By now the Video Creations class has experienced some of the highs and lows of being on a video production team. Working together can be challenging, especially when you have a deadline to meet. That's why I think this class teaches what the meaning of commitment is.
VC students: Were you able to give it your all? Being whole-heartly committed to a team project isn't always easy, but it is necessary for something great to be accomplished. As people we get so much more done when we can rely on each other for help. Too often we try to be independent and we should really try to be more interdependent. Being committed to a project means being committed to helping each other achieve the goal. Being committed also means being passionate about something. Someone that shows a constant drive or passion to put in the work to reach a goal despite not always feeling like it will be leader by example and will have opportunities and doors open for them.
Was your group ever divided about something? Were you ever distracted from what was really important in getting the job done? Did you ever have problems with your decision-making? All of these problems test the quality of your commitment. How did you fare?
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
VC Awards Show Jokes
We will be getting ready for our awards show. We will have two main hosts and the rest of the class will serve as presenters. Hopefully your acceptance speeches are ready to go, otherwise you'll have to wing it. We will not wing the joke part.
Like an awards show you might see on TV, the presenters will give an introductory joke before the nominees are read and the award is presented. Here are some ideas to get you thinking about constructing a joke: (before you read these, please find out what a "straight man" is supposed to do.)
1. Build a joke around the award. Slapstick humor is an old standard and is often used for the Video Creations award for best stuntwork. We usually have one of the presenters fumble and stumble their way to the podium. The other presenter asks what the problem is and the response has something to do with stuntwork. It's a cheesy formula, but we do it every year and usually gets a laugh.
2. Mark Twain said, "Humor is found in the truth." Think about any of the funny incidents during the class and try to relate it to the award you're presenting. You could maybe relate Iron Will's frisbee toss to the Best Grip Award.
3. A lot of humor is based on creating a "twist." You start leading the audience in an expected direction only to spring something unexpected on them. I think of Steve Martin in regards to this one. Here are a couple of his jokes from the Oscars: "By the end of the show we are going to vote someone out of show business." "Please hold your applause until it's for me." I think you can work these two examples into the show.
4. I enjoy most of Conan O'Brian's humor. Once in a while he will start off by saying, "I know what you're thinking....," and then he'll go off on some crazy tangent.
5. Jay Leno or his writers have some familiar formulas in their jokes. One of them is what I call mis-direction or re-direction. Leno will lead the audience along a topic and then totally redirect it to some celebrity in the news. Here's a bad example: You could say-"We're now going to announce the winner for best special effects. Special effects can give a movie an entirely unique look, of course this honor we are bestowing is not to be confused with the same award Michael Jackson gave to his plastic surgery team." My apologies to Michael Jackson and his fans.
6. Self-deprecation. You can make fun of yourself. Here's another weak example: Presenter 1 asks presenter 2 "How did Video Creations go this year? "Oh, pretty well after I stopped filming in black." "Filming in black?" "Yeah, I forgot to take the lens cap off the first two days."
7. Pick on someone's delivery. Ex. One person tries to say the word cinematography. The other tries to figure out what they are saying. They might ask: "What did you say? Did you say, "see the spaghetti?" and this continues as long as you can get laughs.
8. Pick a comedian's trademark or style. John Belushi had a running gag on Saturday Night Live in which he appeared on the news segment and would start out calmly, but then give "a speech about the way things could have been, should have been, and then turns it on its ear by saying, "Buuuut nnnnnOOOOOO!"
Seinfeld is another. He likes to give an unusual amount of attention to ordinary things. I could see one of our presenters going on and on about some minor detail until the other presenter has had enough and continues on with the presentation.
How about Chris Farley? He would play extremely weird characters that had some kind of bizarre trait or characteristic.
9. Other ideas:
-Wild implications
-Parody
-Unusual perspective or point of view
-Relate to a current event
Like an awards show you might see on TV, the presenters will give an introductory joke before the nominees are read and the award is presented. Here are some ideas to get you thinking about constructing a joke: (before you read these, please find out what a "straight man" is supposed to do.)
1. Build a joke around the award. Slapstick humor is an old standard and is often used for the Video Creations award for best stuntwork. We usually have one of the presenters fumble and stumble their way to the podium. The other presenter asks what the problem is and the response has something to do with stuntwork. It's a cheesy formula, but we do it every year and usually gets a laugh.
2. Mark Twain said, "Humor is found in the truth." Think about any of the funny incidents during the class and try to relate it to the award you're presenting. You could maybe relate Iron Will's frisbee toss to the Best Grip Award.
3. A lot of humor is based on creating a "twist." You start leading the audience in an expected direction only to spring something unexpected on them. I think of Steve Martin in regards to this one. Here are a couple of his jokes from the Oscars: "By the end of the show we are going to vote someone out of show business." "Please hold your applause until it's for me." I think you can work these two examples into the show.
4. I enjoy most of Conan O'Brian's humor. Once in a while he will start off by saying, "I know what you're thinking....," and then he'll go off on some crazy tangent.
5. Jay Leno or his writers have some familiar formulas in their jokes. One of them is what I call mis-direction or re-direction. Leno will lead the audience along a topic and then totally redirect it to some celebrity in the news. Here's a bad example: You could say-"We're now going to announce the winner for best special effects. Special effects can give a movie an entirely unique look, of course this honor we are bestowing is not to be confused with the same award Michael Jackson gave to his plastic surgery team." My apologies to Michael Jackson and his fans.
6. Self-deprecation. You can make fun of yourself. Here's another weak example: Presenter 1 asks presenter 2 "How did Video Creations go this year? "Oh, pretty well after I stopped filming in black." "Filming in black?" "Yeah, I forgot to take the lens cap off the first two days."
7. Pick on someone's delivery. Ex. One person tries to say the word cinematography. The other tries to figure out what they are saying. They might ask: "What did you say? Did you say, "see the spaghetti?" and this continues as long as you can get laughs.
8. Pick a comedian's trademark or style. John Belushi had a running gag on Saturday Night Live in which he appeared on the news segment and would start out calmly, but then give "a speech about the way things could have been, should have been, and then turns it on its ear by saying, "Buuuut nnnnnOOOOOO!"
Seinfeld is another. He likes to give an unusual amount of attention to ordinary things. I could see one of our presenters going on and on about some minor detail until the other presenter has had enough and continues on with the presentation.
How about Chris Farley? He would play extremely weird characters that had some kind of bizarre trait or characteristic.
9. Other ideas:
-Wild implications
-Parody
-Unusual perspective or point of view
-Relate to a current event
June 24th
Video Creations is coming down to the end. We are frantically finishing up our projects for Project SEEK open house tomorrow night. There just never seems to be enough time to get all of projects polished the way we want, but the show must go on.
See you tomorrow night.
(I finished the class poster today. You can take a look on the right side of the blog. Grant and Kyle, I didn't get started on the poster until after you left. Please accept my apologies.)
See you tomorrow night.
(I finished the class poster today. You can take a look on the right side of the blog. Grant and Kyle, I didn't get started on the poster until after you left. Please accept my apologies.)
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Drive Thru
Today our class visited Drive Thru. Drive Thru is a production and post production facility in Minneapolis. They specialize in creating commercials but also do other types of productions including music videos. You would recognize their work on familiar TV commericals such as the Minnesota Lottery, Minnesota Twins and upcoming spots for Harley Davidson. They have won an Emmy and are recognized for their Twins Territory commericials from last year. Drive Thru is unique in the sense that they work on all phases of the production process-from idea development to post production.
Our class would like to thank Heather for facilitating our visit to Drive Thru. We would also like to express thanks to Bob, Ben, Mick, Mark, Beth, and Bert. We appreciate your willingness to have us interrupt your busy schedule to share some of your expertise with our budding video creators.
Examples of their work on the web:
Live United for the United Way
Echo Screen Music Video
Minnesota Twins
Harley Davidson
The Spectaculars Music Video
Artic Quadrangle
Jedi Gym
Our class would like to thank Heather for facilitating our visit to Drive Thru. We would also like to express thanks to Bob, Ben, Mick, Mark, Beth, and Bert. We appreciate your willingness to have us interrupt your busy schedule to share some of your expertise with our budding video creators.
Examples of their work on the web:
Live United for the United Way
Echo Screen Music Video
Minnesota Twins
Harley Davidson
The Spectaculars Music Video
Artic Quadrangle
Jedi Gym
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
June 18th
Music videos are still in production. VC students are working hard to make their videos look good. I've challenged them to match visuals for the chorus of their selected song match the beat of the music. Challenging!
Here is a glimpse of our work today:
Here is a glimpse of our work today:
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Breaking down an action sequence
For an action sequence it isn't a bad idea to break down the action into smaller parts or sub-events.
Example: Opening a door.
1. Someone runs to a door.
2. A sweaty hand reaches for the door knob.
3. The hand grasps the knob.
4. The hand turns the knob and but then freezes.
5. The door opens.
6. The hand releases the knob.
7. The door completely opens into a dark room.
8. Someone screams.
This isn't the most dramatic of sequences to use as an example, but when you break down an action sequence, or any sequence for that matter, you most likely will stumble onto a story structure:
Beginning: We don't know too much about the who-what-where, but there is a little bit for us to follow.
Middle: There seems to be some hesitation about opening the door. The character is running away from something. Will the door provide an answer or will it lead to more trouble?
How would you shoot this sequence? Would you just put the camera in one position and continuously film it without any other shots? Or, would you change the shot or camera position for each subevent? We'll look at some clips from Star Wars Episode IV and you should notice both methods used.
Resolution: Well, there may not be a satisfying resolution, but we get the idea that the door led to more trouble.
Example: Opening a door.
1. Someone runs to a door.
2. A sweaty hand reaches for the door knob.
3. The hand grasps the knob.
4. The hand turns the knob and but then freezes.
5. The door opens.
6. The hand releases the knob.
7. The door completely opens into a dark room.
8. Someone screams.
This isn't the most dramatic of sequences to use as an example, but when you break down an action sequence, or any sequence for that matter, you most likely will stumble onto a story structure:
Beginning: We don't know too much about the who-what-where, but there is a little bit for us to follow.
Middle: There seems to be some hesitation about opening the door. The character is running away from something. Will the door provide an answer or will it lead to more trouble?
How would you shoot this sequence? Would you just put the camera in one position and continuously film it without any other shots? Or, would you change the shot or camera position for each subevent? We'll look at some clips from Star Wars Episode IV and you should notice both methods used.
Resolution: Well, there may not be a satisfying resolution, but we get the idea that the door led to more trouble.
June 17th
Yesterday we had a little hiccup in our progress, but today seemed to go a little better. It's always tough coming off a nice weekend and then jumping back into production.
Today all of the groups were approved to start their music videos. All groups have the entire time tomorrow to shoot and edit their music video.
Teams Random and AAA are still in the lead.
We had a little talk today about group dynamics. (You can look at this on the blog at Group Dynamics and Group Dynamics2). Every group seems to work through different stages of getting to know each other and then experiencing a little friction along the way. We discussed a little bit on how to be proactive or positive as way to deal with issues that come up. We also discussed what an anchor does and how some VC students in the past may have acted like anchors and have slowed their group down.
Yeah! I have a parent that volunteered to go with on the field trip! Way to go Dena!
Today all of the groups were approved to start their music videos. All groups have the entire time tomorrow to shoot and edit their music video.
Teams Random and AAA are still in the lead.
We had a little talk today about group dynamics. (You can look at this on the blog at Group Dynamics and Group Dynamics2). Every group seems to work through different stages of getting to know each other and then experiencing a little friction along the way. We discussed a little bit on how to be proactive or positive as way to deal with issues that come up. We also discussed what an anchor does and how some VC students in the past may have acted like anchors and have slowed their group down.
Yeah! I have a parent that volunteered to go with on the field trip! Way to go Dena!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Friday the 13th
I'm not that superstitious, but the Fighting Pigmies' computer was acting strangely today, we saw a few tripods almost blown over by high winds and for a moment I thought the Marshmallows were going to do their impression of Mary Poppins.
News: Commercials are due on Monday. Our first set of terms are also due on Monday. I asked VC students to bring in music for the music videos. They were also asked to bring in props and costumes. In the past many of the kids have brought in their guitars. Next week we will be going on a field trip. Are there any parents that would like to help chaperone?
News: Commercials are due on Monday. Our first set of terms are also due on Monday. I asked VC students to bring in music for the music videos. They were also asked to bring in props and costumes. In the past many of the kids have brought in their guitars. Next week we will be going on a field trip. Are there any parents that would like to help chaperone?
Thursday, June 12, 2008
June 12th
Today we played a little joke on Captain Chaos. Team Random is still in the lead. AAA and the Marshmallows are close behind.
Commercials are still in production. Most groups have finished filming their first commercial and now need to start editing. I asked everyone to bring some music cd's from home for their second commercial.
Commercials are still in production. Most groups have finished filming their first commercial and now need to start editing. I asked everyone to bring some music cd's from home for their second commercial.
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