CCR Blog

     My product uses the conventions of Coca-Cola by being fast-paced, upbeat, and including happy music. My product can represent the issue of being thirsty and desperately needing a drink. This desperateness is conveyed by the fast-paced nature of the commercial. My product represents everyone, as Coca-Cola is a product that appeals to almost everybody. It does not really have a specific group it represents or appeals to.  

My product engages with audiences by being a fast-paced commercial which draws viewers in and gets them interested. The music gets them pumped up and energized, which reflects the product of Coca-Cola. The commercial is directed towards many people, but mostly people who are just thirsty. This commercial would be distributed in pretty much everywhere. The commercial could be shown at movie theaters, online advertisements, sporting events, and many more places. This is due to the versatility of Coca-Cola and how it appeals to many different people and age groups.  

My production skills developed a lot throughout this project. Before this project, I had never filmed anything professionally before. I also had never edited anything professionally before. It was a real challenge to learn these things. At first, I struggled with the filming portion. Due to working by myself, I had to find a way to film myself while also operating the camera. This was difficult at first, but eventually I was able to come up with some clever solutions in order to work around this. In addition to this, editing was also very difficult. It was hard to find a good editing software that was intuitive and easy to use and understand. Eventually, I went to one of my friends and asked him for a recommendation and he gave me a good editing software that was extremely simple and intuitive. This software allowed me to edit my commercial without much hassle at all. All in all, I think I learnt a lot of production skills during this project, and I think this will help me in the next project.  

I integrated several pieces of technology in this project. One of the most vital pieces of hardware that I used was actually my cell phone. I used my cell phone to film the whole commercial and store my footage. Without this piece of hardware, I would have never been able to even do this project. Another piece of hardware I used was my computer. I used my computer to run the software which I used to edit my commercial. Speaking of which, I also used editing software. This editing software that I used was a crucial component of completing the project. Additionally, I also used several online resources for my project. For example, I got the sounds and music used in my commercial from the internet. I also used the internet to inspire me and give me ideas for my commercial. These are just a few examples of ways that I integrated software, hardware, and online technologies into my commercial.  

My Commercial

 This was the first major filming project that I have done. Overall, I am mostly satisfied with how my commercial turned out. Looking back at the final project, I see a lot of things that can be improved. For one, I think the commercial is a bit rough around the edges. I probably could've touched it up a but more. However, I am sure my projects will get better as time goes on. This commercial project was a very interesting and fun experience. I think I learned a lot of useful skills throughout this project. All in all, I am proud of my commercial and how it turned out.

Editing Blog: Sounds and Touch-up

 Today is my final day of editing. I began today by just reviewing my compiled footage and cutting it down a bit more. Then, I started to collect sounds for the commercial. There were a few sounds I had to find. I had to find sounds of people talking, a bell ringing, footsteps, buttons bring pressed, and drinking.  Overall, these sounds were not very hard to find. I then input the sounds into my commercial at the correct times they were supposed to be heard. This was a lot more difficult than I was expecting. It took awhile to get the sounds to where they needed to be heard. Eventually I was able to do this. Then I found a music track that I liked and overlayed it in the video. I had to mess around with the timing of it but eventually got it perfect. After putting in all my sounds and music track, I reviewed my footage to see how it came out. I was generally happy with the result, and fixed the things that I didn't like. 

Then it was time to do my final scene. I created a video of the Coca-Cola logo sliding up on a black background and then inserted it into my commercial. I moved it to the end of my commercial and added a fade out transition to the scene of me drinking the coke. I was pleased with how my final scene came out. It was a bit difficult to actually make the video of the Coca-Cola logo sliding up but I was able to do it eventually. Finally, I just did some light touch up on the commercial, and then I had finished.

Editing Blog: Compiling the Footage

 The first thing I did today was review all of my footage. The reason for this was to make sure I filmed everything I needed to film and that it came out alright. In addition to that, I needed to make sure that I had filmed everything in the correct way and format. After doing that, I looked at the length of all my scenes and cut some of them down. I had to cut the length down in order to stay within the 27-30 second requirement. I kept adding up all the times of the scenes in order to make sure that the length of the commercial would be fine. I had filmed a lot of footage so I had a good amount to spare. 

After this I had to find an actual editing program to use. I decided on OpenShot. This was my first time doing any video editing, so I had to find a good program for beginners. Luckily, this program I decided on was very easy to use and very user-friendly.

Once I chose a program to use, I transferred all my footage from my phone over to my computer. This was a bit of a complicated process for me, but I eventually got it done.

Afterwards, I uploaded all my footage into the editing software and started arranging my scenes in chronological order, using the storyboard I made earlier to help me. I also changed a lot of the sounds in the footage. After I did this, I watched the rough cut of my commercial that I had just created. Overall, I was very pleased with how it was coming out. I decided to cut some scenes down a little bit and do a few other things. My commercial is pretty basic, so I don't have a lot of heavy editing to do. The only thing I have left to edit in is my last scene with the Coca-Cola logo fading in. 

Filming Blog: Outside

 Today was my second and final day of filming. It was a bit more difficult, but still not not hard. I was able to film all the rest of my scenes today. There were only two scenes, but they had multiple parts, which made it take longer to film. 

The first part I filmed was a part of the 4th scene. It was a shot of me walking down the stairs. I decided to take the camera and point it at my feet while I was walking. It was a lot easier to film this and also added some diversity to the type of shots I was using. The next part that I filmed was a part of the 5th scene. It was a shot of me pressing on the vending machine's buttons. This was probably the easiest scene I filmed. Afterwards, I filmed myself getting the coke bottle out of the vending machine. This was actually more difficult to film than I was expecting, as I was having trouble holding the camera in one hand while trying to remove the coke from the vending machine with the other. I then filmed myself drinking the coke. I expected this part to come out terrible, but I am actually very happy with the result. After filming all my outside scenes, I went back upstairs to the classroom and filmed my final scene. This is the part where I get up from my desk and rush towards the door. I had to prop my phone up on some notebooks in order to film this scene.

Overall, today was a successful day of filming and I'm happy with what I filmed. I collected more footage than I needed which I believe will help during the editing process. 

Filming Blog: Inside Classroom

 Today was my first day of filming. It was a relatively easy day. I was able to film around half of my commercial today. Most of the scenes that take place inside the classroom were filmed today. At first my plan was to try to film my entire commercial today, but I did not have enough time. So far, I am happy with the footage filmed. I only had one prop which I needed to bring, which was the paper filled with doodles. I had made this paper earlier in the day so I was able to use it for my commercial. 

The first scene I filmed was the zoom in on the clock. The first take turned out very shaky, so I reshot it and it turned out better. This was definitely the easiest scene for me to film. The second scene I filmed was me doodling on the paper. I took two takes of this scene just so I could have some options while editing. The last scene I filmed was actually the first scene of the commercial, where the student looks bored. I was able to do this scene in one take, which is good. Since I am not in a group, I had to do all the filming myself as well as be in the commercial. This was a bit challenging but I was able to do it. Most of the outside portions of the commercial will be filmed next time. After that, I will need to edit the commercial and then I'll be mostly done with it. So far, this commercial project is going very good.