Moving Forward

I'm slowly making more progress on my project this semester. I met with my director again the other day and he and I discussed more little things I can do to make my final project the best it can be. Hopefully I'll be done editing soon and can move on to just working on finalizing the presentation board.

Workn towards the goal

          I’m making some decent progress this semester towards completing this project. Sadly it seems to be a case of two steps forward one step back. I’m doing well at getting all my editing touch ups done and making progress towards my business cards and presentation board, but I’ve missed two submission dates due to outside interference. Hopefully I’ll be able to get everything straightened out soon and get my overall project back on track.

It's a Musical World

The world of musicals is great and varied. From The early 1920s through today, musicals have captivated and enchanted audiences. The fun thing about musicals, from a technical standpoint, is the dual-aspect of the narrative. In a traditional filmic narrative, object A leads person B to perform action C. In a musical, this doesn’t necessarily occur. Object A could cause person B to perform action C at the exact same time that person D uses object E to perform action F. Both sequences occurring at the same time and possibly leading into each other but otherwise disconnected from each other.

            This duality

Working towards the goal

Well, another semester of my capstone is off to a bang up start. I still don't have consistent internet access so my blogs are going to be patchy at best. I'm continuing my work on last semester’s project as I previously stated. It’s going alright so far. All my footage is still in usable condition so I don’t have to reshoot anything which makes me extremely happy. In addition to that, I received footage of the final production with all the choreography and costumes. This allows me to splice in this new footage into what I’ve already got to help showcase the finished product.

My editing is looking nice at this point. I’m slowly putting Jakes voice from his interview in the background of the opening sequence in order to introduce the viewer to him a little quicker and help fill in some of the dead audio space I unfortunately had last time. I’m also doing my best to clean up a few patchy spots in the audio track to make it smoother to listen to. It’s my hope that I can get a nice smooth audio track with no pops or hisses and very little background noise. This allows the viewer to focus on the video as a whole and not get distracted by things in the audio.

I’ve also started to find a design for a business card that I’m happy with and feel represents me and what I’m capable of. So far I’ve found three possible designs and I just need to settle on one. It’s important to choose the appropriate design for a business card because this is part of your introduction to the professional world. A childish card can have a negative effect on a prospective employer’s decision.

Hopefully by the time I finish out the semester, I will have a product I can be proud to have made that looks professional enough to help me locate a job after school and be shown as an example of what to do for future classes. With any luck this semester will help me get ahead of people in the job market and make any future positions more secure.

Senior Capstone (take 2)

Well, it’s time for me to try this again, my senior capstone. Luckily I already have a project started. It is my intention to use this semester to not only completely finish my previously started project, but to make some improvements to it. Mainly focusing on smoother transitions between scenes and making it a little more concise. I also hope to improve the title sequence and add a decent end credits sequence. This is in addition to making my presentation board look as professional as possible.

The project in question is a short documentary about stage combat, focusing mainly on the combat troupe I work with closely. This group, Body and Blade Swordsmanship focuses on teaching how to do proper theatrical stage combat, which is both safe and appears real. My documentary follows the group through a single performance season, from beginning of the choreography to the end production. By following from beginning to end like this the viewer gains a little bit more perspective into what goes into making a modern stage fight. It also contains interviews with Jake Priddy, the founder of the troupe and main choreographer, as well as interviews with several members of the troupe who rank in status from novice to adept and scholar.

Having an extra semester to work on this also has the added benefit of allowing me more time to build up my portfolio, both online and hardcopy. I also have a little more time to make my business card look professional. I recently had the idea to include a QR code on my card which would link directly to my online portfolio and resume. This will allow me to hand out my business card at job fairs and let interested parties look at my site immediately from their smart phone or other device. This shows prospective employers that I have the ability to work in a multimedia world and keep up with innovation.

Hopefully by making my presentation look better and improving upon my portfolio and business card I will be able to get a good entry level job upon graduation.

Intro to the Studio

So far, this semester looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun and help me to be a better-rounded member of the Communications field.  For example, after reading the syllabus for Studio Production I feel that this course is going to help me polish my skills in the realm of television production.  During high school I took a basic intro course on television and news production, which peaked my interest and got me started on the communications path.

One of the key ways this class looks like it will help me is by allowing me to expand on which production jobs I know how to do successfully. Mainly I hope to learn more about the positions of producer, director, and floor manager. I haven’t worked in those positions before and hope that, with a little more experience, I will be able to put on a resume that I can work in those positions. I understand the basics of both producer and director and understand what they should do in a production. I’m very new to the position of floor manager, which the syllabus describes as the one that “gives talent cues, and keeps the crew on task” (Williams, 2013). This sounds like it could be a very interesting position and also one which seems like it will help me to better function in the other positions since it will let me view how everything connects together.

My hope for this class is that, by the end of the semester, not only will I have a better understanding of everything that goes into the production of a television show but I will also be able to put this knowledge to work in the field of television or movie production. This course will also allow me to work on my ability to schedule all the individual units that go into making a show and translate that ability into my everyday life.

As I read over the syllabus I find myself getting more and more excited about beginning production on whatever show idea comes first. I look forward to getting into the studio and really beginning to make a show come to life.

The importance of sequence

       One of the key threads which ties all form of comic book together is sequence of images. Trying to communicate a message through a single image can be difficult, especially if the message is complex. By adding a second or third image to the series, the artist can expand upon the message that the reader will receive. This also makes it easier for the reader to determine what the message is and what tone an event should have. This method of communication through sequential images has been around for hundreds upon hundreds of years stretching back to the beginnings of communication. Don’t believe me? Go look up an image of Egyptian murals. Go ahead, I’ll wait here.

        Back already? See what I meant? Even the ancient Egyptians knew to put images one after the other to help get the point across. This trend continued throughout the ages and into modern comics and graphic novels. Take Art Spiegelmans Maus for example. By the end of the first page the reader has been told a story about a young man who fell down while playing with friends, and when they left him behind he went home. It doesn’t show every single second of this happening that would take too much paper. Instead, it shows key events in the sequence such as the boy falling and watching his friends leaving, and then arriving at home, in order to tell the entire story. And it doesn’t stop there either. Through the entire story events are shown in little flashes like that in order to convey all the important details while skipping over some of the everyday things like on page 32 with the train ride. The entire journey isn’t shown but the distance involve is conveyed to the reader through the view out the window, the train stretched across the top of the page, and the dialogue. By doing this the entire trip from Poland to Czechoslovakia takes place over the course of two pages.

        This method of communications is vital to a successful graphic novel or comic book because otherwise it would just be a very long novel with illustrations.

12 Ghosts II: It's Alive!

At the beginning of the semester, when John and I first started discussing our project, we had to decide what we wanted to do with it. We decided to go with a pre-apocalyptic theme, John had the idea to start off with images of situations that weren't too bad then get worse. The overall effect we went for was one of slowly mounting tension ending with a bright climax, John added a filter to the last shot to make it appear that a bomb had been detonated in the distance. This video is the first in a trilogy John wants to produce that I plan on helping with. The three videos would show before the apocalyptic event, during the event, and trying to survive afterwards.

12 Ghosts II : A Critique

For my video, I worked with John Chapmen to create a piece based around the NIN song 12 Ghosts II. The original concept was a sort of pre-apocalyptic vision leading into the apocalypse. A few of the things that worked out really well were the shots of the falling tools, done by dropping them from a bucket kept just out of frame, the water glass falling on the laptop, and the breaking of the wineglass. Each of these shots turned out really well and looks good. A few problems that occured were the fact that the camera slider liked to stick towards one end. This led to several reshoots of scenes in order to get a smooth slide. Also the monitor from the end shot wouldn't break at first, It took four attempts to get that thing to break in a satisfactory manner. Overall, the video was surprisingly easy to make. I'd like to thank John for his fabulous camera work without which the video would have been alot different.

Three Point Editing: Why I Like it

When I'm editing a video file I need to be able to keep all my clips in the proper order and timed properly. This can get difficult when I need to put a clip in a specific place and using "drag and drop" editing will change the timing of my sequence. By using three point editing I don't have that problem. To use three point editing you need to first set in and out points on the video clip in the viewer. This tells Final Cut how long the clip needs to be and which section to use. You then place an in point on the sequence time line to give Final Cut a place to input your selected clip. You don't need to set an out point, Final Cut will do that on it's own. From there you drag the clip from the viewer over the edit overlay and choose how you want it inputted. If you chose an in and out point on the time line earlier, you can use this to "fit-to-fill" a clip, stretching it or shrinking it to fit in the exact space provided. This is great when you need to go in and replace a previous clip with better footage.

Sight and Sound

I chose the video for Johnny Cash's cover of the NIN song "Hurt"

• The lyrics of this song have a very melancholy feel to them. In the original this isn't felt as deeply due to the rock nature of the performance. However, through the use of Mr. Cash's low, rough voice, as well as the inflection he puts on the lyrics the viewer can palpably feel the sadness he is attempting to portray. The visuals chosen, images of empty shelves, broken objects, and Mr. Cash sitting alone playing a piano, only help to amplify the aloneness presented in the lyrics.
• Musically, the very simple, sad sounding piano helps to reinforce the feelings generated by the images. By having Mr. Cash sit alone and play that really simple piano part, the images, in conjunction with the lyrics, the viewer is able to feel a connection with the piece that might otherwise be lost.

• Performance wise, this piece is masterfully done. While not done in the exact style he would perform in the technical aspect of the video helps to get across how frail the man really was at that point in his life. The editing, lighting and camerawork all serve to show Mr. Cash separation from others and the loss he feels from out living friends and loved ones. 

RIP Johnny Cash (February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) 

How Aesthetic

When a person thinks about the aesthetics of a music video, it might take them some time to truly grasp it. At first they might attempt to view each aspect of the video on its own. This could prove confusing to them since as separate entities the various parts of a music video could seem disjointed and strange. It is not until viewed as a whole that the true beauty of a music video can be perceived. It's not necessarily the camera work or the music that makes a video pleasing to the senses, but the masterful combination of the two. By combining together the various elements of a music video something has been created which, when viewed as a whole, is greater then the sum of its parts.

Visions of Reality

When watching a music video it is important to remember that what you're seeing isn't always exactly what your hearing. For example, it's possible that the drummer you hear is not the one that appears on screen. This is one way that the reality of music videos can be warped in order to provide a different perspective or to change how it is interpreted. By changing the reality of a video, the producer can bring a new level of depth into the experience that might allow for a better quality of video from the viewers perspective. This idea is expressed in a quote from Kevin Williams book, "Why I Still Want My MTV" "As the music video transforms the televisual presentation of music, it also transforms the performer and the performance of the music."(p. 155) The act of putting the music into a video that uses visuals to reinforce the audio somehow transcends reality and manages to fuse the music and visuals together in the mind of the viewer.

The Begining of a Music Video

This semester I will be working with John Chapman on a music video as well as producing a second one on my own. For the first video we used the NIN song 12 Ghosts II. There is a slightly recognizable repetition during the song, almost a loop, where it can be divided. This repetition exists both before the tempo change in the middle and after. Before the tempo increase we show slow pans past piles of various junk; trash, dishes, electronics, etc. After the increase we cut to straight on shots of these piles whil objects realated to the pile fall from above, culminating with a smashed CRT. Overall it gives a sense of desolation and aloneness. The second video uses NIN song 16 Ghosts II. It has a definately recognizable loop to it which allowed me to break it up into even segments. These segments each contain a shot of an old television test pattern. Between each image is 2 frames of static to give the illusion of changing the channel on a T.V. Some of the images are still while I have applied filters to some of them to suggest a problem with the connection. I feel as if  doing this will let the veiwer feel disconected and uncertain as to what is going on in the world beyond theis little screen.

A Style of its own.

When people think about style, they typically think of clothing or how people act. Most people never consider that music videos have a style that is clearly recognizable even to the uninformed. This style can be recognized by the fact that the visual portion is "(a) interconnected and interrelated with the music and aural presentation," and "(b) interconnected and interrelated with the other media."(Williams, 2003, p. 97) It is the overall combination of the music, lyrics, and images that make up the style of a music video. Each of these elements has something to contribute to the overall feel of the video, and while they can be viewed on their own they are truly great when viewed together. The music has the ability to take the listener on a journey through their own mind to places they had never thought about before. The lyrics have the power to bring forth a connection with the viewer that transcends the bonds of normalcy. The images have the ability to bring cohesion to the music and lyrics, providing a solid idea the viewer can associate with the video as a whole in order to keep it in there minds for a long time to come.

The Fall and Rise of the Radio Star

At 12:01 AM on August 1, 1981, MTV was born. The very first music video to be played was "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles. But was the death of the radio star really certain. After all, you can't watch a music video in a car, can you? As time went on MTV continued to show music videos for all manner of artists, from Adam Ant and Eurythmics, to Van Halen and Motley Crue. However, people still tuned into the radio. There's just something inherently pleasing about being able to tune into a favorite station or broadcast and just let the sound flow over you without having to bother with a TV. So even though the radio star took a strong hit from music videos, it's still alive and kicking.

image attribution: http://www.flickr.com/photos/themarkpike/160598978/

An Interesting Campaign

I’m sure you’ve all seen them, the Dos Equis commercials with the “Most Interesting Man In the World.” They seem to have a way of worming into your brain and just waiting for you to remember them. Starting in 2006, the ad campaign has spread from 30 second or minute long T.V. spots to 10 or 15 second long ads before YouTube videos.

Managing to convey some level of mystery and awe through the storytelling of one man and using that in order to promote a specific brand of beer is ingenious. Especially when the stories are of almost superhuman feats of skill. By stating that this man only drinks Dos Equis, it is implying that by drinking it, you too can be interesting. This has had the effect of boosting sales almost 22% by 2008 during a time when the sale of imports in general was down 4% according to a news article from Macleans in 2009.

These ads encourage people to “Stay Thirsty” and have somehow managed to make Dos Equis an almost household name. I’ve never even tried it and I love the ads.