Editing of Gatorade Commercial

   Today in class, me and my partner, Preace finished our final shots for our Gatorade commercial. Our teacher had allocated us a few minutes of shooting due to our camera dying our previous shoot. We only had one specific scene to film and it was quite easy. Coincidentally, today was prep day for spirit week and I had dressed up as an ivy league student. I worn a dress shirt with khaki shorts and boat shoes,very formal. I had brought an extra change of gym clothes because my friend Orayn didn't bring his shorts, the ones we used for our prior shoot. It was a hassle changing. Per usual, Florida weather is extremely hot and humid so changing back into my dress shirt was no fun. We ended up getting the camera equipment and headed to the track to film.
   On the track,we filmed our final shot which was of me running past the camera as it was on a wide angle. We saw others from our class on the field as well, presuming that they needed last-minute shots as well. We filmed our shot and had an argument about how the shot should be choreographed. I wanted to do a wide shot and in post have it slow-moed and my partner respectfully rejected the idea. Another problem that occurred when filming was our tripod. Like last time our tripod was broken. After that ordeal, we headed back to the classroom to dump our footage and edit.
   When we walked back into our classroom ready to edit, the computers were not working. Most computers didn't even have the Pinnacle editor installed. Our teacher told us that we won't edit today but instead consolidate your footage and complete your blog on editing today. The thing is that you cannot do a blog on editing if you haven't edited. Instead, I will now describe how I would've edited if I could edit today. Most of the transitions would have been quick cuts to the next shot. One shot in particular would consist of a still shot of me looking up with amazement as I insert a video of Usain Bolt winning a race. This shot is reminiscent of a dream or fantasy shot where the character is daydreaming about the victory they're about to receive. Welp, at this point I seem to have reached my target word length; for further information, stay tuned for the next blog... 

Filming of the Commercial

   On Thursday me and my partner Preace filmed our scenes for our Gatorade commercial. On that day I had forgotten to bring shorts to wear for the filming and me and Preace were both wearing jeans, outfits that do not really match the aesthetic of exercise. Anyways, I had to go borrow my friend Orayn's shorts as he was on the football team. I had to admit we were somewhat unprepared for this filming as we only bought the Gatorade bottle the day of from one of our school's vending machines. But we quickly picked up our surroundings and seriously came up and executed great filming ideas as the day went on.
   We checked into our classroom and got our camera, tripod, and SD card. We then headed out to our track field to film our shots as the setting would be an athlete training on a track. As we arrived to the track, many of our other classmates had the same idea to film at the filed which lead to quiet a lot of commotion. Based on our storyboard, we followed most of the drawn out scenes to the teeth. Our first shot was the establishing shot which pictured me sprinting at full speed as the camera tracked my movement. We initially wanted to do a tracking shot, however, we realized that it incredibly hard to do without the proper equipment and a conventional use of a skateboard wouldn't work as it wouldn't go fast enough. We took multiple takes of each shot to make sure we have a variety before we dumped it into the computers. The second shot we took was a close up of me running and the camera would zoom into my face to show my expression. This shot took a while. Yes, we had tripods, but getting the zooming to be smooth took a lot of trial and error. We finally got our shot to as close as perfection and continued on with our shoot. Fun fact, the Gatorade bottle we bought had a huge dent on one side of the bottle. Therefore, for every shot we had to carefully make sure that the pristine side was showing. On the bright side the humid Floridan weather gave the bottle a nice watery tint to it as water droplets formed around the bottle. The shot with the camera parallel to the bottle lying on the ground was done by me laying flat down on the hot track angling the camera angle; not to mention that day was a solid 98 degrees outside full sunshine. I can now officially appreciated the trouble filmmakers go through.
   During our filming of our last few scenes, our camera died halfway through a shot. Frustratingly, we had to run back to our classroom to tell our teacher we needed extra time as class had ended by then. They allowed us a couple of minutes to continues filming the next Monday and we quickly dumped our footage into the computer and went on to our next class.
 
   

Gatorade Commercial Storyboard Blog

Today we finished our first draft of the storyboard. Our commercial is attempting to sell sports drinks, therefore, exercise is essential to the theme of the product. We start off with a fade in to an athlete running on a track with the hot sun beating on him. The athlete is clearly fatigued and in the next shot it shows the athlete leaned over, drenched in sweat and a look of exhaustion on his face. The next shot shows the athlete daydreaming about his victory at the incoming race. To achieve this shot, we will insert a separate shot of the athlete crossing a finish line ribbon with and ecstatic face amidst his victory. Scene cuts to a close up of a the model Gatorade bottle visibly glistening with water droplets to simulate coldness. A hand reaches out to grab the Gatorade and the next wide angle shot shows the athlete drinking from the bottle. The end shot goes back to a tracking shot of the athlete continuing his ruining and the title  "Go Harder, Gatorade" appears as the screen fades to black. 

Editing Lessons Blog

   Today in class we learned camera procedures and editing processes for our future films. Firstly we learned about Pinnacle Studios, a Broward County based editing software that is honestly extremely buggy. Before diving in to the intricacies of Pinnacle Studios, we learned about camera procedures and SD card procedures. I learned that many of the chords are old equipment and to take care of the camera since it’s expensive. The SD card reader is apparently a rare commodity since it’s under lock and key and often “disappears”.  An item that I found extremely interesting and useful is the tripod. From the stability and range of motion, the tripod can allow the user to film a wide range of shots.

   Further along lecture, we went into detail the complexities of Pinnacle Studio and how to dump (export) video from our cameras to the computer and importing that into the editing software. I then learned how to properly edit the footage and use the AV lines correctly. AV 2 is used for the footage, while AV 1 is for the title since it will be on top of the footage, and AV 3 will be reserved for music or sound effects. I learned many new terms like Raw Footage: the unedited footage directly from the camera and Render: to take the footage and smoothing out the video, cutting out the bugs and stutters.  Most importantly, I learned how to properly export footage, which before I had some knowledge but never had extensive knowledge on what type of file should be exported. MP4 and full-size SD best quality should be used to export the final product.

   All in all, in today’s lesson, I learned the process of editing which is essential to produced a finished, well made project. Editing also allows the filmmaker to properly express their films message and add subtly through transitions, score, and titles in their product. Although this lesson was focused on editing, the bureaucracy of checking out and checking cameras clarified the process of filming. 

The ancient technology 

Gatorade Commercial Planning Blog

Gatorade Commercial Script

• Premise of the commercial is to show the revitalizing effects of Gatorade.
• Scene must contain a clear shot of product and the athletes in the midst of exercising.
• Overcoming a challenge is a common theme in commercial.
• Clear shot of athlete drinking the Gatorade.
• Needs to show the competitive attitude of the athlete. 

Version #1 advert: Opens to athlete in intense exercise. Visibly exhausted and sweaty. In the midst of training, athlete contemplates giving up due to exhaustion. However, gets up and takes a gulp of Gatorade. (note the product must have water vapor to show the refreshing and cool taste of Gatorade.

1. Setting: Location in some sort of field, court, gym, or recreational complex. Primary locations include: school football field, indoor basketball courts, and if need be, the senior courtyard. Preferred clear weather conditions to emphasize heat.
2. Characters: Main athlete training either with or without other backgrounds, however, solitary training paints a more serious nature.
3. Costumes: gym shorts and tank top or dry-fit shirt, any athletic wear is applicable. 
4. Props: A cold bottle of Gatorade is needed and extras in case of re shoots.
5. Score: Initially somber and serious music to depict the degrading nature of exercise. Up-beat instrumentals then enter when Gatorade is drunk, used to show the revitalization of Gatorade. 

Establishing the Shot:
Opening shot shows the athlete running in athletic gear and sweating profusely. Tracking shot to show the progress of the run. Cut to a profile view of the athlete sweating with a tired expression on his face. Cut to another athlete, possibly the rival doing the same workout. Split screen of both athletes tired but one goes for a Gatorade. Moves to athlete drinking Gatorade with an edit of the words "Never give up". Switch cut athlete #1 continuing to training as screen fades to black.

Sample advert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK6M8BIwrc4
   

Commercials and conventions

Commercials and Conventions

Gatorade

   Gatorade is a sport drink made to revitalize someone after a workout. Athletes are the main consumers of Gatorade so it would make sense that they would advertise with athletes, towards athletes. However, the average person can and does drink Gatorade. Corporations rely on consumers to purchase their goods and the best way to do it is to advertise using athletes and psychological measure.

   Generally, ads tend to show off their product in flashy and desirable ways. The lighting used in beverage ads convey the the sense of  refreshing taste and quality that will automatically make one feel rejuvenated. A key part in the advertising of Gatorade is the use of professional athletes to sponsor their products. Influential athletes like LeBron James and Vanessa Williams appear in ads drinking Gatorade. This shows that audience “ Hey, professional athletes drink Gatorade. Therefore if I drink Gatorade, I can be as good as those athletes” or at least support the athlete by drinking Gatorade. 

   In many Gatorade ads a physical activity is performed. Intense music and quick cutting angles are used to depict the intensity of athletics. Athletes in motion and the post activity of exercise are the scenes sports drinks focus on. Many a times it’s LeBron James doing an intense workout and shows James drinking a Gatorade afterwards, and returning to exercise. The use of low camera angles and zoom to show the details of the products is frequently used. 

   The primary message that sport drinks companies present is the ability of their product to refresh oneself. The product acts like an end all and be all for fatigue during and after exercise. The use of famous athletes to endorse Gatorade gives the product more credibility in its use.

Introductory

 Just started new blog!

 

   Hi, my name is Anjun Wu and I’m a 12th grader taking media studies at Fort Lauderdale High School and I’ll be logging my film making process. Along with blogging my film making process, I’ll be detailing my everyday trials and thoughts towards the completion of the various film projects given to me. Whether it be set locations, scripts, costumes, editing process, or whatsoever, this blog will compile my process to becoming a media studies expert.
   This year is my final year at Fort Lauderdale and senior year has been stressful. Not only does
senior activities cost scrupulous amounts of money, but balancing schoolwork, a social life, and work has been difficult. Senior year has many activities like HOCO, prom, gradbash and etc. Our class knows everyone else and we’re like a tight knit family. The problems arise, well for me personally, when academic and social pressures pushes one in between a rock and hard place. Meeting expectations and proving you can contribute to society has forever haunted to adolescent psyche. Another pressure is the application process to colleges. Making the right choice is essential since that dictates one’s adult life.
 Moving on from the hair-tearing difficulties of young adulthood, I do quite enjoy films and T.V. I had always had an interested in movies since I was a little kid watching films like Lion King on VCR. Movies had always been a part of my childhood and gradually became more important as I matured. Films always interested me; whether it be a gripping story like those of Tarantino flicks or the action-adventure blockbusters directed by Spielberg. I believe that movies are the the ultimate way of human expression. The images, themes, and scores paint a world that the audience can relate to or at least deem believable. Television has evolved to the pint where everything is streamed. Sites like Netflix and Hulu has undoubtedly held hostage my free time to the pint where my procrastination has never been greater.
   In my opinion, there’s just so much media content to be consumed in the modern age. From advertisements to indie films, the world revolves around media. The mass amounts of money being made from TV and film is mind blowing and the trend of consumer media dominance dosent seem to subside.