Reflection on Group C

Once we picked out three topics, I was happy to see that we would get to select which topic or group we wanted to join. I had zero interest in the conservation topic, but right away found interest in our healthy eating on campus group. It was nice to work with people who cared about the topic, so I was glad we got to choose our group. Before production even started, I did not like the idea that the groups who goes first and second would get extra credit, because in the end they got more time to edit their project, which is mostly what our grade reflects anyway. So we ended up going third, with no extra credit, and also had the least amount of time to do our editing in post-producion.

When the groups split up and we started working closer with our other team members, we were able to quickly divide the work and establish who was going to handle what. However, what I really liked about our group was how well we utilized the discussion board. We all checked in on the discussion form at least once every 2 days or so. It also helped us step-up and help a person out if they were struggling with their contact for the show. During production I also I enjoyed that we got to pick our jobs during the shoot and call all the shots. I enjoyed being floor manager because I got to work with the guests along with the people in the booth.

In post-production I didn't like that we were in charge of doing the editing. Before the assignment was given we could chose to either be with a team and do a show or help with post-production. However, in the end there was no one to do post-production so the groups were in charge of it. We only had one person who was able to do the job on our team which left him to do it by himself. Overall, I think everything worked well for our group and we did a great job making everything work for everyone involved.

My Final Blog....

From the start I wanted to pick a song that I liked and would not get sick of, which was a success. Even now that I am done I still enjoy the song. Before I started anything I listened to the song, made a few friends listen to the song, and a few family members and compared what we all pictured when we heard it. Everyone was all over the place, so I decided to look at youtube.com and see if anyone had every produced a video for "Flying on a Cloud" by The DaDa Weatherman, and sure enough, there was. Everything I watched was comparable to my idea of scenery rather then a plot. However, I didn't want that, and it's not what everyone else envisioned. So from there, I made a list of things that stood out to me in the song and planned on making a video about a family who wanted a perfect life, but it quickly went downhill for me.

Casting a few kids was no problem for me, however, finding adults to play the part of the parents was IMPOSSIBLE. I now know where I get my stage freight/anxiety from, because no one from my family was willing to help. From there, I had to change everything. I decided to go with my original idea of using my Alaska footage from last year and put it to use. I loved the thought of using it because now I'll appreciate the video in the future and it won't be just another college project. 

My reasoning from the beginning for wanting to make my video more "earthy" is because I like the concept of you can be going through the same things as the person singing the song. I wanted it to be about the listener and not the people in the video. Your environment can change your mood, and that is exactly what I took away from the song. With my footage, I wanted the viewer to see that even if they are down or depressed, they can see everything the world has to over, and it may even benefit them. The viewer can see all the things I did from sun up to sun down and truly be effected by it. 

Even though my skill with music video making is not where I would like it to be, I am still happy with the outcome of my video. 

A Critique of "Flying on a Cloud" Music Video

I decided to make a music video to the song, "Flying on a Cloud" by The DaDa Weatherman.
After working for the first time in Final Cut Pro, I feel much more confident about the program. I still however, don't trust my music video skills. I am not an artsy person or have an eye for story telling which is one reason I stayed free of a plot in my music video. Obviously the number one thing I would change about my music video is that I could be better at it, but when it comes to my music video itself, I would change the lack of actual "human footage".

I did not include a lot of footage with people in it because I wanted it to be more like its through the eyes of the person singing the song, like this is me and how I'm feeling, but this is what I'm seeing. I'm just going on with my everyday life and seeing the things the world has to offer. Another thing I would like to have done differently is add in some footage I had of myself zip lining. With this I would have to slow it down like I did with the indians playing. I also didn't care for a couple of the transitions, I left a couple with hard cuts because I didn't feel that a transition worked in some spots. Looking at it again, I wish I would have left a few more of the transitions out, because I almost feel it looks childish.

Also, even though I love the song I picked, and even after all the work I've done with it, I'm still not sick of listening to "Flying on a Cloud". However, I do wish I would have picked something that would have given me a more obvious plot to the song so I could have at least attempted to do something that is more like what we see on TV. But, it wasn't until I was so wrapped up in the song and video that I found myself questioning it, so I just decided to work with what I had. I also would pick something longer that would give me more time to produce a better story.

Overall, I am very please with the effort that I put into my music video. I tried the plot in the beginning with my little sisters playing outside and someone playing their mother looking after them, but it just wasn't coming together for me. After watching the footage back I decided I didn't want to have a story line as much, which is why I switched to a lot of footage I had from Alaska. Plus, I think years down the road, I won't be concerned with a music video that I made, however now that it's personal and I've used an experience I'll never forget, I am more likely to watch it and show it down the road.

Aesthetics, Aisthesis, and Synesthesia

"Synestheitic perception is the rule, and we are unaware of it only because scientific knowledge shifts the centre of gravity of experience, so that we have unlearned how to see, hear, and generally speaking, feel, in order to deduce, from our bodily organization and the world as the physicist conceives it, what we are to see, hear and feel." -Merleau-Ponty (Why I [STILL] Want My MTV, pg 165)

Aesthetics is a big part when dealing with anything that refers to a visual work of art. Like music videos, aesthetics is one of the main focuses that are important to people when they in production or even a documentary on something. Aesthetics are the main reason that many things such as music videos look so good the way that they do, because people focus on the importance of being aesthetically pleasing.

Synesthesia is like a state of mind that people go into when dealing with the visual effects. These words are more of communicational theories and terms that need to be used when dealing with type of thought process. Making things look aesthetically pleasing is one of the most important parts of a music video. The music itself is such a huge part, but trying to portray the music and the importance of it through a music video is just as an important. Words can be interpreted in many different ways, but when you put a video with those words, it can only be taken one way. 

Aisthesis is how we take in the world around us. "To the extent that an aisthesis aims at what is its own-the beings genuinely accessible through it and for it, for example, looking at colors-apprehending is always true. This means that looking always discovers colors, hearing always discovers tones. What is in the purest and most original sense "true"...is pure noein...This Noein can never cover up, can never be false" (Why I [STILL] Want My MTV, pg 170). 

Group C

Our group started out wanting to compare the healthy eating options here on campus against what the recommended diet of a college student. However, we ran into scheduling issues with dining services so we geared our conversation more to how you can stay healthy on campus. Not only did we run into problems with dining service, but our Fitness for Life representative fell through also, so we had to contact multiple professors before securing Dr. Androzzi. Although it took a lot of searching we also found a student who was willing to participate.

Once we had our speakers locked in everything seemed to fall into place rather smoothly. We all stayed on the same page on how we wanted everything to flow and stayed in contact extremely well through Sakai. Everyone stepped up in different ways. Some of us we in charge of contacting people, one person that joined our group late offered to help with the editing, and the other served as our host.

When it came time to picking positions we all wanted to help in different ways, so there was no confusion on who wanted to have a certain job. As the floor manager I got to work closely with the guests and help prepare them for the show.

Even through all the scheduling struggles our group faced, I couldn't be more pleased with our guests that we ended up with. They provided us with so much information and seemed very interest in what we were doing. Mr. Androzzi even provided a business card and asked for a copy of our show. 

Style!

In our everyday lives we think of style as what a person tends to wear, but in a music video we look for something different. While flipping channels we can pick out a music video because of the shooting, lighting, and editing (Why I [STILL] Want My MTV, pg 91). And for those of us who really enjoy watching music video's we pick up on an artist's style or "theme". In music video's it is not about being "in stlye", but more like "having A style".



Kevin Williams' "Why I STILL Want My MTV"

"Music makes sense of the world in part because it does not reduce the world to prose, information, or messages (although lyrics and progammatic music are free to do so), but moves the body and world as rhythmuc, harmonic, lyrical communication. The latter are capable of commenting on the concepts like love and politics and opening emotion and psychic and physical fields in ways that prose simply cannot" (Why I [STILL] Want My MTV, pg 99). When listening to a song on the radio you may pay attention to the lyrics and wonder or think you know what a song is about, even if you think you know the artists style, but watching the music video can really help you understand more about the artist style and know what they were thinking while writing a song. One of my favorite country song's right now is Miranda Lambert's song "Over You". With lyrics like...

"But you went away
How dare you?
I miss you
They say I’ll be OK
But I’m not going to ever get over you"

...you would think it's a typical love song. However, after watching the video you'll see it's actually about her brother-in-law who passed away and with her style and lyrics you'll never listen to the song the same way again.
Style is an expression of relationship among body, technology, and world. It reveals a conciousness of the world, a way of expressing perceptual experience, a communivative engagement that opens in a reversible relationship between expression and perception (Why I [STILL] Want My MTV, pg 101). 



Jacobson's Communication's Model
(Why I [STILL] Want My MTV, pg 109)



My Music Video

I will be producing a song for "Flying on a Cloud" by the DaDa Weatherman.

I am going to add a consistancy by using the same idea of a person writing the lyrics to the chorus each time it is played, however I am going to use a different person.

After watching several youtube videos that use this same song, they all focused on nature. I want to use a lot of cloud footage that moves faster then normal. I also want to use a still shot of little girls in fairy costumes because it discusses fairy tales and poetry. I want to have some shots of the movement from the ground to the clouds because of the line "but now you lift up your eyes you're looking forward and you let your mind fly on a cloud."

My song is more on the short side so I need to make my footage clear and understood since there isn't as much time for a storyline.

Three-Point-Editing

Recently, I have had the opportunity to learn how and why people use three point editing. Unlike drag editing, three-point editing allows me to use both source clip and sequence in and out points to specify the duration of a source clip and where it should be placed in a sequence. To edit content into a sequence using three-point editing, I set edit points in my source clip and sequence, and then do the edit.

1. Stage 1: Setting Clip In and Out Points in the Viewer
   Specify which part of a source clip wanted to place in the sequence. Do this by opening it in the Viewer and setting the In and Out points.
2. Stage 2: Setting Sequence In and Out Points in the Timeline or Canvas                                       Specify where the clip is to appear in the sequence by setting In and Out points in the Timeline.
3. Stage 3: Specifying Destination Tracks
   Choose the tracks in the Timeline where the video and audio items from the source clip should appear.
4. Stage 4: Adding the Clip to the Timeline
   Edit the clip into the Timeline by dragging it to the Edit Overlay in the Canvas, clicking a Canvas edit button, or using a keyboard shortcut.

Sequence In and Out points always take precedence over source clip In and Out points. If both In and Out points in a sequence are set, the duration of the edit is determined by the In and Out points of the sequence, regardless of the In and Out points of the source clip. This allows me to restrict the portion of the sequence affected by the edit.

Writing Center Shoot

While shooting for the Writing Center, I participated in multiple ways. The first day I did the set-up and did the shoot for the first couple of speakers on camera 1, however it ended up that we didn't use camera 1 for anymore footage. I also helped set up the lighting on day 1. For day 2 of shooting I helped do all the set-up for camera 2 as well as shooting the first speaker. After the switch I moved into the booth where I just helped as a creative eye and helped make any adjustments.

The most important thing I learned throughout the Writing Center shoot was that changes can be made effectively and quickly. On day 1 our footage was decent but overall we were not happy with it. So, going into day 2 I liked that we made the decision to take advantage of our talent and have them help us as well as changing the angles. I also liked learning that you can take advantage of "practicing". On day 2 I liked that we told them to read a couple of lines for practice so there wasn't any pressure, but then we just started filming. I felt the talent looked much more comfortable and calm.

Overall, I thought the shoot went great, but with better results coming out of day 2.

Writing Center Script

Working with the writing center script was fun, but whenever I would read it I couldn't help but think of those cheesy online college commercials that you can never get out of your head once you hear them. But, I think that's the point of this script, which means it could be effective.

As soon as I heard the idea behind the script and what the clients wanted, I immediately thought about the idea of speaking with notecards, as well as the actual person's voice. Although most of the time you see this it's rather deep and emotional, I think there is a way around it to make it more fun and bubbly. I would like to see the notecards marked up a little to fix spelling or punctuation errors. Knowing that they want multiple people involved in the speaking parts, I think it would be cool to see one person, but when the notecard goes up to the camera and pulls back have a different person there ready to do the next speaking section.



Photo by: Buster Benson



Studio Experience

So far my favorite experience in Studio Production has been working with the cameras. I think because of my love for photography working with the video cameras is very simalar. My biggest downfall is trying to find that perfect shot, but when I have someone on the headset telling me the what angle they like it makes it easier for me. I take direction very well so it is not difficult for me to work the cameras.

The only thing that I struggled with is setting the white balance because I have never had the opportunity to work with these settings. I think after a few tries I will get the hang of it though.

After setting the white balance, I moved on to getting my close up and 2 or 3 person shots. From then on I just did as I was told by director on the headset.

Since I had someone there to help me learn how to set the white balance and back focus I didn't run into any issues on my own. The cameras were very user friendly and I caught on quickly.

You && I

Lady Gaga's You and I video hasbeen on of my favorites recently not only because of the actual song, but for the video because it is so creative and bizarre. The first time I watched it, I was confused by the end, however the second time I watched from more of a creative perspective and was able to catch on a LITTLE more. I think one of the reasons I am so intrigued by the video is because each time I watch it I find something I didn't notice the first time.

COMM 360 vs. Hamilton Hamish

When I first watched a show done by Hamilton Hamish in class I was blown away. I'm the person that sits at home and watches TV and doesn't pay attention to all the work and details put into a big production. So seeing, Hamish call all the shots on the Kanye West performance, and just realizing all the decisions that have to be made each second as far as camera and lighting effects, I was amazed. And also very excited to give it a shot myself.

Moving into the classroom I was very intimidated by the thought of being on camera, however the first day I was moved to camera 1, and I was all of a sudden very relaxed. Although our class is nothing like a production done by Hamish, I could understand why he gets so fired up over the experience. It is a lot of fun seeing a project come together when so many people are involved. Before this class I was a firm believer of "having too many hands in the cookie jar", but when there are so many aspects that go into a 30 minute segment, you need that many people.

Now that we've done several rounds of shows, which included me being a guest on camera, I feel very comfortable in the production process. The biggest thing for me is I've learned to ask for help because I've never been involved in anything relating to a studio like this. I've also learned how to roll electrical cords, set-up lighting, and work the video cameras! Although, we'll never be on the level of Hamilton Hamish in COMM 360, I do think he's a great person to look up to when you find yourself needing to get excited over a studio production class.



Studio Production.
Photo by:  kellencoliron