Anna and I have decided to create a documentary on hunger in Maine. Anna recently read an article that stated sixty one percent of Cony students do not have enough money to eat lunch. So how many Winthrop students are going hungry? We want to draw attention to this issue, and try to make a change.
Author: gravitystix
Blogger Archive, Uncategorized
BRING THIS MOVIE TO WINTHROP.
by gravitystix •
“Bring the film that won “Best Feature,” “Best Family Comedy,” and “Best Comedy” at nationwide film festivals to your city. SUMMERHOOD, narrated byJohn Cusack, is a heartfelt coming-of-age comedy that follows young Fetus, who struggles for status while getting tangled up in first love.” –Eventful
Blogger Archive, Uncategorized
Are you sad?
by gravitystix •
This video is a testament to the power of music, lighting, and angles. While working on the Screnzy trailer I discovered just how much music adds to the video if it is used correctly. Watch this video twice for the full effect. Once with music and once without. There is still some power with just the lighting and angles, but the music is what really sells the piece. Think about this when you are making your projects.
Blogger Archive, Uncategorized
Shaw’s grammar is fantastic… and other video stuff
by gravitystix •
Anna and I have begun to think of ideas for our stop motion EXTRAVAGANZAAAA. We are basing it off of an online video of a girl on a bed. Hopefully we get together soon to start storyboarding. I’m thinking of doing it on the stage in the PAC with possibly a white sheet?
Admin Posts, Blogger Archive, Uncategorized
Why Storyboard….. (100th post!)
by gravitystix •
One of the bigger battles I face in teaching video production to high school students is getting them to see the value of storyboarding. As I have taught you all, storyboarding is the process of pre-planning your shots , angles, camera moves, etc. BEFORE doing any filming. This allows you to make better use of your filming time and to avoid trouble spots before they happen. I know most of you don’t believe me, though many of you have admitted to me after a time that storyboarding actually has been helpful.
So I came across this video and a VideoMaker article and thought maybe they would help you see in a more tangible way the benefits of good storyboarding; not that lazy 5 minute wannabe storyboard you all tend to hand into me. 😉
So take a look and a read and leave a comment afterwards sharing your thoughts. Maybe this will inspire you to take storyboarding a bit more seriously……
Also, be sure to check out this guy’s other videos; some very interesting stuff there including a teaser trailer that peaked my interest.
The Story of Story(Boarding) from Brandon McCormick on Vimeo.
Blogger Archive, Uncategorized
Chris Balcer’s Videomaker Report
by gravitystix •
In this article, the filming technique being discussed was time lapse. Time lapse was described as almost the opposite of slow-motion video, in which short events are made to take up more space to appear more important. With time lapse, much larger events (say, twenty-four hours of constant filming) are minimized into far more manageable and watchable lengths. This enables a slow event, such as a flower growing; or a large, important event that takes a lot of time, such as a painter at work; to reach out to the masses and connect with them with three minutes of video instead of five hours.
The two techniques discussed were both very different, and yet somewhat similar. The first of the two was in-camera time lapse, where the camera is set to activate every minute, shoot a second of footage, and then go back into standby mode. It repeats until it runs out of battery, film, or suffers from a critical hardware fault. The second mode, post-production time lapse, differs from the first in that the camera remains on and filming for the length of time needed, and the footage is simply sped up to the desired length in post-production editing software. The two techniques are similar in results, and the fact that they both need a stable camera and a lot of film.
I already knew about post-production time lapse, in fact I had used this on my final video for Video Production I, the scene where Alex is walking down the hallway and back. However, if I have time this year, I would like to experiment with in-camera time lapse, as that may have some interesting effects. However, limitations of this would be that the greatest time lapses occur outside, and leaving Miss Shaw’s cameras outside for an extended period of time does not increase my chances of avoiding premature dismemberment.
Blogger Archive, Uncategorized
yikes
by gravitystix •
So the electives video was finished just in time, and now its putt putt time again. The premiere is this saturday; I will be helping film assuming I get back from my ski meet in time. Then i have to start thinking about the documentary again. I’m not gonna lie… I enjoyed the break I got with the electives video. The doc editing is ridiculous. I just sit there watching footage over and over again and I feel like I’m making no progress. I want it to be so good but I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing and it’s making me crazy. I just want to be done so I can start working with Evan on our STOPMOTION EXTRAVAGANZAAAA! yeaaaaah.Â
Blogger Archive, Uncategorized
ELECTIVES VIDEOOOO!
by gravitystix •
AHHHH! We’re supposed to be showing this video tomorrow. I just finished my last two interviews this morning and now I just have to do some quick editing. Hopefully the boys got their interviews done?!Â
Admin Posts, Blogger Archive, Uncategorized
Courageous Persuaders
by gravitystix •
The deadline for the Courageous Persuaders contest is almost here! If you would like to get your contest video out of the way there is still a little time to make a good video. The contest is about the dangers of underage drinking. I KNOW we can do better than this, which is the $3000 grand prize winner from last year.
If you don’t think you can make it by the Feb 10th deadline there are many other contest opportunities. Remember, one of your projects for Video Production II must be submitted for a contest. There are links to various video contests in the left sidebar. The date in parenthesis is the due date for submission. More will be added soon. If you find a contest that students are eligible to participate in, please blog about it to let your fellow classmates know!
The video contest project is one of the few ways you can make $$$ off of your schoolwork, so give it your best shot!
P.S. If you haven’t already, please vote in the poll to the right. Please select one the directors from the list or add your own director in the “other” box. If you choose “other” do not enter “Quentin Tarentino,” “James Cameron,” “Ridley Scott,” or “Steven Speilburg” as these are already names of the other computers.
Admin Posts, Blogger Archive, Uncategorized
Teacher Workshop: Get Blogging!
by gravitystix •
Workshop leaders: Tiff Shaw and Spencer Roberts
This post has many of the resources you’ll need for this session.