Week 5: Ghosts, Ghosts and More Ghosts

I completed my filming for one episode of my project! I met with my project director to go over how to capture and use Final Cut Pro so I can begin my editing. I have worked with this program in the past but needed a little refresher on how to use it properly. The thing that I needed refreshing on the most was capturing the videos from the camera to the program. That's the hardest part for me, probably because you do that only one time and then you can edit your work for weeks. It makes sense that I would have trouble remembering something I have done only a couple of times before and am only required to do it in the beginning of my editing process.

As far as research goes, I have begun my research for my next two episodes, Shepherdstown and Harper's Ferry. I have been looking online for books while visiting the websites of the visitor's centers and getting in touch with people who may have the information I need. I think Shepherdstown will be the episode that is tricky to do; Shepherdstown does not have any ghost tours, while Weston did and Harper's Ferry will soon too. One great thing about the topic I picked to do is that it is just in time for Halloween so everyone has been excited and very willing to talk about ghosts and haunted places. Fall is my favorite time of year and I love everything about Halloween.. I'm definitely not going to get bored with this subject!

Photo used with a Creative Commons license.

Week 4: Taming the Butterflies

So, tomorrow is the day! I’ll be traveling to Weston to film my first episode! Am I excited? Yes! Am I prepared? Yes!! Am I nervous? Yes!!! Even though I’ve got everything ready to go, finally filming my first episode is a little nerve-wracking! I’m more excited than anything but I’ve still got a few butterflies in my stomach. I’ve just got to keep reminding myself that I am prepared! The only thing I have left to do is ensure that the cameras are charged and I will be doing that before I pack to leave.

As far as research goes, I’m finished researching for this episode. I found a lot of great information from the internet and by watching videos that will come in handy! About a week or so ago, I began researching for my Shepherdstown episode and found some information for my Harper’s Ferry episode as well. Doing an episode about Martinsburg is a possibility, but I haven’t done too much research on Martinsburg yet so the amount of information I find (or don’t find) will help me decide whether or not to do an episode on that location.

I’ve got a busy, busy semester ahead of me but I am ready for it! A lot of preparation goes a long way! (And is very helpful!)

Week 3: Back to the Basics

As my first filming day quickly approaches, I start to think, what are the little things I may be forgetting? So, in my attempt to get more organized than I was before, I will be making multiple notes on what exactly I need to do before I leave Saturday to go to my first filming day. So it’s time to get to the basics of filming a documentary.

First off, for all my future episodes, I need filming rights and interview permissions. It is a must that I print these out and bring them with me (and keeping them in my production notebook would be a plus plus plus!). Next, I want to be sure and write a script of what I am going to say and what questions I will be asking the person I am interviewing. And, of course, I need a camera! I already have that planned out for the trip so there’s no need for me to worry about that one.

Certainly there is much more that needs to be prepared that I am blanking out on right now, but these are the basic things I need to remember for every time I go to a location to film. I will need extra little things for each one, but will write about those once I get to them. Since this is a big week for me, I will be blogging again in a couple of days, right before I leave for my weekend of filming. So it is very likely that I will be adding in a lot of “I almost forgot this!” into my next blog. Until I remember more…

Future Craze in Comic Books

Let me just say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading these three comics! They were very traditional in a way but very up- to- date with this century. I loved the fact that these two artists made something that is a great experience on paper, just as great of an experience on the internet, if not a better experience. The effects that were in these comics was something that can be done on paper but were magnified on the internet; the internet gave them their full shocking power and provided a truly unique experience.

I definitely considered these three experiences to be comics, mainly because they engulf the meaning of what I consider a comic to be. To me, a comic is pretty much a story with more pictures in it than words. A book usually has more words and lets readers create the world in their mind, as a comic usually has more pictures and lets the readers create most of the thoughts and dialogue of the characters in their mind. So now that we distinguished the difference between a book and a comic, what is the difference between a paper comic and those I just read on the internet?

A paper comic book is the more traditional way to read a comic and has been around much longer than the internet itself has. When I think of a comic book, The Peanuts and Archie comics come to mind; I do not think I ever even knew that comics could be possible on the internet, so that may be a reason why most people still read their comics in paper form. I think that once more people read, or find, comics on the internet, it will launch a new craze with comic books. Just as news on the internet has slowed down production of paper newspapers, I think comic books online will slow down production of paper comic books. The difference in those two though, is that comic books may become more popular than they are today once the lovers of using the internet discover them.

Want to experience the three comic books I read online and loved? Copy and paste these websites!

http://comic.naver.com/webtoon/detail.nhn?titleId=350217&no=20&weekday=tue

http://scottmccloud.com/1-webcomics/trn/index.html

http://scottmccloud.com/1-webcomics/trn-2/index.html

Week 2: Let's Get Organized

So.. I still do not have the exact details my Senior Capstone project written in stone but I am still very thrilled with the idea of it. I am making progress with the choosing of exactly where I will be filming but still have a lot of work to do on what will be shown in the video and exactly what will be said about each place. I plan on having at least three mini television show episodes focusing on one particular place and I just recently scheduled my first on- location filming; very exciting!! The first one I have lined up will be traveling to the Lunatic Asylum in Weston to do some ghost hunting and talk about the history of the asylum; I am very excited for this one and plan to make it the premier episode and coincidentally enough, I will be going on September 17th, my birthday.

All of the other places I plan on filming at are only about 30 minutes away from my house; Weston will be the furthest away I will be traveling so it's a good one to start with because I will have to be 100% on top of my game. I cannot forget anything (I'll be about 3 1/2 hours away from home) and will have to pre-write everything I will say and do. I plan on being this prepared for the other locations as well, but with the locations closer to home, it will be easier to travel back there if I forgot to shoot something or need more footage. So with that said, I am off to begin planning the details for my trip!