SNEAK PEEK!

Today, I went into school with my family and filmed a mock up of the lip dub. It was really exciting to see what it might look like. I don't yet have the rights for the song so I can't post the full mock up but I will show give you a sneak peek of what it looked like.

Once I get the rights for the song, I will be able to put the full mock up on. One of the challenges was that the 'fudge' that I did didn't look quite right because of the light. Also the timing in the song was a bit off because we filmed the whole second half once and then found out we weren't filming. This was quite annoying but I am hoping in the editing suite I will be able to change the writing after I have filmed the real thing. I'm that much closer to my proposal :).

This week I will figure out how to get the rights to the song and I will schedule a time to meet with our principal. Me and mum are also going to work together to finalise the route and work out how we can get everybody to the places they need to be.

Mock Up - Nearly Done

Sunshine and Rainbows
Hana

P.S. Thanks everyone for viewing my blog. I now have over 1800 pageviews. Thanks so much.
Hana

Daniel Comes to Selwyn House

On the last day of holidays, I organised a meeting with Daniel, my steadicam contact. Just after I called him, I wrote him an email asking if he could come into school to see the spaces I was going to use and if there were any potential problems regarding the steadi-cam or anything else he could see. As we walked around, he gave me some great advice and I am very grateful.

• The Steadicam works best if you are moving so try not to stand still
• Create a storyboard with one panel for each place so that you and the people in the space know what to do - Draw stick figures and annotate
• The steadicam works to stabilise natural movement
• With a video, you need to grab people within the first 10 seconds 
• Go round the spaces with the song playing on an iPod so that you can time it
• Kids on one rail only of the stairs or the steadicam won't be able to move properly

This was some great advice and I really appreciate it. Something else that Daniel said was to do with the pool space. He said that it would work better if I 'fudged' from somewhere to the opposite end of the school pool from the door, meaning that I wouldn't be back-tracking. Daniel also offered to operate the steadicam which was very helpful. Daniel works for I Do Films which are a company that make wedding films, so if you or someone else you know is having a wedding, please go to his website here.

Another exciting fact is my poll. The results of the 61 votes were very clear as to which song I should use - Jamie McDell - Life in Sunshine. Next step is to investigate how I go about getting the rights to use this song. 

Now that I have this information, I am even closer to talking to our principal with a mock up for my proposal.

Thank you to all of the people who have voted on my blog and for viewing it - I now have nearly 1750 pageviews. 

Figuring out which song ✔

Talk to experts ✔

Sunshine and Rainbows

Hana

Presenting ... The Song Poll

And here it is ... The moment you've all been waiting for ... Theeeeeeeeee Song Poll: 

Remember, I am looking for a song that is upbeat and happy. It needs to be catchy and will translate to a lip dub easily. Please vote only once.

What song do you think would work best for my lip dub?

Jamie McDell - Life in Sunshine

Stan Walker - Take it Easy

Dane Rumble - Not Alone

Poll Maker

As you may not know what some of these songs are, I have put in the links to the videos of the songs;
Jamie McDell - Life in Sunshine
Stan Walker - Take it Easy (The Radio Version - the one I will use if it wins the poll)
Dane Rumble - Not Alone

Once I know what song I am using and which route, I will be able create a mock up of the lip dub for my proposal.

Song - Practically Finished

Sunshine & Rainbows
Hana

Deciding On Which Songs For The Poll

Today, I have really nearly come to a decision on which song I will use. I looked up NZ Songs, and came up with a list. From this list, I listened to the iTunes snippets of the songs and put the songs into two piles; Yes and No, based on my first reaction to how they sounded.
From the 'Yes' List, I looked up the lyrics - luckily, because some of the lyrics weren't quite suitable. In the preferable column, are the songs that I would prefer to use after having a closer listen to them. This is the table I created.

As you can see, there are three songs with yes in each column. These three songs are; Jamie McDell - Life in Sunshine, Stan Walker - Take it Easy and Dane Rumble - Not Alone. My preference is to use a female artist but I'll have to wait and see if I can. 

In my next post, I will have the poll for you to vote on which song you think will work best.

Song - Nearly Done

Sunshine & Rainbows

Hana

FREAKING OUT!!! (But getting a steadicam)

Today, I called up one of my contacts, Daniel. He works for IDo Films and I knew that he owned a steadicam. I was really nervous just before calling - I think it's because I like being able to see the people I'm talking too. Before I called, I wrote down a list of questions that I wanted to ask him and I practised the beginning of the phone call with Mum!

Before

During

After

I didn't need to worry - Daniel was really nice and easy to speak with! He gave me lots of great advice about steadicams. Basically, they are like a pogo stick which a camera sits on, connected to a springy arm which is connected to a vest that the steadicam operator wears. This means that any footage that is filmed is steady even when the operator is moving around - hence the name steadicam.

A Steadicam and Operator

Daniel gave me lot of information about the cost of hiring a steadicam and an operator. I am thinking of using a half day option which is $500 for 4 hours for the steadicam plus $150 an hour for the operator. I don't think I will need the full day 8 hour option because of the small size of our school. 

This was a very exciting experience. I enjoyed being a risk-taker with this and I am really proud of myself! Next step for this part of the project is putting the costs together into a proposal and meeting with my new principal and the marketing manager at my school.

Thanks heaps Daniel!

Ring Places for Steadicam ✔

Sunshine & Rainbow

Hana

P.S - OVER 1,000 PAGE VIEWS!!
       
Thanks to all of my viewers.
   

Another Possible Route

Before I created the route, I used arrow sticky notes and put them on the map, showing where the important things that weren't named on the map were. For example, the Food Tech Room and the Technology/MakerSpace Room. In this way, I made sure that I remembered everything. I then mapped out the route on the map. Here is what it looked like.

You can't quite see but it starts at the tennis court and ends at atrium. There is a 'Fudge' at the cybrary to 3D because I couldn't figure out another way to get to a classroom without backtracking. The final plan looked like this;

The unused classes will be used for lining the hallways. I will create another route soon so that I can create the mock up for the proposal which I will have to do next term with our new principal because our old one just left. You'll notice I added Spanish this time Señora Ryan :) LOL

Sunshine & Rainbows
Hana

Hopefully a Steadi-cam

Today, I asked my Dad to contact a lady that we know whose husband works as an editor. This is so exciting because I got his contact and he says that he would be able to help me to edit my lip dub.

She also put me in contact in with a man who owns a Steadi-cam. This is very exciting because it means that I will hopefully be able to get a Steadi-cam soon. I am writing a very short post to night but tomorrow I will most likely be creating another draft for a new route. I will write another post tomorrow.

Get a contact for a Steadi-cam - ✔

Sunshine & Rainbows
Hana

P.S The next route will include the Spanish Room :)