Hollywood, from its conception, has been a lucrative place with monopolies and big businesses competing to knock out competition and fight for superiority. In the 1920's and up until the late 1960's, the studio system was implemented into the film industry to do one of two things benefit the public or benefit private corporations and their pockets. Unfortunately, the studio system ended up supporting big corporations and studios instead of the public. During this almost half a century implementation, Studios controlled the entire process of movie making. Everything from the lots at which they were filmed to the theaters at which they would be premiered and shown to the public. This manipulative and controlling environment led to five major studios to rise in power and monopolize the industry, making it difficult for smaller, less powerful studios to get actors to act in their films, find places to shoot at, and ultimately air their content.
Many negatives were apparent in this era, however, there were some positives. During this era, actors, directors, and many other people were contractually obligated to their position within the studio system. This meant that they were receiving a predetermined salary and guaranteed money and roles because of said contracts. Instead of this era hurting everyone involved, it actually contained many beneficial components that we as a society could benefit from nowadays if they were to be brought back. In today's society, bringing back some elements of the studio system would benefit our film industry. Although the monopolies and theater control should never come back, the contracts between studios and they employees (actors, directors, writers, etc.) should be re-implemented. Currently, actors tend to struggle finding a place to work and a film to act in, same as many other creative mediums. That is why Contracts would benefit the actors and directors of our day and age because it would guarantee those creative minds a stable income so that they could continue to bless the world with their talents. Alongside contracts, bringing back block booking would be beneficial in some way because it would allow smaller films to be played at grand-grossing theaters to share their smaller productions with an already established audience. Block booking, however, could also lead to some difficulties as it would force theaters to buy movie packages containing more than just the big-blockbuster they want, leading to theaters losing or spending to much money. Hypothetically, if we were to bring back the studio system today, I feel that we as a country could moderate it in a way that would make it beneficial and something that would only advance the film industry as a whole. Even though we do have some apparent monopolies taking place today, such as the path Amazon is taking, I feel that since we have already experienced such a grave time in film history that we would be able to instill something that will only evolve the film industry into a more supportive and demonstrative field of what we work for; sharing our stories through our talents. Gay Suicide PSA, Joshua Lovering, Sept. 2018 - Camera Operator, Actor, Director, Editor, Writer
Bullying PSA, Ashley Rivera, Sept. 2018- Actor Mentally Disabled Film Noir, Brandy Blaise and Ramon Ruiz, Sept. 2018- Actor Murder Film Noir, Joshua Lovering and Ashley Rivera, Sept. 2018- Writer, Actor, Director The topic of my PSA is discrimination against gay people. To properly convey my message to the viewers, I would like to utilize many of the categories within PSA making such as narrative, emotion, and statistical to educate the viewer. Within this PSA, I am trying to change the viewers mindset to be more accepting towards gay people through showing the horrible effects of bullying and discrimination. My story is to show how much words do hurt and how depression and being bulled because of your sexuality can take a toll on one's mental and physical health and sometimes even lead to suicide. For the structure of my PSA I am planning on following the scene list I have attached below and dive into the darker side of verbal abuse and discrimination by following a young teenage boy through his struggle with his sexuality. Jariel will be my boyfriend, Katie will be the girl who he leaves me for, and my parents and sister will be my family. Scene I: Hallway Couple Shot |
Joshua Lovering Newly Obtained Shop Skill: Sophomore Year, Color Correcting & Grading In my sophomore year of high school as a Video & Performing Arts student, I have learned a myriad of skills and have had amazing influential moments which furthered my knowledge in the field. A major moment in my shop life was purchasing my own camera, which gave me more freedom to film whenever I wanted, as it was mine. With that camera I have stuck to each project like tack to a wall and have begun to enjoy the filming, editing, and behind-the-scenes more than being on the screen. Being the advantageous, go-getter that I am, I have made myself work as hard as possible to cement the skills and knowledge I have learned into my memory to make each subsequential project just that much better and professional. One skill that has taken my work to a semi-professional level is color correcting and color grading. While in the last term of my sophomore year we learned about this topic, which helps to edit footage to make the product project as cinematic/true-to-tone as possible. To properly edit footage, one must start with color correction. Color correction is editing the temperature and hue of the footage to make the whites of the scene look the color of white in real life. Simply, color correcting is correcting any color temperature that has made the footage too blue (cool) or too orange (warm) and adjusting said temperature levels to make the footage appear realistic, i.e. making the whites white. After one has adjusted the temperature of the footage in Premiere Pro CC 2018 using the Lumetri Color Effect, then it is time to make the footage personal by adjusting exposure, saturation, highlights, midtones, etc. to add a certain style to one’s footage. Color grading is where everyone gets to make their footage theirs. There is no set in stone guide or tutorial that shows you how to color grade because it’s all personal preference. For my music video for the cover of “Titanium” by Ashley Rivera, I wanted the beginning footage to be dark and gloomy as the video shows she began being abused so I wanted the tone of the video to match with the tone of the song. Later on in the video however, near the middle, I want to change the mood to bright, up-beat, and freeing. Both of these moods can be obtained through color correction and color grading, so let’s jump right into. To achieve the effect I was wanting and make my footage look professional, I first went into Premiere Pro CC 2018 and applied the Lumetri Effect to each clip on the timeline. Then, individually, I color corrected each clip to make the whites white so that my footage would not turn out overly cool or warm. To do so I went into the Lumetri, basic correction tab off to the side of my timeline and adjusted the temperature slider until the clip was the perfect temperature. Then, I went to the slider below the temperature, tint, and tinted the footage to make sure the scene and whites looked real. That was the last step to my color correction, and each of these steps were repeated for each and every clip of my music video, but luckily it was very easy as my footage to begin with was well balanced (white balance). As long as one shoots their footage with knowledge of white balance and such, then the color correction will be easy as the footage will be already close to white-balanced as possible. Now, after my footage has been calibrated to the white in the clip, I now get to personalize it within Lumetri by color grading. Again, each of these steps were done to each clip I had on my timeline that were supposed to fit the depressed, abused mood. Luckily, I was once again lucky as my desired moody, depressed mood was easily done by adjusting a few sliders. First, I went into the Lumetri basic correction tab and turned the exposure down and the saturation up. That gave the shots a dark and intense feel, which I enjoyed very much. Then I went into HSL Secondary Key tab and selected certain tones in the frame to dilute and blur slightly to give Ashley more emphasis in a scene where all the tones and colors are similar. After that, I entered the color wheels tab to edit the shadows, midtones, and highlights. Then, while in this tab, I turned the highlights within the depressed clips down to make Ashley and her surroundings dull. After that, I slightly increased the midtones and shadows to add onto the dark effect. This was where I normally stopped as it matched my desired look and I did not want to spend an hour editing and fine tuning the levels or curves, I had to restrain myself. The middle clips that were bright still had their contrast and exposure lowered, but were kept more bright so the audience would see that Ashley was now in a better place than the dark world she was in because of her abuser. Color correction and grading honestly take a clip from a two to a ten. The professionalism, the mood, the cinematic look it adds onto the footage is impressive and inspiring knowing that a fourteen-year-old with a camera, a laptop, and some friends can make a semi-professional music video that rivals that of professionals. I hope that others can learn from my newly found skill that I learnt in my sophomore year of high school, and benefit from the immense knowledge I have gained thanks to my outstanding vocational teacher, Ms. Brown. Ready, set, edit! |
Creating this advertisement was fairly easy, even though the time limit (5 seconds) was challenging as I had to squeeze so much information into a small time span. First, I had to come up with a product to market through my commercial and banners, then, I had to think of how I would portray the object to entice and interest the viewer. Being obsessed with affordable and useful shoes, I chose Crocs, and knowing that crocs float in water and are a versatile shoe, I chose to market them as an adventurers shoe, someone who is not afraid to get themselves and their shoes dirty. After deciding how I would portray the item, it was time to shoot the video for the commercial.
Keeping with the adventure style, I chose to do a sequence of the average day in the life of Crocs; getting out of bed, heading off, exploring waterways, land, and the world itself, then, returning home to rest in their humble abode. This sequence was easy to film just get the crocs in a still shot up on a tree, on the street, in nature, etc. all of it was simple and made me hopeful for the final product. For the color scheme and layout, I wanted to reflect the down to earth style I was attempting to create so I kept with many earthy tones and scenes, as listed above and seen in the commercial.
Editing too was fairly easy, especially after being versed in graphics and key frames. I kept it sweet and simple, the crocs wake up to an alarm sound and then the clips cut into each other, raw no smooth transitions to show the fast-paced, non-stop exploring mindset of the Crocs. Then, I ended the quick compilation of quicks with a relaxing shot of the Crocs sitting in a wicker-like chair with the warm sunset rays peaking in through the trees off frame, with the Crocs catchphrase, "come as you are" and my addition to it, "venture far".
After the commercial was finished, I moved onto the advertisement banners. To keep a connection between the banners and the commercial, I decided to take screenshots from the video to be used as the background for my banners, and then add a message/text-box over the picture that summarizes Crocs (I used their slogan with my add-on and a phrase that I thought of which was fitting for the adventure theme).
All of these advertisements, to me, fit together perfectly together and all communicate the same theme of adventure and communicate a lifestyle that Croc wearers live. All in all, try things that you have an opportunity to do because they may open you up to an entirely new avenue of possibilities that previously were not available and may make you realize the impact your life could have on others and the world.
Sections
All
5 Second Advertisement
AAR Screenplay
Acting Recognition/Awards
Analyzing The Lighting Set Up Of A Portrait
Bi-Weekly Payroll
Career Plan
Community Service
Cookie Cutout
Cover Letter & Résumé
Creating GIFs
Credits
Famous Photographer Poster
File Formats
Forced Perspective
Freshman Awards
Genre Film
Hard Vs. Soft Light Experimentation
House Of Blues
Inspired Portrait Poses
Internship
Journalism Interview
Junior Year New Skill Essay
Landscapes
Letter To Freshmen
Letter To Future Self
Lighting Safety Essay
Lighting Styles
Light & Shadow
Light Trails
Midterm Portrait Session
Miniature Close-Up
Newly Obtained Shop Skill
Personal Finances
Photographer Project
Pre-High School Awards
Principles Of Design
PSA
Rules Of Composition
Scholastic Merit Award
Science Fair Participation
Senior Project Presentation
Senior Project Proposal
Senior Project Self-Evaluation
Senior Year Co-Op
Shallow Portraits
SkillsUSA
Studio System
Studying Poster Design
Surreal Photography
Texture
The Big Freeze
The Big Question Essay
W-4 Form
Where Am I Going? Essay