What an Editor does

        When creating a film, hours upon hours of raw footage is collected.  In order to create a cohesive story with said footage, an editor must put the footage together to mold the story. In order to do this, an editor must be able to understand the flow of time in the film, space, and rhythm of the story. One responsibility an editor has is making the story flow well. They need to be able to take each scene and fit them together like a puzzle to show the directors vision. Another example would be how editors are able to change the mood of a scene. With just a simple change in music of sound effects, the mood of a whole scene could change from dramatic or sad. One last example of what an editor's responsibilities is correct the mistakes that happened when filming. If a character said something wrong in one scene and it wasn't caught, its the editors job to try and correct it.

Why Copyright is important

        When making films, copyright is one of the laws that is at the utmost importance. Copyright is one of the most important laws to follow because of how easily it can be broken and how you can be charged. Breaking copyright law can be as easy as putting a copy written song for too long in your video. One time, I had the idea of making a dumb video late at night, where "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry was in the background as I dance like an idiot. Once I finished the video, I posted it to Instagram. In less than an hour, the video was taken down for a violation of copyright. The part that confused me about the take down, was that I made a meme edit of "This Is America" by Childish Gambino, set to the same Katy Perry song, and it hasn't been taken down by Instagram. I believe that it hasn't been taken down because it falls under the laws of fair use.

Copyright and Fair Use

Fair use is when you take a copyrighted work, and use a small part of it as a piece of your creation. When following fair use, there are certain rules that you need to follow, such as only using a small portion of the copyrighted work. In film production, copy right and fair use are huge laws that need to be followed. In class, every single rule of fair use must be considered when using someone else's work. If you want to use a clip from a movie for a project, you are only allowed to use a very small part of the movie you're using. Before using the clip however, make sure to check with Mr. Furtado before making your final decision. Even though fair use is a thing, it doesn't mean that everything thats copyrighted can be used.

Digital Citizenship

Digital citizenship is how someone acts while on the internet. Being able to have a nice conversation with someone on the internet is part of having good digital citizenship.  The term digital citizenship is defined as "the norms of appropriate, responsible behavior with regard to technology." Having a good sense of digital citizenship means that, if someone meets you online, you'll respond in a nice and proper way. For example, if someone asks how your day, you don't respond in all caps say that it sucked. Digital citizenship is important because of how we communicate in our generation. Almost everyone is on the internet constantly talking with people, so we should bring the same etiquette we have in the real world to the digital one. Most likely, if you're mean in the real world, people won't like who you are in the digital world.

21st Century Skills

The four 21st century learning skills are Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, and Creativity. I believe that through this class, and when I start in the work force, all of these skills must be applied to my work in order to succeed. One skill that is required to pass this class is communication. If people in a group project aren't communicating, then the project will never get done and everyone's grade will drop. Along with group projects comes the ability to collaborate. When people are part of a group project, collaboration is required because for ideas to come together to make a finished product, those ideas must be molded together through collaboration. In order to start the project, everyone must have a sense of creativity. Creativity is required for projects in order to come up with ideas for the projects. If no one in the group has any ideas, then the project is brought to an instant halt.

Career Readiness Skills

The Career Readiness Skills for the 21st century are Communication, Collaboration, Critical thinking, and Creativity. One example of these skills is the ability to communicate. Say you and a group of people are working on a project, in order to complete the project efficiently, good communication is required. If people in the group aren't communicating, then the project has no chance of getting done. Collaboration is also a very important skill. On a group project, ideas are being thrown left and right, so collaboration is needed to choose one idea and put it together. Creativity is also required because in order to come up with said idea, the person making it has to have a creative mind. All of these skills however are essential to getting a job in the current job market.

Safety and Etiquette

Safety is the number one rule on set because of the dangers that are possible. Depending on the set, there are chances of people getting seriously injured while filming.  In order to keep a safe environment, safety measures are taken before and during filming; one example would be having someone hold a ladder while someone is using it. Etiquette is also important on set because it could cost you your job. If you're being rude on set, then you will have a large chance of being fired. In order to have proper etiquette, one must follow the orders given to a point. If you're a worker that follows directions well and carries them out, then you will be valued by the whole crew.

6 Rules for the set

I believe that the three most important things on a film set are minding your manners, saving your comments, and learning the unique rules of the set. Minding you manners on set is important because, if you don't know it, you could step out of line and get fired. Being able to access a situation and figure out what you need to do and not do is important with manners. Another thing to keep in mind on set is saving a comment till the end of a take. Depending on your position, your comment can mean a big improvement in the film; however, to fully take advantage of your comment, wait until everyone is able to hear you after the take. A third thing to keep in mind on set is learning the unique rules on a set. As a loud person myself, I need to understand the environment that I'm in before I speak. If the film set is loud and fun, then I'll be able to speak to my hearts content. Being able to identify the environment that you're in is a very valuable skill.

Unsafe Situations

I can't recall a time where I witnessed someone get injured in an unsafe environment, but I have seen videos of people in unsafe situations. In class, Mr. Furtado showed us a video of a guy trying to set up a banner on a wall. When setting up his ladder, he set it up further away from the wall then it should've been. Also when climbing the ladder, nobody was holding it at the bottom. He fell off the ladder when reaching too far forward, causing him to come crashing to the ground. This situation could've been easily avoided by having someone hold the ladder as he climbed up, along with having closer to the wall.

Set Safety

Safety on a film set is one of the most important things because of the dangers that a film set provides. Being able to identify dangers on set is one of the most valuable skills that someone can have when filming. If something doesn't look/feel safe, then don't attempt it. Depending on what's going on during filming, different dangerous things should be identified before filming begins. One example would be ladder placement. When climbing on ladders, the ladder should be held by another person and on a stable spot on the ground. Another danger is cables on the ground. On a set, people are constantly moving around, so stray cables could lead to someone tripping. A third danger would be moving heavy gear. If someone is moving say a heavy camera and you get in their way, both of you could fall and break yourselves, or the camera. Set Safety should always be the first thing to understand.

Vertical Videos

   Vertical videos have had a recent rise with the development of smart phones. Our phones make it easy to record a video right from our hands and share it anywhere with anyone. The biggest side effect of recording videos with a phone is the automatic format of the videos, vertical. Ever since the invention of things such as the TV or the movie screen, the videos have always been shown in a horizontal format. When vertical videos started to pop up, these displays kept their horizontal format. In order for vertical content to be shown on the displays, huge black bars were put on each side of the video to accommodate for the loss of space. If the vertical video was zoomed in to cover the whole screen, there would be a huge loss of content. Stretching the video horizontally won't work either because of the low quality.

   As vertical videos become more widespread, online streaming websites have adapted to change layout when viewing a vertical video on a vertical device. The only time I've found myself recording a vertical video is when I'm posting it to a social media that is mainly on vertical screens, such as Instagram or Snapchat. I believe that vertical videos are only bad when their shown on a horizontal display. If the vertical video is posted to a place that supports vertical videos, then I think its fine.

The Magic of Film

I believe that the medium is of film is magical because of how a person's idea can be created into an immersive experience. Film has the added advantage towards other different art forms through its visuals. With modern technology, almost anything can be done to with visual effects create a living, believable world. Combining great visuals with storytelling can immerse someone into the world that was created. Films are special to me because of how they brought me out of reality. Being able to watch a movie and just escape for an hour or two brings me a sense of bliss. All of my stress can be taken away in an instant when watching a movie that I enjoy, thats what fascinates me with the art of film.

Beginning Goals

Beginning Goals:

1.  My first goal is to learn how to operate a film quality camera. I see the camera as a sense of beginning to learn how to create films. In order to become a cinematographer, I need to start off with the basics of film making. I believe that this is the first step that I should take in order to properly achieve my later goals.

2.  My second goal for the year is to learn how to use Premiere Pro. I've used other editing programs in the past, but Premiere is the standard and more advanced than other free programs. I've always liked editing, both photos and videos. I love being able to change the material I'm given into something thats my own, so I hope to learn how to become a better editor in this class.

3. My third goal in this class is to learn what being on a set feels like. I want to be able to feel that sense of professionalism while also creating things that I enjoy. I also what to create a set that doesn't feel too strict. Everyone in this class is doing something that they're passionate about, so why not have fun while doing it?