Editing blog for music video

      Hey guys it's Aniyah, again! Today my group and I edited our music video. While we were editing it made me realize how fast time is going by because I remember the day when we were choosing our song for the video as if it was yesterday. I vividly remember how eager we were to work as a group again and to choose our song together.. But it's time to stop thinking about the past and continue and to get you, the readers, caught up on the present. First and foremost, we dumped all our footage from the SD card into the computer. Instead of using Pinnacle Studios, we used iMovie on Stephanie's computer. We did this because, her laptop is faster than the school computers and iMovie seems to work better than Pinnacle Studios. For the commercial project we started to use Pinnacle Studios, but we ended up using iMovie and it gave a great result with our last project. Once everything was set up, we watched all our takes and picked our shots to use for the video.

      When we started editing, we all decided to take turns and let people do certain things in the editing process. There were a few problems trying to get the footage from the SD card to her computer. iMovie is different from Pinnacle Studios in some ways, so we were still trying to get the hang of it. The issues with her computer did take a lot of our time and it was a little frustrating, but we were patient because we have overcome issues like this before. Eventually, Stephanie fixed the problem and it allowed us to continue editing. Stephanie took care of the first step in our process. She took the lead in choosing what shots we should use in our video with Lily's and my assist. Also, she cut certain shots because the video was too long when we chose what shots we are going to use. Next, we were looking for what sounds to use in our video. We wanted to put in sound effects to really bring the video to life. 

         Lily took responsibility of step two of our editing process. She added the sound effects to certain parts of the video and made sure it fit with the scene. Than I took the lead in the last part of our process. First, I checked to see is Stephanie or Lily may have missed something in their part of what they were supposed to do. Then, I made sure the video ran smoothly and made sure there was no choppiness. I left class early because my mom had to pick me up, so I could to my doctor's appointment. I didn't get to finish my whole part in the process, but I still completed a lot. Before I left, I looked at the finished product and it looked great! I am proud of my group for making, yet another, successful project. Thanks for reading and happy blogmas!

Film Blog, the second and last day of filming

         Hey it's Aniyah, again! Today's blog is going to be interesting because film day number two was very interesting and filled with a lot of twists and turns. Initially, the video was supposed to be filled with beach props and we invited extra people to include in the video to make it more exciting. The plan did not go as expected because we depended on a lot of people to show up and bring some of the props we needed. But, the day we filmed was on a Sunday and usually people are busy with church. Which was one of the main reason why people come. We didn't get mad, because we totally understood and respected that reason. Other reasons why people couldn't come was because their parents didn't want them to come because they said it was too last minute and the some of parent did not know our parents. I was able to show up, but I came late because the beach we went to is far from where I live and I was busy with family business. I was still able to participate in the filming of our video, but I could not contribute as much as I would have liked to in the video because of my injury.


       With my injury and my crutches I am limited to do certain things. I was not able to get in the sand with my crutches because that would have been a disaster. I filmed some of the shots from the sidewalk and Stephanie filmed the shots on the sand. I was watching Stephanie from a distance and from my perspective she was doing really well. She made sure the lighting went well with her angles and shots. I guided her through some parts to make sure we followed the storyboard correctly and to make sure we were timing everything correctly. I was not surprised on how well she was doing, because she did most of the filming for our commercial project and we executed all our angles and movements with great progress. Our pan shots were amazing, especially with the lighting complimenting our shots. We added extra things to the video, so that there could be more than expected. We added a shot of the seagulls, so we can add a background sound of birds to the video.


         I suggested that they dramatically jump and dance into the water for the last scene. This was just another way to add to the theme of summer fun behind the song. Even though I was not able to fully participate, I still enjoyed being there and I am very impressed with our progress. I admire how despite the unexpected circumstances, we were able to push through and complete our work with great progress. A similar situation happened with our commercial project, where a lot of bumps in the road came up out of nowhere. But, as a group, we were able to overcome those situations and execute our work perfectly. I am grateful to have a determined, reliable, and cooperating group to work with because we are all determined to get our work done and we can all easily learn from each other and depend on each other. This has been another great working experience and I look forward to completing more great work with my group. Thanks for reading and blog you later!

Film blog, the first day filming at the beach

       Hey, it's Aniyah again! On the first day of filming, my group and I met at the beach to film our music video. We met at Hollywood Beach. When we got there it started to rain a lot. We couldn't film at first because we didn't want to get the equipment went. The rain ruined the background we wanted to get for our music video. We wanted to have a nice and sunny day filled with people having fun in the background to match the theme of the song. Even though the rain eventually cleared up, it was still very cloudy and gloomy outside. I am currently injured, so I can't do everything we planned to do as a group.

       Because I'm injured I am limited to do stuff, which is very upsetting. Luckily, my group was there to comfort me and let me know that everything would be okay. I didn't get to be in the video, but I was able to help with recording. It was not easy recording, because the lighting was not the best and it did not help give off summer vibes. We did not get all the good footage that we wanted to get. We still took some footage, just in case if another interruption happens and we are not able to get good film again. We also did not have a tripod, so that did not make the process any easier. We couldn't get the steady pan shots we needed for our music video. Without the tripod, we also couldn't get steady tilts like we wanted for the video. That is okay, because we adapted with what we could work with and we adapted well.

      I am very happy with myself, because of how much my filming skills have improved since the commercial project. Doing these projects is helping me remember the names of different shots, angles, and movements. It has helped me how to execute certain shots and angles properly. Because of this I was able to get some footage with really good angles. Even with the lighting being not that great, my improved angle skills have improved that. We are planning to meet again next weekend to get better footage for our music video. Hopefully it does not rain again causing the sky to be cloudy. If it does we are in the works of coming up with another backup plan. I will have more information in the next blog. Thanks for reading and blog you later!

Storyboard for music video

     Hey it's Aniyah, again! Today my group member was not able to help us form a storyboard because she was busy testing. But Stephanie and I executed the storyboard with great effort. We figured exactly what camera angles, camera shots, and movements we are going to do. We figured exactly what parts of the song we are going to use and what parts we are not going to use. We worked out what we are going to do in the music video and how it will connect to the theme of the song and the music video. The first thing we had to evaluate was what parts of the song are we going to use. In the beginning of the song it sounds very chill, than they go into the first verse, and than it goes straight to the chorus. We decided we are going to cut the first verse and go straight from the the first verse to the chorus.We came to a conclusion that it will be good transition going from a chill sound straight into an upbeat chorus. In the beginning, it is going to be a pan across the beach while the chill sound is going on with a three person shot of Lily, Stephanie, and I. 

      When the lyrics start, the camera is going to switch to a medium shot of Stephanie lip syncing to  few words, than we transition to a medium shot of Lily, and lastly a medium shot of me. When the chorus starts, it will turn into a wide, medium shot of Stephanie, Lily, and I lip syncing and dancing to the chorus. We will be doing a lot movements, since the chorus is very upbeat and all about having fun. We will doing different things to each of the lyrics in the chorus. When the song says "Ride the perfect waves" we will move to the ocean and it will turn into a tilt of us playing in the water. We are going to try to get a surf board or at least a mini surf board to use as one of the props in that shot. Than when the song says "say hi to the sky" we are going to change it to a high angle shot of my group and I laying on the sand and we are going to wave to the sky (technically to the camera). We are doing this because it really matches with the lyrics. Than a long angle shot of my group and I playing and throwing the sand. I have a good feeling the low shot angle will make the shot of the sand being thrown look really good. 

     After that shot, we will move into a zoom shot that will be a close-up shot of me and my group members and than zoom out into a wide shot of us on the beach. This will happen when the song says "It's a bikini wonderland." Than it will changeover to a high angle shot of us running and dancing around the beach and a pan shot of us dancing. This shot will include us dancing with our towels. We will have our background of this shot filled with people so our video can look full and whimsical. Than song ends off with it saying "Summer's on, and we've gone surf, surf crazy" and than there is a lot of instrumentals at the end. We will end it off with a little dance choreography and a nice wide shot of my group and I. We will leave it off with a nice fade out. That's all for today! Thanks for reading and blog you later! 

Planning for music video

    Hello it's Aniyah, again! In my last blog I said that the song my group and I chose was "Say My Name" by Destiny's Child. We came to a decision that it was necessary to change our song. We changed it to "Surf Crazy" from the Disney Original Movie, "Teen Beach Movie." We made this change because it will be easier to cut this sing into 1 minute and 15 seconds. The location of our music video will be on the beach, because the song is about summer fun and the main place people go to hang out during the summer is the beach. My group and I know that the weather can be unpredictable, so in case if it rains or gets too cold our back-up plan is shoot the music video at Stephanie's pool. We really want our music video to be at the beach, because of the lighting and the background. There are always a lot of people at the beach, so we want the background to be filled with people swimming in the ocean, playing in the sand, and running around the beach. With this background it will give emphasis to the theme of the song.

    To make sure nothing unfortunate happens to me or my group members, we are going to shoot near a life guard and our parents will be there supervising us making sure no harm comes our way. We are going to use props to make our video more effective. We are going to bring towels to lay on while we are in the sand. There is a certain part in the song where it says "say hi to the sky" and the in that shot we are going to lay on the ground with our towels and we are going to literally wave at the sky. We are also going to use the towels to dance with them. In the original music video for "Surf Crazy" they do all kinds of different dance moves with beach towels and it really brings attention to the theme of summer fun. We are going to have a big beach ball to use in our video. We are going to use the beach ball for certain shots of where we are running around the beach and having fun. We are also going to be doing certain dance moves with the beach ball. There is going to be a certain shot where we throw the balls in the air and the camera focuses on that.

    We are going to wear outfits that go with the summer theme. We were thinking, what would people normally wear during the summer and at the beach? During the summer, people would usually wear tank tops, t-shirts, sandals and shorts. To the beach, people would normally wear a swimsuit, a tank top, shorts, and sandals. So my group and I decided to wear a tank tops, shorts, and our swimsuits under our outfits. I am going to wear my sunglasses with my outfit, because my eyes are extra sensitive to the sun and they make me and my outfit look super cool. We are going to wear our sandals because the sand is usually very hot. We would not want to make a mistake to wear sneakers and get sand in them. If you get sand in your sneakers to the beach your feet will get extra hot and the sand will irritate your feet. That's all I have today! Thanks for reading and blog you later!

Intro to New Project

        Hello it's Aniyah, again! Today's post is about the end of a chapter and the start of a new one. I have officially completed my commercial. We got an extra day to edit our commercial because we had a few minor difficulties which caused us to not be able to complete our editing. On Monday, my group and I added a voice-over and included a voice-changing app. We had to cut a lot of shots in our commercial because our commercial was a lot longer than we thought it would be. The commercial still came out great, even though we had to cut out all the extra takes. We got all the shots we needed and even though our acting was not the best, we still executed the commercial with great effort. I missed all the fun we had during the commercial, but I am ecstatic to start on the new project we have coming up: the music video project. In this project, my group and I are going to choose a song and create our video to the song. The video has to be about one minute and 30 seconds and we get to film it off campus.

      The song we chose is "Say My Name" by Destiny's Child. Destiny's Child is a 90's R&B group that includes Beyonce Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams. They had many hits, had a big fan base, and they were a big influence to many people. I have watched the "Say My Name" music video many times and I love every single detail of the video. From the camera angle, to the movements and the pop of color, everything is just fabulous. They have many close-up shots and medium close- shots that really capture the essence of their beauty and spunk. The video is in split screen and has different colors and locations in each scene. The colorful split screens show off their energy and creativity. Every pan of each scene in a room shows the detailed color in each scene. The three person shots emphasizes the power and confidence the group is portraying in the video. 

    Their outfits in each scene are absolutely phenomenal. The outfits show how confident and and spunky they are with their clothes. Their clothes was definitely giving off the "90's vibe."The lighting in the beginning of the video is very bright. It depicts their dazzling personality. Their acting was, without a doubt, on point. You can tell just from looking at the video that they knew what they were doing and that they were very determined in the making of the video. Their makeup was very well put together and it went well with the scenery of the video. The props of the video gave a lot of clarity with the message behind the video. The scenery was honestly amazing and it was also very well put together. The scenery gave a clear picture of the theme behind the video and the song. I am very excited to complete another fun project with my group! Thanks for reading and "blog" you later!  

Editing Blog!

          Hey world, it's Aniyah again! I have wonderful news to share with you. Tuesday, November 5, 2019 was the official day we began to edit our commercials. There were a few technical difficulties in the beginning, but we were able to push through and continue our work with great progress. The first step to begin editing was to get our footage from the SD card to the computer and import it into Pinnacle Studios. But, our SD card went missing so we spent some time searching for it. My group, my teacher, and I went through all the cameras looking for our SD card. It took some time, but we finally found it. As soon as we found it, we jumped to a computer and started working. Throughout the whole process our computer was very slow and it caused my group and I to become very frustrated. Although we were very frustrated, we were still able to work with our computer the best way we could.

         Editing the commercial was very fun. The commercial was definitely very humorous and clever. The computer kept glitching whenever we played one of our shots for the commercial, but it started playing the shots with decency. On Tuesday, we only got about half of the editing out of the way. So far, we picked the shots we are going to use for the commercial. As we were going through our takes, we could not stop laughing at our facial expressions and our acting in the commercial. We got done with putting some of our shots together and we viewed what we got done. The first half of the commercial is very comedic and joyful. I am extremely proud of our filming and how it turned out. I am especially proud of my group member, Stephanie, because she was the main person who was filming and she filmed with very good angles.

        We did a few more things other than cut and put things together. We decided to add a voice-over and background music to the commercial. For the voice-over, instead having our normal voices in the commercial, we are going to change our voice with a voice changing app. We did this to add a little humorous exaggeration into our project. After that we decided what song we we're going to use in the background. We wanted to choose a song that was hype. A song that you would listen to when you are working out. A song that would give a big boost to your energy. We came up with two options after we were done searching for a song. The song I came up with was "Physical" by Olivia Newton. I am really proud of how our commercial turned out. I believe my group contributed equally to the project causing it to be completed with great progress. Thanks for reading and "blog" you later!