So, last Thursday was OFFICIALLY Joey, Blair and I’s last-last day of class for Medi 495. I almost felt like yelling “That’s a wrap, folks!” when we walked out of the lab/classroom to go have lunch. I wish that we’d had the chance to showcase our video project for the class but unfortunately, we still have one or two more minor things to complete. The first being that Joey has to shorten and adjust his soundtrack for the 1 minute version of the project and the second that we still have to burn to disc copies of both versions (1 and 2 1/2 minute) for Doug by Thursday the 12th. But again, this isn’t a big deal by any means. I imagine that the three of us will meet on say, Thursday afternoon to burn the final copies and then that’ll be it for us.

Anyway, that’s my short FINAL process journal entry for the semester. It’s been a fantastic course and I’ve learned a lot. My appreciation and thanks goes out to the tireless Chris Alemany of the Media Lab for his constant availability and help with technical matters and equipment bookings. I’d also like to thank Joey for coming on board at such a late date and helping Blair and I bring the project to the next level. (We couldn’t have done it without ya, dude!). Liliana was also extremely helpful and valuable to us for letting us use her submission to the “Show Us, Tell Us, Write Us” campaign from last spring. Adding her 30 second spot to our project really fleshed it out and gave it a modern, upbeat style which is sure to serve the project well in the future as an example of just how much can be done with so little. And finally, I’d really like to thank Doug for granting Blair and I foresight to just “get on with it” and do the project as we saw fit. In the future, I’d definately work with Blair again. We got along great with each other, worked out rear ends off and we’re both very pleased with the end result of the project.

And that’s, folks!

But that being said, we’re not totally done yet. Joey Malbon has been simply invaluable to Blair and I in helping us edit our video project for (and I’ve said this already) he is able to do things with Final Cut Pro that Blair and I simply cannot. And as a result, our video project is looking better and better each time the three of us sit down and work on it. Of course, during the past two weeks Blair and I haven’t physically done as much editing as Joey, but in truth he just works so fast that we find ourselves falling behind the curve at times. Thankfully, Joey has it written into his learning contract that he’ll help us in the editing process and I think that considering the amount of work that I’ve put into this project thus far more than makes up for my slightly passive participation during the last couple of classes. Still, we’re not completely finished with our film as we have until the second week in December before it is officially due.

However, one particular aspect of this project still irks me: the fact that we haven’t had contact with Robin Davies (our client) since early September. Blair and I have tried contacting him, but he just seems to be so busy that we don’t know what else we can do. We burnt a copy of our project last week onto disc and left it in his mailbox but haven’t heard anything back from him. I have spoken to Doug about this, and he assures us that it’s not a problem as Robin has been very busy as of late, and given that we are nearing the completion of the semester, he has a multitude of papers to mark and exams to write. So, I do sincerely hope that he will be as pleased with what we have accomplished this semester as Doug is.

(There, now that the applause has died down, we can get down to brass tacks).

As I just said, we shot the final scene of our film project today, the one involving the signboards. This is probably the most important scene of the entire video for it is the first thing that the viewer will see after the opening shot of the VIU logo and letterhead. Next week we’re going to upload it, edit it down to a manageable whole, and splice it into the footage that we’ve spent nearly three months compiling and painstakingly editing down. I’m so happy and relieved that it’s not even funny!

On Monday, Blair and I sent a copy of the project thus far to our client, Robin Davies and we are currently awaiting a reply from him. As we still have several weeks remaining until the project is officially due, both Blair and I forsee that we will go back and forth with Robin, fine tuning the project as he sees fit. But that being said, we’re both confident in what we have accomplished this far.

Joey was of great help to us today. He has it written into his learning contract that he will be basing a certain percentage of his grade on helping us edit the film and this came in handy today for Joey is, due to his many years of experience of working with films and digital editing programs, able to do things to our project with Final Cut Pro (FCP) that neither Blair or I even dreamed were possible. He has also agreed to help us again next week, and in the coming weeks until we officially hand in the project to the department.

And that’s she wrote, folks. I’ve been on the go since very early this morning, I haven’t eaten anything and I really need to relax and refuel for tonight. I have a fairly lengthy paper to edit for another class and it will require my undivided attention.

So until we meet again…..

1) The footage we thought we might have lost on Monday night from our shoot of Marian’s class was recovered. And it looks gooooood! We successfully uploaded it to FCP, edited it and we’re all breathing a very big sigh of relief. Sometimes ya just gotta have faith!

2) We shot the necessary scenes involving Lyn Strand in which we shot her shooting something else. Blair and I have been wanting to shoot this particular scene for at least three weeks, but it seemed that every Thursday the heavens would rain down upon us and we’d lose the opportunity to shoot a much needed scene. But today the weather held and we accomplished what we needed to do.

3) Blair and I also shot an important scene for the project in which a few students stream out of the classroom doors and into the street. Even Doug helped out! Mind you, we only had five people but it looks quite good so far. If we decide that we need more people, we’ll try it again next week. We’ll set up the camera and pretend that it’s not actually on and that we’re not actually shooting. (That’s kind of a sneaky way for us to shoot scenes of people without having to hand out twenty permission forms).

4) Now that the signboards are done, we’ll be able to shoot that final, and probably the most crucial scene of the entire project. And then it’s down to the serious editing…..

5) We both met with Doug (individually, of course) and discussed our project and how it relates to our learning contract. Doug expressed some concern from our client, Robin Davies, that he hadn’t heard anything from us in over a month but we decided that we’d get in touch with him soon and show him our progress. I know this sounds like a rather lame excuse, but in all honestly, we have been extremely busy. But the hard work we’ve put into the project thus far really shows and I think (and hope) that our client will approve of our work this semester just as Doug has.

And that’s all, folks!

We then showed what we have done thus far to Doug, and he seemed to be rather impressed. I think it’s fair to say that Blair and I have gotten a lot of work done thus far.

That being said, I might have fucked up badly yesterday. We went and shot a few minutes of footage of Marian’s Medi 111 class yesterday night but I stupidly re-wound the Mini DV tape to the beginning before we shot and when we tried to upload our footage, there was (I think) a time-code error that wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t rewound the tape in the first place. I think that the footage can still be salvaged, but neither of us knows how to do it. That’s why on Thursday, we’ll have to ask Chris Alemany for help. And if we can’t recover the footage, then we’ll have to re-shoot. I don’t want that to happen and so I really hope that we can recover the footage. I accept full responsibility for what hopefully won’t happen, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Either way you look at it, it’s not the end of the world. Shit happens.

One thing that I’m really starting to learn about fimmaking is just how many variables there are and how many things can go wrong. Just when you think you’ve got everything set up, the weather craps out on you. Just when you think you’re ready, your cast doesn’t show up. Just when you think you’re good to go, you have technical problems. But, this is after all a learning process and I am indeed learning.

Anyway, I’m off to eat dinner. Hopefully we can recover the footage on Thursday.

I’m really really tired today and I don’t have a whole lot of energy to write about what happened in class four days ago so I’ll do it in point form:

- Wednesday, Blair and I tried to shoot a scene from the video but we ran into a conflict with the operating hours of the Media Studies lab. I foolishly booked the camera without realizing that on Wednesday, the day that we intended to shoot a particular scene in the film, the lab doesn’t open until 1pm and we were due to being shooting at 10.30. To make matters worse, I had coerced several friends of mine into being “actors” in the shoot and the whole thing was a waste of time. Blair and I were pretty bummed out. But in retrospect, that evening we were able to get together and hammer out a shooting schedule, something that we should have done far earlier in the semester. On the other hand, last Wednesday’s incident was out first setback for the project and in the long run, it’s really not such a big deal.

- Thursday was a big day for us. We shot several different scenes for the film, and we’re actually nearly at the 3/4 mark of the filming process. In lieu of going to class, Blair and I used the three hour block to a) learn how to use FCP with the help of Chris, b) shoot several scenes for the project with the help of several of our classmates and c) begin editing these scenes. So while we didn’t actually spend the time in classroom, we nevertheless utilized the time well and both of us are very proud of what we accomplished that day.

- Joey sent us some of his past student work which we intend to cut, shorten and then use in the project as a way to not only lengthen the film for the long version, but also to showcase some extremely good amateur filmmaking for the department in the future.

- Chris also set Blair and I up with a virtual joint harddrive account so that we can edit the film whenever we choose. (Provided of course that we’re on campus and on a Macintosh computer).

- On Friday while I was getting ready for work, Blair shot two more scenes for the project. I’m glad that he did this alone, because I shot the location footage alone and edited it alone and it’s nice to know that both of us are contributing equally to what is so far an exciting learning process.

- This coming Wednesday (November 4th) Blair and I are going to try again with shooting the scene that we missed out on last week and (weather permitting of course) on Thursday meet up with Lyn to shoot yet another scene. Once all this been accomplished and uploaded to our shared hard-drive in the Media Lab, Blair and I should be able to shoot the remaining two scenes for the project before beginning the crucial, painstaking and time consuming editing process.

- Finally, we have both been in contact with Marian Van Der Zon and she has agreed to let us film her first year Media Studies class within the next week or two which is yet another important scene for the project/video.

Anyway, that’s about it so far. It’s been a very busy past week and this week is shaping up to be equally busy!

Adam

There, now that I’ve apologized to my process journal (I hope I didn’t hurt the poor little guy’s feelings too badly) I can get on with the update. So let’s just pretend that we’ve gone a week back in time and I just got home from Thursday’s class:

SO much to say. So little time. And my fingers are numb from walking home in this beautiful autumn weather. Ahem. Right. Well, here we go.

I spent Friday downtown with my gorgeous friend Sarah where she taught me how to use the Mini DV camcorder that I rented from Chris and the Media Department Lab. Then I shot some location footage around campus which can be shot again for the actual video. I noticed as I shot the footage that some aspects of our script worked and some didn’t. What didn’t work was the glass tree which hangs atop  front doors of the library’s main entrance. The glazing on the tree is so light that it just doesn’t work well when filmed. Actually it looks like shit! So, Blair and I have decided to cut it out of the film altogether. The second thing that didn’t work was the old-fashioned computer monitor in the audio editing room in the library. It doesn’t show up on film nearly as well as the new digital display monitors. Actually, it also looks like shit. So, when we re-shoot that particular scene for the film, Blair and I will have to ensure that we turn the monitor away from the camera. No big thing though.  Part of the learning and filming process for me is to deal with all the little things that go wrong. I imagine that if there aren’t any problems or speedbumps along the way, it wouldn’t be a film OR an ongoing learning process at all!

After shooting in and around the campus, Sarah showed me how to use iMovie and I edited down the footage that we shot into a useable whole that once we added a catchy soundtrack to, Blair and I showed to Doug. He seemed impressed with it and gave us both some helpful critiques and constructive criticism which we took note of and intend to use when we shoot the actual project film. I was also quite pleased to complete this portion of my learning contract for I think it clearly demonstrates that although my technical skills may be somewhat lacking, I’m nevertheless quite keen to learn new skills. And this makes me feel great!

Blair storyboarded the film for us (by hand I might add) which was super helpful because it’s nice to finally “see” what we’re aiming for, rather than just imagining it from a script sitting on a table or desk in front of us.

So, what’s on the agenda for tomorrow? Blair and I are renting a Mini DV camcorder again and we’re going to be shooting some of the first scenes of the project. I’ve got some friends who have kindly volunteered their time and energy to sit through the filming process which is pretty kick ass and I’m wishing it were Wednesday already!

I think that’s about it. Does that make up for not posting last Thursday? I certainly think so!

I dunno, I’m down with a bad cold and I’d much rather be home, passed out infront of my woodstove than sitting in a classroom. And for me to admit that, you’ve gotta know that I’m really not feeling well! So consequently, this week’s update to my process journal is going to be very brief and matter-of-fact.

Blair and I did a presentation of sorts to the class today regarding the status of our project. I’m more than a little embarassed about it because normally, I’m quite an effective public speaker but today I found myself standing before our class with Blair, unprepared, and sniffling and coughing into my handkerchief.  I wish that I were feeling a bit better but more to the point, I wish that we had been better prepared. But I think that we got our point across to the class and I was very pleased to hear several of my (our) classmates volunteer their time and expertise to helping us with the video. So it wasn’t all bad you see!

So, as for this next week…..

1) I’ve rented a Mini DV Camcorder. I’m going to familiarize myself with it over the next couple of days and then shoot a small amount of random footage. Then, I’ll edit that footage, present it or show it to Doug to demonstrate that I’ve met a considerable portion of my learning contract, and then Blair and I can actually begin shooting the project.

2) Our script is done. Nearly. All it needs now is some basic fine tuning before we show that to Doug as well.

3) We need to find some examples of student work. Joey mentioned that he may have some small video projects from previous years that we can include in the film and this is much appreciated, as it Arlee’s enthusiastic volunteering to be a filmed “senior student extra”.

4) I’m going to make some ginger tea and go to bed.

Later!

Anyway, back to the film project. So far, Blair and I have met with both Robin Davies and Marian Van Der Zon. I know Marian quite well, as she taught me Medi 111 many many moons ago (haha) and I could tell that she was proud to see that I stuck with the program all these years later. Blair voice recorded both meetings for future use which was nice, and I was quite glad to see that the ideas that I have about the project are very similar to what the Media Studies Department wants. They want a video that is short, fast paced, hip, current, and above all, to the point. I’ve storyboarded the video in my mind and today I sat down alone and wrote up a rough shooting script. I intend to edit it and share it with Blair in order to get his feedback.

Tomorrow we have a meeting at noon with Doug and as much as I have been putting off renting a digital camcorder and learning how to use it, I know that I am going to have to get on that very soon because the semester clock is ticking away.

Later!

Time for a quick recap…

Okay, so Doug approved my learning contract. Actually, it passed with flying fucking carpets (haha, that’s a Ricky-ism from Trailer Park Boys). I put a lot of work into it and I guess it really showed. Even Blair commented on it when he said: “If you can pull that kind of work off for our project, we may even pass!” (Ya gotta love self-depreciating humour. Because if you can’t laugh at yourself, what’s the point of laughing at all?)

Also, Doug gave a very interesting caffeine-fuelled lecture on the business world today. He spoke about budgets, contracts, negotiatons, the whole nine yards. Now, I think that its safe to say that I won’t be opening a business anytime soon, but it felt good to at least have a grasp on what it entails.

As for the project, tomorrow Blair and I are meeting with Robin Davis at 3.30 to discuss exactly what he is looking for from us. We’ve compiled a list of questions to ask him and I’m definately looking forward to it.

Anyway, I’m out. Time for some dinner and what promises to be a great hockey game!