Day: May 12, 2010

Creating Sound Effects
This article lets you know that nearly every sound is replaced with a sound effect. Though it is not necessary to do such a thing it is highly recommended. Sound effects just make your project sound more crisp rather than plain raw. When substituting sounds you need to be careful. They give an example of a moped whizzing by. You cannot substitute the sound of a Harley Davidson for the moped’s whine. It will not only agitate your viewers but it will also throw away the authentic and realistic sound of your production. Moving the mic to different lengths will also help capture some sound effects you may be looking for.
In all honesty this article was pretty useless. Anyone with some common sense could figure out how to make a sound effect fit a certain scene. This article gets a 3 out of 7 from me.

In the videomaker article How To Buy Gear (And Not Regret It) it talks about how people might think they want something to go out and just buy it. But when it comes to video equipment it is not the best idea. The first thing someone wants to do would be Research the products that you need to get. Otherwise you might get a product that doesn’t have the full capabilities that you want it to, which in the long run can cause you to spend more money.
Another thing that the article talks about is that even though a product by one seller might be less expensive, it doesn’t mean that it is the same quality as the other products being sold at higher prices. Even though ebay says that a price of a tape can be only $0.05, doesn’t mean that the tape is going to quality!
Even though it is cheap does not mean you should buy more. Only buy the things you need, do not add additional functions to whatever products you need. Otherwise you can mess up things in the long run and spend more money then necessary.
New is not the best, But used is better. This is because sometimes when you have a used product it means that the functions have already been figured out, and guaranteed that they will work. As well as used is normally a lot cheaper than a brand spankin’ new one.
Calm down and wait. You know you need to buy a certain product for your equipment, but if you wait a while after figuring out what you need and compare the prices that you have researched, you can find the best product for you for the best price.
Overall people need to take some serious time into researching the products that they need, and not just immediately buy the biggest and flashiest think that they see for a decent price.

The movie Friday Night Lights is about a football team (Permian Panthers) which has very high expectations to win states. This movie revolves around some key players and main characters. The head coach Gary Gains, the quarter back Mike Witchell, the running back Boobie Miles, the free safety Chavo, the defensive end Christian, the 3rd string running back Coleman, and the full back Billingsly. They are all seniors and want nothing more than to win states. Their offense is based around the Texas stand-out running back Boobie Miles. But when Boobie gets injured in the first game of the season they are forced to turn to each other in order to continue to have a successful season. They struggle in the beginning to find out what they are capable of. The town has multiple state titles adding to the pressure which these young athletes already have. The team struggles to find their way to the playoffs which is decided by a three way coin toss. They grind their way towards the state championship football game. They have a big problem though, Dallas Carter seems to be unstoppable. The Permian Panthers have no answer to this force. Halftime rolls around and Christian steps up and gives everyone the mindset they need to win this football game. Once again they grind their way down the field to inside the 10 yard line. Will they win this football game? Watch this incredible movie which earned a 9 out of 10 stars from me to find the answer.

It’s been a huge concern to many filmmakers on how to trick their audience by shooting day scenes at night. Well finally video maker has come out with a fool proof guide to get you shooting your night scenes when the sun is up. 

I had the opportunity to see two movies in the theater over vacation: Clash of the Titans and How to Train Your Dragon. Spencer has already done a great review of Titans that I mostly agree with; I wasn’t overly impressed with the film. Dragon however was fantastic! Seriously.

I believe this is the first animated movie I have ever seen in a theater. I am not a huge animated movie fan as most are formulaic and trite. This movie does have some of those elements; after all, this is a Disney movie. So of course the mom of the main character, Hiccup,  is M.I.A. We never even learn if she is dead or missing or took off or what. In fact there are only three female characters I remember seeing in this whole movie: the sole elder of the Viking tribe, one woman warrior, and the main character’s arch rival/love interest.

Other trite elements include a misunderstood species, a main character who doesn’t fit in to his society and breaks social norms, a gang of bullying peers, and a community-wide crisis.

The refreshing thing is there were enough surprises in the plot to make this movie fun to watch. Of course I can’t tell you all those things or it would ruin the movie, but here is a teaser. There is depth to the enemy forces (the dragons). Though they never speak the characterization of them has depth and they are not one dimensional bad guys. Also, there is actual motivation for the dragons’ actions; they aren’t just an incarnation of evil to buoy the plot.

My favorite feature of this movie is the dialogue. It is witty, intelligent and even snarky in all the right places. At one point in the movie, Hiccup is being reprimanded for screwing up yet again and the Viking charged by his father to keep Hiccup out of trouble gestures towards him and says Hiccup needs to fix this if he wants to be a Viking. Hiccup responds, “You just pointed to all of me!” A great sarcastic line which is just one example of the depth of dialogue in this film. This is a nice surprise as most Disney animated films I have seen have boring, expected dialogue.

So if you are looking for something to do this weekend, give this film a chance. It is very different from most films I like, but it was a refreshing change and I bet you’ll think so too. Plus, it is educational. If you ever find yourself stuck taming a dragon, you will leave this film with all the necessary tips to train yours successfully without getting eaten or burned alive.