Final Blog Post (6/1/14)

Final Blog Post

Why did you take this class? - I took this class because i knew it would give me the opportunity to learn new things and gain new and more skills that i can use in my future towards my career.

What did you like most about this class? - Meeting everyone here and making the friends that ive made in the past year. and the projects. the wide variety of projects to chose from instead of doing one, you have many to chose from for just one project and the way we can express our creativity just makes everything so much better.

What did you like least about this class? - I honestly cant really say i didnt like anything, i may have not liked the editing tutorials and the video poem but other then that i loved everything else.

What was your most favorite project and why? - My most favorite project would be the final project. i usually make films from the top of my head and on the go because i like to change things a lot but the final project we had three guidelines to follow and within our film i had the biggest twist/idea and in the end it really turned our fantastic and im very proud of it. i also love  the bully project seeing how we actually are making it somewhere in the contest and knowing how close we actually are to winning and the big chance we have.

 What was your least favorite project and why? - My least favorite would be the video poem because im not really into the whole poem type stuff and taking lyrics and turning them into a actual thing, im more of a lets think of something and put it together.

Discuss the overall effectiveness of the instructor - Ms. Licata is honestly one of the greatest media teachers i've had and im going to miss her and this class so much. She can easily explain a project and we will easily be able to do it. the projects aren't hard at all they are explained very well and she teaches you everything you need to know. She honestly should be proud of herself and deserves everything. I just would like to say thank you so much for teaching us and being there and when im famous ill make sure to remember you :).

What are the most valuable things you learned in the class? - Most valuable thing i learned is use your time wisely and don't wait until the last minute for projects because in college they wont give you late days and if your stuff isn't in on time then you are going to fail. Having dedicated deadlines prepares us for college and is building us up so when college does come we can make time for projects and still have fun.

Do you feel that this class will help you achieve your future academic or career goals? - YES! this class teaches you everything about the basics about most programs pros use which is very helpful. I came into the class knowing most about photoshop and after effects and i was still able to learn more than i knew which makes me better at these programs.

How could this class be improved? - It cannot be improved. It's already perfect and Ms. Licata should continue to teach this class just like she has with us. Except use nerf guns if someone falls asleep 

Additional comments: I'm honestly going to miss this class and the people in it, during this year i have built friendships with everyone and i love them to death. i hope to see everyone in the future doing well and having fun like we always should. We're a family and we'll always be a family guys! 

HAS LIFE IN THE AGE OF CASUAL MAGIC MADE MOVIEGOERS NUMB TO THE AMAZING?

1 - audiences have focus so much about the effects that when something isnt as perfect, they get angry about it plus "filmmakers were able to call someone up and ask them to do the impossible"

2 - "Resident Evil" or an "Underworld," each have hundreds of major digital shots that feature live-action, animated characters, digital mattes, and any number of other elements.

3 - kids nowadays are learning more and more and most can do most of the VFX seen in actual movies which is crazy! im still learning the basics

Something i liked about this is the VFX reel, they dont actually teach you how to do it but they show you simply steps which actually help out a lot.

another thing i liked is the references to different movies including some of the many popular ones out

a question i have is, Will VFX rapidly increase and will more jobs be available in the future 

Script Tip: Pets in Movies – How Can a Pet Improve Your Characters and Plot?

1 -  Having a pet or any animal can turn a "stereotyped character into a fresh, original one, and can also help you advance the plot in new and surprising ways"

2 - Common films have your antagonist and protagonist but adding a dog with a dog lover are bound to be more social and can change the way they act

3 -   "the film The Silence of the Lambs, Jame Gumb is the arch villain who makes clothes out of the skins of women, yet owns a toy poodle" You don't see many villains having animals which changes things up.

 One thing i like is that most people love animals and even if the movie is a horror or action what if animals had a many plot to them like Underdog 

another thing i liked is the reference to silence of the lambs since its one of my favorite movies and the actual scene with the dog and the girl in the pit is one of the best.

a question i have is, Dont people get offended when you use an animal were they think the animal is being harmed?

Weekly comments

Something i learned this week is that school can be the easiest or toughest thing in life and you have to make it how you want it to be and that you cant push things aside for later .

Something that made me happy is geting so many hours at work which lead to buying my new phone

Something that angered me is that it rained mostly all week so I couldn't play basketball

Link of interest - http://www.youtube.com/user/TheCGBro The short films all include cgi which is incredibly cool and makes me want to learn so much about it

Pixar Makes Painterly CG

1 - An artist can paint 2D illustrations in a set of key-frames & the program will automatically fill in the the key-frames in between to make the animation come to life.

2 - Disney features will use non-photorealistic rendering styles to complete animations making it easier for the artist

3 - Temporal coherence, which is the fluidness of images from frame to frame,

- I'm not really into the whole 3d animation stuff, so i didnt really find this article interesting but taking 2d images and setting key frames using a program to create the final product is pretty neat

- Would this give more artist jobs or take them away? 

13 Short Film Clichés

1 - After you learn the techniques of films, every film you watch is different and you begin to pick out what you know and what you want to learn

2 - Even though black & white looks good and can bring a lot of tension or make the film, it is over used by many filmmakers.

3 - Coulrophobia is the fear of clowns, "many short films are able to wedge clowns into their story when the clown has no reason to be in the film unless your character  works at the circus,has a clown in the family AND is relevant to the story, is a clown his/herself"

 I couldnt stop laughing about the clown part, but it does have a point on how most films have way to many common and uncommon things.

Another thing is the article is actually in a serious/sarcastic view which had me laughing for an hour, 

A question i have is, even with the common things can we still turn the film into a major thing?

Weekly comments (5/4/14)

- Something I learned this week is Life finally starts to make sense when you open your eyes and that if you have a chance with something, go for it and let nothing hold you back.

- Something that made me happy this week is that I finally realized what i actually want to be when i grew up and how ill achieve that goal.

- Something that angered me this week would be nothing, This week has been really peaceful for me

- https://www.youtube.com/user/cgtutsplus  I couldn't just chose a video from him, but he teaches you so many things with cgi and programs like maya, which is something i love

A Cheap & Easy Way to Create a Professional-Looking Infinite Black Backdrop (3/16/14)

A Cheap & Easy Way to Create a Professional-Looking Infinite Black Backdrop

- The Infinite Black background. Its visuals add a level of surrealism and style, Its been used in Music videos, dream sequences in narrative films and art films

- Especially if you don’t have the cash or space, but need your project to look professional. The first essential thing you’ll need to create an infinite black 

- Something that could make your work look either really professional or really shoddy, is the lighting

- What I like is the author created a tutorial to actually show you what you need and how to engage within the program!

- Another thing I liked is that using a Infinite Black background you can do more things instead of keeping a person still, like films and pictures

- A question I have is, Does this work more with music videos or films?

Weekly Comments (3/2/14)

- Something I learned this week is that weather sucks when you are trying to learn new things.

- Something that made me happy this week is that we started reading The Great Gatsby which I was looking forward to for a long time.

- Something that angered me is that the weather ruins a lot of important things

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXs5CmMWgfY - Muk is the greatest at doing concept logos check them out!

How to Hook Your Audience in Those Crucial First Seconds (2/16/14)

How to Hook Your Audience in Those Crucial First Seconds (2/16/14)

- The hero of your story should have a lot in common with your viewer to keep them engaged, Having characters resemble some of your viewers characteristics can keep the viewer watching.

- Even if your "main character" isn't in your first sequence, you want to mention him/her to grip their story

- The emotions being rendered could be happiness, shock, sadness, fear, or any intense feeling that will likely retain a viewer’s attention.

- The article is very useful, I like the ways it explains everything in different stages

- I like how it explains that you want to take the viewers look and put it into the character 

- One question I have is that, What if the person still doesnt like your films, do you just leave it be or fix it to what they want?

Lego movie (2/16/14)

Lego movie (2/16/14)

- They avoided making the legos look digitally perfect, by making it seem like the toys have been played with adding smudges and small cracks.

- In a stop motion movie, buying all the bricks to create the movie would cost millions for the bricks alone.

- The filmmakers opted for the flexibility of 3-D animation, with some real Lego-built sets mixed in. 

- I liked that the producers wanted to keep the look of toys that have been played with by kids by adding small adjustments.

- Another thing I liked is that they brought in Chris McKay (“Robot Chicken”) as animation co-director to help.

- How long did it take creating this movie? How long was the final render?

weekly comments (2/16/14)

Weekly Comments (2/16/14)

 This week I learned how to take clips from different movies / trailers and put them together to make something totally different, example: taking clips from toy story and audio from the movie IT.

In the future, I would like to learn more fake fighting techniques so that way in the future when I make more short films it will look more realistic and the audience will enjoy it more.

Something that frustrated me this week would be the 5 page essay, I like essays but i can never get past the third page I run out of things to write about my director.

Something that made me happy this week would be the trailer recut project, I find it amusing to take clips from different movies and make them into a horror film.

link of interest - This is a really cool 2d style banner http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJXdMhAdcDQ&feature=c4-overview&list=UUppPgpuw4lb-qdO0kGoJdwA

How To Turn That Passion For Writing and Filmmaking Into A Reality - 1/19/14

How To Turn That Passion For Writing and Filmmaking Into A Reality

- The 10,000 hour rule, if you put 10,000 hours into something you'll become a pro

- find something that you love and something you dislike and run experiments and prove your creative ability 

- Nobody in the film business knows the exact career path they want to take, many of them change their minds half way through

- I liked how raindance explains that if we put in the time and mindset the opportunities we could receive.

- another thing is that they give us the exact / close times to becoming good at something

- a question i have is, how come they change their minds midway through?

Heads above: the VFX of Sleepy Hollow - 1/19/4

Heads above: the VFX of Sleepy Hollow - 1/19/4

- There's over 120+ headless shots throughout the show, with over 400 shots done in 4 weeks.

- The actor had to wear a green hood throughout the show to make it possible to have a high quality headless horseman.

- In the show they created a city blackout, by gaining an aerial view of the town and then darkened it and began adding individual lights to each part of the town.

- I liked how the article explained they only had 2 weeks to film over 500 shots which is done mostly every week for a network TV schedule.

- Another thing i liked, is how they described what they used to do special effects so if someone like me wanted to know how i could search up the right thing and begin my journey.

- A question I have is, How much time does everything take, like how long would the rendering take for something like this?

Weekly Comments - 1/19/14

Weekly Comments - 1/19/14

During this week, i learned the different lighting setting and the use of different lights to make several lighting scenarios, the use of barn doors on lights can make narrow lighting for dim lights or brighter lighting.

In the future,  i would like to further learn the right way to have a fight scene, so that way i dont end up getting punched again, i would also like to learn how to bullet hits so it doesn't look like blood is floating in the air.

something that frustrated me this week, is that i had to remake the gun sounds for my short film since they got deleted and i couldn't find them and then during the editing of the film the clips kept disappearing which made it harder to get more effects in

Something that made me happy, would be that we got the short film finished and it came out pretty nice and then being able to work on projects we could win scholarships for future schools.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVA_07Vh1dU - This is a cinema4D tutorial on nerve cell renders, its pretty sick!