Final Video Published/Project Finished

After I was able to receive feedback from multiple reputable individuals, I was able to quickly edit and clear up some problems in my documentary. It was so helpful to get other people to watch my first draft because I couldn’t pick out which problems there were to begin with. This upcoming weekend, I look forward to rendering and exporting my video to YouTube and Vimeo. I’m not sure if I will continue my blog as I head into the summer, but I may start a new one that will serve to follow upcoming events in my life after high school. I’ve never used Vimeo in the past, so I need to create an account before I upload my video. I am still searching for more ways to increase my viewer traffic and popularity. I recently completed my career preview at a place called On-Target Design. They are a small company that creates logos and brands for other local companies and websites. Occasionally they produce promotional videos for businesses as well. I am going to send my video to Nate (the main video specialist at On-Target) and get some tips from him on how to gain more views.

This project may have taken countless hours and hard work to complete, but I think it is definitely worth it. I have learned so much about my different skill sets throughout the whole senior seminar class. Although I am a pretty big procrastinator, I noticed that I almost never procrastinated while working on my video. I always wanted to improve it or edit it and I never complained about having to work on it. Instead of being something I needed to do, this project turned into something that I wanted to do. I got this same feeling when working at On-Target Design. I always wanted to improve my graphic logos and learn more from the pros. Through this project, I have truly discovered my passion for film, editing, and graphic design. I still plan on working for the FBI or CIA after college, but my backup career plan involves being a video producer/editor or a graphic designer.

I am extremely proud of myself for completing this project. I can’t wait to present to all of the other senior seminar advisors and show what my hard work has produced. This project has only made my love for film and editing even stronger. I plan on joining a film club in college and hope to start a new video project later this year as well. When I look back at when I first began my editing journey, it was for a tenth grade english project. We had to make some sort of visual that displayed a certain Canto (level of Hell) in Dante’s Inferno. I remember spending so much time filming and editing that I began to forget that it was an assignment for school. That’s when first realized that I could be very driven and successful in this industry when I grow up. I look forward to sharing my documentary with everyone that helped me to accomplish the project to show them my talent. I would love as much feedback as possible, because at this point in my film career, my film skills can only grow.

Internet Addiction Is A Problem In Our Society

I recently stumbled upon this article that helped me to confirm that internet/technology addiction is a real problem that some people deal with. Currently China is having a problem controlling this fast spreading outbreak (primarily due to the easy access to gaming and internet cafes) and is in the process of developing more solutions to this rising addiction. Many camps that specialize in weakening the relationship between adolescents and their devices have been popping up in China lately. In some cases, deaths have even been reported at these camps. Dr. Kimberly Young, of St. Bonaventure University, recently “founded the first in-patient internet addiction clinic” at a hospital in Pennsylvania. I think this is one of the biggest steps someone has taken to try and end this problem in the United States. I couldn’t believe that this was just now being targeted. If you have time, I highly recommend reading or skimming over this amazing article about adolescents and the harmful effects of internet/technology addiction.

First Draft of Documentary

I came to the conclusion that I would share the first draft of my documentary on this blog. I’d like to get as much feedback as possible to make this video the best it can be. I would appreciate it so much if you could take 15 minutes out of your time to watch my video and leave any comments, either on this blog post or on the YouTube video itself. I look forward to having the final project completed sometime in the next two months.

I have NOT yet cited all of the background footage or music that I have used in this video. It is in the works and all will be cited in the final version. I do not own all of the content in this video. Enjoy!

Walking Blindly

While looking for some final background footage for the last part of my video, I stumbled upon a compilation of multiple people walking into things while texting. They are so distracted by their phones, that they do not even realize where they are walking. I don’t think I have ever been this distracted by something on my phone, but I do know that the main focus is not on walking here. At my school, I’ve definitely seen other students in the hallways with their heads down, staring at their phones, refusing to greet peers passing by. Is the content on our phones really more important than socializing with others or even seeing where we are walking? No way! This is also a very dangerous habit to get into. Imagine walking through a crowded downtown while texting on your phone. You could accidentally walk into the street and get hit by a car or walk into other people or objects. This shows that most of us can’t even wait to sit down or have free time to check our phones/social media. The technology has more control over the user which is not how the relationship is supposed to be.

Defining Our Relationship

A story about a company that conducted a study around app launches and other phone statistics, helps us to realize how much time we are actually spending on our phones. In one of the studies by the company, Flurry, it found that people ages 35-54 were more likely to launch more apps than people ages 13-17. This was very surprising to me because I expected the results to be flipped around. I’d love to participate in one of these studies and see my results. I think helping to better define my relationship with technology would help me to distance myself from the mindless scrolling through tweets and Instagram posts. Anyway if you have time, check this awesome article out!

Documentary Update

I am finally finishing up the first fifteen minute draft of my documentary. All I have left to do is record more voiceovers, finish the credits, and fix a few formatting issues. I plan on presenting this draft to my advisor, Mrs. Piper, and getting feedback as soon as possible. I also plan on revising this draft as soon as I receive advice from Mrs. Piper. After these final revisions, I plan on releasing a public version of my documentary. This will probably be out in about two or three months. I look forward to finalizing my video and sharing it with you all. I can’t wait to hear feedback from my viewers.

My Resolution For 2015

Since New Years Day nears in the next few hours, I figured that I would share one of my resolutions for next year. I want to place tougher restrictions on my leisure use of technology. I want to try and eliminate mindless usage of social media and games. A few weeks ago, I also had an idea to help me make sure I stick to my plan. I looked for apps on my iPhone that would count and limit the amount of time used my personal apps. I could not find many apps that matched this description, so I look forward to looking how to do this in 2015. After the certain amount of usage time that I set for an app, I want it to be inaccessible for at least an hour after the time limit is passed. I want thank all of my supporters and I hope everyone has a Happy New Year.

Signs One Might Be Addicted to Social Media

I recently read a great article describing some of the signs one might be addicted to social media. Below is a link to the article and the collection of signs.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/01/social-media-break_n_6227410.html

I am a witness to the floods of notifications consisting of holiday meals and hourly vacation status updates. I used to constantly refresh Twitter and Instagram before I isolated myself from these sites in the summer. I noticed that many of the tweets were very similar anyways and it was pointless for me to see every tweet because I would most likely forget it in a couple of hours. One of the main solutions to stopping this addiction is to limit your access to social media. That’s exactly what I did in the summer as part of my project and it worked. Today, I usually only check social media around 11:00 a.m. and before I go to bed for about 10 minutes. After these 10 minutes, I usually come to the conclusion that I am wasting time and need to go on to do something else. I realized that I didn’t need social media in order to be happy and stay connected with people. Stronger bonds and relationships are formed through in-person interactions and my detox helped teach me this.

Project Status Update

As of today, I am a little over a third of the way done with my documentary. Over the past few months I have been busy with college applications, AP classes, and exams. There are a couple of final things that I want to film that include less in-depth interviews with my peers and more filler footage. I am also watching other student made documentaries to help improve my own. It is very helpful for me to go through and analyze the different styles of these videos. In addition to these viewings, some of my peers are presenting their projects after winter break. I look forward to watching some of their presentations. Meeting with my adviser, Mrs. Piper, has also helped me to improve my storyboard and make my documentary more concise.

Project Update

I haven’t been updating as much as I have planned, but I would like to change that for the upcoming month. College applications, AP classes, and other senior factors have taken up a majority of my time these past few months. I’ve been working with my On-Site Adviser, Mrs. Piper, and she recently gave me some helpful tips for my storyboard that I am in the process of finalizing. Before fall ends, I’d like to collect more background footage and try to complete my interviews so I can have a bulk of video to select from for my documentary. I’ve also been following a weekly schedule of tasks that I need to complete in order to stay on top of my project. So far I have completed 3 interviews and would like to get at least 2 more. I’d also like to interview students as well to get a different perspective on my topic. Recently, my hard drive became corrupted and some of my footage was deleted. Luckily we were able to retrieve it back and store it on a backup. I look forward to posting more frequently in the next coming weeks. Stay tuned for mini clips or animations that I plan to use in my project.