Summer is here and school is out! Rambler Productions will be back this Fall with more news, reviews, and updates from Winthrop High School.
I’m headed off to college but I’ll still be around the blog, helping out and keeping up with what’s going on at WHS.
The blog may be updated sporadically over the summer, but don’t expect too much.
Have a great summer everyone!
The doc is ALMOST DONE! All we really have left is to add some transitions, and some music. Shaw took the computer home over the weekend and went through footage to find some stuff, and worked on the doc itself. I’m ready for it to be over, put excited to see the final project.
Chris Balcer here again, with more fascinating news for you about the world of visual entertainment. I guess. I’m kind of sad because it’s my last one, which means that this is likely my last blog post here. But let’s not dwell on that. Let’s dwell on the fact that somebody made a disk that holds FIVE THOUSAND GIGS OF SPACE. Yeah. Somebody in Japan used a special metal to make a huge CD. It could revolutionize the industry. And not just the movie industry, companies could release an entire show on one disk, or video games could have huge amounts of stuff on one disk (Mass Effect 2 had two disks, and while it wasn’t too bad, it was a pain). Oh, but wait… there’s the little issue that nobody cares. That’s right. Why bother going out and buying this expensive DVD player and expensive DVDs when you’re just going to watch your shows over the Internet? There’s no real point to it. I mean sure, some parts of it are cool, and it could be useful, but look at how badly Blu-Ray and HDDVD have failed. (HDDVD failed hardcore.) Think that, but with this newfangled thing. I think it’s unfortunate, but then again, what isn’t? Although, I would like the ability to put the entirety of my computer on one disk.
One of the most important parts of the video industry is the producing of the physical disc for the viewers. The importance of the disc has become ever so important in video and audio media thanks to the DVD and CD. This is why a good disc burning software such Roxio Creator 2010 is useful.
Surviving a 48-Hour Film Challenge
Well there are festivals around the states where you are required to make a short film (1-5 minutes) within 48 hours. This means specific elements a theme and a dialogue. You can not start creating any of this until the O.K. is given. Everything must be planned, shot, edited, rendered, compressed, and handed in within the 48 hour time period. In this article they actually do stress that it is important to do some planning prior to the contest. They explain that if you try and find a place to film during the 48 hours it will make life a nightmare. so the moral of this article is to have your basic things planned before you go into the competition. Have a location. Have an idea of what you want to film. Finally, stay up late and get the editing done. Looking at the article title I thought it would have been a little better. The article pretty much describes all the things you would figure to do before entering the festival. I give the article a 3 out of 7
Just came across a really neat video I thought I’d share. Similar to Chris and Joey’s “The Chase” in that it employs stop motion instead of smooth video. It adds another element as well, light painting. Watch the video and you’ll see what I mean. No post-production effects were used to make the lights. You can find more information here. It’s a Youtube vid so you’ll have to watch it at home.
This has got to be one of the most TORTUROUS afternoons of my entire LIFE! Here I am, trying to be a good friend, staying after school to burn my friends’ wedding video onto a DVD while encountering many, many, many errors along the way, when I should be packing for my weekend trip, for which I depart in about twenty minutes. Jared and Ashley, if either of you are reading this, YOU BETTER LIKE THE VIDEO!
While I started waiting for this cursed DVD to burn, a light bulb switched on in my head and told me, “You could be doing your videomaker article right now, young man.” So I said, “Thank you, Mr. Lightbulb!” So here I am.
This article discussed four major aspects of being a pro video editor.
I enjoyed this article for the most part and I think all of us can find some sort of application in the points it presented. What I enjoyed the most, however, was that this is the last videomaker OF THE YEAR! Peace out, video peeps!
Samstar
Mark Levy has written an article named “Who Owns Your Website? Unpleasant Surprise on the Internet“. In his writings, he describes many situations people find themselves in today. From copyrighted materials to the page creation, not all is as it seems. Even after paying or buying a domain/site, we may not necessarily own it.
In the case of music or media, the general rule of thumb is post, but do not share. This coincides with what Mark has to say. One may pay an author of a music piece or a banner of artwork, to post it and integrate it into our sites. However with the copyright acts, even though we have paid for the use, use is all we receive. Legally one cannot distribute (for download) to another group through their websites.
Although we have ownership over allowing other to hear the music or see the art, they cannot download it, but one still has slight ownership rights to that product. The real kicker is, who actually owns your site? This is where domain and contracts come into play.
When creating a site, a hassle is always present, which is why many private companies and business people provide their services to take what music, art and information you have and quickly convert it into a professional working website. Many times this “work” will cost a somewhat large amount of money and kick you in the rear.
Since you provided the money and resources (i.e. music and art), but they actually make the website… By law they are the legal owners of that website, of course different domain and service companyies may also put limitations on ones actual ownership of a site.
All in all, if you want to make your site your own, make sure to either create it yourself or add a clause into the contract bringing full ownership to yourself after completion of the job when possible. Remember that if you buy for the use of song or art, you are not given rights to distribute that medium for download. Lastly however if you are worried about it, just talk openly to those you are contracting out to create your new site.
I am doing this article, which gives tips as how to become a better editor. The article gives a few ways that will help any editor become better. The first thing that the article tells is to have a comfortable editing room. If you are in a room that is 90 degrees and has no air circulation, then it will make the editing process that much harder. As long as you have some sort of cool air in the room then you and your equipment will not over heat. Chairs, tables, desks and mouses are also important to have in a good editing room, if you have that then you will have no problem staying in the room for long times. The article also tells you to have the room look like a editing room, so paint the walls black and cover the windows, it will make it more professional. The next important part to becoming a good editor is to network yourself. People know who you are and what you are editing is very important to getting your name know. The article suggest that you join a business networking group. The article’s next point is keeping motivated and getting into a routine that will help you get as much editing done. Mentors will help with motivation and might even give you jobs. Watching movies is also a good way to get a grasp on editing. The last point the article talks about is get as much training as you can from the pros. The more training you get the better you will be.
This was a good article and I think that if the students in this class are able to do most of the things this article suggested then Winthrop will have good editors able of doing a wide variety of projects.
In the article Scriptwriting and Storyboarding Software Buy’s Guide I started reading it wondering if the program Celtx that I have been using for this class was a good program to use, or if there were any other programs that might be free that would be good to look into. But as I was reading the article it mentioned Celtx a few times and mentioned that it was a great program to use for freelance things, and it allowed a lot more program capabilities than other programs (that you need to pay for) offer. The article talks about how different programs might be good for certain people. One example they gave was that Script Wizard is similar to Microsoft Word and people who enjoy Microsoft Word might enjoy that type of program opposed to programs such as Celtx and Final Draft. It also talks about how many people like to jot down their ideas as well as make sure that characters are fully thought out and what programs allow people to do all these things with just one program. It also talks about how some programs allow people to story board and how important it is for storyboards to be used in indie films and small budget films. It is really interesting how much emphasis the article put on storyboarding.
Overall I’m really impressed by how high a standings Celtx has in the storyboarding software world. I didn’t realize that a free program that is available to anyone would be this good.
