One Word Film

     Hi everyone! Last week in AICE Media Studies AS, we learned all about editing and did a fun project in class called the One Word Film project. For this project, we created a film without any dialogue to represent a tone word we were given in class. We worked in pairs to brainstorm a story, draw a storyboard, and then film using different shots, angles, composition, and movement techniques. We were instructed to edit the film individually, utilizing what we learned in class. 

     My partner and I were assigned the word appreciative. We facetimed over the weekend and first came up with a story that encompassed the word. In our story, Sally, a girl sitting alone at lunch, was joined by a girl named Sarah. Sally then ponders how she could show appreciation for Sarah's kind act.  We then did a brainstorming sheet with a shot list as well as came up with two examples of editing techniques we could use in our film. In addition to the shot type, we indicated angles, composition, and movement on this brainstorming sheet to help us once we actually started to film. Our brainstorming sheet is shown below.

     

     We then drew out our storyboard with the shots, angles, composition, and movement from our brainstorming sheet. This allowed us to visualize how each shot should look and the order it should be in, helping us in the organization of our film. We then left class and went outside to film. We used a tripod and an iPhone camera to film each scene. As we filmed, we had to adjust and make changes from our brainstorming and storyboard, but it all worked out in the end. Lastly, I edited the film using Adobe Premiere Pro. I played around with the platform as well as watched many videos to try and get a deep understanding of the platform while editing.

     Overall, I think the story was told well in the film, and some of the editing sequences looked really cool. I used techniques like a graphic match that I believe really added to the film. I think I could improve on adjusting lighting, as I found my lighting to be slightly weird in some of the scenes. Additionally, in the future I would like to improve the range of shots and movement techniques to allow for a better flow in the film.

     If you would like to check out my project, here is a link: Click Here To Watch My One Word Film

Camera Shots/Angles Quiz

    Last week in AICE Media Studies AS, we were assigned a quiz in which we were instructed to work with a partner and develop a story using different shots and angles we learned in class. We were told to pick one or two inanimate objects and take a total of 15 shots to tell the story. Ten of the shots/angles were specifically assigned to us, while five we got to choose. After creating the story and taking our shots, we were instructed to create an online presentation with one of our shots on each slide. In addition to the actual shot, we had to include a proper label and an explanation of why the specific shot was used. We submitted this presentation as well as a short summary of our story to earn a grade.  

    When approaching the development of our final project, we started by drafting up a story and then created a chart with each scene and the corresponding shot type that best fit our goal for that scene. Our story was action and fighting focused, which was developed by the shots we used. The fight took place near the Great Wall of China and was between a panda and a dog. The panda was angry that the dog was sleeping on her property, and the dog was angry that the panda woke him up. In the end, the dog won the fight, but both animals passed out from exhaustion. As mentioned, each shot we took served a specific purpose to the overall piece. For instance, we used several close-ups to show the angry expressions of each animal and long shots to show the full body action as they fought. So, when we began filming, we made sure to stick to the shots we chose in our chart. We really wanted to emphasize the facial expressions of both of the animals as they got angry with one another and even created little facial expressions from sticky notes and markers to achieve this goal. The filming process was very fun and challenged our creative side. Afterward, we summarized the story and created our presentation. We finalized our project, then submitted it 

    I think I chose the best shot type for each scene's purpose accurately and executed the various shots well. I think my project shows my understanding of the different shots and angles we learned in class and shows I understand each shot's purpose as well as what they are supposed to look like. On the other hand, I think my overall filming abilities could be improved upon. Although I feel as if I understand the techniques we learned in class, I think my shots could have been more focused as well as more detailed. I found low angles to be challenging to shoot and think with more practice I could get better. I could overall improve my camera usage and editing abilities to make my project the best it could be.  

Link to our project:

Camera Shots/Angles Quiz