Pas·sion: noun \ˈpa-shən\ : a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something. That was the definition of the word, 'Passion' according to the Merriman-Webster dictionary. Why am I telling you this you might ask? Well, for this week's reflective response, I'd like to talk about a group of videos of peoples' crazy passions. Today on Vimeo, I found a group named "My Crazy Passion" created by ABC Open. This group contains videos of weird, wacky, crazy, passions from breathing fire to the smurfs to a pigeon fancier. Yes, someone who loves pigeons. These videos are feature stories and lay's the line between a hobby and a passion. How does this relate to media? It's the same concept of our first and second quarter projects. They have to film interviews, b-roll, sequences, nat sounds, all of it! I wanted to share this group of videos for several reasons, actually. One reason is to see all the unique and interesting people in the world. I don't know about you, but I'd like to know more about someone who has made a hotel for chickens or a 80 year old woman who has done Aerobics for 30 years! But the second reason is so that you can see what you've been learning. We've learned how to set up and film an interview, shoot b-roll, edit, and many more things. But when you actually watch a news or feature video you can kind of know what the crew who made the video, had to do, and see the steps they've gone through because you've done the same. Before I was in media, I'd see a news or feature video and think, "oh cool, whatever" but now that I've been in media for a year now and am in my second year, I know how much work they had to go through and this makes me appreciate the video more and realize how good it is. Click here to be directed to the group website page and also watch some of the videos below.

     We all know that a music video tells a story in a sequence of shots. But what if I told you, I've watched a music video that told the story in just one shot? Pretty cool, right? Now what if I told you that this particular shot had no actors or actresses in it? So, how would they tell a story, in one shot, to fill up 2 minutes and 27 seconds, with no actor's at all? Well, for this week's reflective response, I'll be talking to you about a one-shot music video for the song, Knock Knock by Brunettes Shoot Blondes. I've stumbled along this video under the staff picks on Vimeo and I have to admit, it's pretty impressive. This music video shows an interplay [the way in which two or more things have effect on each other] of Apple devices playing little snippet's of animated video. So basically, it's video of short separate animated fragments, but these animated fragments on the devices have to be synchronized, or else everything won't work as smoothly. It probably took a bunch of takes to get it perfectly, all the devices playing at the same time in harmony, and all the devices in the right spot. I really like this music video because of it's uniqueness and cleverness. Being that they used Apple devices, it was really cool how they incorporated Apple devices' features, like apps, the lock screen, the notification bar, into the video. I admire this video and it's crew because of the hard work they had to go through with, to make the animated clips, to get it all synchronized, to get everything in the right place, this music video took a lot of work to do, even if it's only in one shot and there's no actors in it. That's all for my reflective response, Thanks for reading. Also make sure to read my constructed response, "My Stress Relievers!" Bye!

Hey Everyone! We all know that Apple has been releasing a bunch of things lately, such as the new iPhone 6 and of course, iOS 8. I have downloaded iOS 8, and so far, it seems to be slow and has a bunch of bugs. However, that's not what I'm here to talk about. So for this week's reflective response, I'll be talking to you about the new camera features that come with iOS 8, including timers, focus and exposure settings, panoramas, and a time-lapse option! I really like the new features, but of course, we can't take photos in school, but out of school, it may come in handy. So even if you don't have a nice DSLR at home, you can still try to make the most of it with the new features.

First of all, Apple has finally put in a timer! How many times have you been with family or friends and have wanted to take a group photo? Many times, right? Well how many times would someone be missing from the photo because they were the ones behind the camera? Now with this new timer feature, those days are long gone! You can set a timer for three or even ten seconds and get everyone in the picture! Pretty amazing, right?

     Another new feature is that you can now manually change the focus and exposure settings! In iOS 7, focusing and exposure was just a tap-to-focus, and it would focus automatically on whatever you tapped and also change the exposure. In iOS 8, however, that option is still available but, brings in the option to manually adjust the settings. You can be focusing on something and also change the exposure, by dragging the slider to the right of the sun icon, up, to bring it up, or you can drag it down, to bring down.

    The next new camera feature is for all you iPad owners, panoramas. The Panorama feature is the option to take a wide-angle photo that covers a great distance by rotating your device slowly from left to right. It's really useful when you have to take a photo of something wide or large that doesn't fit in the frame, but with the panorama feature, you can get that shot.

The final camera feature of iOS 8 that I'll be talking about, is the time-lapse option. If you've read any of my past blogs, you'd know that I really like time-lapses. I think they're very beautiful because you can see how the world changes as time passes on; moving and changing colors. Anyways, this new feature allows you to take a video that automatically converts and speeds up, into a time lapse. It's really cool because you don't need to record long, it could even be a second or even a few days, and it will speed it up depending on the duration. Another cool thing is that you don't need to do any work! This feature allows you to just tap to start, and tap to finish recording, and the time-lapse will be made. Click here to watch a really cool time-lapse video made with iOS 8 or watch it below.

    iOS 8 provides us with many fun and helpful features such as the timer, manual adjustments of the focus and exposure settings, panoramas (iPad only) and a time-lapse option! Now we can take photos better, even if we don't have nice cameras like the ones we use in class. That's it for my reflective response! Thanks for reading! Bye!

     Hey Everyone! For this reflective response, I'll be talking about a time-lapse video I watched. As some of you may know, I absolutely LOVE time-lapses! So today on vimeo, I just happened to stumble on a time-lapse video called "Shaped by Time" from Enrique Pacheco. Anyways, I think this time-lapse is just amazing! It shows the effect of erosion on different landscapes in the world. It's very interesting to watch these parts of the world that I haven't seen, away from regular buildings and houses. But it's even more interesting to see how it's been shaped over time, battling weather, harsh winds, heavy rainfall, who knows what it's been through to get like how it is now? What's pretty unique about this time-lapse is that the camera moves slowly while the landscape is being, well, "Shaped by Time". It's almost like they're using a slider. Well, it is actually because they are using a slider! They filmed with a Sony A99 using a motorized slider, and boy, that would have to taken a long time to film. That's the thing about filming time-lapses; it takes time. Not only time, but patience. Anyhow, If you've read my blog, "Beautiful Time-Lapse" instead of using a motorized slider like Enrique did, they used a tracking tripod; a motorized tripod that rotates the camera as the Earth rotates. But of course, with any good time-lapse, is good music to fit it. The music soundtrack is from Peter Nanasi, and the music is ominous, suspenseful, almost scary even, but it also gets a little inspiring. However, the music fits and matches the video; it sets the tone. My favorite thing about time-lapses is the sky, especially at night. You can see the passing of clouds, the stars, shooting stars, and the colorful sky moving, you can really see time going by and how long the photographer had to film. That's it for this week's reflective response! Below are some videos, photos, and links.Thanks for reading! 

     Hey Everyone! For this week's reflective response I'd like to do something different then what I have been doing for the past month. I'm going to be talking about a Movie Trailer because there has been a lot of new movies releasing, which of course, means a lot of new movie trailers! One of the more recent and popular movie trailers is called If I Stay. I'm sure you may have heard about this movie, When music-talented Mia and her family get into a serious accident, Mia, in a coma but has out-of-body experience, faces a difficult decision: to stay, or to leave, a choice with consequences that come along with. Anyways, this movie is a book adaptation, and yes, before you ask, I have read the book, however, I haven't seen the movie yet. The trailer starts off subtle; calming with soft mellow music while showing shots of Mia and her boyfriend, Adam, and Mia playing the Cello. Everything is going well and fine, and is leading up to the climax of the trailer. I especially like the voiceover transitioning between, "Isn't it amazing how life is one thing, and in an instance it's something else? Like here I am, Mia who thinks about the cello, and Adam, and Juliard...then just like that...". When she say's "...then just like that...", her cellow bow drops, the truck tires shift, then you can hear silence for a dramatic effect. When at the accident site, you can see a lot of cinematic movement. They make the shot kind of revolve around Mia, this gave the effect of like spinning, as Mia was turning and looking everywhere. It had nat sounds of the police sirens and policemen talking, and the voice over echoed a bit. All of these things really made me feel like I was apart of the scene, like I was really there. When I first watched the trailer, I was confused. I asked myself, "Was she a twin?" The answer is no. She is has an out-of-body experience while in a coma so she is able to see what is going on. Another thing that helped the trailer was the music in the background. While sad moments were going on, "Say Something" was playing in the background and I thought helped incredibly. It intensified the drama and the sadness. I also liked how the trailer ended with Adam saying, "Stay". Overall, I think this movie trailer really reached out and touched the audience's heart and that it will be a good one. Thanks for reading! Bye!

     Hi Everyone!  For this week's reflective response, I'd like to talk about one of my favorite "channels" on Vimeo, and that's the staff of Vimeo itself, Vimeo Video School!  Vimeo Video School is just as the name offers, A Vimeo, Video School!  Here on this channel, they offer tips, tutorials, and very effective lessons to help anyone make a successful video.  I thought I'd write about this channel in this week's reflective response because I thought it would be useful, with us starting our first quarter projects, and just this year of media in general!  Vimeo Video School offers a variety of lessons, from DSLR's, to Gear, to Lighting, and Shooting, and Sound, every lesson is worth watching and reading! It will definite be helpful in the future, with any project you're doing! I spent some time watching these videos to benefit myself, and hopefully you reading this. 

10 Steps to Shooting your First DIY Interview:
So because we are currently working on our first quarter project, I thought this video would be of use to some of you. Yes, the interview deadline was this Monday, however, some of us, still have interviews scheduled, or some that are still scheduling. Even if you've filmed all your interviews and are done with this stage, it's still a good thing to keep in mind, just in case you need to film another interview, or even for future reference, like for quarter 2 or next year perhaps. This tutorial/lesson teaches you how to shoot an interview, along with helpful tips to keep in mind. To read the spot-on lesson that goes along with the video, click here.

Bounce Lighting
This should be helpful to go along with your interviews. Have you ever interviewed someone and they have massive dark shadows on their face? Well that means you should either A, move to a different location because your background may be too bright and causing the siloette effect on your subject, or B, use a bounce lighting reflector! Yes, we actually have these I'm class (they're located in the laptop room). Anyways, what a bounce lighting reflector does is exactly what the name suggests, it bounces light and reflects it onto the subject. This lessens harsh shadows on their face, but one partner will have to hold it steady the entire time. To read the effective lesson on bounce lighting that goes along with the video, click here.

Do More With Your DSLR I: Working with Avaliable Light
I found this video and article lesson extremely helpful. Whenever I use a DSLR, I just ignored the f-stop, whitebalance, ISO, the Kelvin temperature, and things like that, because I've never known how to use them! Really make sure to watch this video AND read the lesson article behind it! (I actually find the article way more helpful and informative). This lesson teaches you how to work with the natrual light around you, and how to change the settings to fit and match your subject! Click here to read the article.

After you've watched the video and read the article, try it out from yourself! I embeded this simulator from the CKTV website, More < Class Resources < DSLR Training, just in case you want to go back there!

Quick Focusing Tips:
Just some quick focusing tips I've always used while shooting. I love to magnify the subject because then you can see up close how it looks, and adjust the focus so it's sharp. You can read the article to this lesson by clicking here.

And finally, Directing 101
With ever movie, ever short film, every PSA, there was a director. A director who tells everyone what to do, like a leader or a boss. With every good movie or film, there's always a good director. Watch this video about Directing for some tips on how to be a good director, and also read the lesson by clicking here.

That's all the video's I thought I'd share with you, they're very helpful and useful when shooting, so make sure you watch them AND read the article. And there is much more videos, but I didn't want to put up because it'll be too long, so you guys just have to go check out their channel for yourself! It'll benefit you! I hope it helped. That's it for this week's reflective response, Bye!

     Hi Everyone! For this week's reflective response, I will be talking about Nat sounds and a video I watched. Nat sounds are Natural sounds that come from a specific object or person. They actually talked about Nat sounds at the Hawaii Creative Media summer camp. Nat sounds help the audience or the viewers, feel like they are with you and experiencing part of the story. It is clear audio of one specific object, not like ambient sound, which is capturing everything. To learn more about Nat sounds, watch this informational video by clicking here. Anyways, today I watched a really interesting video on vimeo, with incredible audio. The video is a short film called Silo. Silo is about an engineer who failed his maintenance service test, so he is determined to pass it, but has some bumps in the road before he can get to the end of the track. Silo has amazing nat sounds; perfectly clear and solid and no dialogue which is pretty unique. I think pretty much every shot had nat sounds in it. Shutting a door, writing, ripping up paper, a liquid dripping, and that was only a very tiny portion of the nat sounds included in this video. Along with that, it also has some music that matches to accompany the nat sounds and set the mood. For example, when the engineer was determined to get a satisfactory pass, the background music was inspiring. The video itself is fantastic. The shots are very well focused, with the background compressed and they used a bunch of different angles to show one action. Some of the angles were unusual type of angles, which was also pretty interesting to see from that perspective. Other shots were at different levels of heights, low angles, high, medium, and also the tightness of the shot was changes quite frequently. In most of the shots, they used a slider to move the camera from one distance to the other along with the music that I was talking about, it made a really nice shot. We should learn how to use sliders and get them to use in class because then we can get some really cool shots. Overall, I think this video definitely needs some recognition for the awesome video. Never before have I seen such a video with great nat sounds, great audio. Every single shot had some sort of nat sound in it, the angles changes a lot, had nice framing, and the story itself was compelling and somewhat humorous. That's it for my reflective response, thanks for reading, you can watch "Silo" below, bye!

Also watch the Silo production breakdown! At first, I thought they actually built a set of layers, but you can watch this video to see how it's actually done. 

Unique. Interesting. Impressive. That's how I would describe this music video I watched today. For the first reflective response of the year, I'd like to talk about this really awesome video I saw today on Vimeo. If you don't know what Vimeo is, Vimeo is the same concept of YouTube, sharing your videos online, except, Vimeo is more professional and serious and is dedicated to film-making and creativeness and art, rather than YouTube which has all kinds of videos out there. Anyways, As I was saying, I saw a really awesome and cool video today and I think you guys will like it as much as I did. The video was a music video for the song, "Save Me" by Cameroonian singer-songwriter, IRMA. You guys probably don't know the song or who the singer is, and neither did I until I stumbled upon this unique music video. This music video is much different from most kinds of music videos. Instead of multiple shots in a sequence to tell a story as you probably would do when creating a music video, this video does not do that at all. Here's the kicker: This music video is a total of one shot. One shot to fill 4 minutes of the song. Pretty crazy, right? You may be thinking why I'm so excited to talk about a music video that is a total of one shot. Well, never underestimate that one shot. This one shot is so special and interesting because they used projectors! They used a total of four projectors to project designs in this cube-like room that reminds me of the green screen room we saw at Full Sail University in Florida and It was like optical illusions, with 3-dimension objects and everything was just very mind-blowing. You just have to see the video for yourself! You'll be amazed as what 4 projecters, some camera movement, and one shot can do. Never underestimate a single shot (like that PSA from Searider with one shot using a slider on eating healthy). You can watch this video below. Other than that, that's it! Thanks for reading guys, Check out the video below and have a nice day!