you transfer all your footage from the SD card to a computer it is called “dumping”. Every camera bag we are given comes with a USB cord that connects to the camera. We will be dumping into our google drive.

We are also importing from the desktop to Pinnacle Studios. It is important to move the files one by one and slowly because it can crash the computer. Once you’re in pinnacle studies go to import, desktop, your folder. Ms. Katz suggests that you import all of your footage and you can delete some later because you never know which take you will want. At the bottom of the screen you click “start import”. You will see all your takes and which ever take is highlighted by an orange box is the one selected. Go to edit and the editing window will open. You can edit your raw footage and build it on AV box 2. The titled edits will go above and the music will go below. Each different track is a layer in the film. Make sure that once you drag your raw footage to edit the loading bar must turn green. The red bar indicates what part of the film is playing. To play your footage click the space bar or press play. In order to cut footage select the area right before where u want to cut it and select the razor blade tool. It will select the excess footage and click delete. To undo something go to “edit” then “undo”. We learned to right click and open effects editor where we do all our transitions. If we want a specific effect on our film Ms. Katz will teach us how to achieve it using effects. In order to make a title we hit the “T” logo and type what we want. The side area will allow us to edit our font, size, and color. Place the text on the first track and adjust in the frame. You can go into motions and edit how the text will fade in and out. You can add music to your film. You can download music on the computer from youtube as an MP3 file. To remove sound from the video, you select the clip you want, right click, select detach audio. Your audio will detach it self from your footage and become its own track. Then you just select and delete the audio. When creating a voice over, detach the audio, and delete the footage. When saving your movie go to “file” then click “save movie as”. Move the file to your desktop folder and hit “save”. In order to export your work you click export in the right corner. In settings it will be a MP4 formatted video. Click “best quality” and “start export”. The video will be loading to prepare for export and DO NOT click anything. Exit out of the pop up ad and minimize Pinnacle Studios. Check your desktop folder to see if it was saved. If it was then you can exit out of Pinnacle Studios. Ms. Katz is very educated on how to use Pinnacle software in order to edit our films. I believe my group and I will be very prepared.

Today we planned out our commercial. This included: props, costumes, schedule, location, and the back-up plan. The importance of planning is to ensure that we save time. If we didn’t plan out our commercial we could forget to film a certain scene or not have a plan if circumstances change.
Props for our commercial will be backpacks, notebooks, and more school supplies. This is very important because we need to emphasize the fact that learning takes place at our school. It will be helpful in scenes where we are portraying students walking to class and doing normal school activities. We will also need to have our IDs on because it is a strict safety policy that students always need to wear their IDs.
Costumes for our commercial include regular school clothes. Some of our actors will be wearing FLHS merchandise. FLHS stands for Fort Lauderdale High school and it is the school we are promoting in our commercial. The appropriate attire for school along with our school merchandise will remind the viewers about our school spirit and values, making our commercial look more professional.
Our schedule for the process of completing this trailer includes storyboarding 5 blocks on 10/14, planning on 10/10, filming on 10/21, and editing on 10/23. It is important to storyboard because we only have one day to film and it is important to not waste time.
On our filming day we will be filming at the crop circles, in the hallways, cafeteria and on the sports fields. We will use these locations because we feel that they will convey our school in the most effective way.
Our plan if one of our group members does not show up is to use someone from the class that we are in or another group member will take the role of the person that is not there. Another obstacle that we are planning on for if it begins to rain. In the event of rain we will cut out the track shot and film more within the hallways. This alternative is still effective because we will still be able to display the information about our school we want to.

          After minutes of debate, my group finally decided to do a commercial about our school as a whole. We knew we wanted to something related to FLHS; however, we didn’t know which aspect to focus on. Overtime, we concurred that it would be better to do the school in general because we wouldn’t have to be as specific. Some elements (in relation to this commercial) we first thought of consisted of what Fort Lauderdale High School has to offer. This includes its variety of extra curricular activities and academic programs.
          Typically, many school commercials include interviews from students who testify to the positive elements their school provides. Because of this, we are going to try to include performances from students in clubs such as choir or theater. We could also show the highlights of the sports program, particularly the football team, considering they are in season right now. Another idea we had would be to include a speech from the principal or a figure of authority, maybe even the student council.
          Overall, we are very excited to begin this project and hope that is might be an asset to our school as well as its values. Even though we all love our school, we hope this commercial will be beneficial to our skills in this class. We want to able to learn from the planning, editing, and filming processes involved in this activity and build upon it in the future.

Hi, my name is amelia hudson and this is my first blog.
So I’m 15 years old and i’ll probably be the last one in our grade to turn 16. My birthday isAugust 13 and I am always the last one to do things like get my learners permit. I am half Filipino and half American. My mom was born in Canada but moved around a lot when she was younger because my grandfather was a coal mine engineer. My grandpa died last year. My father was born to teenage parents who didn’t know what they were doing but loved him a lot. His whole family always lived in Roanoke Rapids, NC and they all became teachers.
The one thing my parents have in common is learning and traveling. They both speak 3 languages including Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Hebrew. They met in graduate school while both attending the University of South Carolina school of business. They always talk about how I am resourceful and they know I will be successful.
As for my ambitions in the future I want to go to a college as far away from my family as possible. I would prefer to go to New York City because it is big and smells like trash which reminds me of the opportunities i’m surrounded by. I plan on not talking to my family for three years after I graduate. I just hate them and I feel like I need a break from my twin sister and my parents.
See you for another blog...
-Amelia