Script:
Locations: School hallway near CV sign, Cafeteria, Room 273, School Parking Lot
Storyboard:
Sunday, October 31, 2021
Divorce Pre-Production
Locations: School hallway near CV sign, Cafeteria, Room 273, School Parking Lot
Saturday, October 30, 2021
CVTV Documentary Outline
Documentary Outline
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| https://portolahigh.iusd.org/counseling/grade-level-info/9th-grade |
Thesis:
CV 9 is a mixed bag of upsides and downsides formed out of necessity that changes the social and academic developments of 9th graders.
Supporting Idea #1: Separation of CV 9 from 10th-12th
Subpoint #1: Clubs
Subpoint #2: Socially isolated to themselves and the implications that brings
Subpoint #3: Location (because they are physically removed from the high school, they don't experience the same feelings of school spirit or desire to participate in events like homecoming or attending football games)
Supporting Idea #2: Main Differences Between CV 9 & 10th-12th
Subpoint #1: Courses
Subpoint #2: Schedule
Subpoint #3: One grade vs three
Supporting Idea #3: General Reactions
Subpoint #1: 9th Graders
Subpoint #2: 10th-12th Graders
Subpoint #3: Teachers
Friday, October 29, 2021
Investigation Post 10/31
Work Log
Monday: Researching music in film
Tuesday: Researching music in film
Wednesday: Researching music in film
Thursday: Writing about music in film
Friday: Writing about music in film
Music in Film
Importance
While one may or may not consider it too deeply, sound is vital to the success of any film. A common understanding that while the term "film" suggests the visual side of the subject, audio makes up half of the quality of film. Furthermore in the list of things that may not be considered, the soundtrack of a film's audio contributes a major impact to the quality of a film as well. Most people could think of certain films that have that one soundtrack that ultimately outshines the actual movie, where the music just doesn't fail to amplify the emotions and senses of everyone watching and listening. But why does music play such a major role in film?
Mood
The first thing one might think of is that the music can easily set the atmosphere of a scene in films. And while it is an easy answer, it isn't any less true. Music is one of the main tools that filmmakers can make use of to add or change the mood of a scene. Without music, a dramatic fight scene between two 
martial artists, where the tension could be cut with a knife, loses a lot of its heat and suspense when the music that was subconsciously telling your brain to feel that suspense is taken out. Similarly, some situations in movies or shows could have multiple reactions or feelings in response to what is taking place in the plot. If the end of a movie has your main character breaking up with their lover, it can be seen as a positive moment of growth for the main character is relieving/happy music is played, or it can be seen as a moment of sorrowful loss if depressing music is played. Music can quite literally decide how most viewers will emotionally respond to a scene. Take this video, for example, where the same scene is played exactly the same except for the one key detail: the music. The feel of the scene changes dramatically with just the music changing.
Connecting Shots
Music can also seen as the glue that keeps a series of clips switching from each other from being just that. When there is music playing throughout a series of clips, it subconsciously contributes to the viewers' understanding that these different angles and points of time are all connected under the same sequence of events. The music carries over from shot to shot to shot, and we understand that with the music, these clips become connected to each other. Without music, a scene can feel more like a bunch of clips being randomly placed together. This is just a general idea, obviously, with many exceptions. However, it is still important to keep the connecting of shots together through music.
Immersion
Lastly, music draws the audience further in to the world of the film. Imagine this: you're watching the climax of the TV series you've been following for months. The conflict is just reaching its peak when someone pauses the show. You're immediately taken out of the experience -and angry too probably.
Music works in a similar way. It adds to that sense of immersion to the film, adding on and/or amplifying the emotions and suspense of whatever you're watching. If you were to watch that same TV series climax again -without pauses- but the music is taken out, you'll feel similarly taken out of it (though to a lesser extent). The scene will look more like two actors fighting or talking to each other rather than the cinematic experience that you felt like you were watching previously. As a side note, it also feels more professionally made when there is music playing in the background, since it fill space in the audience's attention when there is not much sound being played otherwise.
Conclusion
Through it all, music is the subtle (or not so subtle) blanket that is wrapped around a film's quality. It can define the audience's emotional responses to scenes, it keeps a sense of momentum when using a series of shots together, and it ultimately makes your film more of something to be experienced. The soundtrack brings everything together, so give it plenty of attention as a filmmaker.
Sources
Sunday, October 24, 2021
CVTV Brainstorming & Brainstorming
Brainstorming
Here is a list of 10 subjects within my focus of a CV 9 academy documentary that I could cover during its duration. As of now, I'm leaning towards only doing a documentary on CV 9 rather than a small documentary on CV 9 with other smaller documentaries on different courses in our school.
1. Reason for CV 9's emergence
2. The main differences between CV 9 and the high school
3. CV 9 students' opinions on the change
4. Parents and 10-12th graders' opinions on the change
5. Difficulties for students with the new academy
6. Advantages for students with the new academy
7. How well CV 9 students can feel included with students from upper grades (like clubs or school pride)
8. What will it look like for CV 9 students to enter the high school
9. How teachers feel about it (both ones that moved to CV 9 and those that didn't)
10. Overall, is the change good? This would use miscellaneous information that hasn't been covered yet in tandem with previously mentioned topics.
Important Topics
1. CV 9 students' opinions on the academy: This is one of the most important subjects to cover for my documentary. What could be more important to cover than the body of people that the school is meant for. Above all else, the factor of how the 9th grade students are responding to the change is the most necessary to know about. If the people who the school is literally made for is not liked by said people, then that could have a whole documentary about it. Also, it'd be easy to find interviews from any of the hundreds of 9th graders.
2. How well CV 9 students can feel included with students from upper grades (like clubs or school pride): Another very important thing to talk about is the obvious notion of how the 9th grade class is now literally and figuratively separated from the upper grades. Do they like this? How does this affect their social learning? Do 9th graders feel more isolated? What is the process for students to get involved with clubs and such if they are 15 minutes away in a different school? There is so much that can be talked about with this topic.
3. 9. How teachers feel about it (both ones that moved to CV 9 and those that didn't): This subject is a personal favorite of mine, as I think this is an angle many don't give a lot of consideration to. It's weird to think about that around a fourth of the teachers would have had to leave the high school to teach the 9th graders. Do they, too, feel isolated? Does it affect them at all? How were teachers chosen to move to the 9th Grade Academy? How do teachers that weren't moved feel? I think this topic will add insight and a fresh new perspective on the CV 9 documentary that wasn't previously thought of.
DP: Investigation Post 10/24
Work Log
Monday: Learning the crane
Tuesday: Writing Explanation for Crane Usage
Wednesday: Working on Pre-Production Master Sheet Template
Thursday: Working on Pre-Production Master Sheet Template
Friday: Writing Explanations for Master Sheet Template
Investigation
Crane
Here is a quick explanation of how to use a camera crane:
You will need:
The crane
Weights (circular)
Super Clamp
An extended HDMI cord
Monitor with battery
To set up a crane:
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| https://elkeworks.com/product/_1131785.html |
1. Set up the legs
2. Rest the long end of the crane (where the camera goes) on a stool, table, chair, etc.
3. Screw in the camera on one end of the crane (make sure the crane is still stable, which it should be either way if the crane is resting on something).
4. Place the necessary amount of weights on the opposite end of the crane, the amount will vary on the crane and weight of the camera. Be vary careful with the weight and hold down the long end to make sure the camera does not go flying upwards.
5. Attach the super clamp to one of the legs of the crane
6. Attach the monitor to the clamp
7. Plug the monitor into the battery (or to an outlet)
8. Plug the HDMI cord into the monitor and the camera (make sure weight is still good)
You're now done! Gently (and with control) push down the weighted side of the crane arm and the camera side will be lifted upwards.
Here is a video on how to set up a slightly different camera crane, and what you could do with one!
Pre-Production Master Sheet
This week, I decided to create a template for a master sheet that would help me during the pre-production of any film that I'll ever make. Essentially, I wanted to create a way to organize all the information that I would need in order to be as efficient as possible with the planning and later on carrying out of film productions. With such a master sheet, I can look at all the people and resources I have available and keep track of who/what is needed when and where during film production. This way, me (or other amateur filmmakers) would not have to keep all the information in their memory in order to plan ahead for the filmmaking process. While this description may not truly capture what I've done, I find it easiest to just present what the finished product looks like and go on from there.
This example demonstrates a basic idea of what the master sheet would look like, the specific roles are not set in stone but rather examples that could be added to or subtracted from depending on the film.
The first thing I needed to do was create a list of all the personnel and resources that I would want to include on my master list:
- Actors*
- Production Team* (for instance camera man, sound guy, driver, etc.)
- There could be multiple rows for the same roles, as certain roles could be covered by multiple people based on the day. For instance, there could be one role labeled Camera Guy/Mitchell B and the one underneath it Camera Guy/Jacob A)
- Camera/Tripod
- Camera Slider (and equipment used with it)
- Camera Crane (and equipment used with it)
- Boom Stand/Mic
- Lavalier Mic(s)
- Props*
- Other
*Note: The amount/roles would be specific for each role
Now, with this list of personnel and equipment that I would need during various points, I need to write down all the necessary information relating to them that I would require for planning ahead for my production phase.
- What location they are needed
- Date(s) needed*
- Time of day (based on date(s))
- Notes (extra information to keep in mind)
*Note: The date they are needed would be determined based on locations and personnel/equipment availability
Sunday, October 17, 2021
Investigation Post 1 (10/17/21)
Work Log
Monday: No School
Tuesday: No School
Wednesday: Toured the studio room to learn of the equipment available to film students.
Thursday: Investigating audio equipment
Friday: Learning how to use the camera slider.
Investigation
During my shortly timed investigation this week, I focused on learning how to use the equipment that is provided to the film students within Cumberland Valley High School. I now understand that I have access to a recording booth, a studio, camera sliders, plenty of audio equipment, camera mounts, and camera cranes.
Microphones
The beginning of my investigation was that of learning how to use the various kinds of microphones available to the film students. With any microphone, it's important to know a few things when using a DSLR camera. First of all, it's necessary to make sure the attenuator setting is off, as that is only supposed to be used with nonmicrophones (similar to line-in for computers). Furthermore, when using auto volume, be aware that it will have a lot of background noise. Consider that in the future, as it may very well be more worthwhile to have the microphone on manual and just adjust in yourself.
There were three microphones I learned to use. The first of them was a simple shotgun mic that can be attached to the DSLR. This will most likely be the microphone that one would use when filming, as it provides fine audio and is the easiest to use. The second microphone was the dynamic mic. It would provide the best directional audio (meaning it would capture only from the direction you point it), as it can be used to only record the audio of the person it is right next to. However, using it in a film without showing it is extremely difficult, so it can only really be used when it makes sense to see it in a film. Lastly, we tested the lavalier mics. Since they are easily hidden, they are very useful to record audio if you do not want to use a boom microphone. In my opinion, the lavalier seems preferable.
The difference of when to use between a dynamic mic and the other two is easier to understand than the difference between the lavalier and the shotgun/boom microphone setup. Here is a video that gives further explanation on the difference.
Camera Slider
A camera slider is used to have extremely smooth camera movements from left to right or front to back (or the reverse direction of two). Another thing filmmakers can do with a slider is zoom in while pulling away from a subject to create a vertigo effect. Additionally, one must attach a camera mount to the slider that is being used, meaning that you could also pan or crane the camera while moving it as well. The last important thing to know about camera sliders is that they include legs that can be used on a table or floor, so one does not need to use a tripod with it necessarily.
Setting camera sliders is difficult. If you want more information of getting yours set up, here is a tutorial video on how to do so (including how to attach the camera mount).
Tuesday, October 12, 2021
DP: Text & Image
The Interaction of Text and Image within Art Forms
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| https://artroomhappenings.com/2020/07/06/one-point-perspective-words/ |
Text & Image
When one thinks of the ordinary painting, animation, or photo, they most likely will not think of there being any form of text within the work. They are not wrong to initially think this, as most works of art (especially from the past) do not tend to include text within the works.
However, as of recent, there have been a plethora of text being added to a piece to improve the message or overall theme of an artwork. Within art, text tends to take the place of visual metaphors or symbols in pieces. This can be because of personal preference, to simplify the meaning, or because the artist can think of no better way to convey their message than that of a specific statement or command. This does not mean text is a lazy or thoughtless artist's crutch, but rather that it is just another tool to add to one's arsenal. Furthermore, the freedom of choice that comes with adding text to art is a challenge altogether. Whereas certain visual metaphors may have only a few ways to get a message across, text in art contains the entirety of any language known to man. The mere possibilities of choice means that audiences should pay special attention to word choice, sentence structure, who is saying it (if it is a quote), and where the text is placed on the piece. With so many choices, the artist is most likely providing almost exactly what they wanted with their word choice.
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| https://www.deviantart.com/sologfx/art/Harrison-Ford-Text-Art-147489351 |
If there is one specific genre of art that includes text, and one that specifically emphasizes this idea of subverting the norms, look no further than that of street art. Think about Shepard Fairey's iconic "Hope"
poster that is tantamount to that of the logo for Barack Obama's legacy. While it started as a simple piece of paper for Shepard to place wherever he wanted, its meaning to communities sky rocketed his piece to country-wide known image it is today. When viewing Shepard Fairey's work, it is obvious that the piece would not carry the same meaning without the caption of "Hope." It quite literally provides the meaning in the most straightforward fashion possible. Not only can the message not be misconstrued, but the simple yet blunt nature of connecting the term hope to the likeness of Obama is a bold statement to say the least.
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| https://www.artsy.net/artwork/shepard-fairey-hope-obama-4 |
Personal Usage
As a filmmaker, using text within my films can mean different things. Obviously, incorporating text into my film will probably happen whether I like it or not. Credits, signs, shirt logos, and other various objects that are in my shots will include text. This text, however, only adds to the environment of my shots. The "Adidas" title on my main character's shirt will only provide the idea that my student is a normal person who wears normal clothes. On the other hand, if I were to make text the focus of my shots, now there is a lot more figurative meaning to that shot. If I have a shot of my character looking sad, and then the word "Pain" starts popping up in various parts of the shot, this idea of pain becomes a tangible force that is affecting my character. Personally, I have not had any specific strikes of inspiration as I've researched the subject.
Here is a video on how filmmakers will use text messaging as a part of the shots for actual movies:
CVTV: The Psyche of Shot Types
The Effects of Altering Shots and What Is Contained in Shots
Preface:
When filming a documentary, it is vital to plan ahead certain aspects of footage that will later appear in your documentary. With that, you will want to plan on what your audience should be feeling when viewing your footage. Not only that, but you will need to know how to cause your audience to feel various ways with how you structure and fill in your shots. Here are some ways to vary your shots so that the audience will feel or respond in certain ways to what they see:
Revealing through Simple Camera Movements (source): A common thing that documentary makers will need to know how to do is reveal new information to their audience. To do that, simply cutting to a new stimulus would not be very well made. Instead, various camera movements can be used to reveal new areas, people, or objects. Mainly, camera pans (left or right), crane movements (up and down), or general lifting/dolly in any direction can be used to simply move the focus of a shot towards a new subject.
 |
| https://www.diyphotography.net/4-essential-camera-moves-every-aspiring-filmmaker-needs-to-know/ In this shot, the subject is revealed through the crane up movements. |
Revealing through Zooms (Cinematography: Theory and Practice by Blain Brown): Furthermore, a zoom in or out can be used to emphasize certain subjects within the shot that were not previously as important. For instance, if I wanted to talk about Obama's Vice President Joe Biden, I could have my shot start with a picture of the former president and zoom out to reveal that Biden was standing adjacent to him. In a different situation, I could have a photo of Obama's cabinet members all standing within a room, and then zoom in specifically on former Vice President Joe Biden to provide emphasis on him.
 |
| https://camerasgear.com/how-to-use-a-gimbal/ In this example, the zoom out is revealing the woman outside of the subject's cell. |
Highlighting the Unknown through Lighting (Cinematography: Theory and Practice by Blain Brown): Lighting is a key factor in how one formats their shots. One way it can be used is to light only behind a person or object, so that it creates a silhouette of it that makes the subject look mysterious and unknown to the audience.
 |
| https://www.pinterest.com/pin/115615915406185925/ If I had wanted to talk about a new breed of ants, I could use its silhouette to add a sense of unknown. |
The Passing of Time through Timelapse (source): An easy way to signify the passing of time within the narrative of your documentary is to include a timelapse. Common angles for this in the documentary genre are worm's eye and bird's eye views.
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| https://tenor.com/search/city-timelapse-gifs Time is passing in the day through the timelapse |
POV for New Perspective (source): When talking about the experiences of other people within a documentary, a very common way for filmmakers to convey one's life to their audience is to see the world through the subject's eyes. With my documentary with CV 9 for instance, I can provide POV shots for what it looks like from a student's eyes when in their seat in a classroom or while walking to their next class in the hallway.
Sunday, October 3, 2021
CVTV Documentary Making Process
When one thinks of the vast extents of video media available around the world, the genre of documentary is one that comes to mind within the top three categories of films. For that reason, many beginning filmmakers attempt to dive into the genre. However, more goes into the documentary making process than one may think. When it comes down to the fundamentals of a good documentary, the main components that must be done well are the concept, interview process, and sound design.
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| https://www.adorama.com/alc/how-to-make-a-documentary/ |
The first and most important element that makes or breaks a documentary is the concept. What is the documentary about? Who is the audience? What aspects of the subject matter will you put under a magnifying glass? Generally speaking, a concept that is generally interesting will work better, however interesting stories can be found or created if the filmmaker is skilled or creative enough. Furthermore, it is important to have an idea of what genre of documentary you would like to create your documentary as. Will it be focused on purely information? Will it be more focused on guiding an audience on the flow of thoughts and feelings of a person or people? Will the filmmaker be involved in both the making process and documentary themself as a part of the film? All of these add to the style of your documentary.
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| https://filtergrade.com/how-to-set-up-lighting-for-interviews/ |
Lastly, it is extremely important to handle sound design well. With sound, it is important to have a good use of music and also generally good quality. With quality of sound, what is needed is good equipment,
 |
| Link to Source |
a lack of outside sound sources, and also the hiding of sound devices for professionalism. Good equipment will vary between projects, but the latter two can be controlled. Clever techniques are possible with both. With hiding outside sound sources, common practices are turning off things that add to white noise (like A/C or fridges), putting away objects that make noise when people move (like keys), and putting soft objects on the floor to keep from having footsteps or other creaks being heard. With music, it's important to know when and when not to have music as the first decision. When using music (or not), it's all about having it add to and influence the tone of what's occurring in the documentary.
In the end, it's most important to have an interesting concept and a killer plan. Afterwards, during the process it's important to have good sound quality recorded and great interviews (with great lighting) to use as footage for the editing process. At the end of the process, the sound design needs to be clearly organized and have a well timed and chosen music track in the background. Through all of it, being creative and clever with your documentary is the most important.
Friday, October 1, 2021
Continued from Deletion. DP: Layering
Layering Technique in Art
Artistic Use of Layering
As artists continue to grow in their respective fields of the creative industry, they pickup various skills and techniques to incorporate into their works. One of such techniques is that of layering, where an artist will stack multiple sources of art overtop of each other. Juxtaposing and overlapping these separate pieces means that the independent prestige of each work used is lowered, as each one becomes a part of a whole.
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| https://www.sfmoma.org/exhibition/julie-mehretu-howl-eon-i-ii/ |
Artists will use layering to add complexity into their works, along with burying various meanings under one another to end up with a mixed cumulative meaning that might not even be possible to take away from the final product. Indeed, works that use layering can easily end up becoming too complicated and overwhelming that the intent of the final work is not of a simple meaning, but of how the different meanings of the separate pieces interact with each other. For visual reference of this concept, consider what Julie Mehretu does with her works. When she was creating for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, she wanted to make something that captures a part of the history of San Francisco.
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| theepochtimes.com/thomas-coles-influence-across-oceans-of-time_2471819.html |
For that, she considered the geography of San Francisco and how it exists as both this beautiful land that also carries a bloody history of Native American loss. With that, she decided to incorporate that idea into her painting. It may be hard to tell, but blurred-out old paintings of the beautiful geography of San Francisco work as the foundation of her work. Anything that she draws over it, or layers over it, now interacts with the geography and its relationship to the history of San Francisco in terms of the meaning of the work. That is where the sometimes incomprehensible complexity of layering comes into play. There are simply too many things interacting with each other, possibly creating all these different smaller meanings, that it is simply not possible to understand the piece as a whole.
For more on Julie Mehretu's work with layering, here is the full 10 minute documentary that goes through her creative process from start to finish for the two paintings noted above.
How I Could Incorporate Layering in my Work
As primarily a filmmaker, I would be focusing on how to add layering to my films. This would mean either stacking things on top of each, one after another, during a scene, or have a scene set up in a way in that there are a multitude of different elements interacting with each other in the shot. The reason to do this would be that I, too, could overwhelm my audience with stimuli and/or have several elements with their own meanings coming together in a shot to make up a shot of several figurative interactions.
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| https://www.artpal.com/artisticflare?i=74347-11 |
One idea I had for my concept of looking inwards into the human experience was that of attempting to illustrate a moment of emotional chaos within someone. That could be attained by throwing several colors together, with each being shaped differently depending on the emotion they would be representing (for instance red would be angry and spiky, while blue could mean sadness and more round). While there isn’t a total meaning of the layering in the shot (aside from that of there being a general discord of emotions occurring), the smaller parts help the viewers understand that there are several clashes of emotions happening within the shot. It would look similar to the attached painting, but the colors would have more form and would obviously be arranged differently.
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Work Log Monday: Editing CV 9 Documentary Tuesday: Editing CV 9 Documentary Wednesday: Editing CV 9 Documentary Thursday: 3D Text Exercis...
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CV 9 Documentary Production Update: Preface For this week and next week, I will not be having huge progress on my documentary updates. This ...
