Weekly Report 1/20 - I Did Stuff!

What I learned: How to make the easiest camera dolly ever!

What I want to learn: How to make moar DIY camera things!

What made me happy: Starting filming my PSA!

What made me sad: Watching a video of the saddest moments in Scrubs!

The thing I made!

A perfect and inexpensive way to create a camera dolly. Only requires a drawer slider and a few pieces of wood! It creates smooth and professional looking panning shots that challenge real expensive camera rigs.

Simpsons Short Response

3 things I learned from this article:
- That this is the Simpsons' first theatrical short.
- That the Oscars had an animated short award.
- That people actually saw the new Ice Age movie.

2 opinions:
- "If you think we've done everything that we could possibly do on the show, you’ll be surprised." I'm pretty sure they've done everything by now.
- It'a nice to see the Simpsons doing something different.

1 question - How could they NOT win an Oscar for this?

An Actually Helpful Microphone Article Response

3 things I learned:
- Handhelp mics have a "heart-shaped" pickup pattern.
- Cheap wireless lavalier mics are usually terrible.
- Shotgun mics don't pick up sound from a far distance.

2 opinions:
- Lavalier mics r so guuuud.
- Shotgun mics r so guuuud when you don't have lavalier mics to use.

1 question: Why do reporters use the hand held mics so much when the shotgun mics work really well also?

Weekly Report 1/13 - All Your Teachers Heard You Liked Homework So They All Gave You Homework

What I learned: Lighting. Finally. Woo. I guess.

What I want to learn: How to figure out ways to extend deadlines further.

What made me happy: Extension on project.

What made me sad: "Oh hey Alex you have a project due? Let me help a little bit and GIVE YOU LOTS OF HOMEWORK AND MAKE YOU GO TO YOUR JOB ALL WEEKEND ADFASJWJBFAJFBDASJJFFLFFJGA;" - Fate

For the last few months me and my pal AirplaneRadio have been working on his new concept album entitled The HELLO LEVIATHAN TRILOGY (or HOW to INTRODUCE YOUR CHILD to the BEAST), with him composing the music and I doing the video work. At this moment the trailer for it is out and the album shall be finished this Febuary.

The HELLO LEVIATHAN TRILOGY Trailer:

So technically, this is my first video I edited for a customer. 

Dungeons and Dragons Response

3 things I learned from this article:
- That there were 3 D&D movies.
- D&D made lots and lots and lots of monies.
- D&D still isn't as widely accepted as it should be.

2 opinions:
- D&D should at least be accepted as the popular game it is and not as an obscure following.
- Math in board games is scary.

1 question - How do you win?

The Animooted GIF Response

3 things I learned from this article:
- That the first gif was in 1879.
- That gif was the word of the year in 2012.
- That porn could be measured in tons.

2 opinions:
- A type of picture file shouldn't be the word of the year. I mean seriously.
- GIF's cannot be used as educational devices. They are only good for funny cats falling over and Brendan Fraser doing awkward clapping motions.

1 question - Why can't GIFs be on actual paper yet?

Also, my GIF of the day

Weekly Report 1/6 - Cool New Techniques

What I learned: NOTHING. Because it was a short week. But I did learn a cool new trick you can do with a DSLR lens.

What I want to learn: LIGHTING. PLEASE. ITS BEEN WEEKS. I NEED MY FIX.

What made me happy: I got a new DSLR lens for my birthday! Lenses are expensive!

What made me sad: Hearing the screams of my wallet during the Steam holiday sales.

The trick I learned:

It's a trick you can do with DSLR lenses where you TAKE OFF the lens and hold it in front of the camera, letting in light inbetween. It gives these cool looking light flares that is surprisingly often used.

Here's a quick example of it in action:

3-D Sucks Response

3 things I learned from this article:
- That The Hobbit is most CGI.
- That facial work could affect character development.
- In a time where films have great potential, great potential is usually wasted.

2 opinions:
- 3-D can be good. But it's rarely used in new and interesting ways.
- It's ironic that a tool used to make a film seem more real can kill the realism altogether.

1 question - Why films no make good 3-D films?

7 Rules Writing Short Films Response

3 things I learned from this article:
- That making shorter films is easier because you don't have to care for your crew as long.
- That the story is what your should mainly focus on, not just a concept or other side idea.
- That one of my previous short film ideas fell under one of the cliches.

2 opinions:
- Short films usually have the best endings.
- On a small budget with a lot of people, the most budget will probably go towards feeding them.

1 question - What if someone made a film that went against every one of these rules?