Zuheir-with-Video

Final thoughts on Writing with Video May 7, 2011

In a nutshell, when I was asked this question at the start of this class, I said that video like writing is a medium where you can plan your approach smoothly and concisely. Hindsight is 20/20 – that is something you would say when talking. But in writing or video, you wouldn’t say such a phrase as much, because in these two media, give you the ability to plan out, look back and re-edit what you said. Furthermore, I said that writing and video can be integrated and that video is slightly better than writing as it is a better attention-grabber.

I agree with most of my earlier perceptions. (Gosh, I was such a genius!) Haha jokes jokes.
Seriously, i do agree with most of my earlier perceptions.  Writing and video are awesome because they give you the ability to plan and not say something stupid. Actually, turns out, preference to write over speak is a sign of the best leaders: http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/30/introverts-good-leaders-leadership-managing-personality.html?feed=rss_popstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+forbes%2FEZKq+%28Forbes.com%3A+Most+popular+stories%29      (point 4 ‘They let their fingers do the talking)
Therefore, writing is certainly superior than speaking. And video is superior to speaking…

…and to writing
At the start of this course, I underestimated video’s power in relaying messages and beliefs.  I implied that video is probably slightly better than writing. Now I know that the video medium is much better than the text medium. I realized  for myself, that video can encapsulate a viewer in a way that I have never experienced before. It is true though that, even the spoken and written words can engulf you, but in those media, the audience have to enter with hopes of being taken by what ever they are about to experience. But with video, the audience can be quite blasé about what they are about to experience, and you can still drop their jaws. Therefore, through this class I realized, the awesome power video has in capturing, inspiring and awe-striking. The colors, pacing, audio placement, audio volume and composition create wonders. Nevertheless, I also found out that video isn’t an impromptu thing. It is heavily planned and researched, and that video doesn’t work without writing. For a video to be so intense and powerful, it has to go hand-in-hand with writing.

This has been my favorite university class so far! I learned so much and my interests in films and filmmaking have exploded. I actually asked my advisor, If I can minor in filmmaking. Unfortunately, there is no such minor here at University of Illinois. Nevertheless, I will definitely carry my interest in filmmaking onwards. Ash, you have been an awesome teacher, AWESOME – in all sense of the word. Thank you for being such an awesome teacher and helping me realize my passion for video.

This I believe: Presentation & Distribution May 7, 2011

Reflection + Critical thinking: Write about the most important strengths and weaknesses of the finished piece. Is there anything you would like to change? What did you learn during this process.
Well, I find my film, when everything starts falling apart, to be very chilling and somewhat disturbing. Two reactions I was aiming for. Therefore, that’s a definite home run. I think what’s aiding to the eeriness of the film is the song I used in the second part of the film. It was absolutely fantastic. It also aligned with the footage nicely and made sense. Nevertheless, it wasn’t all smooth-sailing. As I composed the movie and polished it off in iMovie, I previewed it and it looked and sounded perfect. Nevertheless, after I exported it, I would hear random sound clips of supposedly muted clips in random moments of the video. That literally drive me crazy! Since I used clips from all over, from a Ke$ha video clip, from a Black eyed Peas video clip and from a Korean Rap song, the song clips mashed up together at awkward moments made  no sense and it was hard to hear. Therefore, I went back over the whole clips, unmuted and muted them again. I exported it and the problem still persisted. I tried exporting to different formats to no avail. i was literally, going crazy. Why in the world where the audio files being mashed up randomly in the video? Therefore, after exporting straight to youtube and playing with the audio ‘ducking’ settings to no avail, I decided to research my problem, after 3 hours of frustration and hair-pulling. Five minutes into my research, I found the following link: https://discussions.apple.com/message/9099756?messageID=9099756, a Apple forum talking specifically about the issue I had and how to deal with it. Turns out, there is a bug with iMovie and that when you slow down some clips without using the custom preset speeds, that would lead to an error which would mess up the audio. You have no idea, how relieved I felt when I found out that, that statement was true! Therefore, I changed the speeds I set back to the preset speeds and moved on.
Therefore, my project taught me first-hand, how to work realistically on a film-project where you run into issues and stupid errors. I learnt what it meant to research, and truly research! I actually pulled off an all-nighter looking for footage that would fit with my film. I found around 30 clips that work with me. Consequently, that wasn’t something I had done much in my earlier projects, where things were unrealistically smooth. Therefore, this project kind of put me back on earth and set my expectations straight.

Audience Response: Did you clearly and successfully communicate your idea to an audience? Did you accomplish all your goals? What kind of audience response did you receive
Well, luckily my film received a lot of good reviews from my audience. It certainly was a favorable response. Nevertheless, I didn’t want to simply entertain, I wanted to convey a message and belief. Therefore, I actually asked my audience what they thought my belief statement was. Thankfully, the majority of people had understood my belief statement. Nevertheless, Ruomeng thought the scene of the protagonist taking his first steps was a dog walking towards his owner who he thought was the protagonist. I have to check if Ruomeng is an exception or if everyone felt the same way or if that kind of unfazed them – because that could be detrimental to the whole film. Because that scene is in the start of the film, where the protagonist should be a toddler. If my audience thought the protagonist was an adult, that would mess up the whole idea of a first person perspective of a protagonist with a destructive lifestyle.
Nevertheless, mostly everyone else understood the message and understood that it was  toddler and not a dog in that scene. Therefore, hopefully Ruomeng is just an exception. I guess that I have accomplished my goal of affecting people, giving them a chill and hopefully making them think of their lifestyle.

Distribution: Do you want to make this piece available to a wider audience than your peers and classmates? If so, what ideas do you have about accomplishing this?
This is a film that I actually would really like to make available to a wider audience. Because, destructive lifestyles affect many people around us. It not only affects the people with such lifestyles, but also their families, friends and community. Furthermore, from the audience response I got, I feel like I did a good job in creating an impacting and a telling film. Therefore, I would like to make my film available for more people to see. Maybe, submitting it to a local film festival or something similar. For now, I uploaded the film to Youtube and shared it on Facebook. My friends have been commenting and liking the video. Nevertheless, I really aim to widen my viewer-base.

This I believe: Postproduction Journal May 7, 2011

Logging Shots: Review your raw footage to see what material you actually have. Make notes on material that looks promising. What can I communicate with what material I have?
Now that I have obtained all my footage but one, some scenes look very promising. There’s a shot of lightning, that I recorded during one of Urbana’s storms for my own viewing pleasure. As I was going over the footage, I was like ‘Hey I could use that shot for my film!’. I wanted an ominous scene that foreshadows what is about to happen – either lightning, a black cat squealing or a necklace of beads falling apart.
Nevertheless, once I saw that 30 second shot of lighting raging across the skies, I knew that I found my ominous scene.
Another shot which I am very proud of is the burning family-portrait. This one, I filmed with the intent of placing it in my film. Basically, I went to a barbecuing pit, placed the portrait and poured gasoline all over it. Nevertheless, I got really lucky with burning the portrait as once the photo was engulfed in fire, it curled up where the camera suddenly focuses in the baby being held in the picture and it looked as if I had intended for that t happen – it was all a coincidence. Expect to see this shot in the final product, because it will be good footage to relay the idea of the loss of family.
Another scene that turned out to be incredibly realistic was footage of the protagonist interacting with a drug dealer. In that scene, the drug dealer (my friend) hands the protagonist a ‘bag of weed’. Weed was definitely not involved in that shot (yes mother!) Anyways, I got a ziplock bag and filled it with lawn-grass. Then I noticed that there was a tree that had toppled over near where we were shooting. It had these dark ‘leaves’ that looked like they were part of the branches – it was a weird tree. Anyways, I cut some of its leaves and out them in the bag. I rolled up the bag and made my friend hand it to the camera. It looked fantastic! In addition to the bag looking very real, the scene is vital to show how the protagonist is venturing into ‘need-based-drug-use’ territory.

Scripting + paper editing: Review what you wrote in the production phase on style, elements, composition, and form. Begin assembling the shots you think you want to use. Create a ʻpaperʼ edit – a list of shots in sequence, with notes on trimming clips, audio, transitions etc…
Here’s the order of how the shots will play: ‘Mobile shot, Tulip opening, Egg cracking, Walking with father, ‘drawing’, playing with popper, 3rd Birthday scene, Sled, Swing shot, Playing soccer, Swimming with friend, taking exam, at a concert, meets a girl at the concert, girl from concert kisses him, hanging out with friends at a restaurant, being offered a cigarette, ominous lighting, artistic smoke, drinking with friends, ordering from a bar, fighting with friends that were in the restaurant, being offered crack, requiem of a dream fast cuts, dealing with drug-dealer, more requiem of a dream fast shots, being slapped by girl at a bar, messing up the bathroom, shooting up at the bathroom, girl ‘humping’, family portrait burning, more girl shots, family portrait burning, popping pills, family portrait burning, being beat up at a bar, shots of a siren with color filling up the screen, shot of protagonist taking a shower and his tooth falling, more requiem of a dream scenes, egg frying, approaching  anew girl on the bed, pooping more pills, The ‘humping-girl’ with a disgusted face in bed, more requiem of a dream scenes, money running out, fight with a dealer, fight with a girl, popping more pills, car crash, hysteria = really fast paced and unaligned shots of drugs and pills, suicide, black….
For the audio, most scenes will be muted, except for the ‘drawing and coloring’ scene, the popper scene, the birthday scene and the one where the protagonist is taking his first steps. For those scenes, the audio will be slightly heard, just because I sometimes remember random sounds from my childhood. Furthermore, all the way till the lightning shot, ‘Lullaby’ by Johannes Brahms will be playing, just because it’s a famous baby lullaby. After the thunder is heard, ‘Audio Secrecy’ by ‘Stone Sour’ will be played. I chose that second song because it feels like a clock-ticking somehow, and that gives the impression of time passing by. In addition to it being very calm and sombre. 

Reshoots: Is anything essential missing from your raw material? Do you have everything you need, is there anything else that could further support your narrative?
Well there is a scene that I really would like to shoot for myself actually. There’s a scene that I got from a video clip where the protagonist shoots up atop a toilet with the lid closed. That scene is very integral in my video because it’ll show how much the protagonist fell. Nevertheless, the scene I got from the video clip is not very clear; kind of blurry in fact. Therefore, I would’ve have reshot it. Because, I can clinch my forearm enough to make most of my veins start popping out, which is an interesting visual and that aspect of ‘shooting-up’, looking for veins, is not illustrated in the footage I got from the video clip. I tried reshooting that scene; but, I realized that it is very hard to find a syringe. Because, syringes aid in the ‘shooting-up’ process, their supply is limited. After making myself sound like a druggie and asking my friends if they knew where I can get a syringe, I realized that I won’t be able to find a syringe! Therefore, I had to settle for the video clip footage.

Reflection: How are you feeling about your material at this point? What are you thoughts about how the raw footage can be edited to convey your intent? Do you see multiple possible narratives in the material?
Well, I;m very happy with all the scenes I recorded my self. Because I had full control over the lighting and the composition. And my camera video quality was better than the scenes I got from Youtube or the internet. Furthermore, downloading the videos from youtube, converting and re-converting them aid with their quality. Therefore, I would really like to shoot all the scenes for myself. Nevertheless, that isn’t  feasible because it will take a lot of time and I need to find enough subjects as supporting crew. Therefore, I have to settle for what I got from Youtube. Which consequently, isn’t too bad. I have been literally blessed with all the scenes I found online. Not only did they satisfy what I was looking for, but they also sometimes guided me and changed my approach. Therefore, I’m very happy with the material I found.
I don’t see multiple narratives in my material, but I don’t know how much my belief will be interpreted by my audience. That, I’ll find out after I present.

Improvisation: Are your ideas evolving? Are you utilizing new learning? Write about any adjustments and improvisations that you made while creating the paper edit.
Yes, definitely. As I said, sometimes, I find scenes online that are absolutely gold. Scenes that help me broaden my focus and make my film more relatable to my audience. Also, sometimes, I find scenes that replace other scenes and make the final product more aesthetically pleasing or more chilling. For instance, I was planning on killing off the protagonist with a car-crash Nevertheless, I later found footage of a suicide in first-person! Suicides are much more telling and chilling than car-crashes. Therefore, I ended up killing off the protagonist with a suicide.

Rehearsal: Use your paper edit to start constructing your video. Consider creating a ʻrough cutʼ – a quick version of the piece that allows you actually experience the narrative in rough form. Write down your impressions of the rough cut. What are you satisfied with? What still needs work? What is missing?
Well, so far I’m still in the ‘happy’ periods of the protagonist’s life. I’m keeping the pacing and movement slow, so that It will create a pleasing and comfortable theme. I realized, that I have to convert the Youtube clips again on iMovie because that smoothens the transitions much more and makes them less distinctive. I’m not going to use any iMovie transitions, because they give a feel of me presenting something, rather than ‘that’s what the protagonist’s life is like’. I’m just cutting clips at moments where it makes sense to switch to a new shot. That’s an aspect of my film that still needs work.

Write a 100 word (no more!) press release about your video… May 7, 2011

‘Slippery Waste’ is a depiction/warning of how destructive lifestyles will come to an end. It is in the perspective of the child, as he rises and ultimately falls. Nevertheless, it is also a medley of artistic and creative shots that set the theme at different periods. In addition, ‘Lullaby’ by Johannes Brahms plays in the background to start off the child’s innocence. It later switches to a more ominous and sombre music that will let a chill go down your spine.
‘Slippery Waste’ will frighten and scare you; nevertheless, it will make you think: how’s your lifestyle like…

This I believe: Production Journal May 2, 2011

Interview Questions: Can you generate a list of questions that will elicit detailed and informative responses (something beyond just ʻyesʼ or ʻnoʼ)? What do you think this subject wants to say?
I will not have any interview questions; mainly, since my topic is not very ground-breaking, therefore, I want the production to be interesting and fresh at least. Nevertheless, the protagonist would be all for ‘living on the edge’ and ‘being extreme’. He’ll condone destructive behavior as he’ll disguise it with ‘living life to its fullest’ – which is ironic in how he lives the life to its fullest, by actually shortening it.

Shot List: Generate a list of all the shots that you envision producing. Think about your primary sources – action shots, interviews, location shots, etc. – but also remember to consider “B roll” material – secondary material that might help create context, add visual variety, or more depth to your subject.
The film will start with an upward view of a ‘musical mobile’ – as if it were in the eyes of a newborn. The camera will focus and refocus just to illustrate that the baby is opening up his eyes to the world. Next, a shot of a tulip opening and an egg cracking open, just to create a ‘start-of-life’ feeling. The next couple of shots will be sweet events in every child’s life, learning to walk, and the first memorable bday. After that, we’ll start to navigate into ‘teenager’ territory where things start to pick up and get dangerous. The pace will pick up with the now teenager, playing soccer. Next, a shot of our teen taking a high school exam. After that, we’ll have a shot of our teen getting his very kiss. Next, footage of the teen in an concert with his girl. That’s probably the midpoint where things start going downhill. Next up, a shot of the protagonist being offered a smoke. And cue the substance abuse footage. Here a scene of lightning will serve as foreshadowing on what is about to happen. We’ll have fast-paced footage in the following order: smoke on black backdrop, being offered crack, eyes dilate, cue ‘Requiem of a dream’ artistic shots, approaching drug-dealer, popping pills, egg frying (reference to a very successful nineties ad about drug abuse), have family-picture burning, more shots of popping pills, possibly shot of protagonist shooting up in a shady-looking bathroom stall. Furthermore, shot of running out of pills, scuffle with drug-dealer, really quick scenes of sleeping around,scene of a gang-fight and it will all end with a shot of a suicide. All the scenes involving the protagonist will be in first-person, other than the scenes included for artistic purposes. At the start of the video, the pacing will be relatively slow, to imply warmth and serenity. Later on, as things get riskier and riskier, pacing will pick up and it will give the viewer a feeling as if he/she is on the run, which will create a general feeling of urgency and restlessness.

Style + Elements: As you generate your shot list, revisit the issue of style. Think again about locations, lighting, props. Think carefully about audio. Will you use the audio captured by the camcorder? Replace it with something else? 
I realized that talk is easy and doing is hard! When I was initially visualizing my film, I said that I will get footage from Youtube of a certain action in certain lighting and that it will be in HD quality. Turns out that saying I would find such footage was the easy part. I came to find out that there aren’t many first-person videos online to choose from. Therefore, I was limited to what little footage I found. Therefore, I wasn’t able to cherry-pick the footage. Although, I got lucky with what I found, if I had more time, I would prefer recreating everything because even the footage that I found and was perfect, it was poor in quality and that would downgrade the general quality of the film.
Since the film starts off in a baby’s crib, I will start the film off with a lullaby. It will be the lullaby as composed by Johannes Brahms. I decided to go with this one, as the new versions of his composition are softer and ‘happier’. Yet, the older version is much sadder and more gloomy. Therefore, as the film starts and is of the happier times of the protagonist’s life, I will use the new, happier version. Nevertheless, later on, once the events take a turn to the worse, I will play the old version of Johannes’ lullaby as it is more grave and ominous. I’ll probably mute most of the footage. Some, ill have its volume lowered, that it’s barely heard over the lullaby.

Storyboard: Can you make a visual representation of what you see in your mind? Can you describe the narrative structure with the use of key image frames in the sequence. Can you represent the beginning, end, and other pivotal moments?
The film, will start off with a shot of a musical mobile. That will probably set the pace for the happier events of the child’s life. Further on, just before things start rocketing downhill, a shot of lightning will capture the screen. Here, I’ll probably mute the music and just let the rumble of thunder take over the speakers – just to create a more majestic and attention-grabbing scene. Because, that scene is a very important one that will signal the protagonist’s downfall. It will also, signal when the pace starts picking up.

In the Field: Document your shooting and production process. What worked well? What didnʼt? Take notes on the scenes you shoot, all your various shots. Are there particular shots that you feel particularly excited about? Where there any surprises? Happy accidents?
After getting some first-person footage off the internet and recording some for myself, I realized that, my recordings have much higher quality than those ‘borrowed’ from the internet. If I had more time, and if it wasn’t exam-season, I would prefer renacting all the scenes I aimed for and got from the internet. Nevertheless, with the limited time I have, and the fact that many of my friends, my potential actors, are drowning in exams and assignments and exams, that is not feasible for me to do.
Overall, I absolutely had a wonderful time working on this project! Especially, recording the first-person and artistic footages. One happy accident that happened with me was when I was filming the burning family portrait. I wanted to shoot a dramatic scene of a burning family portrait that illustrates the situation with the protagonist’s family at the time of his downfall. Therefore, I went to the grove on Florida and Lincoln, here on campus. Unfortunately, since there was some wind, and all I had was gasoline, the picture wouldn’t catch on fire. It was so distressing as I had strategically planned my shooting session between two classes. Therefore, since the stupid portrait wouldn’t catch fire , I kept on pouring gasoline blindly. Then I grab a match, light it and throw it into the pit. Once, it touched the gasoline, the whole pit goes yellow in fire as the flames rapidly consume the gasoline and the portrait as well. Because it didn’t work properly the first couple of times, that kept on pushing me into pouring more and more gasoline. And only through that excess of gasoline, did I achieve the effect I was looking for.

Reflection: Capture your thoughts and feelings. How are you feeling about the project so far? What have you learned?
I have been having so much fun with this project so far! I am letting my creative juices flow and I’m trying to keep my mind as open as possible. In this project, I have gone to extents, I have never gone before on a film project. I found myself looking for a ‘musical mobile’ to purchase, buying a cake for an imaginary 3 year old and hosting a birthday party for him. Thankfully, I have been blessed with awesome friends, who in some way, all have played a part in this film. And now, they all can’t wait to see the final product. I am very optimistic on what the film is going to turn out to be, I just hope I can translate my vision into reality. So far so good…

Improvisation: Plans change. Life is unpredictable. Sometimes it becomes apparent that Plan A wonʼt work. Are there any particular ideas or plans that have shifted? Has the process of actually making something made you wiser or more realistic about the project?
Well, there certainly has been a lot of improvisation involved in my ‘This I believe’ project. I first started off with a completely different idea about a completely different belief. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out as I couldn’t get the interviews that I needed. Then I moved on to this idea; where improvisation did not stop. Without thinking, I listed scenes that I would get from YouTube. Unfortunately, I did that before actually checking if these scenes are available on the internet. Most of the times, I couldn’t get the scene I hoped for. In those cases, I had to either shoot the scene for my self or scrap that scene and find an alternative.
This project certainly made wiser! All the obstacles I faced so far have definitely made me a better filmmaker. Until this project, I never really faced any major setbacks. Luckily, everything was going according to plan. Nevertheless, it would’ve been unrealistic to expect that, such luck was the norm. Therefore, in this project, I was brought back to earth and I was taught to think of alternatives and Plan Bs so that I would have back up plans for everything. It certainly has been a fun and educational project so far.

This I believe 2.0: Pre-production Journal April 30, 2011

Personal: What inspired your topic or subject matter? (How) does it reflect a personal interest, belief, concern, or question? What is your relationship to this subject?
Well my topic is about those with destructive lifestyles and who waste their lives away. I believe that you have one life to live and that it shouldn’t be wasted, no matter what.
Right now, I am a freshman at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where the drinking-culture is very strong. Sometimes, overwhelming. Consequently, yesterday there was a ‘Barn-dance’ hosted by an Advertising club, of which, I am a part of. I didn’t go because I knew there would be alcohol; from the stories I heard, I was correct in my judgement.
I once asked my friend, ‘why do you drink?’ He replied that he drank only to celebrate certain events. That made a bit of sense to me. But, I later found out that he was on the lighter end of the drinking spectrum. Turns out, some people just drink for the sake of getting drunk and becoming ‘wild’. That made very little sense to me. These people, were educated students who know that alcohol has detrimental effects, let alone binge-drinking; yet, they drank anyways. Every. Single. Weekend.
Luckily, I haven’t been swept by the drinking-culture. Nevertheless, I am one of the lucky ones. I have kept my dignity and didn’t do anything I later regretted. Something, many of my friends have done. Therefore, I want my video to target those people before it’s too late. 

Working Statement/Hypothesis: What is your personal persuasion about your topic? Is there a statement you wish to make?
(lol I already answered this question haha – I’ll reword it) I believe that we have only one life to live and that it shouldn’t be wasted. We all start off our baby innocence and with unabridged potential. We  have the whole world in fron of us, and a chance to take an active role in bettering it. Unfortunately, many of us, are wasting our lives with destructive behavior. Alcohol, drugs and copious amounts of sexual activity with strangers are not good habits. Unfortunately, that’s all we seem to do and watch about. And I believe that we should stay away from such harmful habits as they will shorten our lives and the impact we have on this universe.

Research: What do you already know about this subject? What donʼt you know? What kinds of additional research do you need to engage in?
Well, my mum made sure that she fed me the idea that wrongdoing is a slippery slope, along with every meal. Her warnings resonate through my head, that the first-step is always the biggest; once I take it, my way downhill will be easier. I truly believe that you may start with a minor mistake, smoking for example, and that will lead to bigger mistakes, binge-drinking, recreational drug-use, need-based drug-use, ‘sleeping around’ and so on. I’ve experienced that happen with friends and I have experienced it myself in some errors of judgement that I have committed. Nevertheless, I don’t know if it has been scientifically proven or recorded that, ‘wrongdoing is a slippery slope’. If I could find a study that shows that, for instance, 63% of drinkers tend to use more drugs and engage in more ‘relations’ with strangers than non-drinkers do, that would certainly give me, much more confidence when addressing some of my critics.

Anxieties: What are your hesitations and anxieties about this project? What are the challenges? Potential obstacles?
One of my biggest obstacles is finding enough footage online that I could use in my film. I plan on having my film be in first-person. Basically, it’s going to be a first person perspective of someone who wastes his life on destructive behavior. This, will be harder than just interviewing a couple of my friends that, oppose drinking and such lifestyles. But, I want my film to be more interesting than that. My topic is pretty common, I am certain, that everyone at UofI has heard someone warn them about destructive behavior. Therefore, I hope to reel in the audience with artistry and an interesting production. Doing so, would require me to have interesting first-person footage on the downfall of the protagonist. Some scenes, I can film myself. Like smoking or ‘interacting with the drug-dealer’. Nevertheless, the more intense scenes like, getting into a bar fight and committing suicide – that would be hard for me to film. Therefore, that is my first obstacle: finding useable first-person footage online that applies to my topic.
Another challenge is, my topic choice. See my topic of ‘Don’t smoke, drink or have frequent sex with strangers’, won’t settle very well with the majority of students with hormones raging, and bodies looking for rushes of adrenaline. (However, It will settle in well with worried mothers haha). Therefore, I hope that with such a controversial stance, (yes, being ‘conservative’ is becoming more and more controversial) my audience isn’t turned off from the film and dislike it completely. 

Topic: Can you write a concise paragraph about the subject of your video? If you had to write a press release, an abstract for a grant proposal, or a newspaper review for your piece, what would be a clear but brief description?
The following film talks about the life of some… It is in the eyes of a budding child from birth all the way to death. You will get a first-row seat at a showing of a life that is all too common on our society today. It starts off calmly, with the innocence and serenity of childhood, yet it quickly transforms into a hectic, fast-paced and intense life of those who waste their life. 

Background: What background information will your audience need in order to understand and be interested in this piece? Is there a particular context for your topic that the audience needs to understand?
Well, my audience will have to know that such a lifestyle exists and that the depiction happening onscreen isn’t exaggerated or hyperbolized. As long as they feel that the protagonist in the film is an average joe, they will be gripped and interested by the film. That I will have to illustrate through the footage I choose for the early and innocent years of the child.

Characters: Who are the main characters in your narrative? For each character, can you outline their place or role in the piece, their place in the overall narrative, their relationship to other characters, what makes them interesting and/or significant?
Firstly, there’s the protagonist. It will be a male who throughout the film, goes from opening his eyes for the first time to close them for the last time. Everything seen on the screen will be through his eyes (in addition to some scenes that create a certain theme or are there for artistic purposes.)
Other than the protagonist, there will be a few minor characters in some scenes. Possibly a doting parent, a girlfriend, a drug dealer, a gang member, a stranger being slept with. They will all highlight the protagonist’s rise and fall. 

Conflict: What will be the central conflict or issue? Who wants what from whom? What aspects of this conflict do your characters represent?
The conflict will be the main character going from a period where everything is going for him to a time where everything crashes because of the destructive lifestyle he cultivates as he gets older. The secondary characters will highlight at what point the protagonist is at his life.

Structure: What are the action sequences? Can you describe the structure? How will it begin, what is the opening sequence? Will there be a culminating moment?
The film will start off with the baby’s point of view. Therefore, it will probably be looking upwards at the ceiling. I will focus and defocus the camera to illustrate the eyes opening up and adjusting to the light for the very first time. Later on, I will have random scenes of the protagonist’s early life. They will all be relatively slower in pacing than the scenes of his life further down the line. The last scene will be of him dying. Therefore, it will be like the first scene of the film, I will defocus the camera to insinuate that the eyes are closing.

Content: Is there key symbolic imagery you want the audience to encounter? Are there key facts you want your audience to gather along the way?
Yes, although the majority of the film is going to be through the eyes of the protagonist’s eyes, there will be scenes intended for artistic purposes and to give hints on what’s happening. For instance, I’ll have a scene of a burning family picture (to illustrate the loss of family due to ‘straying away’), a scene of lighting (just before things start to go seriously downhill – serve as an omen of things to come), a scene of scissors cutting (cut his life short…).

Style: What are your thoughts about specific locations, camera angles, or lighting? Do you want the piece to create a particular mood or feel?
Well, the majority of the scenes are going to be in first person. Therefore, the camera will act as if it’s the protagonist’s eyes. The lighting at the start of the protagonist’s life will be warmer and more friendly. Nevertheless, later on the pace of the scenes will pick up and they will be darker and more gloomy.

Audience: Who is your audience? What are their views and/or biases on this topic? Will your piece support or challenge their views?
My main audience will be my classmates; and, these are people I aim to target with my video. It will certainly challenge the general view. As I said earlier, college students generally have a destructive and abusive lifestyles. Although, deep down, the may believe what I am trying to imply, they will probably oppose my film’s message. That comes down, to how hardcore they are in terms of binge-drinking and ‘partying’.

Resolution: How will your piece end, and what would you like the ending to accomplish for your audience? What effect or impact do you want your video to have on your audience? Do you want to alter their views?
My piece will end with the death of the protagonist. I hope that my video will be an illustration of what the life of those with destructive lifestyles, will end up to be if they continue living the way they do. I hope that my video will shake the audience and make them start to think about their lifestyle and their future. I hope it alters their views for the better, that would be perfect.

Logistics: What is your production plan? Can you write it down? Can you break down the project into smaller components and/or a logical sequence? Can you generate a schedule/timeline for completion? Do you need to reserve equipment?
I first need to visualize what scenes are going to be in my film. Some will be easily recreated by me. Some won’t. Therefore, I’ll have to make a list of the scenes that I need to look for online and a list of scenes that I have to film. I’ll need one camera for the most part, since I’m filming it from a first-person perspective. I’ll need to checkout a tripod as I will attach the camera to it and hold the tripod instead of the camera by itself. That will give me a better grip and will make the camera less shaky.

Journal: ‘King Corn’ April 26, 2011

What is research? How might research for a video project differ from that for a paper?

Research basically is gathering information on a certain topic. It involves a lot of reading and a lot of searching. It certainly won’t come easy. It is an integral part of any topic where views are presented; as, it will determine whether your views are shallow, have loop-holes or are fool-proof. I think that research for a video project is certainly much harder than that for a paper. See, in a paper assignment on WW2, you can find reports by some people who experienced D-Day, for example, and ‘voila’ you can quote them in the paper. But in video, you can’t just quote everything, you have to research information that could be presented in a more interesting and fresh way, and, that limits the resources you could use in your video.

How do the filmmakers utilize video as a research tool in the film?

‘King Corn’ is a documentary that comes along with many new terms and concepts, at least to me. Therefore, a considerable amount of explaining was done by the filmmakers. Yet, they didn’t just interview a ‘scientist’ and make him define what the ‘Grain Elevator’ was; they actually went to a grain-elevator and filmed it. There, they interviewed a farmer who made us understand more, on what the elevator was. They also ‘showed and proved’ instead of ‘stated and told’ – and that, is much more powerful! They didn’t tell us about the ‘corn-growing’ procedure, they showed it to us by filming step-by-step, an acre of land planted with corn.

How are you using video as a research tool for your final project? What sources will you use and how will you evaluate their credibility?

In my next video, I will be talking about drugs, alcohol and other behavior that will ‘waste your life’. I want to present that idea through a first-person perspective of one abuser’s life. Therefore, I will certainly, research if earlier attempts of my idea have been made. I will also, research the art of making POV-films and how they are made to seem credible and realistic.