Modes Final Project 2007

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This started out as a talking head documentary on Rock Climbers in Iowa that was slowly morphed into a somewhat abstract autobiography in my opinion... I don't know if that's the best explanation of the piece but it was definitely a huge change from my original idea... but the parameters are as follows...


3-5 min. Portrait of a Person/Place
Technical Parameters---

1. Piece Must start with 10 seconds of black followed by a countdown with beep, followed by the video itself and then ending with 10 seconds of black...

2.There must be a variety of shot sizes and angles, at least three of each...

3. There must be at least 3 instances of continuity editing...

4. Must be evidence of mixed sound using at least three separate tracks. No Pre-Recorded sound. Non-diegetic sound is allowed but you MUST use diegetic sound.


I was totally not impressed with my final version I had some horrible buzzing because of how quiet I was in my audio recordings but I used a 3 band equalizer filter to lower the gain and it sounded a lot better but still doesn't make it a better piece... I was surprised when I got the 4th most amount of votes to see which were the top three in class to show in the final viewing... but I still didn't think it was good...

It was supposed to be a based on a true character but at the same time I really wanted to show the characters "realness", sincerity, and isolation from his comforts... I wanted to have another phone call also, but thought it would be hard to start half way through the piece having finished the first call... I also had trouble with rain and with trying to get people to help film for me, so I ended up as you may be able to notice using a lot of tripod shots that I had to run press record, run and climb quick, jump down and move the camera and do it again for like an hour... but Amy Jo helped film after class one day and was really helpful after I asked for help in class but that's why I didn't have many locations, and also why I didn't have a lot of shots, because there were quite a few other angles I wanted to get with a more handheld approach, and there were quite a few more locations that would have been so much better in warmer weather so I didn't use the footage... but you get the idea... I was stuck with 2 tapes of footage from basically only a day of filming... Then after watching the footage I realized how small most of these locations are and how very unimpressive the climbs were... so I struggled to make it look like they were more for just having something to do than being a mockumentary of sorts... anyways, I wanted to tell as much about the character without actually SAYING something about the character... specifically through his conversation over the phone and through his attire and actions... the music is heightened at intense parts of the conversation... and I totally admit to forcing some of the conversation but I wanted to dive deeper into the character as well as having more footage to show and not enough audio to cover it so I went through like three evolutions of the audio phone convo... but I'm really interested in what people have to say about this one because I hated doing the project but I tried to do it well... if that makes since so if you read and watch this please let me know... Enjoy...

Bran & Park

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This was a project we had to do as an in class group project working with an 8mm camera in production studio with lights and a set and the whole sha-bang, given a set dialogue between two characters that must stay the same, while the characters and their surroundings were voted on by the class as a whole... The ideas were brought to the class by the students interested in being the Director for the project and from there everyone else volunteered for their position... from lighting, to script supervisor, to the actors themselves were all done together as a class... Section #4... anyways I put out some ideas and by a slim margin was selected as the director for the project... I had an immense amount of pressure to complete a shot timeline and idea for the project which ended up being a guy passing through a security checkpoint in an airport... I was really scared because I was anticipating everyone's grade being based solely on my performance in how well the film did... needless to say I learned SO MUCH!!! and I would definitely do some things differently and I have a whole new perspective on how much goes into making a movie... anyways some of the parameters were a little more lax but very binding...

-There was only 6 minutes of film stock...
-We had a two hour rehearsal session that tuesday and then the actual shoot on thursday of the same 2 hour limit...
-The shots required were an establishing shot, angle on park, angle on bran, several extreme close-ups, several cut-aways, and separately recorded sound effects and/or ambient sound...
-Begin and end with 10 seconds of black...
-And the final versions would be edited in pairs and the best version would be voted on by the class and shown in the final Modes viewing...
-Must stick to the script but the characters are up for interpretation...

Needless to say mine wasn't the best version to be shown in the final Modes viewing, and my editing partner was the assistant director, and I made some last minute changes that set the audio track off from the video so you can tell there mouths are off from the audio in two places and I plan on fixing it one day but we'll see... Enjoy...

Soundscape Project

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So this is best summed up as my TA says... as a commercial for Kyle Collins the gamer... I plan on doing another version hopefully before this one is due as an alternate version, one that places the audience in the space, and doesn't just sell the packaging... I really look up to and respect Kyle a lot so I saw it only fitting to immortalize him in as a figure of something he has dedicated a lot of time and energy too. Oh, and he's a wicked sweet magician.


Parameters:

This piece should be approximately 1-minute long. (10 seconds more or less is okay.)

Mix the piece using three tracks of audio in Final Cut Pro with all tracks playing at least some of the time.

-One track must be devoted to spoken voice. This will be the interview track. Do not include any sound of the interviewer asking questions on this track. (You will need to edit this voice out, so leave space between your questions and your subject's answers when you do the interview.) There must be evidence of editing on this track.

-A second track will be ambient sound. This is the sounds of a space that add realism and character to a setting. These MUST NOT be the actual sounds from the background of the interview.

-The third track will contain sound elements of your own choosing-- sound effects, additional voice, or additional background elements. There must also be evidence of editing on this track. In other words, you may not use a single sound for the entire track. No prerecorded music is allowed.

NOTE: The piece should be mixed to mask the edits as much as possible. For example, the speech track, where you have edited out words, must be seamless.

My unfinished High School Video Yearbook Project from a long long long long long long long long long time ago... P.F.C.P. (pre-Final Cut Pro) 2003

Wow, so I found my old Digital 8 Camera that I got for Christmas in 2002 in a box in my room that I recently discovered while looking for one of my all-time favorite movies the other night.... Perfect Opposites was the movie btw... I digress...

Inside the box there were 3 tapes, not labeled in anyway of course... I skim the first two tapes and they are basically me goofing off with my room mates from freshman year, Matt Schneeman and Luther Bangert, and a really cool dude from down the hall Murray Purdue... And another 5 minute clip of footage they shot on a weekend when I went home to Virginia but mistakenly left my camera in Iowa City, entertaining to say the least even if it was only to kill time and tape... I may post these tapes later on if people show interest... I digress...

The last tape contained the final prints of a Video Yearbook Project I conjured up Fall of my senior year of high school... Failed regrettably, only to the struggles of a soloed endeavor... My heart was in the right place, sell the stupid thing for $20 a pop to all my friends parents living vicariously through our high school experiences... You can't get any more heart felt than that...

Kidding, it was a fun reason for me to use my brand spankin' new camera and have footage to edit and play with etc. I was a geek at times... anyways I digress... wow I have A.D.D.... So the idea was to film every sport and activity around school and put it together in this sleek, hip, cool DVD Yearbook for the end of the year... I would have people introduce the different activities and talk about things they remember from Manchester... Superlatives... All that traditional sappy stuff that soaks the pages of our traditional yearbooks every year... but in a spiffy new-age modern medium...

I wanted badly to finish it, but attending everything for filming, editing, directing, producing, and everything else by myself became a huge burden... I got burnt out after most of the fall sports and struggled even to film the winter sports... You get the idea... but I found these silly clips from when I filmed in Digital 8 and edited with an old program called Pinnacle... Man did I think that was sweet at the time... If I only knew then what I know now... oh not to mention I had just started taking my first video production class with Mr. Blubaugh that year so I had no real knowledge of the craft until later... It's of course reflected in the work... anyways I rambled quite a bit on this post so if you have any questions or anything hit me up, leave a comment, or whatever... Hope you enjoy the work... Peace...

One Shot Criteria...

Ok, so I have a little time to myself now, and thought I would elaborate on the whole One Shot idea in case people had any questions...

The goals of the assignment:

1. To learn the cameras
2. To practice basic concepts of image design
3. To develop a sense of temporal design
4. To start understanding the power of sound as a seperate element
5. To engage in the collaborative process
6. To become more familiar with the basic operation of the editing stations


Technical Parameters:

1. The piece must start with 10 seconds of BLACK and then 50-60 seconds of picture (NO MORE, NO LESS) followed by 10 seconds of BLACK then a credit with names of the team members (take a picture of a piece of paper with your names on it). It is not necessary to title this piece, in fact, I advise you not to. There may, however, be a case when some words within the shot may function as a title. That is appropriate. The key here is that there can be no cut in the picture track (except to and from black at the beginning and end).

2. There must be a single track of sound added to the video. It also must begin and end within the 50-60 second time frame. This sound cannot be the original sound (recorded with the image), nor can it be prerecorded music.


Aesthetic/Design Parameters:

1. Every technical aspect of the image and sound in this video contributes to aesthetic meaning. All elements of composition will be considered (focus, lens angle, exposure, camera movement, duration, etc.) as must all aspects of sound (recording noise, clarity, volume, etc.).

2. When grading we will also be thinking about how the video works as a whole. Though this is only a one-minute shot, it should stand alone as a well thought out and complete short video, with attention given to the beginning, middle, and end of the piece.


So this was taken directly from the syllabus to give you an idea of what we were working with... The groups were split into two's with the exception of my odd man group of three... I had a great group and was really lucky, I think we did a great job...

I curtailed the slugs at the beginning and end for purpose of posting on the web but they were there on final copy... Also along the lines of "in case you were wondering..." the credits at the end were supposed to appear as a coffee house menu of sorts and was too small to read on this format but in class on the projector worked well...


The Credits:

Bill Schierbrock......................Camera & Voiceover
A dark roast that will get you going early in the morning

Cecil Yeatts............................Camera & Arms
A kick in the pants that will keep you up all night

Melissa Smed.........................Girl & Voiceover
A lightly roasted blend that will keep you going through the day

Elaine Mudge..........................Girlfriend
A classic house blend that will warm your body and soul

Kate Stanislawski.....................Outdoor Girl
A delicious medium roast to help you unwind

Special Thanks to the The Java House


Well I hope everyone enjoys my first completed video project in Modes, feel free to leave comments and let me know what you think... Holla back!

Paperback Rhino Improv (scene 2)

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Scene 2 of me being in love with myself on my own video blog... ok but seriously though just wanted to put some stuff up of me in my improv group... I love it, we have so much fun... anyways I got class I'll talk more about these later, but enjoy...

(added later) Every time I watch this scene I can't believe where it goes... so I hope everyone who sees this item either wants to come see our group perform (improv of course nothing else), or at the very least decides not to pass judgement on me... kidding enjoy the clip there will be more to come in the future... So come see us perform... ;-)

Paperback Rhino Improv (scene 1)

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So this was a scene that I was in at an anti-Valentine's Day program on the west side of the river, for my comedy improv troupe affectionately named "Paperback Rhino"... I love this group everyone in it is great, and I'm honored to be a part of it...


(added later) Ok so after closer inspection, this scene was not going anywhere due largely in part to my unnecessary domination of the stage with my weak character development... I should have delved deeper into Shane's character as a homeless person, and had Sean not come in to help us out, I would still be up on stage this very minute gasping in desperation...

but I had to show this scene to help fill in missed humor on the much better scene 2... and all I can say is I hope you didn't watch them out of order for your sake... but you get the idea of our improv group... We do some really fun shows and I recommend anyone in the Iowa City area to catch our shows whenever you can...

Modes One Shot Final

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So I guess it's safe to say this is my first finished official college film project... I'll put up the stipulations for this later but I have class... so enjoy for now...

Student Video Yearbook Volleyball

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Third and final finished part of this high school project... I started editing for the wrestling season and I filmed a few games of the basketball season, but never made it to final form... but I'm sure they would have been pretty flippin' sweet had they been finished...

Student Video Yearbook Field Hockey

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The second part of this mysterious project I never finished in high school... more later...

Student Video Yearbook Football

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Sorry for the poor quality, I will explain later but to sum it all up technology made me its' bitch this past weekend when I was trying to create this stupid blog...