Hype Club: Volleyball
In the first project of the 2018-2019 school year, everyone in my class needed to make their own video to hype up a fall sports team. More specifically, my task was to create a video to hype up the POPCS volleyball team. Our goal for the video was to create a lot of buzz and to build up our sports teams heading into the playoffs or for future games. As a class we voted on who had the best videos and the hype videos that received the highest amount of votes got picked to be shown in our school's chapel. Since it was the first project of the school year and I didn't really have any prior experience with video production equipment and editing, I had to learn a lot of new things. I learned how to do a lot of tricks on Adobe Premier, whether
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that was changing the position or scale of images that I took, cutting clips, learning how to balance colors for color correction, or time remapping. I also learned how to use a slow motion camera. Also, preparation in class for the games that we shot gave me a better idea on what are the best type of shots to take make the videos better. I figured out the closer and probably lower you are in regards to the players make the shots look better. If I could make the project better next time, I would have the students go to more games and even a practice to make sure you get the best b-roll and other types of footage as possible in order to enhance the video. This could possibly give the players more of a say in what goes into the video. In addition, more time editing and more one on one help would really help.
Stories Worth Telling
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In my last project of the year, I was tasked to create a video for an organization called Protect Texas Fragile Kids. The purpose of the video was to inform the audience of the dire situation that families with a medically fragile kid (MFK) face and why there needs to be a change whether its in nursing, lawmaking, insurance companies, or the way people view MFK's out in public. Prior to visiting a MFK, I had to learn in class about them and just how desperate of a situation their families are put under everyday. Then, I traveled to the Hinkle's house and I met a MFK named Melody and I helped to record her mother's interview and went around the house to capture all kinds of different b-roll to help me produce my video. In this project, I learned
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how crucial it was to get natural light to ensure the viability of my images. It was also a huge key for me to figure out how to get the correct amount of focus, so my shots would look as vivid as possible. I learned what was the right type of music to create a solid balance of emotion and seriousness for the topic. I figured out how to edit a video down to get right to the point and to keep the audience engaged. The whole experience with the Hinkle's really gave me the impression that my life could be so much harder than it is and that I should be grateful for what I'm blessed with. In order to improve this project, I would definitely say that we need more time for editing and maybe a refresher on using Premier before the project began because I kind of forgot a lot of concepts I knew previously.
Joining Generations: Aging Techies
In this project, my task was to create a video for an organization called Adult Lutheran Organized For Action (aka ALOA). We worked with a representative from that organization, Dr. Mary Manz Simon. The main purpose of my video was to inform older adults why they need to consider using technology, although they are becoming older and less responsive. Early in the project, I learned a number of camera movements that I didn't know before. I learned how to plan out dolly, tilt, tracking, and zoom shots in a script as well as shoot them in real life. When I started filming, I realized that natural light is a great resource. For future projects, I'll shoot outdoors if I can. In this project, I shot indoors, and it was hard to get the amount of light that I needed to make it look good. Additionally, I learned the importance of
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being efficient during a shoot as well as being prepared with extra batteries. There were a couple of clips I wasn't able to get because I ran out of battery, and I didn't have a backup. In the post-production stage, I learned how to transition effectively between bumpers as well as between interviews and pictures/b-roll. I also learned how to add movement to pictures, which makes it less boring and engages the viewer. To make the project better, I believe that we needed more chances for b-roll. Next time this project is conducted I think working with a partner at the shoot and editing would be beneficial to the students. For example, if a student forgets how to use a piece of equipment or editing technique, the other student might know how to use that specific equipment or technique and would make the shoot and editing so much smoother.
Faith Stories: Arlen Schroeder
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In my third project, my task was to create a video for Arlen Schroeder about his faith story. For this video, we had to set up a shoot in our own studio and Arlen Schroeder came to POPCS and he told us his story so we could make a video about his faith afterwards. The main purpose of my video is to inform the audience about how God played a vital role in his life and to inspire others to put their own faith into God. I learned new editing techniques in the software that I used: Adobe Premier, learned different b-roll shots to better capture emotions in my story, and learned how to tell a story better than I previously did before. I think it was important to get different kinds of b-roll in order to really add to his
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character throughout the video, Additionally, to improve this project think it beneficial for students to practice their specific task more before the shoot so we could be more confident and prepared heading in to the shoot. It also wasn't clear what message the subject of the video was trying to get across, so it was hard to form a story and there needs to be more clarification on what the subject's main message is.