Intro To Editing

You will set some goals for the editing unit. Take a moment to determine three goals that you'd like to make that you can complete by the end of the editing unit. What are these three goals? Why have you chosen them?

    Three of my goals for the editing unit are to learn how to effectively color grade, use sound effects, and transition. I chose these goals because I know about them, but I don't know anything further than what they may look like and what they're called. I keep hearing people talking about color grading and I have no clue what that actually is besides the fact that it has to do with colors. For sound effects, I don't know how to use them properly or what kind of effects would add to a shot. As for transitions, I haven't learned about any creative way to transition from scene to scene besides the basic cuts and the slideshow-esque  options in whatever editing software I'm using. I mainly chose these because they're the only ones I know of. There's definitely a ton more aspects of editing that I'm going to want to learn about, but I'll only really find out once the unit starts.

Writing Your Resume

What are three key points from this video on how to craft your resume?  Why are they important?

    Three key points on how to craft your resume are that all experiences count, be concise, and adding information related to your education.

    The first key point is that all experiences count. This means that you shouldn't just think about formal job experience, but instead think about all types of experience be that informal, volunteer work, extracurriculars, events, competitions, etc. This is important, especially for high school students, because you may not have formal job experience or ones that heavily pertain to the role you want so you should use what you do have to sell yourself as a good worker.

    The next point is to be concise. Employers don't typically spend that much time reading resumes the first time so try and keep it short but effective. When writing descriptions of experience, be short, don't use first person pronouns, start with a verb and use impactful wording. This is important because of how little time is spent looking at your resume. Employers are likely going to skim it for things that they want to see so making it easier to find helps your chances.

    The last key point is to add information related to your education. This includes gpa (if it's above average), relevant coursework, club work, extracurriculars, awards, etc. This is important because high schoolers typically have less working experience. Using your experiences from school, you can still display your skills and abilities through them.

Set Safety / Career Readiness Summary

What are three key things that you learned in these units on the following topics: Set Safety/Etiquette,  Career Readiness, Digital Citizenship, Copyright. How can you begin using this going forward?  Why are they important to know?

    Each topic is essential to understand in life, especially in the industry. Three key things that I learned from these topics are the Four Cs of Career Readiness, how to behave online, and Fair Use.

    First, the Four Cs of Career Readiness are the most encompassing and are a useful way to remember how to carry yourself. The four Cs are communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. Communication is vital in every workplace as it is the only way to work smooth and effeciently, especially with larger teams. Communication goes hand in hand with collaboration, which is something that will be required in any role. You will always—at some point—have to collaborate with another person and, in order to be able to do so properly, you must communicate.  Critical thinking is the most vital c as this includes problem solving. Most jobs out there are just different forms of problem solving, so being able to actually understand and come up with a solution is important. The last C is creativity; similar to communication and collaboration, creativity is intertwined with critical thinking. In order to solve a lot of problems, you need to be able to think about possible solutions and some of these are going to have to be creative. In the industry, creativity is a lot more needed as it is a creative field. These things are all incredibly vital to being employed in both the industry and any other job as it is was makes you a good worker and someone that people want to hire and work with.

    The second key thing that I learned is how to behave online. Although I already upheld what we went over, I think it is incredibly important because so many people act awful online and hurt each other. The biggest point is just to have common sense. There's no good reason to be a horrible person online or in real life. Another big thing is to think before you post because once it's on the internet, it'll stay on the internet. People can copy or screenshot your post faster than you can delete it. It's also important to take your privacy seriously online as things aren't as safe as they may seem. For instance, don't share any personal information through email because it's very easy for the other person to share it or for it to be found. As previously mentioned, it is important because people can be hurtful but also because in our more and more digital world, the way you act online can have a huge impact on your real life. Employers may do background checks or request your social media in order to see how you act and if you have a track record of being a terrible person, they can refuse to hire you. It can also affect your personal relationships as often times people connect through the internet.

    The third thing I learned about is Fair Use. I never had known what specifically fell under fair use and I had a lot of confusion about it before. I know now how important it is to know about copyright and what falls under fair use because it can be detrimental to your content if you don't account for it. Fair use is what allows you to use copyrighted material without express permissions and the 4 instances where a work is considered fair use is when it's used in education, news reporting, criticizing/commentary, and parody. I never knew the actual cases of fair use and so it is useful to know how I can use copyrighted material legally.

Fair Use

Explain the concept of fair use in your own words? How do you think you can you apply fair use to you work that you create in this class?

    Fair use is a way of using copyrighted material without paying for it or getting permission that doesn't violate the copyright. Using copyrighted material is only considered fair use if used for educational purposes, news reporting, criticizing and commenting, and parody or comedy.

    I may be able to apply fair use to the educational material we make through the addition of citations and images or to make a parody. By adding additional information to educational material I make, It would be fair use if I were to use copyrighted material as a part of that informative process. I believe that making a parody is something that we have to look forward to in this class and so I would be able to apply fair use in that situation too.

Music and Copyright on YouTube

How are music and copyright used on Youtube?  How can you properly use a song in your video?

    Copyright is used to protect artists and the media that they've created, preventing it from being stolen and taking away profits from the original creator. Music can be used in the background, covered, or for a specific scene within a video. This usage can lead to copyright infringement as you need permission to use a piece of music or a part of that music, such as the lyrics or melody.

    In order to properly use a song in your video, you must properly acquire permissions or the licensing to use it and make sure that the way you intend to use it follows the restrictions in the license, properly credit the creator, and or use music that's copyright free, such as the music from the YouTube Audio Library. Another way that you can use music in your video is by making original music. As you are the creator of that media, you can freely use it however you'd like. Be cautious though, as if you use beats or loops it may get flagged by content ID and you'll have to refute the claim.

How Much Screen Time is Too Much?

What does this video have to say about screen time's effect?  Based on the video, reflect on your own screen time habits. How do they compare to the suggestions and concerns raised, and what changes (if any) would you consider making to manage your screen time more effectively?

    This videos says that quality is more important than quantity when it comes to the effect of screen time. Specifically, passive screen time, like watching videos or scrolling, is what is connected to the mental health issues that have been associated with too much screen time. On the other hand, active screen time, like editing, writing, or drawing, engages us physically and cognitively and is beneficial.

    Looking at my own screen time habits, I realize that I spend far too much time passively scrolling through social media, short form content, and watching videos. I don't engage during those activities and I often waste time doing so. However, I am really big on reading and spend the most time reading on my phone. Reading is a much more active task as it uses my cognitive abilities and I often think a lot about what I'm reading. I enjoy making predictions, going back and building connections from what I've previously read, and exorcizing my imagination and reading skills.

    Some changes that I am considering making are to lessen the amount of time I passively use my phone and start reading on larger screens. Passive screen time isn't productive and doesn't leave any long lasting effect on me, especially compared to reading or any other productive and engaging activity. I'd like to spend less time scrolling through videos and instead do anything else that are better for me or don't suck me in so effectively. As for the bigger screen, I'd like to do this per my optometrist's recommendation as my constant reading off my phone likely has had an affect on my eyesight. 

Online Disinhibition Effect

Do you feel the internet is making people meaner? What might be some examples of this in our current world? Why do you feel this way?

    Yes, the internet is making people meaner. Some of examples of this is the existence of cyberbullying, the amount of trolls and negative comments, and the way that information can spread like wildfire.

    I feel this way because the internet gives people a place to separate their identity from their words. Under the guise of anonymity, people are extremely inclined to let go of their morals and inhibitions because they know that they won't get caught or linked back to what they did or said. So when behind a faceless profile, people are so much more likely to be meaner, be toxic, and be negative. Although this setting is only present on the internet, it can still have ramifications in the real world. For instance, cyberbullying can be incredibly damaging to many people, especially teenagers. People often feel fine or even have a sick sense of satisfaction by harming people online. Because things can spread so fast on the internet, rumors or attacks on people's characters can too. So if a teenager were to have something bad about them spread around, they would be experiencing the ramifications in person. I once saw an instagram account request to follow me and the account's name had literally been calling a girl from school a "whore"; the only posts on that account were slut shaming her. Obviously, whoever was behind the account had no visible connection to it and they were perfectly okay with saying such disgusting things about someone who they likely know in real life. Other examples include the harassment people face, doxxing, and often times threats said online. Without the internet, people wouldn't be so willing to be as awful to one another because of the fact that it can much more easily effect themself in real life and can be linked back to them.

    Another possible way that the internet is making people meaner is because it can easily reveal the truth about many real life situations that absolutely suck and can make people jaded. There's so many horrible things happening around the world and before the instant communication from across the globe, people were so much less aware of what was happening in other places or even in other parts of their own country. However, the internet provides and instant way for this information to spread and be seen, thus allowing people to see the harsh realities. This is important because it can push people into action against it. But it can also make people feel terrible about the world we live in and make them jaded. This can be somewhat seen by those moral polices online and in the real world who shame other people for "supporting problematic figures", "perpetuates the horrible system", and for "being ignorant." People who do this think that they are in the right for shaming those people because of the fact that doing those things can possibly make the situations worse. I do believe that there are actions that can be done to help with issues in the world, like the boycotting of companies that support Israel or not supporting creators who are genuinely horrible people, but that is never a good reason to be shaming someone for not doing the same, especially if they aren't aware.

Age and Social Media

What age do you think is appropriate to start social media for kids? What are the advantages and/or risks to that age? Why do you feel this way?

    Although it depends on the kid, I think he earliest to start social media for them would be 8th grade or 13-14, following the legal requirements of CAPPA. The advantages of allowing them to start social media at that age are being able to connect to other people and becoming a part of a community, finding new interests or gaining new knowledge, and as a tool.

    During middle school is when people are transitioning from elementary to high school and I believe this includes access to a phone and or social media. In my experience, it's typically viewed as odd or inconvenient when someone in high school doesn't have social media. This is because, in high school, social media is often used as a tool to for communication. This is for both connecting with friends and peers in groups and also to befriend new people in real life too as many people are more comfortable giving others their social media instead of their phone number. It is also used by groups like clubs, ASB, and outside organizations to communicate and announce extracurricular or after school activities such as events, meetings, and opportunities. At my school, every club, Class Office, and ASB use instagram to post updates, info, and events so that everyone knows what's going on. Although they also occasionally utilize email, it is almost always going to be through social media. Some clubs use facebook and messenger as a more professional (at least compared to instagram) way of communicating with their members on the behind the scenes information. This is typically done by performance clubs that use facebook and messenger to announce practice schedules and things pertaining to that while they use instagram for the general masses. Messenger is also typically used by club cabinets as well for the same reasons. Social media is also where a lot of important opportunities that would be much harder to find on your own are shared and can be found quite easily. Without social media, students would be at a major disadvantage in high school and that's why I believe they should gain access in 8th grade. It is much more socially acceptable to not have social media in middle school and it isn't vital, especially to 7th and 6th graders. By giving access to 8th graders, it gives them a year to acclimate to using social media and getting comfortable with it. It also allows them the opportunities that are available online, such as the 8th grader who asked for support of her protest online. If there were younger people who wanted to do such things, I definitely think that they should go through their parents in that situation.

Career Readiness Skills

What are career readiness skills? Give three examples of what you feel are effective employability skills that you think could help you get a good job. Why are they important?

    Career readiness skills are collaboration, communication, and critical thinking; these skills are incredibly important to have when wanting to have a good job.

    Collaboration is important because, in every job, you're going to have to work with another person at some point. This could be closely as partners or a little more distantly, like someone you have to consult at the end. Whatever form it may take, you are going to have to collaborate in your job. A personal example for me are my internship where I had to work with the organizers and my peers to plan out and prepare curriculum.

    Communication goes hand in hand with collaboration and is vital for any role because it is what makes work run smoothly and efficiently. You have to communicate properly to the people who work with you and the people you work for in order for your and their jobs to be done well. When in a team, communication is key for it to even function; every moving part needs to be communicated so that they don't conflict or never get done.

    Critical thinking is one of the most broad and major skills to have to be ready for a career. Critical thinking encompasses problem solving, writing, planning, and using your skills to your advantage. In a career, you must be able to solve problems as dealing with issues tend to be a big part of most roles. Writing is integral as to even get a job, you should be able to write a resume, cover letter, and professional email at the bare minimum. Planning is important as it can prepare you and your team for any situations and makes you much more efficient with both time and money as you can work through problems before they become one. And knowing how to utilize your skills and knowledge to its fullest is incredibly useful in any situation as you can use even the most obscure or disconnected skill in a given situation.

Set Safety Summary

Now that you've completed the set safety and etiquette lecture, why is it so important? What parts of it do you think will be difficult to follow? What parts would you like to learn more about?

    Set safety is so important because it prevents people from getting hurt or killed. The point that I think would be difficult to follow is advocating when I think something is dangerous. I can tend to be non-confrontational and this makes me a bit nervous to bring up when I think something is off; especially if it's something that a higher up is doing. I hope to curb that feeling and not be so worried. Also, I would like to learn more about the medical related safety points, mostly what you can do in a medical emergency and what to bring to prepare for any. I want to have the materials and bring the supplies that can be helpful or vital in emergencies or in the case of injury.

    Set etiquette is important because it keeps things running smoothly and professionally. Areas of set etiquette that will be difficult to follow are learning everybody's names and not letting things people say because of set heat get to me. I'm not the best with names and so that may be a struggle at first, but I have been improving in remember people's names. I haven't had to be in the fire of someone aggravated due to set heat, so I'm not sure how it would go. If it's anything similar to how stressed people get during plays and musicals, then I may be able to handle it. As to what I would like to learn more about; I want to learn what tools would be useful and appropriate to bring onto set and lingo. I want to bring as much to the table as I can at the moment when working with much more experienced people so I'd like to know what I can supply.

Film Set Etiquette

What are three key points this article makes on etiquette on set.

    The first key point that the article makes is "Always". They use this point to say to always double check, follow up, try your hardest, ask questions, and be respectful. This points pretty good as it encompasses a lot of important things. Following up, asking questions, and double checking are good practices to be sure that you're doing what you're meant to be and learning. The other two aspects make you someone that others would want to work with again.

    Another key point is to be "Ninja-like". This point says that it's better to be less noticeable and if you've done your job right, it should be hard to notice you did anything. The point it makes is one that most people don't realize and especially for those outside of those roles. For instance, PAs do a lot of the dirty work and help with the small things that a lot of people don't even think about, like callouts, getting water, and getting people.

    The last point that was made is "Zero". This point is the one they explained the most. The biggest takeaway from this point is to never assume. This encompasses assuming about other people, your own capabilities, that you don't need to double check, and that expectations will be met. Assuming is never a good idea; you can't ever know if anything you assume is true unless you have the proof. Therefore, making assumptions can be detrimental to you as it can cause mistakes to be made.

Why is Safety Important

What are 3 different points this article makes about safety on set? Why are they important?

    The first point that this article makes about safety on set is to plan safety protocol. This is important because knowing how to handle possible risks safely can help diminish or even eliminate the dangers entirely. This point also stressed that all possible risks should be assessed for a set, meaning that you could plan for more risks than you may have initially, potentially ones that would've caught you off guard.

    The second point is to make sure everyone knows the hazards. This is vital as having a protocol that isn't shared to everyone is entirely redundant; both of these points go hand in hand. As previously mentioned, debriefing people on the hazards, how to keep safe, and how to handle things whilst following safety protocols mitigates the possible risks or at least limit them.

    Another point made is to plan emergency response. Knowing what to do in the event of an emergency is vital as people often panic or freeze if they don't know what they should do. If there's a plan, then they are more likely to follow what was practiced or planned, making it much safer for everyone than it would be if there was nothing prepared.

Vertical Video

 Why is vertical video a bad idea? Have you taken one? Why?

      Vertical video is a bad idea because of the fact that it goes against the direction that most screens are designed to watch videos in; horizontal. This leaves hideous empty space on both sides of the video, wasting all the potential that space had. They are also limiting in the content that could be shown within the video as they only have a fraction of the space that horizontal videos take.

      Although vertical video should be avoided most of the time. I think that it does have its place, predominantly in short form media, which is designed to be viewed on a mobile phone vertically. Because of this, I have taken vertical videos before, either to be posted as short form content or to replicate the style. When I had replicated the style, I did so because I was filming an unserious presentation in a way that you mainly see in short form videos.

       Excluding short form media and a specific choice replicating the look of short form content, vertical video should NOT be used and I will say that I avoid it outside of those scenarios.

Setting Goals

     To begin the year, set three goals for yourself in this class.  You will reflect back on this in December to see how you have performed.  Try to set realistic, achievable goals that you can fulfill by the end of May in this course.

1. My biggest goal for the year in this class is to develop my knowledge, both on the technical aspects of film making as well as on the artistic aspects. I want to be able to help and participate in the process of creation in both ways and to also be able to analyze and break down the different artistic strategies used in a film.
2. Another goal that I have for myself is to be able to create a film and tell a compelling story. I want to have the ability to put my thoughts into a story that can be visualized. Previously, I've always been coming up with ideas for interesting stories that never end up seeing the light of day. I hope to change that and create stories that move people or make them think.
3. I want to learn how to operate the tech and tools effectively and confidently. I currently have no experience using any of the tech that's used in film making, so my hope is to properly develop those skills and be able to use them to my benefit. This includes for producing my own films or to be hired for the skills.

The Magic of Moviemaking

Why are movies so magical?  Why are they special to you?

    Movies are so magical because of how they can illicit so many emotions through so many of its aspects. The things that make up movies alone have the ability to incite emotion in people. A sad song, a compelling story, thought provoking artwork--all of it can move you in some way and Movies combine all of these things. This is what make them so special, they have the power of all of these mediums in one. And for me, I already have a love for things that make up a movie. I can appreciate each layer of a movie; the music, the visuals, the sounds, the story, and the acting. That is why they're special to me. I hope to be able to be able to view movies at an even deeper level, to truly appreciate the work that went into it and the effect it has on me.