Did I Really Do Anything in this Class?

What Have I Done? Not Much

Much to everyone's surprise I'm not a total failure when it comes to entertainment video just a minor failure which is honestly okay. Minor failures aside welcome to my end of semester blog; I hope you enjoy.

Camera Assignment No. 1

This assignment was kind of the worst way to start the school year. It wasn't the project or the stress involving it. The problem with this assignment was knowing absolutely no one in my group and not feeling like I could have a say in anything we did because of the surrounding people with strong personalities. The project was to make a video but this one had to have a certain number of different shots incorporated into the final product. Sound easy right? Somehow wrong. My group must have had earwax blocking their tympanic membranes or something because every time I tried to give an idea that would work easier than their ambitious ideas I was ignored. We had like a week or two to get things done which kinda sucked but like I wasn't trippin over it.  In the end the video that got turned in like a month late wasn't even the video I helped film so I don't have anything else to say about this.

This video is not available due to me not being a part of the final product

Commercial >:(

I got put into a group of people who thought their opinions meant the world to everyone around them because I was sick on the day the class picked groups so we were off to a wonderful start. Not. the project was to make a commercial of our choosing, so my group chose to do one on bang energy inside of a gym which is kinda ridiculous, but go off I guess. I was art director because I was told that I looked like am art director. That comment from someone who didn't think the world revolved around them might have been fine, but I knew he was making a comment on the fact that I dress like someone who forget that people in this building don't take well to people like me. During this project I learned nothing because the filming days were ones I couldn't go to and the director did everything without talking to half of the group. I couldn't tell you what feedback I was given even if I wanted to because I was so irritated and over this project that I really didn't care.

This video is also not available due to in-team conflicts.

Short Film? More Like Seismic Failure.

This was the ONLY project I was even remotely excited for, and I mean that with every cell of my being. When my treatment got picked for short films I was super excited to get started on it because this was something that was truly my writing and film style. I like things that feel like whoever was writing it was living off three hours of sleep a night and an existential crisis because I can relate and I like having to question my existence. The pre-production went pretty smoothly after I got the script done even though we were a bit behind on it because I had to write the script by myself. The script turned out to be pretty decent, but it definitely could've been written better if someone better than me was writing it. When we were trying to cast it would work and then the actors would drop the project or our schedule conflicted with theirs so the film itself will never be made. Do I feel like I failed my team and myself? Yes, one thousand percent. Do I understand that this failure wasn't wholly my fault? I'll get back to you when the answer is more positive.

This video isn't available because it was never made.

Time in Class Was Used How

I used my class time beautifully because I am the way that I am. No but in all seriousness I spent all of my class time working on projects when it was time to work on projects because I had to. Sometimes I'd watch slam poetry or videos on films on the YouTube because those are my areas of interest and it's always a good idea to keep the ole noggin working. When I wasn't doing any of that delightful stuff I was probably talking to my fellow juniors about how this class is going and how some of us felt like maybe we shouldn't be in this class since no one really lets us do anything. I wish I could've spent more time actually learning from the seniors or at least getting to know them since we're expected to work with them, and they won't even give us a chance at anything. 

Does Jaden Brown Have Strengths?

This really is the question of my life honestly. Do I have strengths? If so, what even are they? Well I've come to answer both of those as simply as possible because there are a lot of things I have to include in this post to avoid failing the final. Yes, shockingly I do have a few strengths. Try not to be too surprised. I'm really pretty decent when it comes to writing and coming up with stories and/or concepts for projects and I'm kind of a decent leader. I have loads of leadership experience and people look up to so I would assume I'm doing something right. On the writing side of things I really just have an overactive imagination filled to the brim with things that are a teensy weensy bit edgy, but what can you do? I just like the creepy crawlies hiding between my two functioning braincells.

The Many Things I Need To Improve

So I'm not very good at like anything which I would love to say is fine but I probably shouldn't be in class with how little I know. Instead of listing out my multitude of shortcomings I'm just gonna say that I would like to improve on my camera and editing work. I never do much of either of those things because my strengths lay elsewhere in the entertainment world so I never really get to work on either of those things and I should probably get good real soon since that's the only stuff I get to do next semester. :')

That's legit Morgan Cooper

Did the Guest Speakers Teach Me or Did I Fail to Pay Attention?

If I'm being painfully honest I do not pay attention when alumni come back from where ever they ended up to give in class presentations because they are boring and do not capture the slightest bit of my attention. I also just don't get what their motive is when coming back to "teach" us what they learned from their three months of overpriced education from various colleges. I can tell you that when Morgan Cooper came he had my attention from before he even started speaking. Is that because I admire his work? Yeah of course it is. Anyways Morgan Cooper was incredible. Period. He told us so much about all of the stuff he's went through within the industry without having to be in thousands of dollars in debt which was amazing. He was super chill and down to earth and made me really think about what I should be doing in these next couple of years.  

How the 24 Hour Film Fest Nearly Killed Me

We still felt like people here.

Not a funky fresh time.

I didn't sleep for 24 hours only to not be able to submit the video since it was 30 seconds too short which ruined my day. Like yeah we got pizza, but I wanted sleep. The first couple of hours were a blast though. Talking things out and trying to come up with a story that would make sense and be able to be told in three minutes was really cool and I enjoyed doing it with the people I worked with. By the end it kind of just stopped feeling worth it because I was exhausted and a little upset about some things, but I'm glad I did it.

Yes, I'm a Documentarian. What about it?

Me and my friend ole buddy ole pal Miriam are the documentarians for this years feature film and like let's be real. Who cares? We're gonna be creeping on everyone and acting like a shadow that's facing the wrong way in a painting. The real question I have to answer is what can I bring to this role? The real answer I have to give is nothing. I'm bad on camera and I'm not really a good editor so the documentary will probably not be something anyone wants to look back on because of the lack of quality I'd bring to it. I will execute this role by being where ever I can be I guess. I don't have to go anywhere because I'm not ever going to be needed so I'll just go where the production schedule takes everyone else and capture what their doing. 

Goodbye First (Worst) Semester

This semester sucked and I'm not going to lie about it just because I really don't want to fail this final. Between the seniors pretty much hating me because I'm a junior and my own failures as a human being this class hasn't been the greatest, but at least I have a crap film reel and semi-decent script, right?

P.S.

Please don't give me a bad grade on this for the way I talk about things. I swear I write every blog post like this simply because I am the way that I am.

P.P.S

Have a good break!