Next Assignment - #3 - Advanced and beginning

If you have not already turned in your video assignment, please do so.   If you have, here is your next assignment.

Photo by Marek Szturc on Unsplash

For Advanced students (1st and 3rd blocks) I want you to produce a video commercial.  It could be for an existing product or for one you create.  It must be about something that would be very valuable to someone who is in isolation (like we all are), or it could be about school (now that you know what an important piece of academic and social life you are missing).

It must not be longer than 30 seconds and you will need to create a graphic for the end on how to buy this product.  You can be funny or serious.  This is not a PSA, so don't get confused.

Here are some tips for your commercial:  https://smallbiztrends.com/2017/10/creating-an-effective-tv-commercial.html

And another one:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkGlEJcWfHo

This is Due to me by Sunday the 29th.  Upload to your Google Drive and share the link with me (being sure that you get a "shareable link" and your turn file sharing ON)
or...you can email to me your YouTube link.
Remember...only 30 seconds!

For Beginning students, we are going to go ahead and learn about audio.  In this first exercise, I want you to read up on Sound Effects and Foley Artists.

This is a great blog on what Foley is, https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-a-foley-artist/
but I want you to look at more than one resource.

Also, if you have Amazon Prime, you can look up two videos that will give you a greater idea of how Foley is done.  One is Actors of Sound (free with Amazon Prime) and the other one is The Secret World of Foley and that one costs $2.99 to purchase.  Both are great and I'm sure you can find others online.

Please complete the following worksheet, giving your best guesses to the answers:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=156082PEEXDXoeX3grv46djo8X5lhVfdp

Here it is in case the link doesn't work:

Sound Effects/Foley

Name_____________

1.              What is a moves track?

2.         “While incredibly subtle, the moves track ________________________________

      ____________________________________________________________________”

2.               Is the moves track recorded on a single track or multiple tracks?

3.              Where should the microphone be placed when doing Foley?

4.              What is “essential” when doing Foley?  And why is this essential?

5.              What does “punch into the track” mean?

6.              What props do you need in order to do a moves track?

7.              What are you looking at when you do the moves track?

8.              Who is Jack Foley?

9.              What is “walla”?

10.           What studio did Jack Foley work at for 40 years?

11.           Why don’t they record the real sounds as they happen instead of inserting them in later?

12.           What is a “boom”?

13.           What is a “gaffer”?

14.           What does a “grip” do?

Then what I'd like you to do is to pick one of the scenarios from the following paper (or you can pick a favorite short children's book and read it on camera and add sound effects to go with it.

<https://drive.google.com/open?id=1UKXdGINlK_XMqzZasAizEh7w6yFDj7-6

Again, here it is in case the link doesn't work:

Cold Wintry Weekend

       It was a cold, windy wintry weekend day in January.  Joshua and Claire were trying to think of something fun to do. 

            “I got an idea!” said Joshua.  “Let’s go ice skating down at Cobbler’s Lake!  I think that the lake is already frozen over.”

            “Great idea,” said Claire.

            They bundled up in coats, scarves and gloves, got their skates out of the closet and opened the door to go outside.  It was windy and the snow crunched beneath their feet as they walked the mile to the lake. 

            Claire was a pro on skates.  She did figure 8’s and skated backward then realizing that Joshua wasn’t with her, she skated over to the edge of the lake and scraped to a stop.   “Why aren’t you skating?” she asked.

            About the time she got it out of her mouth, the ice began to crack.  “Oh my God,” she thought.  “She was skating on thin ice!”

            Before she could move, her whole body dropped into the ice cold water!

            Joshua found a large tree branch and stuck it out over the ice to help her out.  It snapped as soon as she grabbed it.

            He then heard a snowmobile off in the distance.  It got closer and closer and Joshua ran to it to ask for help.  His sleeves of his jacket rubbed together as he ran.

            The snowmobile driver raced to the scene with a rope attached to the back of the vehicle and pulled Claire out of the freezing water.  The driver wrapped a blanket around her and offered her a cup of hot chocolate that he had in a thermos.   As she sat sipping at the warm liquid, the mystery driver drove off.   Who was that ski-maked man?

Walking Toward the Old House

            They walked haltingly toward the old house.  The gravel pathway crunched under their feet.  Linda snapped and her gum annoyingly and popped a bubble.  The birds chirped in the trees and the wind gently blew upon their faces.

            Off in the distance a dog barked.  The four friends walked up to the old wooden door and knocked to make sure no one was there.  They opened the creaking door.

            They had all just stepped inside when they heard a gunshot from inside the house and a body fall to the ground.

            “Oh my God!  We need to get out of here!” said Ann.

            “No!  Someone may need our help!” said John.   Ann you go out back, I’ll go upstairs and Brad and Kirsten you go out front and look for help!”

            John ran up the stairs and the others ran to their posts.

            Outside there was a babbling brook that ran alongside the house.  Outside was very peaceful and quiet other than the rushing of the creek.  A car passed by on the far away highway and they ran toward it. 

            Ann was walking around the backyard.   There were sticks and twigs cracking under her feet.  Off in the distance, she heard what sounded like a fight.  She ran toward the noise and discovered two little boys playing tackle football.

            Upstairs, John wandered around the halls of the wooden floor and went into the (door opening) only room that was closed.  The window was open and was whipping the tattered curtains around.  The door stopped with a muffled sound.

            Behind the door was a body.  Ann gasped.  She had walked in behind John and saw the man’s body behind the door.  About that time. . .

            Happy Birthday!

            Melville found himself abruptly awake and aware of human noises coming from downstairs – the quiet closing of the front door, a step or two in the hallway.  His ears rang with concentration as he lay perfectly still. 

The footsteps came up the stairs, crossed the landing, then moved toward his room.  His breath emerged in short, loud gasps.  He tried to swallow but his tongue was too dry.  The pulse of his heart made loud popping sounds in his ears.  Sweat gathered in his armpits.  Melville had not moved so much as a finger when he saw the doorknob being slowly turned from the far side of the door.  He opened his mouth and attempted to scream but no noise came from his throat.  He began to shake violently while his blood slowed within icy veins and arteries.

The door creaked open and he saw a crowd gathered in the hallway.  They were whispering among themselves and walking slowing into Melville’s room.

He heard a loud ‘pop’ and he sat straight up in the bed as someone turned the light on.

“Surprise!” , they yelled, then they clapped.  It was his family

“Happy birthday, Melville! someone said.

“But it’s four in the morning!” replied Melville.

“We wanted to be the first to wish you a happy birthday!” and they handed him a dozen balloons, minus the one that just popped.

Aunt Judith

The doorbell rings and I know it’s Aunt Judith, the old lady I’ve been hearing about.  She’s come to visit us from where she lives, San Francisco, which is very far away.  It takes almost a whole day to fly to my house from there in an airplane.  She’s very old, probably around eighty.  I’m peeking through the stair railings when my father answers the door.  All I can see is a gray coat and some white hair.  She must be deaf because my father’s voice is loud when he says hello.

            My mother calls, “Come down and meet your Aunt Judith.”  She’s holding her aunt’s hand and smiling.  I come down and stand behind my mother when I say hello.  I don’t want her to kiss me.  She has more wrinkles on her face than I ever saw.  She pats my head and says, “So big for five.”

            My father says he’s going to make some tea.  My mother and Aunt Judith and I go into the living room and sit down.

            “Come here, Emily, and sit by your old aunt,” she says, patting the couch next to her.

            I feel funny but I go and sit where she says.  She smells like bread in the oven.

            My father comes in with the teapot on a tray and some cups.  I’m too young to drink tea.  I tried it once and it tasted like dirt.

            About then the phone rang.  My father went to answer it.  Aunt Judith takes out a gold lame’ case.  It looks like a tiny coin purse.  She snaps open the case and pulls out a cigarette and a lighter.  Putting the cigarette delicately between her pursed lips, she flicked the lighter and made the end of the cigarette glow red as she inhaled deeply then exhaled a big cloud of smoke that rose above our heads.

Important:  Make the sound effects with items, just like a Foley artist does.  Do NOT make them with your mouth and Do NOT download ready-made sound effects.

You will set up your phone or video camera, making sure you have the written sheet or book with you and set up your sound effects items around you so when you read that part of the narrative, you can make the sound effect.

This worksheet and video will be due to me by Friday, March 27th.
Send me your completed worksheet via email.
Upload the video to your Google Drive and share the link with me (being sure that you get a "shareable link" and your turn file sharing ON)
or...you can email to me your YouTube link.

Email me if you have any questions!  Have fun with these projects!

Mrs. Watson