Fish Outta Water

For our latest video, Professor Scully wanted us to find someone interesting on campus and create a video about them. We were able to use any style of shooting that we had learned this past semester. Our team chose to create this video in the style of a stop motion music video. For our last project, we were supposed to use the Canon HD video camera to create stop motion. Due to technological errors with the computers not being able to load the footage that was shot on the camera, we were forced to use a Digital SLR to shoot pictures and then put them to motion. This time, we were able to use a Digital SLR with a water case and also the Flip Video Ultra with it's underwater case. MLS news went out and shot footage at the RWU swimming pool. We chose to profile this group of students who absolutely love throwing themselves off of the diving board, creating huge splashes and new moves. It was interesting to look inside their underwater world, and even bring a camera down below the water level to film it.

This video was definitely more of a success than the last stop motion was. And that is why we chose to do it. We wanted to perfect something that we all had an interest in and, if done the right way, we all could really enjoy.

We are getting better and better at this game, however. This video took less than an hour and a half to upload, edit, and upload a completed project to youtube and facebook. It was a great success for our team and a good way to close our semester.

Hope you enjoy the footage!
This is MLS news,
SIGNING OFF!!! =) =)

Double TROUBLE

Hello there fellow bloggers. This is week twelve for the MLS news team and we have dug our grave and climbed out of it within 24 hours. Our first video was going to be a time lapse film using b roll of periods consisting of 10, 20, and 30 minutes intervals. The clips consisted of using footage from Colt State Park, boats in the water, people walking in the cafe, switching classes, dining hall, and library footage. We were also going to incorporate autumn foliage and make a music video by speeding up all of the footage which essentially is the definition of a time lapse. Shortly after getting to class we noticed a major problem with the connection from the video to the computer. The frames kept dropping and the processing speed seemed to be inefficient for our file size and after sitting for two hours playing with that disaster we decided it was time to take a different approach.

The second and FINAL idea for our project was doing a stop motion idea. This was our first attempt at this type of video and we took 1037 pictures and put them all together to make the film. Driving from Mike's house, to campus and all around town the 1037 photos ended up making this projects one of our favorites. This project was also interesting because there was no sound but we made a music video that complimented the style of our approach.

We are getting very sad that this semester is coming to an end because we have all learned how to work hard and well together even when we are all not around at the same time. By now we are all pretty familiar with the camera, final cut pro, and blogging as a team. We work well with one another all exceeding in different areas and thought this project was the most fun, well besides the fact we had to do it twice!! :)

MLS news,

"SIGNING OFF!"

Here is our newest video for digital journalism.

This is an interview with someone who has an amazing talent, Cy Thompson of the RWU Sailing Team. Cy is from the Virgin Islands and has been sailing for 16 years and has put a lot of effort into his talent and has been able to travel all over the world to compete. Thompson singlehandly won the ICSA- Laser Performance National Championship, along with the United States Youth Champsionships. He has competed in many races and his goal now is to win the ACC Championships and Team Race Nationals which he is working hard for.

For this assignment, we did not need a reporter, but a team effort as producer and camera (wo)man. We are continuing to learn how to work effectively without having all three of us there at one time.

During this assignment, some of the aspects of video that we focused on was capturing stimulating b-roll, lighting during the day, having to reshoot some interviews, and noise factors. This time, shooting outside, a cloudy, windy day originally made the shoot rather difficult. However, after reveiwing the footage that we did have, we made the decision to reshoot some of the interviews in order to improve the quality of our video this week. We think that it worked in our favor and that the video turned out the best that it could given the circumstances of us not being able to be together, the wind, and the horrible lighting on our cloudy day. We did recognize our mistakes and make an effort to fix them.

We also used a song in the background about sailing to make the video have more of an appealing effect. It worked out perfectly and we are very proud of the video that we produced this week.

Hope you like the video!
MLS News, Signing off!!! =)

RWU Girls Basketball: Season and Expectations

For our most recent story, MLS news covered the girls basketball team here at Roger Williams University. 

For this assignment our team experimented more with the use of Final Cut Pro. We went beyond lower thirds and added a musical introduction. 

We also tackled a lot of obstacles that we have encountered in the past. Our interview were in quiet places with visually stimulating backgrounds. Also, we chose to zoom in the camera while our interviewees were talking in order to get the best quality out of the shot.

Another obstacle that we tackled was lighting. The lighting was very good in all of our shots and we were able to get some great action shots of the girls practicing. 

We had to shoot indoors for part of the story because the basketball court was the main focus. Otherwise, all of our other shots are outside, just like Professor Scully wanted.

We learned more about working together while we aren't together. It was a group effort even though we all could not be together at the same time. Mike worked hard at the editing process trying to teach Lindsey and Shannon at the same time. Shannon stepped in as the reporter and was able to experience what it was like being in front of the camera versus behind it. Lindsey worked on the blog to keep it up to date. Unfortunately, all of our schedules are so completely different and we are not always able to work on our stories at the same time. Some weeks, other members of the team contribute a little more based on time and schedules, but we also make up for it within the following weeks.

We are very proud with our story this week. We've come along way since the first week of class and have made a conscious effort to correct our mistakes.

MLS news, signing off!!

Study Abroad at Roger Williams University

         Courtesy of RWU.edu
Getting better! This is the final edited video of our latest story for MLS news about the Study Abroad program at Roger Williams University. We have had a few weeks to work out all of our quirks and learn to how work with our atmosphere and our group. This week we took into account our wardrobe issues and shot most of the film within two days so we would have more time to edit the video. We learned that every outside noise can be heard and now we are looking for sounds that on the first day of class we just would have passed by. Now, our lighting, camera positioning, and schedules all seem to be on the right track.

We picked the issue of Study Abroad so that our video could be informative and show other students what opportunities they have, as well as personally finding out where our friends and classmates have been. We had to work with the study abroad office to set up interviews and everyone seemed to want to help out and inform their program. We did interviews with the Coordinator of study abroad, and 3 RWU students. One who went to Florence, another who is the ambassador of the program, and the last student who is getting ready to embark on his abroad journey in Scotland. We also shot B roll at the Academic Expo where the Study Abroad program had a table and could get visual stimulating film.

The last lesson we learned is to work with each others' s schedules and teach each other what we know about the editing process, camera filming, and even presence in an interview. We decided to put lower thirds into our videos so it would make it look more professional and appealing. We all have really gotten to know each other and each week the process has gotten a little easier.

MLS News Sailing Coverage

This is the final video of our coverage of the RWU Sailing team, which is currently ranked second in the nation. Working on this assignment opened our eyes to a lot of improvements that can be made for the future. We always have to make sure the microphone is attached to the camera the first time around. Lighting is always an issue, especially when shooting outside or near a window. We learned to always shoot in a quiet area, because no matter how far away we think the construction is, the mic will pick it up. We also learned that the reporter and the person being interviewed should angle themselves toward each other to face the camera.

Editing and assembling the video was a long process. It took about 2 hours to put together a 1 minute news clip. That just goes to show just how much work and detail goes into making a video like this. During the editing process, we played around and added lower 3rds, which are the name titles on the screen. We also cropped and zoomed in on the images to make them tighter and less busy in the background. That, plus adding effects, like the fade in and out, are just some of the tools we played around with while editing this video.

Another lesson that we learned is how to work together without all three of us actually being together. If one of us shot poor footage, the person editing it would pay for it. Even if all three of us aren't together, we all learned how to work together and work to benefit the team as a whole. Each person handled their roles great though!!

Editing our first assignment- 9/30/08

During class, we begin taking video off of our Canon Vixia H10 video camera and transferring it to our computer into Final Cut Pro.  From that point, we begin to assemble and produce the news story.  After the video footage was transfered onto the computer, we started to dissect the voice over that was recored so that we could place it appropriately in the video clip.  Mike is an experienced user of Final Cut Pro and led our team through the process of putting everything together.  Lindsey and Shannon are learning more and more each week.

We experimented with the lighting of the videos to make dark shots look lighter and to match the time of day (the event was supposed to take place in the afternoon, but we shot the video as the sun was setting. We want it to look as authentic as possible).  Getting each clip to match with the lighting was a bit of a challenge and we had to spend a little bit of time troubleshooting that part of the editing process. 

Placing the Broll with the appropriate voice over was a little bit harder than we has originally thought.  In order to get the story to flow smoothly, we had to make sure that the voice over and the image matched, but also that it was placed at the right place in the sequence of the story line.

Placing all of the pieces of the puzzle together is a really interesting and fulfilling process. It's cool to see the story unfold even after we've already told it. 

Heres Frankensteins Monster: