Short Film project

Short Film

Bases Loaded

Thalia Prehoda Blog

What the project was...

        For our video final, my class and I split into groups to make a short story. Our story was about a boy wanting to join the high school baseball team but he wasn't a good player. A baseball player finds him and trains him, but before he could try out he was killed.

My Group

       My group was made up of 5 people, 3 guys, and 2 girls. I was the cinematographer with Blake G., Michael, and Anna. I was in charge of bringing props too. Blake G. was in charge of editing, and Michael was supposed to bring props too, but he became an actor with the rest of us later on.

What went well

        Since this was our first time making a short film, everything went better than we first expected. Some of our shots were creative and the rest were great. Our script was decent but the soundtrack was great as well. Everyone did a great job with as many unfortunate things that occurred in pre-production especially with acting.

What could have gone better

        A lot of things went wrong when we tried to film. The weather wasn't the best since it was raining and windy. We forgot to white balance some of the shots. We also lost some actors, and this made it difficult to meet up after school. At first we were supposed to have a different and longer script, but because Blake had work and the friends that we were going to use as main actors couldn't help, we had to improvise at the last second. The car crash was rushed because the bully couldn't come to school to help us.

What I Learned

      I learned a lot in this final project, especially with timing. A lot that went wrong was because we shot too high with as little time we had. We need to use the school and our baseball field at C-Back to film more. We also needed to get the shots where the other Blake was going to be there first. We needed a mic for the camera to block out the wind, and if we needed to, we could have used voice overs as well. Blake G. taught me a few things in editing. The end shot I would have never though of putting the voice over in it. I also learned not to use text to jump into another day and to use a fade instead.

What I Would Have Done Differently

       I would have made the story more about something that occurs in school. It would have made it easier to start earlier so we would have had more time to film. I would also make sure to check with others about when they think they would be gone and if they have work. White balance wasn't all that great for some shots, so I will make sure to check the white balance all the time before we film just to make sure.

Movie Trailer

Movie Trailer Project

       In e-Comm, we made a movie trailer with a group we were assigned to. My group did the trailer for The Edge of 17. The link for the trailer is below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8l-MPJ3LHk&t=11s

Project

       For this project, we used Canon Rebel cameras to record and tripods to keep the camera still. Some shots we had to try to hold the camera as still as possible. It was a bit tricky at first, but I eventually got the hang of it.

        My group had 2 other girls in it. 1 was the cinematographer and art director, the other was the group manager and editor. I was the actress, editor, and in charge of story boarding. I did some of the filming at my house and at an elementary school, the rest was at ONW.

         It was very difficult to get this project done because our cinematographer would not help us. They also did not finish the sequencing paper and when they did stuff, they always complained about how they were with us and how they were missing a minute of their very important lunch with their friends. Sometimes when the other girl and I needed her help and told her to stay with us, she snuck off somewhere and oftentimes never returned. She often forgot to bring the camera and SD card which forced me to go buy one. It was not fun dealing with her, but the other girl and I did just fine.

         

Overall

       Despite having an irresponsible and lazy cinematographer, we were able to get the project done. Sadly, we were not able to correct most of our shots that were ruined because of audio ad blurriness, but we did what we could with them. We also had to change some of the scenes due to some being inappropriate, others were just harder to set up so we scrapped the original ideas and improvised. Improvising went well because we were able to get more done inside the school during class time.

What I Would do Differently......

       If I had the choice to go back and change some things, I would change our timing with filming. We were supposed to film over spring break, but because of lack of communication we ended up rushing most of the project. I would also change the focus on some shots. Some audio was a bit messy too. We needed to speak a bit louder when we did the shots outside, in the bathroom, and in the cafeteria because they were quiet and ruined a bit by the wind. 

What I Would Keep the Same.....

        In my opinion, I thought most of our shots were really good. I liked the way I had to edit the music, even if it wasn't the best. Voice overs were good and our use of actors was nice too even though we didn't have that many. 

In the Future.....

          This project helped me understand a lot about camera focus and dolly shots. Most of the things from this project will be used in our short movies. I also learned a lot about responsibility, communication, and timing. A lot of our problems resolved around those three things. Maybe next project I wont be afraid to take charge and put people in their place because that is what our group needed. But the project was lots of fun and I am excited to use my new skills in our next project.

 

Music Video Project

Link to the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=gItZibUfoQE

Sophomore Music Video Project

Project: 

         In e-Comm, we had to make our first music video project. We had trouble finding a song but decided to use High Hopes by Panic! At The Disco. For this project, I was the cameraman at some parts. Sometimes we had a technical difficulties with the camera but it all worked out in the end.

        In order to start the project, we needed to storyboard the project. At first we were going to film at a different video, however the building was privately owned. After that, we kept it simple and filmed at the school.

         After we created our storyboard and found where we were going to shoot our clips, we were off to work. We were allowed to go on our school's catwalk and the roof. It was fun being somewhere not many people get to go to. We also did some filming in the school parking lot. When it came to editing, I had trouble because I didn't know how to edit the video to make it interesting, but I gave it my best effort especially when it came to color correcting.

          To edit the video, we used Adobe Premiere Pro, we use it for most of our projects.

What did I learn?

            I learned a lot  about how to use a camera in this video. I found out there was a certain way to walk with a camera not to make it bob up and down, all you have to do is walk heel to heel. It is harder than it looks, so we didn't do it in the video. 

What would I do differently?

          In the video, we needed more shots. Personally we blame the cold weather cutting us off, but we can't really do that. In editing, I need better timing with the song and better use of my shots. I also need to remember to give credit to the people who made the song and who starred in the video.

What would I keep the same?

          In the video, I would keep some of the transitions the same. I was really proud that even though I wasn't the best at timing the transitions or movements, I did the best I could and it came out really well. I would also try to keep the energy in the song the same with the smiling and dancing as our actor was walking up to the roof.

Next Time: 

            I got a lot out of this video project. I found out some cool ways to get smooth shots, like using a car if you are walking down the street if you don't have anything else you can use. I also found out how important using a tripod is to making better shots, I will definitely use a tripod more. Maybe next time I can also try walking a bit with the camera. And after watching other videos, I found a better way of editing music with the video.