Think Like a Movie maker
During the past couple of weeks we’ve worked on a project called Vibrant Video. The goal of this project was a to develop skills to become an effective movie maker. Before I go any deeper I just want to say that this class has been one of my favourite classes of all time! From learning about movies to casting in them to directing them, I’ve enjoyed every bit. But, still there were some aspects that I feel I could’ve really improved on. The main concepts I completed were 4 main moviemaking skills, note taking, and challenged based, which all corresponded to becoming a video maker.
The skills I completed for the first part of this project were skills 1 and 2, which are ‘Think Like a Movie Maker’ and ‘Framing Shots and Developing Angles’. I’d say Mrs Williams has taught us very well about movie making, I feel like I learned more than I would’ve with any other teacher. I know really learnt a lot from both of skills in different ways. The first skill was very necessary for me to understand the concept of this project. After learning the basics of movie making we were tasked with creating a video about one of our hobbies, the hobby I chose was my friend Sepaus, as a joke but I ended up getting a really good mark. The criteria for the video included combining a few videos and photos (as well as stickers background music, etc.) in Clips, which is the less advanced twin brother of iMovie. Something I feel like I could’ve improved on would’ve been adding more to the video, better angles, maybe more effects and I definitely should’ve taken the project more seriously. Overall I’d say that project went pretty well for my first video.
Skill 2, was arguably more important than skill 1 in my opinion. Sure skill 1 taught us the basics of movie making but learning skill 2 really helped me go above my own expectations for movie making. Skill 2 helped us learn about developing angles. To show our knowledge we would have to make a silent film using different angles, background music, a old timey filter to give the movie a more old timey look, and most importantly we couldn’t talk because it was a silent movie. The day before the silent movie was due I forgot about it so I had to plan a really scuffed silent move that I had to make only 2 hours before I had to go to bed. I came up with incorporating lost treasure into my movie and since I was filming in my living room I named the silent film “The Hunt for the lost treasure of the living room.” It took me a whole 2 hours to complete the movie and it was worth it for all of the effort. In the end I would say that my silent movie went well considering everything. The only thing I would add would be more camera angles into my movie, there was different angles but I definitely could’ve added more. Overall I think I was able to use my skills and develop further pieces of evidence to show that I am able to create videos.
-Movie Making Notes
During my research I worked two more skills called ‘Skill 3: Planning and Shooting’ and ‘Skill 4: Making Most of Effects’. Skill 3 was centred around planning a film by using a storyboard. We were divided into small groups, and I was paired with Landon. We were tasked with developing a tutorial movie that demonstrates professional approaches commonly used in these types of films. We worked together to create a storyline, shoot our film from unique perspectives, then edit the film using composition and colour. We also used the latest iMovie update for iOS 15 template (we used the DIY storyboard version). Now you must be asking yourself “What did we make the video about?” Well we made a tutorial video on how to be cool like Layton McRae. This skill, I believe, let me grasp the relevance of all of these skillz and how they can significantly improve the film’s quality.
The next skill, number 4, was about making the best qualities of effects. For this skill we were placed in a small group, once again, and were tasked with creating a special effects sequence. This time I had to work with Julian, Mickey and Hannah. We worked together to create another short video (but this time based on special effects). This special effects sequence was tasked to be a short scene that features one of more special effects. We created a special effects video about two robbers (Mickey and I) who robbed a bank but then a magical fairy fluttered in (Hannah) and made Mickey vanish. After Hannah made mickey vanish I blew her up with a special effect missile, after I her blew her up I ran away with all of the money. We also added sound effects with different camera angles. I think that we probably could’ve improved the transitions for the film. The transitions weren’t smooth and some elements could’ve be presented better. Overall I enjoyed this little project, it was fun and I didn’t have to do any homework after (which I usually have to do.)
That concludes the blog! hanks for reading and until next time!