Article Review

          The article talks about the filmmaking behind Lexus’ new video for their newest car. In the article, it talks about how when making this video, they would put the parts that they had on a timeline. Having it on a timeline would allow for multiple people to work on it together in different places. This company called, BlackMagic Design, has two different locations. One in Tokyo and the other in Nagoya. This has major decreased the amount of time that they must spend when editing this video together. They also state that their new film equipment is so easy to use, that someone who has never recorded film before, could film a scene and send it to their timeline. The article also talks about how when shooting this video, they had a lot of still pictures, videos, and film that they did not know what to do with. Like I said before, their timeline function allows them to take everything that they have recorded, and choose what they want to use and what they don’t want to use. From the article, I thought it was very interesting how high-quality their equipment is to allow them to record this films and cut parts out that they want to. I also found interesting that the whole company is always flowing together. Due to their timeline system, and having 2 major corporations where they work, how quickly and thoroughly they are able to produce good work. I think this material is very useful because it explains good techniques for people to use that will allow them to work simultaneously. This article has implications for me as a filmmaker because it goes into detail about how they shot these scenes and how they are able to design it how they want to. Being able to have the equipment they do, it allows for them to produce high-quality work. It also teaches how to be fortified as a whole team. Through their timeline system, they have people specialized for each job that they need done. And while doing this, they are all able to work together at the same time. Some questions that I have about this is how did they find the best place to film this. The video is filmed in what looks like a sunny day on a bridge. Another question I have is how did they come up with the idea for their timeline system. Obviously it works very well, but what type of ideas were they thinking about when making this system.i would like to know more about Toyota’s plan for this car as a company. I would want to learn more about BlackMagic Design and their history. I can most likely find that on their home website if they have one. I finally would want to learn more about what goes into shooting a scene like this. I find it very interesting about how this was all recorded and I think it would be very cool to learn more about this.

Jaxon Strothman

Mr. Mitchel 

Period E

March 27, 2020

Blog Post

In the past few months, we have focused a lot on shooting video and then working to edit the video that we made to make it all one clip. This process of learning how to shoot film and then how to edit it, has been really fun. Being able to work on projects like these really open up my interest for what else is left to be done throughout this school year. First, we started shooting our 6 step videos where there would be 6 scenes and they would tell a story. From this, we did many different angles and learned how to shoot different shots when recording. Our stories had to do with a kid who got a bad grade on a test and was very sad about it. He then was greeted by one of his friends who gave him a hug and cheered him up. Our other story was about a kid who was trying to cheat, and when caught by the teacher, received a Jug. In doing these videos, it taught me how to shoot at different shots and how to use the camera we did. The camera was honestly confusing to use at first but once I got help from my peers I knew how to use it. One of the best things about doing this was that I gotta practice what it’s like to record film and become a good photographer. Once we got to work on editing the film that we had recorded, it turned out to be more fun than I thought it would be. We started by downloading adobe premiere and from there we had to download all of our clips onto the computer so that we would be able to edit them. Once we had all of the software downloaded, we then began to edit out clips. When editing the clips, we started by moving all of the clips to premier. Once we had done that, we took the clips that we had and edited out the parts that we did. Not want to be in the final piece. We then had to move all off the clips together so that they would all come together in one video. From this experience, I learned a lot about how to record and take film. I learned how to do it from different angles and different shots. I learned how to take the film that we recorded and then edit it to make it into one whole video. After we finished working on editing all of our film. We started working on lighting. In lighting, we have so far focused on what lighting means in filmmaking and how it should be used. For example, we’ve been talking about the amount of lighting and the different types of lighting and when its important that different ones are used. So far, filmmaking has been an interesting class and I’m interested to see what else we have going on moving forwards.

Jaxon Strothman

Mr. Mitchel

Period E

26 January 2020

Blog Post

This week we learned about cutting film. When cutting film you can show the idea of scenes switching very quickly. For example, in the movies they will make scenes switch to another to make the people watching see the action happening faster. Like with baseball players sticking the ball over and over again except the scenes are cut so that it happens much faster. We also learned about making sure that when you switch the angle of a scene where everything is still the same. For example, when switching a scene, all of the props that are being used should be in the same place as they were before the scene changed. Producers will hire people to watch the scenes back to make sure that everything is still the same as it was before. If this is messed up, it can be very noticeable and confuse the people watching. We also started to learn about using adobe to construct scenes and film with. We started to learn about how the oldest parts of film. How it started on a reel and there would be pictures taken that if played at a certain speed, it would make it look like it was a movie. Because the human eye and brain can not process the little amount of time in between, it makes it look like it is all happening at one time. This happens in the reel itself. When the reel is pulled, there is a set of three bars that will pull the reel up and a rolling part on the back to make sure it does not get caught. There is then a part where the reel is pulled and slack is released and then pulled again where there is slack until it gets to the audio part of the machine. We also learned about how color and the tv screen is shown and the history behind it. It started with black and white lights behind the screen that would turn on and off as the scenes of the movie was changing. Then when color was introduced they added red, blue, and yellow lights that when mixed together it could make any color and was used instead of just black and white. We watched a movie done by Mark Vogt and learned about how he made his movie with directing scenes. We learned about different directors and about how Princess Lea was done more with old scenes she had done that actually trying to just edit her in. Some things that I would want to learn more about is how directors come up with the ideas for their movies and the process you have to go through to produce a film. I find these things interesting because one day I want to produce a movie and to be able to get all of the actors and props together seems very hard to come by. These things are things that interest me about learning more about making a film.

My name is Jaxon Strothman and i have had many relatives that went to Saint X. I used to swim for over 10 years but I just chose to quit and right now I work for Starbucks at the Paddock Shops. My favorite classes are Math and Chemistry. I do not have very much experience with cameras and filmmaking. Although, I have spent a lot of time going to beautiful places and taking pictures with cameras. At Saint X im not really involved with many clubs or sports. I have played every sport in grade school and might try playing a sport later in the year.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.