Filming Blog

         This past week I finished the filming of my music video. I was going to do it this past weekend but I was busy and I knew I wouldn’t have my actors focus. I finished filming on Thanksgiving day and I would say it was the hardest thing to ever do. My actors kept on annoying saying they didn’t want to do it and that I was being mean. So now I have learned that I can’t film with them ever again. I filmed most of the boys part on the day before to relieve a bit more stress. The worst thing about them was that they were too excited and couldn’t stay focused. Then wouldn’t listen to what I said. They were great with the acting by the way. It was just that they were way to excited.

          I was so stressed on the first day of filming. They wouldn’t stay still or stop laughing. But the hardest day was on Thanksgiving because it was food platters everywhere and people everywhere. All day I wanted to ask them to clear the setting but I didn’t have the heart to. Every time I needed my actors they would be like “I want to eat” or ”I’m tired”. It was so annoying. It was like they knew I was annoyed they just wanted to make me more upset. It was so hard to teach them dance because some of them have no rhythm whatsoever. We had to do so many takes of each scene because they kept messing up so much. It was harder because I was the director and also the main character. 

           But all in all, it was so fun to film with my family. I would really do it again because they are so funny. They did make me upset, don’t get me wrong but it so fun teaching them the dance and seeing that they didn’t know what they were doing. I literally had to dumb down the dance just for my cousin. It was a blast I really can’t wait until I edit it all so I can see all the stuff I shot. I can’t wait to show my family the finished product. Right after I finished filming I got to eat good food. To me it was a win win. 

Filming Blog

              This weekend was supposed to be the filming of our music videos. But I didn’t film this weekend because I knew this weekend for me was busy. At first, I thought that Friday was the only day we could check out cameras. So I was like the first person to check out a camera. But then I realized Friday wasn’t the only day to check out a camera. After I realized that I turned my camera back in and just relaxed the rest of the class. We were supposed to be doing our essays, but I had already finished that. We were also supposed to finish our blogs, but I also finished those earlier. We were also supposed to finish our storyboards but I had already finished that. If I didn’t finish that I would have been able to finish my storyboard blog.

             I had to finish my storyboard before my blog because we had to insert pictures of our storyboard into our blog. This time was actually harder to insert pictures of my storyboard because this time it was actually three pages long. So it was hard to cramp it all in one blog because of the thirty sentences. So I had to make the pictures super small. In class the teachers were talking about how they need the blog to be legible and able to read. When they were explaining that I kind of got nervous, but I didn’t change because I already turned it in. Since I didn’t get the camera this weekend, he said I get it for the break. I honestly think that will be better for me because I’m doing it with my family anyway. So what better holiday to film with your family other than thanksgiving!? I’m really excited to film and I’m sure my family is too.

            I’m sure when I tell them about it they’ll be on board. On holidays like this, we always get bored so I think this will be the perfect time to film. It will give us a chance to spend time with each other and have something to talk about and also bond over. Now that I’m thinking about it, it's probably a bad idea for me to nor tell them about it. I think they’ll be fine because either way they still have to do it. I’m actually really proud of myself because I’m glad that I chose to do this project by myself. Because I see my old group members stress about the location and actors and I’m really glad I don’t have to deal with that. I just know that this project will be sweatless because I got everything planned and ready to go. I really hope my plan comes into real life.

Storyboard Blog

 Today i am doing the storyboard blog. Fun fact, we actually had to do two whole blog this week. I was actually prepared to do them. I knew how much time I had and I was prepared to finish them. The blogs were usually due today at 12. But they pushed it back and made it due on Friday at 12. This blog is meant for me to talk about my project but im going to keep rambling just so I can get enough sentences. Like I said in my previous blogs, I thought the story board was going to be the hardest part for me. But when I started it came to me naturally. When I was doing my first blog for this project it took me like 30 minutes just decide on a song to do. We had to pick a song in order to complete my blog.

Before I went to class that day, i had the song i wanted to do and i already had the plan set. But when the teachers started to explain the rubric, I started to think that my music video wasn’t fitting the requirements. So when i was trying to blog all I kept thinking about is what song to do. I was looking up songs, trying to find clean versions, and I kept trying to listen to them to see if I can come up with a story line. But then it hit me, Single Ladies by Beyonce. That song used to the pillar of my generation. When the song came out it was always being played everywhere I went. When I listened to the song it gave me a great story line I can use. I'm really bad at drawing so you probably won’t understand my vision now, but I did write words so that you can maybe picture it a bit better.

             It starts off with people doing everyday activities that get interrupted by a calling. The calling is the part where it says, “All the single ladies”. Then it starts the story with the main character at a bar. The main character has been with her boyfriend for four years and hasn’t yet proposed. She’s been with him through all his ups and downs and she feels she deserves that ring. Now the main character is giving up on the relationship and trying to explore other options. So she meets this guy at a bar and they are really enjoying each other’s company. And her boyfriend gets jealous and doesn’t want them talking. She explains to her boyfriend that she has waited and been there and he still hasn't proposed. At the end of the commercial The main character leaves her boyfriend and goes with the guy she met at the bar and also leaves her ex-boyfriend crying.

Planning Blog for Music Video

Today when I got into class they were explaining to us that we have two blogs due by Thursday. I started thinking to myself, “like how am i going to finish two whole 30 sentence blog. But then when they let us start working, my mind went completely free. What I did was, I listened to my song (Single Ladies by Beyonce), and I just kept getting such good ideas. For my costumes I will have someone in a swimsuit, in pajamas, and some people will wear regular clothes like jeans and a shirt. For my location it's going to be my house. But I did want to do it at a bar but i think i can transition my house to look like a bar or a club. My actors would be my cousins because I think they would be great components for his video. It would be my three girl cousins and my two boy little cousins. I haven't been planning this video for too long. I started on thursday and finished my planning today.

 For my props i would use, headphones, luffas, and also food for a certain part of the video, and drinks like the person is at the bar. Look below to see my schedule for this project:

11/18 - Today I started my storyboard in class. But I ran out of time before i got the chance to finish. So I had to finish it in study hall, and it actually came out really good. Today when I get home I’ll finish this blog or even start my storyboard blog. If I don't finish this blog in study hall then I’ll finish this blog.

11/19 - Tomorrow if i don't feel like finishing it today then I’ll finish it tomorrow after school. I really don’t like doing my “B” day homework on “A” days.

11/20 - Then on the next “B” day I’ll show them my storyboard and get it checked and make sure its right. 

11/21 - This day will be my turn in day and then after that I’ll just relax and do other homework.

11/22 - Friday is my birthday so I won't be doing any homework or work on that day. But since that day is a “B” day I’ll check out a camera so I can work that weekend.

11/26 - On Tuesday, I’ll start my editing process and I’m sure the filming blog would be due on that day.

11/27-29 - This is Thanksgiving break, so I won’t be able to edit because I won’t have the software on my computer.

12/3 - I’ll most likely finish editing this day and I’m sure the editing blog is due this day so I’ll finish it this day.

12/5 - I’m not sure what’s due after that.

12/9 - So now i know that the CCR questions due sometime after this day so I’ll probably start that.

12/11 - CCR questions

12/13 - CCR questions

12/17 - CCR questions

12/19 - CCR questions

Convention Blog for Music Video

    Today is the first day of the planning of the music video. I'm so glad the commercial blog is over because it was so stressful. It felt like we have been working on it forever. This time around I am working by myself because I really wanted to do a project with my family. I also didn’t want to handle the stress of meeting up with my group at  a certain location. When we filmed the commercial, I realized that the storyboard really helped with filming because when we were filming we knew exactly what shots we wanted and it took us like 15 minutes to film the whole thing. This time I am by myself that means that I have to do the storyboard by myself. This also means I have to practice my drawing skills in order to make it efficient. I did kind of feel bad for leaving my group because I know helped them in a lot of ways and they have helped me in a lot of ways as well. This project is going to be tough but I think I can manage.

    The song I originally chose for this project was Move Like a Snake by Kayla Nicole with the cheer team, which i still might do. But I was also thinking about Crank That (Soulja Boy) by Soulja Boy with the cheer team as well. Then I was thinking that I should do a music video with my family with the song Lifestyle by Rich Gang, but then the teacher informed us that we couldn’t do a music video just like the original. She said we would have to tell our own story with their words. Then they also said it couldn’t be filmed on the school campus. Then I knew I couldn't do it with the cheerleaders. My final decision is Single Ladies by Beyoncé. 

1. The costumes are going to be regular clothes because I’m going to make a story out of the song to make it my own. 
2. The location will be in my house to go with story. 
3. The actors are going to be my two little cousins and me as well. 
4. Their won’t be any makeup involved because I want it to be real as possible.
5. The props I will be using is a drink cup and a ring. 

The story for this music video is about a women who has been in a relationship for so long that she doesn’t think the man wants to be with. So she gives the man an ultimatum saying ”if you want to be with me propose to me or I’m leaving.”

The Final Blog

    Today we are finally editing our commercial. Since the desktops crashed last class they brought in laptops with the same software so we won’t have to delay editing the commercial for too long. They were telling us that since it’s not many computers with the software on it, they were going to split the class. After they thought they gave all the people on the left side with computers, they came to us asking to check if it was pinnacle studios on a specific computer. So we were about to log in to check and then they just took the computer. They took the computer because some group on the left side didn’t have a computer. After that we waited for a little bit, and then they came back to ask us to check another computer and we actually got to keep the computer at that time. So now that we got the laptop we had to dump all over again. Then we get into the software and there’s this video already on the track and we’re not really sure where it came from or who’s it was. So we just deleted it and kept moving.

      We finally shifted all our footage onto the software and started editing. So we get all the footage in the track and we finally start. So first we watched all the footage we took that day. Then we deleted all of the extra and unnecessary footage we took on the camera. The first thing we filmed on the camera on filming day was a sound check of my teammate filming us in the classroom saying hello. After we deleted all the unnecessary footage we started cutting and moving stuff around. My teammate almost deleted all the good footage of angles that we wrote on the storyboard. So I stepped in and fixed everything. I cut the takes we did have so that I can blend it with another take of a different shot. 

       When I was doing this my group members were confused as to what I was doing. I couldn’t really explain what I was doing in a logical way. But they trusted me and let me do what I was doing and then I played it and they were shocked and they liked what I did. In that moment I felt accomplished because something that I did was right. At that moment I realized that im not actually a bad editor after all. It is kind of hard to be in a group trying to edit though because everybody wants to have the computer and everybody thinks they can edit a little bit better than you. But i learn to cope with it because I usually let them do what they want until its wrong or doesn’t make sense.The next day we continued to edit and one of my group mates wasn’t there. So I did the title page and my other teammate did the music for it. We didn’t do that bad without her being here. I literally had to say like an extra five minutes after the bell just to make sure it was turned in. And we also didn’t get to add any background music because we didn’t know how. We might not get the grade we expected but I hope it’s not too bad.