Spend five minutes matching these answers up to open Monday's class session.  Click here.

​Need a refresher?  Watch this during work time.

What's the lesson for today?  A review from first semester for returning students.  It's one we forget easily, so take notes and we'll quiz on Tuesday.

Nope.  Someone just deleted the desktop shortcut.  Here's how to get it back.  Notes today.  Quiz tomorrow.

I spent five hours this weekend creating seven new accounts on eight new computers.  What I haven't done recently is checked to see if you have a project that's filmed and ready to edit, plus a completed video from the past two weeks.  I'll do that today.  

What I will also do for those who have nothing of their own to edit is to provide you with Volleyball footage from 2017.  Bored with sports?  Take a camera home and film any of the projects we've quizzed over a bajillion times.  Forget what they are or how to do them?  Hover over Video Projects, and click your favorite.  

The big thing to stress at this time of year is take a camera home and film your movies there. With ISTEP and everything else going on in the building, I can't stay after to work with every single group, nor do I want to see a bunch of pictures or videos taken here at JMS.  We're here eight hours a day.  We've reached the point in the term where it's on you to provide your own filming locations.

Every two weeks, a new movie should be filmed, and an old one should be ready to grade. Exceptions are made for those who I see working hard on a daily basis.  If I can't tell that you're doing anything, I won't be as open-minded.  Keep in mind that the last time I checked, 60 percent of us didn't make our own movie, and were totally depending on the teacher to keep us busy.

Nothing to do?  Grab my orange and white USB drive.  Drag Volley 2017 to your desktop. Once it's a thumbnail image, click the Illuminati Button for Hepler JMS, the name of the USB. Create a new video called Volley2017 in iMovie, then drag and drop the clip from your desktop to the new project, and edit.  
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For those of us working on Volleyball, here's a refresher of what to use and what not to use.

Half of us have new machines now.  Let's do some work with the web browsers.  Start by watching the video, then we'll put this information to use with a handout.

For those of us who bear the pink sticky note, today's the day to export any videos being edited.

A few things are different from today's tutorial.

• Put every single shot from your movie in order, even if it's not finished.  All the pieces must be there.  We can't go back to the old computers once the new ones are in place.

• Export your video, and give it the first and last names of one person in your group. 

• We'll use an external hard drive to store our stuff.  His name is Pete.  Instead of sending our videos to Toshiba or Untitled, send them to the device named Pete.

• Monday, I'll plug Pete back in and we'll go from there.

• Those of us with new computers may have to wait a day or two for internet, depending on how quickly our tech support team can visit.  If you wind up being logged out for a few days, buddy up with a neighbor for our online quizzes.  It's a pain, I know, but it won't be for long.

Need to export a movie?  Click the piggy.

Need to Email yourself a script you've been working on?  Here's how.  

​We've quizzed over this one before, so if you need help, check with a classmate.  I'll be working with those who need to export videos today, and won't have time to deal with documents.  Here's your refresher.

Turn on the captions and take notes.

Audiobooks, Audio Comedies, Audio Dramas or Audio News might be the way to go.

Click here, and take notes for tomorrow's quiz.  You could also hover over AUDIO PROJECTS, then click the ones you'd like to hear.  Yeah, that would work, too.  👍

Limitation on this one - Many of us try to complete nothing but projects we film at school.  This means the school provides you with the camera, the computer to edit, the time you need to film, and the space where you do it.  You as a production team aren't providing anything of your own, and JMS is doing all of the work for you, except for pressing the RECORD button. 

If you produce a photo slideshow or an audio project, your next video needs to be filmed at home with a camcorder.  Anyone in your team can do this.  If no one records anything, every member of the team gets a zero for their next filming deadline.  Exceptions will be made for those who are regularly working on a script or another kind of writing assignment, but the quality must be good, and your work needs to be strong enough that I'm aware of it without you telling me, or if I feel you're begging for a grade.

The Easter Bunny brought us an amazing gift this year: Eight new iMac computers!  

If you see a pink Post-It on the back of your machine, you have until Friday to complete all work on it.  Over the weekend, they will be replaced with our new computers.

If you have a document you are writing, Email it to yourself at the end of class on Friday.  On Monday, you can log into your own Email account, then download it to the new computer.

If you're editing a movie, put all the pieces together in order, even if the project isn't finished.  We can export it to a flash drive, then import it into the new computer on Monday.

We also have a TON of new headphone adapters.  If you need one, let me know.  

For Tuesday, we have three mini-lessons on editing, and more importantly, finding your way around iMovie.  Many of us are getting lost.  Here's how to find your way back home.

Here are Monday's notes, which will become, of course, Tuesday's quiz.  Study hard, Patriots.

You need to document each one, before you leave the website where you got it.  Here's how.

Take your notes today, and quiz on Monday.  Don't forget our objectives for the week:
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• Teams on the right will film their next project by Monday, March 26th.
• Teams on the left will film their next project by Monday, April 9th.
• All teams will complete their current video project before their next filming deadline.
• Teams with videos of their own will work on their own movie.
• Teams who have filmed nothing will complete their Homework Movie and Fan Fiction Script by Friday, March 23rd.  See the What's Next? post to review the requirements.

Do you hear a little noise at the end or beginning of your shots?  Here's how to get rid of it.

For those of us that weren't here last semester, there's something important we need to discuss.  Take these notes for tomorrow's quiz.

 Get two steps closer.
 
When filming your projects, move as close as possible to your subject.  Don’t zoom in.  Move the camera and tripod and get up in your subject’s face
 
Avoid Bulls Eyes.  

Remember the Rule of Thirds? It teaches you to put the person’s eyes on the top line that divides the screen into thirds.  Never put a person’s eyes in the middle of the shot. 

Top of the head, top of the frame.
 
What is the frame?  It is the picture you see on the screen.  Don’t give us too much empty headroom at the top of the shot.Show the person, not the wall.

Use your flash.
 
“Wait!” everyone said.“We don’t have a flash on a camcorder!”
 
True, but you probably have amazing things at school or home called lights.  Move them closer to the people you film, or film close to the light so we can see who is talking.  Your main goal is to see the person’s face clearly with no harsh shadows.  To do this, you may need two lights, one for each side of the face.  More info on how to do this is coming.

Don’t film near a window.
        
This is a bonus question not included in the video.  When you film indoors and point the camera toward a window, everything else in the frame turns dark.

The camera is like the moth that keeps smashing its head into the light on your front porch at night; it’s looking for the brightest thing it can find.  It makes that bright thing so bright that everything else is dark in comparison. 

If you have rough footage that you've filmed yourself, edit.

If you haven't, go here.  It's the post we visited yesterday where I read my poem inspired by The Autobiography of Malcolm X.  Write your own piece of fan fiction from the viewpoint of a book, a movie, or a TV show.  This piece of writing, plus your Homework Movie, are due one week from today, on Friday, March 23rd.

Your fan fiction should be at least sixty seconds long when you read it out loud.  I didn't do any planning for my Malcolm X poem; I just wrote from my mind and my heart.  If a bullet list of what will happen in your story from start to end will help, write one before you create your story.  If you don't need one, forget it.

You can write it like a short story with people talking to each other, or you could write it like a monologue - a speech or a letter where we only hear one person talking.

Use the Grading Rubric for Video Projects and the Peer Evaluation sheet before I grade them. We need one written comment from each evaluator on each form, and the comment should be initialed by the person who left it.  Tell them what they specifically did well, or what they need to work on.  "Good job!" isn't specific enough.  You can't just circle A+ and be done.  Minus 10 HP for all involved if you do this.  

Many of our grades are poor because we barely look at our own work.  In many cases, I know more about your project than you do because I've watched it more closely.  Let's do better than that.  

Don't import your homework video from Camera 5.  When we recorded the movie in first hour with Alex as our actor, we forgot the CU of his hands putting the book down on the desk.  The movie is incomplete.  Sad face.  😨

PS - The objective on the board for Tuesday was to import your Homework Movie.  Have you done that yet?  If not, you're two days late.  

Some of our groups are working on their own videos, but many are not.  Before we figure out what comes next, I will get with each group today and ask you a few questions?

• Is your volleyball video done?  When did you finish it?

• Have you filmed anything of your own?

• Do you have anything that is ready to film? Are all the steps complete: proposal, script or storyboard?

At any time, you can begin the production steps for any of the videos listed at this website. Hover over VIDEO PROJECTS, then click the type of movie you would like to produce.  If you don't have enough daily activity to keep you busy, I will assign something for you to do.  If you go home and make a movie of your own, you can stop doing my assignment and work on the video of your choice.

Advanced students, don't be afraid to get with me and tell me what you're doing if it's different from what I'm asking the rest of the class to do.  Thanks. ❤️

Update from yesterday.  I have 54 groups in my Media classes at JMS.  21 of them have taken home a camera and filmed a project of their own.  33 have not.  

39% of my students have filmed their first movie as instructed.  61% did not.  Come on, Patriots, you can do this.  Every two weeks, take home a camera and film a project. Due dates will ALWAYS be on the board.

Great!  Don't forget the following.

• No transitions.  Use straight cuts from shot to shot.
• Match up your actor's location with where he or she was standing at the end of the previous image.
• Don't show him or her doing the same thing twice.
• Turn down your audio and use one background song for music.
• Make sure your credits are perfect.
• Use the Grading Rubric for Video Projects at the back of the room.  You grade it, then get two people from two other groups.
• Correct all mistakes, then call me over for a final eval.

Double check the videos below, too.  Don't forget the basics we've already learned. 👍

Notes for Monday.  Quiz on Tuesday.  Study hard, Patriots.

The only thing different from the video above is that we want to put the camera on the shelf in front of the bag.  Tuck the strap into the bag and push it to the back of the cabinet, with the camera lens facing the bag.  

​Plug it in as you see here.  Camera Two will not plug in properly, but every other camera will.  Be sure to do that.  Thanks!

Check Pinnacle.  If you have a zero for your Volleyball Video, you'll need to complete it ASAP. Grab a Grading Rubric for Video Projects, grade it with your partners, then have two other classmates do the same.  Correct your mistakes, then call me for a final eval.  Edits should be clean with no camera shake or movement other than when the ball crosses the net, and no scoreboard shots, please.  Your credits need to be perfect.  

If you haven't scanned in your Homework Video, do that today.  Don't remember how?  Scroll down to yesterday's post.  Look at the pictures, watch the video, and follow those directions.

Have you filmed your first project at home?  Due dates have been on the board for a month.  This is a huge assignment that will cost major points if it's not completed, so film your commercial or any other type of project we've quizzed over up to now.  Hover over Video Projects at this website, then click the movie of your choice for review.

Finishing up Studio J?  Scroll down the posts on March 4th.  Read the instructions and watch the videos for a review.

If none of these are done, here's your order.

1. Volleyball
2. Homework Video
3. Studio J
4. Film your movie at home

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For those that have done this before, yours will be done on Monday.  For the new people, it takes a few more days.  Either way is fine.  

If you forget how to import your footage, click play once more.

Once that's done:
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• Open iMovie
• Insert your SD Card
• Click the first shot from your Homework Movie, then shift click the last.  They will be outlined in yellow, from start to finish, like this.

Now, click the magic button!  You'll find it in the bottom right of your screen.

Once that's done, click Import Selected and your clips will go where you tell them.  Now for the lesson.  "Finally," they all said.