1st Semester Entertainment

My first semester in e-comm was a learning experience and while I learned a lot, I know I have a lot of room to improve. The projects I have completed this semester aren't perfect but with the hands on guidance I have received, they are miles better than what I could've done years prior. I think I got better with every project and I have thoroughly enjoyed the process of creating these first three assignments.

Camera Assignment 1

     For the first assignment of the semester and my first project as a student in entertainment, my group and I had the option to do a PSA, short film, music video, or commercial. Starting out the year with this creative liberty made my mind race with ideas but for simplicities sake we decided to make a PSA for Diversity Leadership Club. Looking back,  I would've liked to do something a little more ambitious. It only took about a week to complete and while the video wasn't bad it wasn't great either. We made two videos, one before we had feedback from the class and teacher and one after receiving feedback. The first video showed a series of interviews all the way through and it felt like an ONW Now segment more than it did something from entertainment. My group did make some improvements with our second attempt. We added upbeat background music and got b roll of kids around the school to make a cheerful video celebrating diversity. Some of the shots in the video were shaky and we could've done something different, I personally would've liked to try a music video because we could've gotten more experimental with that. Overall, I think this was a decent first attempt and our second video improved on the concept of our first one.

Commercial

Our commercial project was my favorite one that I completed this semester. I had a hand in art direction, wardrobe, and creating the concept behind this one. We decided to do an ad for Hershey's Gold Bar. The concept behind the ad was that Indiana Jones and Short Round were in hunt of treasure in the wilderness. I think I did a really good job in costuming for Indiana Jones and I matched his outfit perfectly. The costume for Short Round fit the character too but if I had to improve something about that character I would change the actor. Short Round is supposed to be portrayed by a little boy but the actor we got was a teenager. Despite this I really think the characters worked well. I am also really satisfied with the shots we got, Mary Porter did a great job with cinematography and I was able to learn from her during this project about shot composition and angles to film from. She also helped me see how important it is to get shots from different angles even though it's the same scene. This helped her because in editing we had a lot of shot options to choose from. The feedback we got when the class watched our commercial was mostly positive. The one glaring issue is that the time frame is wrong. The characters are dressed from the modern era yet in the beginning of our commercial it says that the setting was in 1776. It was a silly mistake but the issue bothers me a little bit but I learned to pay attention to the little details before exporting. I think this was my strongest project this semester, I found out that I'm pretty good at wardrobe and art direction and I had the opportunity to learn from seniors to help improve my areas of weakness.

Short Film

     Our short film looked like it would end in disaster but my group was able to keep level headed and churn out a project that isn't too bad. I finally had the chance to write a script and screenwriting is something I love to do. The script I wrote was for Brady Mendoza's treatment called action movie. The script was action packed and I had fantastic actors lined up to play the lead roles in the film. However, the film required a lot of extras and my group had some busy schedules during the time we needed to film so we had to completely scrap the original idea. Despite this misstep, Ariana and I decided to write a different movie with no dialogue about a stalker. One of my original actors, Harry Kohn, was available to play the stalker obsessed with this girl. We didn't have any female actresses available so we made a last minute call to Kenia Diaz who was able to portray the girl. Some of the shots are shaky and the film is really short but considering we had only a couple of days to film, I think we did a really good job. The post production really made this short film. Ariana did a really good job with editing and the film features sinister instrumentals to enhance the dark mood of the film and Harry does a great job with the character. I think that even though our film is short in length it is a really good concept and we had a great actor. I would like to expand on this concept more outside of class so that we can make a more complete product. We haven't had the chance to receive feedback for this project but having this film shown to different sets of eyes could help us see where we need to improve. Even though we started out rough, my group and I persevered and made a short film that I'm proud of.

Time

     Admittedly, time management is not a strong suit for me. I can get easily distracted but I have taken steps build this skill so that I am better at it in the future. I have worked to improve this semester by watching people who are good in post production do what they do best and adding input when necessary. When we have finished filming with projects, I have looked to Ariana and Mary to see what they do when editing. They are very talented and seeing them edit is what helped me create a film reel that I am proud of. They have helped me see how a soundtrack behind a film can make or break your project and how music can create a mood. I learned how having a variety of shots and balanced pacing between cuts and scenes is important to the quality of the film from them. In class studying my peers that are more skilled than me in certain areas has helped me improve my time management and has been beneficial to me because now I feel more comfortable as an editor even though it's not my best role. Outside of class I am obsessed with film. I am an avid movie watcher and love watching experimental films from Stanley Kubrick and Quentin Tarantino.  I also have a list of films ideas that I keep in my notes app and I have started doing that this year. I'd love to work with some of these ideas over the summer when I have more free time and I think I could make some quality short films and I might even develop one of these ideas into a feature film for next year.

Strengths and Weaknesses 

My biggest strengths are in pre production and onset when filming. I think I displayed my talent for art direction and wardrobe in the Hershey's Gold Bar commercial. I also love screenwriting and I love creating characters. I wrote the script based on Brady's treatment and while that never came to be as our project, I could see myself returning to that script in the future and trying to create something special out of it. I have been working to maximize my strengths by continuing to create characters and write film ideas that I hope to make in the future. My biggest weakness is in editing. I have learned a lot from my peers though and have watched what they do in order to improve. I am really proud of my film reel and how I edited that and the mood my film reel has. I think this semester I have done a good job building on my strengths and improving my weaknesses.

Guest Speakers 

The guest speakers I got the most from were Darby Christensen and Morgan Cooper. I remember Darby talking about the casting and scriptwriting process and how she made a point that those processes are collaborative and how collaboration can enhance your work. I really enjoyed her presentation and she is an interesting presenter. I also got to hear about her experience at a film school. She goes to SCAD and hearing how that contrast from traditional university was helpful to me and I can see going to a film school rather than a traditional university as an option to me. Morgan Cooper was truly inspirational. He showed me that it's okay to tell stories that you know about from your personal life. I like how he celebrates black culture in his projects and it's good to see someone that looks like me doing something that they're proud of. I hope to make films and projects like he does one day and seeing how much he cares about developing film in Kansas City was inspirational. Morgan Cooper was my favorite presenter so far this year and I hope I get to interact with him again in the future.

AAHSFF

I really enjoyed going to New York for the All American High School Film Festival. I learned that while e-comm is great we have can improve a lot to compete with the best filmmakers in the country and around the world. I think working hard on our cinematography and creating scripts where the characters are able to bounce off of each other can put our films at a level where we can compete in the festival. Going to the festival and seeing the student films there has inspired me to work even harder at my craft. I also learned that this is a viable career option and that colleges and universities care about film so it has lit a fire under me to do my best in school so I have the chance to go to a college or university.

Feature Film

I am really hyped going into the feature film. I was selected as casting director and in charge of wardrobe. I have prepared for these roles by studying fashion from the 60s and I have ideas that I'm bringing up with our director Carson Bird on how to incorporate that fashion into the modern day. We have already had our casting call and I think it went well. On set, I hope I get the chance to work with actors on how to best portray the character along with Carson. I am really excited about our feature film and while it is only in it's infant stages I can see us making something that's really special.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this has been a good semester in entertainment. I loved the creative freedom I had in projects and the process of being on a team for them. If I had to change one thing, I would go outside of my comfort zone and try to do more projects as an editor. This semester I have learned that just because you need to work on something doesn't mean you should be afraid to work on it. Going into the next half of the year I would love to work on sound and editing even more. I loved working in entertainment and can't wait to continue in 2020.