Final exam

(1) Name 3 things that we learned in class that you now apply in real life. 
-Shot composition, what they are and how to recognize them in movies and music videos.
-How easy it is to capture video and make a name for yourself just by using your cell phone.
-How to be consistent in my skills and improve them.

(2) How did what you learned in class help you when you participated in "Chatting With"? 
-I think it helped me better understand what goes into making an actual production, since everybody had a different job when it was their group's turn to interview. 

(3) In your opinion what is the best part of "Chatting With" and how do we expand it? 
-The best part of "Chatting With" was the fact that we the students basically did the whole production ourselves. I think a good way to expand it would be having the students pick who they interviewed and reach out to them to set it up, instead of groups just working with whatever guest was brought into class by the professor.

EXTRA CREDIT:

(4) Knowing what you know now, would you take this class again and why? Would you recommend it? 
-I would take this class again because although it was a little unorthodox, it was always interesting and I never knew what to expect. I would recommend it to others, especially if they didn't have any prior knowledge of Multimedia, because it was a good introductory course.

Final Classes

For our last couple of classes, we interviewed different special guests and took turns being the director, editor, shooter and interviewer. Last week, I was in a group with Graham, Julia, Tara, and Timmy and I was the designated editor (see video below). I cut between the 2 shot and close-ups of Julia and Dr. Malveaux, but I had to stick to the 2 shot more towards the end since Dr. Malveaux's camera cut out early.

4/11 Class

In 4/11's class, we discussed our next few classes with "Chatting With", what's next for the rest of our classes and what's expected from our groups for the rest of the semester.


We also learned about "iking", the very act of verbally or physically pimpslapping a person or group.

For homework, we had to come up with one example of good customer service we've experienced, and one bad experience.

My examples are both from my recent trip to Walt Disney World for Spring Break.

The example of bad service was one of the Photopass photographers in Epcot. Typically, the photographers are really nice, have smiles on their faces, and are very accommodating to guests. This one lady, however, taking pictures for Snow White's Meet and Greet in Germany, was noticeably very irritable. She more than once yelled at visitors in the line to not block a certain door than allowed trash men through. Then, when it was my group's turn for a picture, she told one of my friends, "put your bags down right there and let me take the picture" very sternly. She was clearly annoyed when my friend then asked if she could also take the picture on his iPhone, which she reluctantly and hastily did. It was just very odd behavior for a Disney employee, because for the years I've been going to Disney World, I've never encountered a person working there that didn't look overjoyed to be there. Understandably, there was a long line, and it was getting dark, but the whole experience just made my group feel awkward.

An example in turn, of good experience was at one of the restaurants during our trip. One of the employees whose job it was to clear tables when guests were done eating, stroke up a conversation with us. She asked us about our trip, what we were doing the next day, and was so excited to tell us all about the newly expanded Star Wars attractions in one of the parks. She told us what to do when we met the characters to get the most out of the experience, the times where she went, and even drew a Star Wars character on a complimentary "I'm Celebrating!" button for one of my friends. It was clear that she really loved her job.

4/6 Class

I was not in class on Monday, 3/4 because I was helping professor Jay with a project. I was, however, in class on Wednesday, 3/6, where I was both an interviewer and interviewee for "Chatting With". My partner was Chris, and we took turns interviewing each other and being interviewed. Even though I have my own show for GreyComm and interview people quite regularly, I was really nervous and shy about doing it in class. I hope that for the rest of the semester I can just do more behind-the-scenes work instead, and I hope that moving forward we can do more classes outside.

3/30 Class

In 3/30's class, we discussed our "Chatting With" show and next group assignments. We talked about the show format, as stated below:

Intro (what you're going to tell them) and Body (tell them with interview)
1. "Welcome to Chatting With....."
2. "Today in class with us we have ______, the _____(position)
3. Talk about their career, have them give advise, say what's next for them

Conclusion (tell them what you told then recap)
1. "We've been here with _____ and he/she said ____(sum it up) and we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. For Chatting With, I'm _______, thanks for watching".

For the next few classes, we will work on contacting our interviewees, conduct the interviews, and then go into post-production. I'm glad that we are now working on a project for class, and my group seems to be excited about this new challenge as well.

3/21 Class

Today in class we didn't do much. Doc Chris gave us the day off on Wednesday, 3/23 so we could go home early for Easter break. It was Scotty's birthday on 3/21 so we sang happy birthday to him (video 2 below). For Easter, I'm thankful for my Loyola family, and below is one of my roommates saying what she's thankful for this holiday. I asked my family the same question when I was home, but none of them wanted to be filmed. My mom said she was thankful to have me home, my dad said he was thankful for his family being happy and healthy, and my brother was thankful for all the Easter candy he got.

3/16 Class

In 3/16's class, we went outside and filmed "Chatting With". We did that for the entire class, and left early so we could finish our midterms that were due the next day. I like that we again went outside for the nice weather, and at least this was something different than we've been doing, so I hope we continue doing new things for the rest of the semester.

Midterm

1. Describe 3 point lighting and show it with actual photos that we took in class or that you create for yourself. Yes you can use an online graphic to demonstrate your point too. Yes we did this in class too.

3 point lighting consists of back, key, and fill light. Back light goes behind the person, key is in front, and fill is on the sides. 

Back light:

Fill light: 

Key Light:

2. Shot composition. Describe in words and in photos that we took in class or for homework to demonstrate close ups, extreme close ups, long shots. Medium shots, medium close ups and indoor establishment shots and external establishment shot.

An extreme close up only has the person's face in the photo, a regular close-up is from the neck and up, a medium close-up is the chest and up, a medium shot is the waist and up, and a long shot is the person(s) whole body. An indoor establishing shot shows an indoor scene and establishes the setting, and an external establishment shot shows the outside setting. 

Extreme close-up:

 Close-up:

 Medium close-up:

Medium:

Long:

Interior establishing:

Exterior establishing:

 

3. Rules. ..what is the cardinal rule that I call the Icarus rule of shooting outdoors and why is it important to follow this rule. If you don't know you haven't been paying attention but to save yourself try violating the rule and then takea photo adhering to the rule. What is the cardinal rule for lighting indoors? In other words think Beyonce's words in Sweet Dreams. Why is this important?

The Icarus rule of outside shooting is to never shoot anything in the direction of the light/sun.  The cardinal rule for lighting indoors is to first turn the lights off, and it's important so that the lighting is all even and coming from the same source.

4. Tell me a story and create me a storyboard using pictures. Place the photos on YouTube and use the YouTube editor to edit and place music in it.

5. On average how many photos are used for a 15 second commercial. How many shots are used for a 30 second commercial or PSA.

5 photos are used for a 15-second commercial, 10 photos are used for a 10-second commercial.

6. Describe and evaluate what you have learned in this class with special emphasis on how it feels working in group in this class compared to others. How have you grown and have you been able to use this in your other classes. 

I have learned in this class what the different shots shots were called, because even though I knew what they looked like from working at GreyComm, I never knew the names of them. Working in group in this class is definitely different from any other classes that I've ever taken. I have grown by being able to do shot recognition very easily, which could help me in my job at GreyComm, other Comm classes, or even beyond in the professional world.

7. Evaluate the direction of the class, and me as your professor. Am I giving you the tools to apply what you learn? Am I available if you need assistance? Am I making the learning experience collaborative and fun for you? Is there something that you would like to do more of in this class? Do you feel confident using what you learned in this class in other classes and your personal life? What's the best part about being in this class?

The class is easy to follow. Doc Chris is giving me the tools to apply what we've learned by taking us outside to practice and watching music videos and calling out the shots. He's usually available after class if I ever have a question, and always answers his Facebook messages. The learning experience is always collaborative, which I like because it takes the pressure off some, and therefore enjoyable. I wish that we could do/learn more things in this class, because it often feels like we're going over the same things over and over again, but that might be due to my 2-year experience at GreyComm and having a lot of previous knowledge about what we go over in class. I feel confident about what I've learned in this class since it's exactly what I'll be doing for my major once I graduate. The best part about being in this class is that I never know what to expect each time I come in.

3/9 and 3/14 Class

Since my computer decided to break, I was not able to post 3/9's blog before the following class on 3/14. In class on 3/9 we had the first part of our midterm exam. We did this outside and in our groups, taking shots of each other around campus and filming/interviewing Doc Chris. Since my phone has run out of storage because I took so many pictures and videos over Spring Break, Kelly from my group taped and snapped the whole project, and it should be posted on her blog.

On 3/14 we did more shot compositions with music videos, reviewed what we've learned since the start of the semester, and discussed the rest of our midterm exam, the written portion. We also briefly discussed continuing our "chatting with" show.

My group has been working really well together, we always help each other out if we have questions and we've all been in class recently. I like that Doc Chris took us outside when the weather was so nice, because none of my other professors have done that. I'm still hoping we do different things in class like he's been saying we will.

Spring Break 2016 and 3/7 Class

Above is my midterm assignment, a collection of my photos and videos from Spring Break, where I went to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

Our first class back, on March 7th, we had more trails and went outside to shoot shot composition pictures (see below).

 

 

 

 

My whole group was there for this class, and we worked well together capturing our shots during the last part of class so we could get out early. I learned (well, even though I already knew that), that skipping Doc Chris' class isn't as easy as people may think, because if/when he realizes you missed class, he will publicly humiliate you in front of the whole class. I have grown by being able to take/identify shots with ease, and I hope to only continue getting better at that as we start looking at videos more so than just pictures. I think that Doc Chris is heading the right direction with the class, now that we will soon begin filming a TV/talk show.

2/24 Class

Today in class, we did different things for the first time. We witness our first "trial, with Doc Chris vs. Fernando (see below), and had a lecture about what's expected out of us for our blogs. We finished the class by watching DNCE's "Cake By The Ocean" music video and once again identifying shots.

In this class, we learned more about what it means to truly be a Multimedia journalist. My group is getting along well together, we're all usually in class and it seems like we won't be having a "trial" with any of us. I have grown by being able to recognize shots better, and especially in music videos, which will be important to me as an aspiring entertainment journalist. I definitely think Doc Chris' style is unique, and I hope that we continue to learn more things instead of just repeating some of the same information like we've done the past couple of classes before. Our assignment for spring break is to make a video of what we did with our week off.

2/22 Class

Today in class we went outside and around the college center to shoot photos and video. Class was cut short since it was a nice day. We split up the class into groups, and after doing rock-paper-scissors, we decided who would be first to shoot inside and who had to go outside first (see below).

Timmy recorded our group's reaction video about this class; it should be on his blog.

2/17 Class

Today in class, we went outside of the classroom and took interior and exterior shots of campus. However, I wasn't in class because I was at my first workshop for study abroad in Newcastle, England (although I still did the assignment, see below). We have 3 workshops, and it's mandatory to be at all of them so we make sure we have all the information needed to get crucial paperwork in on time and know important dates and facts about our trip. I'll be going for my entire junior year, and this first workshop was strictly for those going abroad for the fall semester and the year. We did some ice breakers to introduce ourselves and make friends with each other. Then we talked a little bit about adjusting to life in Newcastle as in what to expect with the academics, social sphere, and Geordie accent. I'm super excited to go, even though everything will be so new to me since I've never been out of the country. Our second meeting will be on March 15.

2/15 Class

There was no class today due to the inclement weather.

2/10 Class

We started class doing the same thing as before, calling out the shots in music videos with our teams. The team that ultimately won got their picture taken (using 3-point lighting provided by other members of the class) in front of the points board (shown below).

  

We then talked about "master shots" (the main, wide center shot that's to ensure something is captured if the right and/or left cameras fail)and demonstrated using some members of the class being the presenters of a talk show, and others as interviewees.

2/8 Class

This class was cut short to only 30 minutes, so instead of diving into a new topic we tested our knowledge of shot composition and looked at music videos and named the shots for the whole class. I liked doing this exercise because we were learning and applying our skills to real-life situation, and being a music fan, I thought it was so interesting to see how directors approach the videos with the same shots in their mind. Our homework was to look at music videos on our own and choose our favorite, so mine is posted below: "Bad Blood" by Taylor Swift.

I chose this video because it had so many different elements to it with the different sets and angles and since the moment I first saw it a year ago I thought it was so different and amazing.

2/3 Class

In February 3rd's class, we worked further on 3-point lighting. We discussed the Icarus Rule/The Cardinal Rule of Exterior (don't shoot anything in direction of the light). We demonstrated 3-point lighting in class with our groups by turning off the lights and demonstrating key, fill, and back light with our cell phones (pictured below). We then talked about storyboarding and how it's all about intimacy, taking shots from wide to close-ups. Lastly, we looked at music videos that showed different types of shots and then our groups competed against each other to see who could name the shots first. Our homework was to create 15 and 30 second videos consisting of different types of shots (see below).

 

2/1 Class

In today's class, we reviewed what we talked about last class; shot composition, establishing shots, and lighting. We expanded on that in this class, going into detail on the purpose of an exterior establishing shot and then did an example using students in the class about when to use certain shots. Lastly, we talked about how many shots are comprised in videos of a certain length. So our homework assignment for next Monday is to make a about a 15-second video (fit for Instagram) that consisted of 5 shots, lasting 2 to 3 seconds each and a 30-second video made up of 10 shots.

We also briefly discussed storyboarding, which I learned a little bit about but hope to get more information on in the coming class. My group worked well together during this class by contributing in the class discussion. The vibe of the class was pretty laid-back as usual, however I'm hoping/expecting that it will get more serious and we'll get more accomplished in our class time as far as shooting and learning go in the future.

1/20 Class

In our first class of the semester, we covered shot composition (extreme close-up, regular close-up, medium close-up, medium shot, long shot) establishing shots (exterior vs. interior), and lighting (key, fill, and back). We then went out in groups to take shots on our iPhones of each other and around campus to identify the types of shots.

We also all introduced ourselves, the expectations for the class were discussed, and our homework assignment was to create a fake yet professional Facebook profile page to friend Doc Chris on and set up this blog. For the semester, I'm most excited about doing the gameshow project at the end of the term.