Group B: Jonathan, Andrew, Chris G., Gary, T.J., Shane, Tonio, and Hui
The criteria were already announced on BB, but here is the list again:
1. Pre-Production: Your Participation on Open Lab
2. Lighting: Rembrandt
3. Lighting: Split
4. Lighting: Butterfly in b/w & color
5. Contra Zoom
6. Effective Use of Jib-Arm
7. Outfit/Props
8. Your Production Participation/Attitude
9. Your Contribution to crew
10. Your Individual Achievements
Here is the youtube link (unlisted) of some of the Project I footage from last year. It is unedited. It is not required to have a clear storyline, but this group did. I think they did a good job:
Even if not everyone in your group participates in the online discussion, do not worry. Then you will score very well in the category 1.
In the past, there were some students stating that they didn’t post anything because their groups already had good ideas, and there was nothing to add. Well, there is no 100% perfect pre-production no matter how experienced one can be. Your participation matters. Every voice counts. If there are more than one ideas, that’s fine. Just prepared to do them all. At the beginning of the session, I will make some suggestions then.
Enjoy the project! This is a fun opportunity for you to express your creativity!
You mentioned a plot. There is no need to write a short story, however. As long as you have a short “situation” for each required shots, it should be fine.
The group from last year (which you can watch on youtube) did more, and they had a lot of fun in pre-production and production. But again, you don’t have to have a short story.
an idea would be to maybe to do “album covers” with either each one of us or in pairs and use the different techniques with different color textures or black and white or do them as portraits as well
Yes, album covers are good for some of the required shots. Please know that you will be filming, not taking photos. So, some movements are necessary. You could simply have block the actors (giving them “marks” on the floor) before they walk into the frame, and then, we will see a specific lighting on them for each “situation”.
Anyone down for an oldschool atmospheric horror movie like Psycho or Nosferato?
We could definitely incorporate all of these shots in a scary movie, especially if we shot in black and white.
Yes, for this project. It is the appropriate approach. Do some good lighting and shots. Each shot can be short.
Editing is not required for this project. I would rather see all the shots. Some of them might be considered outtakes. What I wish to see is everything that you tried to film. Therefore, don’t even delete any outtakes.
Concerning the ideas, there should be more details.Then, the whole group would know what to shoot, what to bring, and how to prepare for the project. If anyone is missing in your group and if you know how to contact them, inform them to join this OpenLab group. Otherwise, they will not get any point in the online participation (pre-production).
If no one else or not many people are participating in the discussion in your group, don’t wait around. Just propose your ideas in detail and prepare for it tomorrow. Then, you will score very well on this project.
There is no reason for you to receive a poor grade even if your teammates don’t participate.
Great job group, Iove how our project came out. Even though we discussed our shots the day of, we got some really cool ones that worked.
I know it isn’t necessary but I’m going to ask Ryoya if I could have the shots so I could edit them into a quick little short. I know TJ wanted to do the same as well. I think it’ll come out nice if edited.
I downloaded all the footage on one of our external hard drives yesterday. This afternoon is ideal if you wish to get a copy of your group’s footage. Because of the performances of “Fallen Sparrows”, I’m not certain when it is appropriate to do it on Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday, the spring break will start, and I’m not planning to return to the college for a while.
I edited our footage just to make it easier to see our shots in sequence. I know it’s not going to be graded, but could we show it in class if we have time? It’ll be fun.
Thanks.
Thanks, Jonathan for editing this. “Chinese-American Horror Story”? I didn’t know that it was the theme…
Sure. This can be screened in class. I’m out of town now as you know and thus will be absent today, but at the beginning of the session, you can suggest it to Erica and Miguel. Then, discuss what your group achieved in terms of camerawork and lighting. Also think of how you could do something similar to this better next time. I encourage all the students to exchange their opinions in class.
These are some of my comments on your footage as follows:
Group B
Some of the camerawork of the feet walking is good. When it tilts up, it gets a bit shaky. T.J. needs to be lit more, especially in the medium shots, we don’t see him in the background.
T.J. wears a green hat and a purple shirt. As a serial killer, he stands out too much. Don’t you think?
So, I see Rembrandt lighting in this suspenseful scene. That’s an interesting choice. Hui is lit nicely, and we see T.J. in the background just enough. The butterfly lighting is for the killing shot…this kind of lighting is usually for beauty shots as discussed in class. Thus, it is an unusual choice because of the plot that you came up with. The split lighting on T.J. is fine.
The contra zoom is appropriate for the story. But technically, you should have tried it more as you need to improve it.
Did you use the jib-arm? It is not clear to me…
For this project, I would rather see different people as actors, so that you all get to operate the camera and light scenes.
My impression is that this group needed a lot more pre-production. I know that Jonathan wrote the story, but I’m not sure how the group members collaborated with each other in planning. I recall there were not enough interactions on OpenLab. In our session of 4.5 hours last Monday, you had one spot in the studio, which is a fairly simple set up. I think you could have accomplished more. Chip also noticed that although there were some students who are skillful in lighting in the group, it was disorganized at the beginning. It was not clear what the group was planning to do. I think that was how you lost some time.
Next time, I suggest that plan more in detail. There should be no planning during production. You can make adjustments, but if you don’t have all the details planned out, you don’t get the most out of your project.
Group B: Jonathan, Andrew, Chris G., Gary, T.J., Shane, Tonio, and Hui
The criteria were already announced on BB, but here is the list again:
1. Pre-Production: Your Participation on Open Lab
2. Lighting: Rembrandt
3. Lighting: Split
4. Lighting: Butterfly in b/w & color
5. Contra Zoom
6. Effective Use of Jib-Arm
7. Outfit/Props
8. Your Production Participation/Attitude
9. Your Contribution to crew
10. Your Individual Achievements
Here is the youtube link (unlisted) of some of the Project I footage from last year. It is unedited. It is not required to have a clear storyline, but this group did. I think they did a good job:
Part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RrdaXr7Wv0
Part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-Rd1XMALHQ
Even if not everyone in your group participates in the online discussion, do not worry. Then you will score very well in the category 1.
In the past, there were some students stating that they didn’t post anything because their groups already had good ideas, and there was nothing to add. Well, there is no 100% perfect pre-production no matter how experienced one can be. Your participation matters. Every voice counts. If there are more than one ideas, that’s fine. Just prepared to do them all. At the beginning of the session, I will make some suggestions then.
Enjoy the project! This is a fun opportunity for you to express your creativity!
Ryoya
Hello Group B,
It’s shane
Yes, Shane. Any ideas?
So who has any ideas?
Tonio,
You are creative. Don’t be shy to make any suggestions.
I have a cool hat we could use for a prop. its kinda festive like maud gras and has bells on it. Its also green purple an yellow.
But now that i realize it, we should probably come up with some sort of plot or theme first. Any ideas?
Andrew,
You mentioned a plot. There is no need to write a short story, however. As long as you have a short “situation” for each required shots, it should be fine.
The group from last year (which you can watch on youtube) did more, and they had a lot of fun in pre-production and production. But again, you don’t have to have a short story.
an idea would be to maybe to do “album covers” with either each one of us or in pairs and use the different techniques with different color textures or black and white or do them as portraits as well
Yes, album covers are good for some of the required shots. Please know that you will be filming, not taking photos. So, some movements are necessary. You could simply have block the actors (giving them “marks” on the floor) before they walk into the frame, and then, we will see a specific lighting on them for each “situation”.
Have fun!
Or we could do a music video instead?
I think a music video requires a lot more planning. Keep it more simple for this project.
Anyone down for an oldschool atmospheric horror movie like Psycho or Nosferato?
We could definitely incorporate all of these shots in a scary movie, especially if we shot in black and white.
I can edit it too if needed so we can make it a short film instead of just a bunch of shots.
Yes, for this project. It is the appropriate approach. Do some good lighting and shots. Each shot can be short.
Editing is not required for this project. I would rather see all the shots. Some of them might be considered outtakes. What I wish to see is everything that you tried to film. Therefore, don’t even delete any outtakes.
Concerning the ideas, there should be more details.Then, the whole group would know what to shoot, what to bring, and how to prepare for the project. If anyone is missing in your group and if you know how to contact them, inform them to join this OpenLab group. Otherwise, they will not get any point in the online participation (pre-production).
We have to agree on a topic before we can fill in details, waiting for some feedback here 🙂
Jonathan,
If no one else or not many people are participating in the discussion in your group, don’t wait around. Just propose your ideas in detail and prepare for it tomorrow. Then, you will score very well on this project.
There is no reason for you to receive a poor grade even if your teammates don’t participate.
I like that the horror idea Jonathan. Im bringing a green hat as a prop.
This group needs to more specifically discuss these elements:
2. Lighting: Rembrandt
3. Lighting: Split
4. Lighting: Butterfly in b/w & color
5. Contra Zoom
6. Effective Use of Jib-Arm
7. Outfit/Props
Be creative, and have fun!
I like the black and white idea background, we could totally use all those lighting techniques, in that process. I have some props as well also.
Great job group, Iove how our project came out. Even though we discussed our shots the day of, we got some really cool ones that worked.
I know it isn’t necessary but I’m going to ask Ryoya if I could have the shots so I could edit them into a quick little short. I know TJ wanted to do the same as well. I think it’ll come out nice if edited.
I downloaded all the footage on one of our external hard drives yesterday. This afternoon is ideal if you wish to get a copy of your group’s footage. Because of the performances of “Fallen Sparrows”, I’m not certain when it is appropriate to do it on Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday, the spring break will start, and I’m not planning to return to the college for a while.
For grading the project, no editing is required.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD2MduGzoUY
I edited our footage just to make it easier to see our shots in sequence. I know it’s not going to be graded, but could we show it in class if we have time? It’ll be fun.
Thanks.
Thanks, Jonathan for editing this. “Chinese-American Horror Story”? I didn’t know that it was the theme…
Sure. This can be screened in class. I’m out of town now as you know and thus will be absent today, but at the beginning of the session, you can suggest it to Erica and Miguel. Then, discuss what your group achieved in terms of camerawork and lighting. Also think of how you could do something similar to this better next time. I encourage all the students to exchange their opinions in class.
Here is the youtube link of this group’s footage (this is unlisted, not for public viewing):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuzR43jBE6o
These are some of my comments on your footage as follows:
Group B
Some of the camerawork of the feet walking is good. When it tilts up, it gets a bit shaky. T.J. needs to be lit more, especially in the medium shots, we don’t see him in the background.
T.J. wears a green hat and a purple shirt. As a serial killer, he stands out too much. Don’t you think?
So, I see Rembrandt lighting in this suspenseful scene. That’s an interesting choice. Hui is lit nicely, and we see T.J. in the background just enough. The butterfly lighting is for the killing shot…this kind of lighting is usually for beauty shots as discussed in class. Thus, it is an unusual choice because of the plot that you came up with. The split lighting on T.J. is fine.
The contra zoom is appropriate for the story. But technically, you should have tried it more as you need to improve it.
Did you use the jib-arm? It is not clear to me…
For this project, I would rather see different people as actors, so that you all get to operate the camera and light scenes.
My impression is that this group needed a lot more pre-production. I know that Jonathan wrote the story, but I’m not sure how the group members collaborated with each other in planning. I recall there were not enough interactions on OpenLab. In our session of 4.5 hours last Monday, you had one spot in the studio, which is a fairly simple set up. I think you could have accomplished more. Chip also noticed that although there were some students who are skillful in lighting in the group, it was disorganized at the beginning. It was not clear what the group was planning to do. I think that was how you lost some time.
Next time, I suggest that plan more in detail. There should be no planning during production. You can make adjustments, but if you don’t have all the details planned out, you don’t get the most out of your project.
All the best,
Ryoya