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Showing posts from October, 2021

Creative Critical Reflection

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 This commercial challenged conventions by portraying it being used by young students. Most MacBook commercials will have adults using them, to show how they are usable by professionals, as well as people that use computers for leisure. However, the purpose of using minors in this commercial was to demonstrate how MacBooks are accessible to multiple age groups, not just adults. This brings up another selling point for the MacBooks, but more importantly I believe it brings a certain aesthetic to the commercial, one that is more school-centered. In addition to this, the commercial displays a set of students who are minorities. In this day and age, it is important for minorities to be represented in media, especially in commercials. The commercial shows how people with different hobbies and interests can use MacBooks because it presents two actors, each doing different activities, but still relying on their laptops. This advertisement would mainly engage audiences by showing them the port

Commercial Blog

 So, the commercial is finally finished. The final product is something I am extremely proud of, and I have definitely expanded my knowledge of production. In addition to this, I have worked with a team, a great opportunity to gain cooperation skills. I have been responsible for the editing portion of the commercial, meaning that I have been exposed to using software like iMovie. Perhaps most important of all, I have increased my problem solving skills. Issues during filming like the lunch bell, and other people in the scene had to be solved quickly. I find this to be an extremely important skill, and I was happy to be exposed to it. The commercial itself has come together very nicely, and I feel as if my team and I did a great job. It represents what Apple MacBooks are: simple. The addition of small things like the quote are crucial to the commercial, so I'm glad I was able to add those in. In the end, production was a tedious journey, but the product was worth it.

Finalizing the Commercial

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      This is the final day to work on the commercial. The journey has been long, however I am proud of the final product. The parts I worked on today were moving certain frames around and changing their lengths. The challenge in today's editing was deciding which scenes needed to be longer and which scenes could be cut to a smaller size. The tracking shot, where the camera follows Lucy, was cut as it does not offer much information. On the other hand, the pan down on Willow was crucial to show the Apple logo, so shortening it was a last resort. In the middle of this process, I reached out to my instructor for assistance in deciding which shots should be a certain length. His advice was to do a split screen, where two actions are being executed at the same time. This advice was helpful, however there was a problem. In typical Apple commercials, a split screen shot is not part of their CAMS. After further discussion with my team, we had decided to not take this route and continue wi

In the Editing Phase

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 Today was the first official day for editing. While I had edited before, this was a scheduled opportunity to make sure the commercial looked great. Since I am the designated editor, I took care of the minute details, like time. I had received input from my teammates, and this was useful because it is a group effort, and one mind to edit does not seem efficient. The project was already cut roughly to size, meaning that some trimming did have to be done. The problem I faced when editing today was the song. After playing back the commercial many times, I had noticed that the song didn't quite match up with the shots transitioning. So, using the drag and drop feature on iMovie, I moved the song to the right "location" under the frames and found a sweet spot. Surprisingly, the song went so well with the commercial that the frame of the Apple logo had transitioned at the perfect time, right when the drum beat drops. After this, my teammates and I looked for an Apple logo that

Filming Didn't Go As Planned...

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 On the second day set for filming, my group was ahead of schedule. Since filming was finished the team had decided it wouldn't harm us to get more film for the commercial. The first problem was quickly encountered, as the filming area was crowded with students. This problem was thrown with a solution: to film inside. There were still many disruptions, even in an indoor setting. The film was being recorded as an extra opportunity to get more footage and wasn't a necessity. However, it was still frustrating trying to gather film in such a crowded area. Our team worked through these challenges however, and it was a productive day even if the film was not required. Acting wise, the designated actors, Lucy and Willow, were a bit nervous, and the distractions most likely did not help the situation. Despite all this, the process ran and our goals were accomplished, even though this film may not be used. I have continued the editing process, making more progress today. After much cons