Locations Found! PP#11

         WE GOT THE LOCATIONS!    

        So after about 3 hours yesterday of just riding around, I came across a couple of places that could be used for the beginning portion of my opening.  I essentially just needed a large field, so after a couple of places, I managed to locate a selected few that I would consider.

        First was Heron Field, which is located about half a mile from my house.  Now I do like this place a lot to film since it is fairly empty and the grass is tame compared to other locations.  But one thing that really sticks out for me is the school in the back!  I'm sure there is a workaround for this, like filming in certain directions, but this is something to consider if I happen to film here.  

          

        Next is an empty lot I found near David's residence.  I like how the grass is a bit more "unruly", and should make the beginning portion seem more realistic.  I also like how it is a lot closer to David's house, which would be really convenient for filming and shifting from one portion to another.  And speaking of the other area to film...

        This is the room I was referring to that we could use in order to film the majority of the DnD scene.  There are lots of open lighting, along with a big table in the middle that could be used in order to put the miniatures, set, and everything else.  

        Here is another place that I happened to stumble upon, and it seems nice, and looks like the opportunity for some cool shots is really high!

        But that's pretty much it.  Those locations seem the most promising to shoot, and shooting should proceed about next week!

                                                                

                                                                                                                                                -Noa

Let the location scouting begin!!! PP#10

         Wow!  We're already ten blog postings into this project!  First of all, I just want to say thank you for coming along with me on this journey, it surely does help to have someone else along side me as I'm creating this project.  And this blog posting today is going to be slightly special, considering the fact that I have to leave the comfort of my own home on order to gather some photos for this blog.  So sit tight, grab a Coke Zero because this one is going to be a hot one (since I live in Florida after all).

        Now before I go cruising around town looking for places, there's a couple things that I should point out before I set sail.  In my previous blog postings, I mentioned that I was unfortunately moving.  Now although this wouldn't greatly affect my project, I do simply have to "roll with the punches", and find another place to film for the ending portion of my opening (the DnD scene).  I was originally thinking about filming in my house, but everything in my room is currently in Home Depot boxes, so that would be a big no-no as it wouldn't really fit with the idea that I originally had in mind.  

        Let me turn your attention to David, who has not only been one of my great friends for about 5 years now, however he was kind enough to donate his house to the production of this opening.  He has an underground sort-of portion to his house, and he said that we could use that area for filming.  Talk about perfect timing, because I'm literally moving and he really came in clutch!

                                                 Me (Spider-Man shirt) and David!

        So I know where I'm going to film most of my opening, but what about the other portion that take place in a large field/area?  That's where I'm going to have some trouble.  And it's even worse considering the fact that I'm a sophomore, with NO CAR!!! 

        But, that's okay!  I have other means of transportation that can totally be helpful.  Now I guess I could ask my parents for a ride or something like that, but why?   Not only are they quite busy most of the time, but I have some transportation of my own!  Something that I haven't really talked about a lot on this  blog, but I'm actually an avid longboarder, and I love going around town photographing things that I come across.   

        Here a couple photos that I've taken over the time I've been skating here in Weston.  Now I actually don't have a clear idea in mind for the large field portion of the opening.  So I'm actually going to head out right now and report my findings in the next blog!

                                                                                                                                    -Noa

DaVinci Resolve VS Adobe Premiere: Which one should I use? PP#9

         Davinci and Premiere are probably the most popular editing softwares out there.  And despite they're clear differences in pricing, style, etc. they're all the same, at least in my perspective.  So when it comes to this opening, I'm going to have to decide which software I will be using for the editing portion.

        When it came to other past projects, I would mostly use DaVinci, just because the basic version of the application is free.  But my class recently got the whole Adobe suite, which would encompass a lot more than just Premiere, as it could also potentially allow me to have access to things like After Effects, or Photoshop.  So after hearing this, I started to question whether I should use good ol' reliable, or the new Premiere.

        After some research, I think I'm going to stick with the ladder.  I've already learned my lesson on biting off more than I can chew by trying newer sort of things.  So not only do I want to stick with what I know, I also generally think DaVinci better for a couple of reasons

1. In terms of how each application performs, DaVinci is the winner, at least in my case.  When it comes to how each system operate, they each use a portion of the computer to use to perform.  Premiere uses the CPU, the central processing unit of the computer, but DaVinci uses the GPU, the graphics processing unit.  And depending on what computer you got/ specs of said computer, my GPU is more reliable than my CPU, so DaVinci it is.  

2.  DaVinci is often tossed around as being more "professional".  And whether this is just a sweet tool for marketing, it seems a majority of people who have collectively used both applications seemingly think DaVinci is the more profound one.

3.Interface is definitely in favor of DaVinci fortunately.  The edit and cut portion is just *chef's kiss*.   Like actually, I really do enjoy how much simpler it is compared to other applications.  So when it comes to picking one or the other, why bother with the more confusing one when I'm on the clock?

        So after a while, DaVinci seems like the way to go, which is fortunate since I've already got it updated recently on my PC.  Now the only thing left to do was grab some footage!

                                                                                                                -Noa 

Sources:

https://ymcinema.com/2019/06/04/the-nle-dilemma-should-premiere-users-switch-to-davinci-resolve/

https://www.theme-junkie.com/davinci-resolve-vs-premiere-pro/

https://www.theme-junkie.com/wp-content/uploads/davinci-resolve-vs-premiere-pro-660x440.jpg

https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud.html?sdid=KKQWX&mv=search&ef_id=CjwKCAiA9tyQBhAIEiwA6tdCrJdVqBA7eSxaCx8BdzfuC11ZXETv-jjZmeeeCpZSGnpLvAyjAliZVRoCIPoQAvD_BwE:G:s&s_kwcid=AL!3085!3!378086859510!e!!g!!adobe%20programs!151096240!80028930147&gclid=CjwKCAiA9tyQBhAIEiwA6tdCrJdVqBA7eSxaCx8BdzfuC11ZXETv-jjZmeeeCpZSGnpLvAyjAliZVRoCIPoQAvD_BwE

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/docs/processors/what-is-a-gpu.html#:~:text=What%20does%20GPU%20stand%20for,designed%20to%20accelerate%20graphics%20rendering.&text=GPUs%20may%20be%20integrated%20into,as%20a%20discrete%20hardware%20unit.

Storyboard created! PP#8

         Hello and welcome back to another week of my blogging process, I hope you're enjoying your stay.  I've been working quite a bit on the portfolio project, and managed to actually finish the storyboards.  With the help of Spotify Premium, I was able to knock out the story board in no time! 

        I apologize for making the photos so large, but that was the only way to make the wording and pictures legible since the photos only have such a limited resolution.  But with that out of the way, I'd figured I'd just go ahead and explain the premise of the opening, giving insight on what is going to happen!

        Starting off with page 1, the start shows a knight and his fellow squire out in the middle of nowhere.  You can tell that they've been through quite a bit.  Not only are they barely standing, but the front knight seems to be bleeding tremendously.  With one last final gasp and step, he trembles onto his knees, with death very close insight.  The fellow squire, shocked, proceeds to hold his dear friend in his hand, crying at the unfortunate fate.  They exchange the usual stereotypical last words, like "Tell my family I love them.", as the squire proceeds to be filled with sorrow and gives a large yelp "NOOO!" right after his demise.  

        With this start in mind, I figured I'd break it down, and I'll do the same for the rest of the opening once I talk more about it in this blog post.  But for this start, I wanted the two characters opening in this scene to be displayed in a pretty vast open space.  In a little bit, (which I'll include in another blog post, so stay tuned!) I plan on doing some location scouting, and with this prompt, all I'm really looking for is a dry, large, open patch of land that is devoid of people.  Moreover,  with the outfits, I said I plan on either going to Party city or just making something at home with household supplies, since, you know, I'm on a budget by the way!  One last thing to point out is that for the fake blood, I think a good substitute would be maybe ketchup?  I feel like it would look both real enough to convey that the character is bleeding, but give enough to the idea that this is all just essentially a skit, much like a comedy.

        

        After that, a match-cut is shown in order to imply that the whole scene within the two nights was just a figure of their imaginations as they were just playing DnD, a tabletop roleplaying game.  Nick finishing the long exaggerated "NOO" raises confusion amongst the table when the Dungeon Master Josh tells David that he is in fact dead.  David doesn't take the news kindly and is rather confused/mad about how he actually died.  The player and the DM argue a little bit more, and at the end of it all, David settles with the idea of him being dead.  

    

        This whole remaining section is just going to take place from either within my own house or possibly one of my friend's houses (since I am moving after all.)  I have all the gear for this part of the opening, so it could theoretically get filmed prior to anything else, but for ease of sake for not only my friends, and me, we'll just film in order of the events.  

        David gets a text on his phone shortly after accepting defeat.  And although the audience can't really tell what's going on, it's fairly obvious that it isn't good considering the look on not only David's face but on everyone else.  He proceeds to head out while the concerned look on everyone's face stays.  The title card swings as the door closes.

Gathering some materials PP#7

         Now a major element for this idea to work is not only the friends, which I discussed in my last blog posting, but it will also be the actual Dungeons and Dragons setting for the majority of the opening.  The knight outfits I'll probably go to either Party City, or, maybe just conjure something up from within my house, but for the time being, I'm going to focus on getting the DnD supplies ready.  

        Now as an avid DnD player, I've collected quite a bit of stuff over the years, like miniatures, buildings, books, etc.   These are the props that most players tend to use in order to bring their game to life.  Like this sort of thing:

This one is from a magazine called MagPi

                                                This one is from Stranger Things!

        Now although I obviously don't have the items in the images since I just pulled it off of Google, I do have the materials necessary to make something similar.  I, fortunately, collected a map grid, lots of miniature characters, and some trees and some buildings.  This will be used in order to help give some more context to not only what the players are playing, but offer a nice way to transition from the two major parts of my opening.   

        The items that I OWN!:

        So above is a scene that I quickly set up, which is just to showcase what I got so far, and what I'll most likely use during the actual filming.  

        Storyboard coming up next!

                                                                                                                            -Noa

I Need Friends for this! PP#6

    So at about twelve o'clock last night (yes, I know my sleep schedule is bad, I'm working to fix it!), I asked my group chat consisting of me, and five other individuals.  These five consisted of David, Josh, Nick, Salomon, and Federico.  Not only are they my best friends, but I figured they would be the PERFECT cast for this opening film I'm shooting.  

    I met Salomon and Nick in middle school during our P.E class, and we instantly had a connection.  Video games and hanging out were really fun with them and we spent a lot getting to know each other.  Those two then ultimately led me to meeting the rest of the group.  And although I've known David, Josh and Federico for less time, that doesn't make the dynamic between us any different.  We all get along very well, and tend to be really funny at times!  And I'd figured THIS would play a crucial part in my opening.   I'd really want to encapsulate our tone, and portray that into the opening and give it a really raw feeling to it.

    But first, I needed to actually ask them to see if they're on board.  I told them I'd describe the overall plot, and let me know what they think.

The responses!:

    Welp, there you have it.  Fortunately everyone likes the idea, but doesn't necessarily mean that we can go through with it.  We all have really busy schedules, so when it comes to the actual filming portion, some planning is going to be needed heavily.  Not only will I have to come up with a story board and show everyone how the opening will most likely turn out, but also make sure I get it done prior to a weekend that we are all free.  

    These guys are going to be CRITICAL for the production of this opening.  Although they're not doing anything post production wise, they're the backbone for my opening to thrive well.  

    I'm going to work on a storyboard for the rest of the week, and stay tuned as I'll post a blog while I'm doing it, as well as when I'm done.

                                                                                                                                     -Noa

Idea Constructed! PP#5

         Hello everyone!  Hope you're having an amazing day!

    I've been thinking all day today, and I unfortunately have to take one vital aspect into account while filming.

   I'm moving in one month!

    So yeah, I'm going to be moving on about March 10th, so I have to film rather fast for this project.  But that's no issue!  I've worked under hard time constraints before, and this one shouldn't be too hard considering the actual filming portion for this idea I'm brewing up should take about a day or two.  

    And speaking of the idea.... I've conjured up a rough idea of what I plan to do!  I'm going to stick to the genres I talked about yesterday, because I feel like it would totally fit for what I'm trying to get at.

    Now, picture this:

    A knight and his fellow squire are out, dying in the middle of a field during a battle,

    "I can't go any longer.... Tell my family I loved them..."  The dying squire says to his companion, while coughing up blood.  

    After dying out in his friends hand, a large yelp proceeds to fill up the screen.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!!"

    A match cut shows a group of friends playing Dungeons and Dragons, a RPG table-top game.

    "Wait, did I just die?" says David.

   " Yup" says the Dungeon Master Josh.

    "That's bullsh*t!" says David, furiously.  

    The two seemingly go on and on, in a jokingly manner of course, of how David dying doesn't make sense, while the other participants at the table pretty much just sit there and snicker.

    After a little bit of quarreling, David lays back and accepts defeat.  Once doing so, he receives a text message from his mother, saying its getting late and it's time to come home.  David says goodbye to his fellow friends, and walks home as the opening title begins to play.

    So there's my idea!  Do you like it?  Let me know in the comments below!

    I like the idea of having most of the scene shot between the two characters having some dialogue, as it would not only limit the amount of production and recording to be necessary, but I believe the funny dynamic between the two arguing would fuel the comedic vibe I want from this movie.  

    I'm going to tell my friends about the idea, and hope that they're all onboard for this idea.  

    I'll let you know what they say once I get a reply!

                                                                                                                            -Noa

Looking back, and looking forward PP#4

         Last week was a bit of a doozy, I'm not gonna lie.  I started off with one idea, then completely switched up due to time constraints.  However, with last week behind me, I'm going to not only get my bearings but also discuss how I'm going to overcome that last week and what is going to come ahead.  

        So last week, I figured, "Hey animation sounds cool!"  And while yes it sounds cool, the overall structure would just be time-consuming, so this lead me back to the drawing board.  With this in mind, I wanted to do live-action, and I want to fixate on a genre.  So most of last week was just comprised of me trying to push myself towards my original idea, only leaving me biting off more than I can chew.  This unfortunately spent about 5 days of precious time that I could've used researching.  

        Speaking of research, I have done quite a few!  I've scoured the internet, mostly YouTube, and managed to come across a couple of openings, such as The Dark Knight, Baby driver, etc.  And while, yes, these openings are absolutely awesome, they wouldn't really pose as good inspiration just due to the large budget/environment these are taken in.  However, the idea of cinematography, like in the dark Knight, and the drone shots used, are definitely going to be referenced later on.  

        But then I came across this one, as I was going down my recommended.  

        Now not only do I really like Stranger Things, but I'm a huge nerd for Dungeons and Dragons, and I play with my friends very often.  I really wanted to include this element of a "friend group" in my opening, since it would give a vibe that really couldn't be achieved otherwise.  

        So with Dungeons and Dragons in mind, I figured the genre would lean towards a comedy/indie sort of film, maybe like Napoleon Dynamite, but also lean towards Stranger Things as the movie would focus on a group of friends just enjoying life and hanging out, and I'd love to have an opening like this.  

        I'll come up with a rough idea tomorrow, and keep you guys updated!

                                                                                                                                    -Noa

Some videos I watched!:

https://youtu.be/7ARFyrM6gVs

https://youtu.be/vetKTtM7YyU

https://youtu.be/A4fwA4-yNkk

https://youtu.be/m07slv7BP6o

https://youtu.be/MwqsTyYeqsA

Nevermind... PP#3

         I, unfortunately, don't think I can go with the animation route.  With the amount of time that I have, I figured I'd actually be able to get the assignment done in a good manner if I went with the conventional route of just recording normally.  In order to juggle school, personal life, and everything else, I think this animation type of approach was just a little too ambitious, and I'm definitely biting off a little more than I can chew.  

        HOWEVER, I have actually made a lot of progress so far!  Despite the overall focus of animation until now, I've watched and garnered a lot from movie openings since I've just been watching a bunch of them a lot recently.    

        I saw Mid90s not too long ago, and I'm going to brace a bunch of inspiration from that.  I skateboard a lot, so I love the idea of incorporating an opening with skateboarding.  I'm going to look more into it, after today, since it's SUPER BOWL TIME!!

See ya!

                                                                                                                                        -Noa

I think I got it... PP#2

         Okay, I'm writing this only a couple hours later from the first blog about the PP (Portfolio Project) because my mind has been racing through my study hall, and I think I got a really nice idea right now.  I have a super basic premise in my mind about how the opening will go.

    I've taken several inspirations from a multitude of sources.  Firstly, this whole idea of animating the project in the first was heavily influenced by my friend Luis Rodriguez.  We met in Visual Tech here at Cypress Bay, and he was just generally such a cool guy.  He's generally a creative type, and enjoys and pretty much specializes in 3D animation, filmmaking, and other types of art.  Last year, he pretty much had to do the same assignment that I'm currently working on.  And while a majority of the submissions consisted of live action, I just fell in love with his submission when he showed me late last year.   The way his opening was shot really made the other ones feel pretty bleak.  It was definitely the combination of the man-made environment, with the overall feel of the film that I just thought couldn't be obtained via conventional film making.

        After seeing this, I started to play with Blender myself.  Surely enough, after a while, I got the hang out it.  I knew after seeing Luis's opening, I just really wanted to do something similar.  Now I can show it!! :DDDD

        Check out his blog!!

        https://doucky.blogspot.com/

        Super cool stuff!

        So I have my overall approach down, yes, now an idea for what the actual film is going to be about...

        Hmm...

        Welp I've been thinking all day, and one thing I really wanted to include was a subject/environment that doesn't really exist.  This would break the bounds of reality, and make the opening overall more interesting.  Then this got me thinking.  I really love this idea of a place that doesn't exist to be involved, but how would I show it?  I thought about this for a while, thinking about silly ideas like a pancake world.  But it just really didn't seem fitting.

        I did want a more serious tone to it as well.  So with that also in mind, I think a post apocalyptic sorta scene would be best.  It would be really hard to create in real life, so using Blender, I'm pretty sure I can nail it down.  The Last of Us is not only one of my favorite games, but a total inspiration for this.  The gritty dark future of that apocalypse is like why I love the game so much.  

        I mean, c'mon, it looks sick as hell!

        I definitely want to use this for some inspiration.

        I'm writing this towards near the final bell ringing, so I'm going to yet again let this idea simmer a little, and act on it a little later.  

                                                                                                                                -Noa

        

Ok, let's do this... PP#1

        Starting this project is very terrifying.  But I'm not scared in the sense that it'll affect my performance, or like I'm scared to continue.  Its more like a giddiness for what's to come.  I absolutely love the idea for this project, but holy cow it is so vastly different from what I have done EVER before.  Never have I ever embarked on a project that I would spend more than a month on.  So its like the combined idea of this project PLUS the length of time makes it seem like I need to perform even better.  But I'm actually using this feeling for more a drive towards what I could potentially do.  I have like so many ideas flowing through my mind right now, and I'm having a rough time inputting it onto an actual feasible idea that I can firmly get a grasp of.   

        Well first of all, let me just get my bearings.  I really want this blog to reflect the process for all this, so I apologize right now incase things get a little hectic down the line.  I want to accurately express how I'm feeling throughout this process.  And at the moment, I'm currently struggling on how to entirely approach this project.  

        I'm thinking of two options:

• Animation
• Live action

        The animation approach would look totally awesome.  I've seen a couple approaches on how some students have done this Portfolio Project, and I have such a huge obsession on how they look.  I have a couple of 3D renders under my belt, but I'm definitely going to need some help when it comes to this approach. 

        Next is live action, which is essentially just what I've been doing for the whole year.  This is basically what comprises most of the submissions and projects.  And while there's nothing wrong with it, it just seems too "mainstream" and I would love to look over to animation for a couple reasons.

• New-  I feel like a lot less submissions are comprised of animation techniques, and seeing something new and refreshing is definitely not only going to help my drive for this project, but also make the overall experience more enjoyable viewer.  
• Easier???-  Now this part I'm not too sure of.  Making environments on Blender is pretty challenging, don't get me wrong, but I'm thinking filming in these environments shouldn't be as tricky.

        Animation is definitely going to be tough, but I'm ready for it.  I've already invested so much of my mental fortitude into it, that there's pretty much no going back now.  But first, I'm going to need to garner some research on how to approach this.  

        The tools that I have at my disposal are Blender, which I'll use to create the environment.  Next, I'll use either Clip Studio or Flip-A-Clip for the animation.  And then I'll use Davinci for editing and everything else.   Now, I'm particularly fine when it comes to Davinci, however I'm going to spend some more time investing into Blender and the animation portions.  I have some experience, but I'll definitely watch a bunch of tutorials.  Later down this project, about next week, I'll talk about the videos I watch.  

Here's a donut I made in Blender!!  Definitely needs some work though...

        But right now I'm currently in school.  Once I go home, I'll talk more about this later.  Going to let these ideas simmer for a little bit, and I'll keep you updated.  

    

                                                                                                                                    -Noa

Music Marketing Blog Post #2: The Overview!

         Looking back, this was easily the most intensive project that I've ever done.  Not only was this probably the most enduring, but it was just so vastly different compared to what I would normally do.  For the past decade or so, this was probably the first time I ever had any influence in the making of a music video, or pretty much any video for a school purpose.  Most of my projects would consist of the usual.  Y'know what I'm talking about, either a: presentation, essay, or something close to that margin.  So having a project like this was pretty scary and cool in a contradicting way.  The creative input for a music video sounds so cool, but it was also pretty taxing on me and my brain.  Although this project was easily the most fun I've had on one, that doesn't steer me away from the fact that it was still challenging.  

        Researching was no problem.  Like I've just said, the more "stationary" portions of this task aren't as bad as what would come up, since I'm pretty used to it.  And in fact, I thought this part of the project was fairly enjoyable.  Usually, when I do research on a topic, it's something really flat, like maybe a book from my English class, or global warming.  This topic actually interested me a lot, which was really nice, since it pretty much boosted my work ethic.  I think the idea of working on something that you not only have more interest with, but with people who also take an interest, the work seemingly seems smoother.  So having our research-based upon the rock genre allowed us to gather quite a bit of information.  We not only learned from their marketing strategies but took some inspiration from a couple music videos, especially Foo Fighters!

        The most challenging portion, at least in my opinion, was the brainstorming portion.  With the song, Something from Nothing in hand, I just had no clue on how to formulate a story for this song.  Like I had a lot of good ideas, but there was just no way I could account for them for the fact that this was just a high school project, and not something being funded.  So as ideas flew left and right from my peers, we all thought one idea should remain fairly solid no matter what route we would go.  The idea: Something from Nothing, we figured must remain prominent throughout whichever way we would construct our music video.  And so with that in mind, we all seemingly just took that, let it sink in for about a day or two.  I was still really stumped on how to make a story from this song.  

        Usually, when I'm in a predicament like this, I pretty much turn everything aside and only focus on THAT.  So I grabbed my longboard and decided to head to a Starbucks.  With access to free drinks, thanks to my sister who works there, the idea seemingly came to mind after around an hour or two.  Now, I posted about this portion in the last blog post, but I'd figured I'd show it again here too.  

Click here for a better view/insight on the brainstorming:

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/936663059554666744/7913597702181548775?hl=en

        So after about three coffees, and five or so pages, I'd figure a story retaining to a boxer would be nice.  Not only would this allow for us to fit our budget more cleanly, but, allow the idea, Something from Nothing, to stand out prominently.  I pitched it to my group, and they seemed on board with the idea.  And don't get me wrong, the story wasn't necessarily perfect, but it was just a rough enough draft to help get us started.  

        Now for the storyboards, I figured I should take the reigns on this portion of the assignment since I thought I'd make it flow the best since I had an overall story brewing in my mind.  Plus, I really didn't want to deal with the social media portion of this assignment, just simply wasn't my cup of tea.  And the storyboarding was pretty okay.  It was extremely hard to match the lyrics with what was being displayed, which lead to a couple rewrites of certain portions of the story.  But overall, it wasn't bad at all, and I think I did a pretty good job.  

 Here are the storyboards, which I did on my iPad!!!

        Now I presented these storyboards to my group, and they were all cool with how it looked, with some exceptions tho.  I pictured a boxing match to be included towards the end of the music video, but logistically speaking, we all figured it just wouldn't be possible with the time span that we had.  So there were going to be some portions that would not only be cut out but also be added in.  We originally planned for this music video to be just purely storytelling, with no instruments.  But after taking a little gander on YouTube, the idea of instruments being in the music video didn't really seem all that bad.  The whole Rock music video industry is just comprised mostly promotional, so I figured it'd be fitting to put some instrumentals in there as well.  

        Now for the part that everyone was essentially waiting for, shooting!  It was definitely cool being the actor in this music video, especially in the guitar video bits.  We figured Regional Park would be the best location.  The large green fields were great for the boxing scenes, and the stage that they have there would look really nice for the guitar bits.  Now after being picked up by Rodrigo, we essentially had all the props ready, courtesy of everyone on set.  Now for the actual recording, it went pretty nice.  We managed to gather all the footage in one day, which was convenient for not only the fact that we didn't have to go outside for another day, but also gave me more time to edit.  

        Editing wasn't really hard, just really, REALLY time-consuming.  The transition from making videos that weren't heavily reliant on audio and video being correspondent, into a music video was a rough one.  Making the audio match with the cuts, footage, effects, etc. was just pretty tricky, but I did get used to it after a while!  The edits I used, like the kaleidoscope effect, and the certain transitions were cool to actually integrate, considering I wasn't really able to do it on other projects.  Also, one part of editing that I DO NOT look forward to is constantly hearing Something from Nothing.  I seriously hear it in my sleep, I think I've heard it about 70 times now.  

        Now the presentation.  I am TERRIBLE at presentations.  It's not really about the idea that I can't remember the content, or I'm lazy or anything like that.  I just get really nervous when it comes to presentations.  With any project, from Global Perspectives to English, I just can't really come myself down enough to speak coherently and get my point across.  So because of this, I figured it'd be best to only speak about one slide, even though I would've really loved to talk about more.  I kept this in mind throughout the entire project that I probably wouldn't be speaking a lot at the presentations, so I really wanted to do a lot in this project.  So although I didn't speak a lot during the presentation, I still feel like I managed to pull my weight via editing the video, storyboarding, and pitching the idea.  

        Looking back at the project as a whole, I learned quite a bit.  Firstly, I felt like the amount we accomplished in one week was pretty impressive, and gives me confidence for projects, especially for the Portfolio project.  Also, I believe my editing skills have been sharpened due to this pretty challenging project.  I felt it was really great practice for what's to come.   One thing that I learned was how to properly work with people.  I tend to work better on my own, so working with three other people seemed like they would hold me back, but I was fortunately wrong.  Working with Julia, Rodrigo, and Jaxson not only made the project flow better but would ease some work off my back.  And pretty much socializing with some new people was pretty nice!