Favorite Directors (Discussion Board)

After having to choose between Judd Apatow and Zack Snyder (300), I chose the former for producing many comedy classics. He is responsible for many comedy classics that take teenage themes and give make them incredibly funny.

Some of his films include "40 Year Old Virgin", "Knocked Up", and "Funny People" along with producing many films.

He graduated High School and went to the University of Southern California, where he hosted comedy nights and performed stand up comedy afterwards.

He is known for taking real life situations and making them hilarious, with comedy that usually involves drugs, sex, and weed. However they always have a positive lesson at the end of it, which deal with believing in oneself, and being motivated to reach a goal.

http://www.myspace.com/juddapatow

Recording DVD's

You need a : Dolby & AIFF files

Encode: using compressor

Click All (you will get three necessary files)

Encoding

Best Quality 90 min. 4:3 All

sent to desktop

submit

Files will be on source you chose

DVD Studio Pro 4 (more control than iDVD

Background Design save as TIFF

Dialouge

Title Screen "Just Talk" shows on screen *introductory music plays*

Mike gets out of his car *dramatic music plays*

Sheila gets out of her car *romantic but dramatic music plays*

Mike and Sheila see each other in the ? restaurant? *pleasant music plays*

M: Hey girl.

S: oh my goodness, Mike, its nice to see you.

M: wanna sit with me.

S: yeah.

They sit and talk

M: Still taking them classes.

S: Yeah, i have no idea how much when I'm going to graduate........You

M: Yeah, finishing up my Cd.... Waiting on (producers name) for three tracks.

S: Wow, I can't believe your actually completing the album.

M: Hows your boyfriend.

S: You have no idea.

M: No, what I'm in is my extension level event.

S: Michael Barrence Turvolt, what did you do now.

M: Candace caught me again.

(Flashback to scene with Michael and Sheila)

S: (disapproving face). Why do you keep looking at other girls.

M: She hasn't spoken to me since last tuesday.

Final Cut Notes

creative commons

vj vault

jkl

apple and R to render

command + tilde= delete a marker

free sound project (dot) org

"Just Talk"

"Just Talk"

Digital Cinematography Presentation

List of Actors

• Kyara Lombre- "Sheila" (her boyfriend is close-minded, he thinks plays are feminine and wont go)
• Maurice Washington- Director/ Producer/ Cameramen (2)
• Nkosi Dickerson- Director/ Producer/ Cameramen (2)
• Patricia- "Candace" (Michaels girlfriend, argues with him because he has wondering eyes)
• Sean Jones- "John"- (refuses to see a play in one scene, changes his mind in another scene.)
• Ty Harvin- "Michael" (can't help being a "dog", talks about his issues with Sheila)

___________________________________________________

• Renae (sp)- "Other Girl" (walks past mike and candace (his girl)
• Joshua Thompson- Background Music-
• ????????- Equipment Holder
• Marquis- Continuity

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Items Needed

1. Michael (Ty) and Sheila (Kyara) to wear the same clothes for the scenes where they come out of the car and the scene where they are talking in a restaurant.

___________________________________________________

Days of Shoot

Friday April 31 2010:

3pm-5pm

Sean Jones, and Kyara are needed.

• Scene 4 with Sheila and her boyfriend (John) arguing over the play

____________________________________________________

Saturday May 1 2010:

12pm-1:40pm

Ty, Kyara, Celebritte, Patricia are needed.

• Scene 1 where Michael and Sheila get out of the car.
• Scene 3 where Michael is walking with Candace and looks at two girls passing by.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday May 7 10am-1pm or 2pm-5pm

Ty Harvin, Kiara Lombre, Patricia, Sean Jones are all needed.

• Ty Harvin: 10am-1pm , & 2pm-....
• Kyara Lombre: 2pm-5pm
• Patricia: 11am-.......
• Dre:
• Marquis:
• Sean Jones:
• Quinton:

or

Saturday May 8

Afternoon

Scene 2. Michael (Ty) and Sheila (Kyara) are talking. 2pm-5pm

Ending Scenes. Sheila (Kyara) and John (Sean Jones) compromise. 3.30pm-5pm

Michael (Ty) and Candace (Patricia) are arguing. 11am-1pm

------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday .May 11, 2010

Afternoon

Background Music with Joshua Thompson

________________________________

Screen Play:

M= Ty or Michael

S= Kyara or Sheila

J= Sean or John

C= Patricia or Candace

• Scene 1 Setting 1
• Title Screen "Just Talk" shows on screen *Introductory music plays*
  Michael is scene getting out of the car. (MS)
  Mike gets out of his car *background music*Sheila gets out of her car *Background Music*

Scene 2

Mike and Sheila see each other in the ? restaurant? *Pleasant music plays*

M: Hey girl.

S: oh my goodness, Mike, its nice to see you.

M: wanna sit with me.

S: yeah.

(They sit and talk.)

M: Still taking them classes.

S: Yeah, i have no idea when I'm going to graduate........You?

M: Yeah, finishing up my Cd.... Waiting on (producers name) for three tracks.

S: Wow, I can't believe your actually completi

ng the album.

M: Hows your boyfriend.

S: You have no idea.

M: No, the situation im in is like "extinction level event".

S: Michael Barrence, what did you do now?

M: Candace caught me again. ********I was wearing the same shirt as I am now (laughs)******

(Flashback to scene with Michael and

Candace.)

Scene 3

Back to Scene 2

M: She keeps saying I'm probably cheating on her.

S: (disapproving face). Why do you keep looking at other girls.

M: She hasn't spoken to me since last tuesday.

S: You should know that girls are sensitive to that kind of stuff.

M: I tried to tell her, I wasn't lookin' , lookin', I was just looking at her walk by, you know what I'm sayin'.

S: No, Michael, you know relationships don't work like that.

M: Why are women so .....sensitive... i mean dang. (pause).

S: Because we think men want other women while they are with their own women.

M:But men don't really care if a women looks at another man.

S: Some do.

M: But what I have with my girlfriend is something that an attraction can't break. You know what I mean.

S: (Half Smile). Glad to hear that.

M: Yeah, yeah, so what about you.

S: (**looks to the side, as if she doesn't want to answer**)

M: Come on, Sheila, we been friends for how long, you can tell me.

S: (2 sec. pause).

S: (**Sheila voice overlaps the scene of her showing John the play and him rejecting it**).

S: (During Flashback). I tried to get him to see the play "Paige... In Full Drama". He said it was feminine.

Scene 4

J: " 'Paige in full drama', what is this mess".

S: What do you mean?

J: You want me to see a bunch of dudes flailing around in tights, hitting each other with sticks.

S: ** Annoyed Expression**

S: **Annoyed Sigh**

Back to Scene 2

M: **Laughs**

M: Men only think that women or gay dudes can see plays or operas. They think if they see anything related to women or homosexuality, then their gay, and their friends will clown them.

S: Really?

M: But I think its a test of manhood, you should tell him what the play is about, so he won't worry about his manhood.

S: Men should try something different, so women won't think there simple minded.

M: There are men who are individuals and followers, which one is yours?

S: Definitely a leader, he thinks on his own.

M: Thats good, you chose a good one then.

S: (cocky smile). Thank you, I know my man.

M: Aight, aight. Lets talk about something else. Do you think religion should play a major role in relationships, more than love.

S: No, because it means you would be in a relationship with someone just for religion, not for their love of the person.

M: So you think you could love someone who is not in the same religion as you.

S: May..be, it would depend on if he does not use religion to dominate or choose it over me.

M: Yeah, I would choose love because with love comes life and freedom when you can share it with someone.

S: (Concerned) Do you hate religion or something?

M: Not much, I see its good for people who need guidance, but sometimes I see its used to control peoples lives and makes people feel disappointed and untrustworthy.

S: What do you know about religion ?

M: Some religions do negative unspeakable things, which makes me question who should rule what people do. People make their own choices.

S: Ok, Your getting to deep into this, lets talk about something else. I'm sure you got something else to ask me.

M: Why is that women seem to like a men with "swagga", you know like the song T.I. made ? (laughs)

S: Its a sign that the man has confidence and women find that sexy and attractive.

M: But is that enough for the women to decide is she wants to see him. Because women seem to ask for intelligent, understanding, caring, thoughtful, supporting men, with a personality that fits them.

S: Yeah, but confident men catches a women's eye and attracts them. But, wasn't your women attracted to you because of your confidence?

M: Like some women I know, I wonder, but really she was attracted to my morals and what I wanted.

S: Oh, wow that different, sounds like she is worth saying with.

M: She is, but I wonder if the same thing goes for men.

S: I think so, men like women with "swagga", their attracted to it.

M: But, is it confidence or something or something else. For men, we just want to make sure the women is into us.......I think its more attractive qualities than confidence to a women.

S: I understand, because it took more than certain qualities to be attracted to my man. More than confidence.

S: Do you wonder why women accept lesbians when they decide to just see men, but men can not accept gay or bisexual men when decide to just see women.

M: Yeah, I wonder about that too.

S: I just think it seems wrong.

M: Yeah, some men are homophobic.

S: You men do get scared when anything gay is talked about.

M: Not all, some try to understand.

S: Some homophobic men are gay and can't reveal themselves, because of society.

M: Yeah, but society has changed and is a little more accepting of homosexuals today.

S: (Mad) That still doesn't answer my question, Michael.

M: How.

S: Why are men so afraid of homosexuality?

M: Men think about how in the past, there was an aids epidemic in the 1980's.

S: Yeah, I remember, so what's your point?

M: Some people have been afraid of homosexuals because of it. But some can look straight like me.

S: Yes......

M: Allot of married women don't even know they have a husband who is one the down-low and keeps sneaking behind her back, which may lead to sexually transmitted diseases.

S: Women need to figure out their men completely.

M: (Emphasis) I've read in an essence magazine that men cheat on women in the Dominican Republic, I remember one gay man told a reporter that he met a down-low man who cheated on his wife with ten different partners.

S: (Surprised) Oh my god.

S: Wow, I think thats enough talk for one day, you should be apologizing to Candace.

M: I guess I should. I don't know maybe I'll take her out to eat or something.

S: No, she is going to want you to act like you really care. Maybe something drastic or out of left field.

M: No (laughs) I won't need to do all that.

M: You boyfriend should change his mind about the play.

S: Yeah, he better (laughs).

S: Let me know what happens.

M: Sure

__________________________________________

(Michael and Sheila leave the eating area.)

Ending Scenes

(Michael is shown trying to apologize to Candace, but she is not satisfied. Obviously Mike has to show that he cares.)

(Sheila shows John the play and talks about its plot. After hearing about it, and thinking for a minute, he smiles and decides to check it out.)

The End

Window Seat Response

Just as a comment said that I saw on youtube, the video seems to show "Group Think" as her assassinators. Everyone with negative comments seem to "assassinate" her character, as they focus on slandering her character and video. However, at the end of the video it shows her wearing a "Rick James" wig. So maybe when she was wearing a wig she was being like everyone else, and stopping herself from not conforming to the standard rules everyone else has to abide by.

The meaning of the song may be her wanting a "window seat" a way from people (wanting to be alone.) However she also sings about wanting someone to interact with her, so maybe she is also saying that she wants to be by herself, but she can't live without having friends or a significant other.

How the songs theme relates to the video, I am not sure of. After having a song with Lil Wayne, I think she is further exploring creative themes more so than trying to sell records with gimmicks.

Notes 3-25-10

Depth of field=

wide depth of field=

Answer to discussion board question

http://www.mediacollege.com/video/camera/tutorial/01-technique.html

The answer for the camera tip.

My Answer:

When filming if panning or tilting is necessary, it is best to start at the most uncomfortable position of the move (if there is one) and end up at the most comfortable position at the end. No one wants to film a scene and realize that you can't reach far enough to finish shooting.

An original video (Kanye West "welcome to heartbreak"

This video looks like a horribly edited video, in terrible definition but it works in making the video stand out, especially with the special effects.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMH0e8kIZtE

DV Filmmaking: Chapter 9 & 10

Final cut pro released in 1999, allowed independant film makers to edit their films w/out spending large amounts of money on a "Avid", it made editing film as easy as cutting and pasting.

(final cut pro became a competitor to adobe premeire which was the standard program for Desktop video editing, final cut express is a cheaper version with less features.)

How non-linear editing benefits the independant film maker

Tape-to-tape linear editing

editing with no "undo", button, once an edit is made it becomes permanent.

Frames (bars in a timeline???)

timelines- uses series of tracks ordered vertically (one over another) to add audio/video to a video.

Non-destructive editing

Editing reels of 16mm and 35mm film has traditionally been a non-linear process, but its a destructive one unlike digital editing. Film makers refer to editing as "cutting a project together", the term "clip" comes from cutting a piece of film to select the segment of footage they want, and splice it into a sequence they want.

(the problem was editors ended up with many small leftover clips "trims" that are hard to manage. )

( The term "cutting room floor" comes from leaving a clip on the cutting room floor and discarding it from the movie, *editors hung clips of film on hooks in large bins incase they needed the extra film*). (91)

King Darshaans Music Video Recommendation

The Video I found for King Darshaans "lil more luv" was kind of annoying, but the lighting cause by the car lights and spot lights in the back combined with the dancing made it really creative.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZG4wmUMKL0

Final Cut Express 4-Lesson 1-3

(scan 14-15) Covering the basics

Cmd N (opens folder)

Cmd + Opt. D ( hides/ shows Dock)

Cmd W (closes an open window on the desktop)

Space Bar- opens/closes selected media file in quick look window (in full screen mode it starts or stops a clip)

Editing Video

-One NTSC DV Frame is made up of 480 horizontal lines of 720 pixles each 720x480. (PAL is 720x576).

Aspect Ratiostandard television sets are 4x3, meaning taller than wider, high definition are 16x9 (page 20)

In HD it is 1080 lines of video information another has 720.

HD image with 16:9 aspect ratio has dimensions of 1920 x 1080 (1920 pixles across one line and 1018 lines of video information).

If the footage was not shot in a format different than HDV or DV, you may have to dub it to digital format before bringing it to final cut pro express (scan page 23).

Working with quicktimeplays dozens of files (audio, video, graphics). Quicktime files are .mov

Exporting a single frame from a video and using it in a graphics program is also possible.

medium shot: zoomed a few feet from es

establishing shot: wide area

medium close up shot: framed around chest, face is framed tightly

two shot: equal importance to two subjects (scan 30)

Final cut express has a non-linear editing program, so you could change your mind about the placement over and over about the placement/ length of a shot w/out it affecting your original media.

Working with a Project

-sequence: clips edited and placed together

-bin: leftover film

Lesson-DV Filmmaking: Ch 4 (Lighting)

Lighting for Digital

lighting allows an audience to see what your shooting. Lighting is a tool that adds depth, texture, and nuance to a composition. Careful use of (skillful) lighting can make any shot a great shot audience

white balance-

light has a color cast that tints the objects in a shot. Unlike the human eye a camera does not compensate for differences in lighting for better or for worse. (37)

Cinematographers use the term "Color Temperature" to refer to the range of color a light source emits, and is measured as a temperature in units called Kelvin. (at the end of the scale light sources emit more red and yellow light, at the higher end they emit more blue light.

Avoid mixed lighting situations. Filmmakers avoid household light bulbs and flurescent lights in a room, and use tungsten lights to shot a shot. Film reels are balanced to shoot in daylight (or tungsten environments). Daylight film= outside. tungsten= indoor shoot. Dv camcorders have white balance features (take a sample of the white in the area every time camcorder setup is changed. Color temperature of indoor lighting varies depending on type of lights, while the temperature outdoors depends on the time of day.

Lights in a indoor location or daylight coming through windows can make a mixed lighting situation making a preset white balance useless. Setting white balance example.(39)

Setting an aperture

-exposure: the way light interacts with a negative to create an image.

wider apertures let in more light, smaller apertures allow less light to pass

Relying on a automatic setting does not give much control

Aperture of a camcorder is like Iris of human eye (both expand to let more light in, or contract to keep them out.

Different exposure settings can have someone in focus with an abstract background, or a bright background with the person being a silhouette.

Zebra Lines tell you if a shot is too bright or not. Too much zebra lines all over the frame means too much light has been let in, while no visible zebra lights could mean the exposure may be darker. (blown out=over exposed)

A camcorder with zebra lines would show thin diagonal lines indicating a problem. No zebra lines could mean the shot is good.

Indoor Lighting

careful lighting and subtle shadows give an image texture and depth. Paying too much attention to evenly expose all areas of a frame can make a shot lose its shading and nuances. Following the rules to the "T" isn't always completely necessary.

Buying a light kit may help

Fine-tuning light set-up

-keys to interview lighting are diffusion( fabric made of spun glass going in front of a light to soften the output- it makes the light softer and more manageable to a cinematographer) and light source placement (the light creates very bright areas and very dark shadows). Both of these create a more even light source (bright spots are pleasant lights, dark spots show detail and contour).

However, lights get very hot.

Chimera: lightning kit that allows a cinematographer to create intricate lighting effects that fade from light to dark under the control of the filmmaker.

(page 44 picture) a small light is used to fill any uninvited shadows (fill light). The Chimera serves as a primary light creating highlights (key light). A hair light adds a crescent-shaped shine to the head of the interviewee. It helps separate their head from the background (picture). (Links.)

Outdoor ligthing. (45)

For Outdoor lighting shooting in bright sunny settings isn't the best idea as it creates dark shadows. An object such as a I neutral density (nd) filter and a bounce card can be used.

a neutral density filter darkens the objects in a shot, but does not change the color casts, via a glass filter placed over the lens of a camcorder (a camcorder may have a built in ND function).

A Bounce Card is works the same way as a reflective screen used in a car windshield to prevent it from getting too hot. It bounces light to where you want it.

These items are especially useful when the subject has on a cap to avoid shadows under the cap (i.e. placing a bounce card under the face to eliminate the shadows under the cap

Shooting at night especially during dusk, because daylight looks blue during this time. The Golden Hour is the time immediately before/after a sunset because it gives off an especially warm glow (everything looks better onscreen).

Shooting at night may or low-light settings may require manual exposure settings, careful focus, and a high contrast viewfinder. A viewfinder may be helpful in avoiding grainy shots.

The Depth of field may be limited in darkers shots. In bright daylight a cinematographer can easily keep the foreground and background of an image in focus at the same time. At night it is more shallow, so it can make it harder to keep all areas in frame in focus. Automatic Focus on a camera, may cause it to be obvious that the camera does not know which person (subject) to focus on.

closing terms

daylight is blue, indoor light is yellow, white balance, manual functions are better, cloudy days are great for lighting, chimera and hair lights are good for indoor shoots, certain problems such as focus and under/over exposure are hard to fix in post production

Lesson :DV Filmmaking: Chapter 3-Composing a Shot

Composing a Shot

Medium Shot: most common type of framming, provides audience with detailed view of the subject, shows people what subjevt looks like and places persom in sopecific environment.

Wide Sjhot- large area, used to cover alot of action or let an audience know when a scene is taking place

Establishing shot: used to establish a location

Extremew wide shot (xws): good shots fot openning films. exremely large area in a single frame

Close-up: draws the audience into subject on screen, visually and emotionally (think Norma Desmond)

Extreme Close up: can make audience pay extra attention

16x 9 is friendly to wide shots

4x3 screens are better for the CUs and XCUs

Placing one shot after another (elemental process of building a film)

Jump cut: Take a continuous shot of a person doing something and cut a few seconds from the middle of the shot. Audience can tell an action is missing.

Cut-away is a scene that cuts away to another subject, so that audience dosent notice the "jump-cut" (missing action)

Coverage: used to to avoid "jump-cuts" , and get a variety of shots (two cameras can be used)

Continuity and detail management: make sure details are consistent

The Rule of 180/ crossing the Axis: crossing the "axis" can be confusing

(crossing the axis and mixing shots can be hard to follow)

Script Supervisors are hired to take pictures of scenes for the problem of continuity

Timing can be used to set the emotional tone of the film. quick cuts=more exiting tempo, longer shots= more thoughtful tone.

Shooting with DVD Compression in Mind

-DV footage is converted to the compatible MPEG-2 format using editing applications and DVD production packages that ship with encoders.

not all shots will look great when compressed for DVD.

Compression Algorithms-

4.7 gb translates to 25 minutes of camera footage DV (DV thats been captured without applying additional compression). Commercials DVD play more than 25minutes of footage because the video and audio has been compressed.

-compression removes redundant information from a digital signal (resulting in a more manageable file size).

-algorithms (complex mathematic formulas) are used by DVD compression programs to analyze digital video and audio that can be removed without anyone noticing. (32)

spatial and temporal are two types of compression. the more detail, the harder it is to compress the image.

Spatial compression- breaks an image into blocks, and if parts of a frame repeat, algorithm places same block in more than one location (i.e. the background is a white wall, one section of it is repeated in more than one location to save space. Dosent have to create an entirely new background for each frame of video. (increased amounts of compression= loss of video. quality).

Temporal compression-looks for information that repeats from one frame to another and repeats it in the place of similar information (a white wall, used from from frame where it would not change either way).

Shots that make compression easier

-A static shot, with a solid background would be the easiest to compress because there is no movement, or poorly light backgrounds to compress. Filming shots and seeing how they look on screen is a good idea, to see how everything compresses.

Review For Midterm

Record over entire "tape" Record timecord with film in camera

• Timecode: frames, seconds, minutes, hours 00:00:00:00 hours, minutes, seconds, frames (used for syncronizing and logging material in recording media). (After Effects required this)
• Blacking/ "Striping" a DT Tape
• White Balance: refers to a camera function that takes a white area of a shot to adjusts the color ....... (may be only available in automatic mode)
• Acronyms/ Names for Various Shots and camera angles: Shot size: Close-up (CU), Medium Shot (MS), Long Shot (LS), Extreme close-up (XCU), Focal Length: Wide-Angle, Normal, Telephoto, Camera-Angles: High, Normal, Low, Dolly
• Firewire: Apples device used for large data storage and transferring data
• Transitions: how one scene cuts to another (screen blacks out, screen fades)
• NTSC: broadcasting standard in america, uses 30 FPS
• DV: format for recording and playing back digital video
• Apr: Aspect Pixel Ratio (mathematic ratio describes how width of pixels in a digital image compares to height

Suggestions for shooting: Turn off dates, Use a tripod, Tape, use White Balance, less light=grainy

(cont.)

Screenplay Format:

Scene Heading (int. =inside, ext.=outside "inside/outside, place, Day #, day or night)

Action: what character will do

Character: subject

Dialog: what is being spoken

Parenthetical: describes action taking place

Transition: how one scene will go to the next (fade, cut, dissolve)

Shot:

Text:

Cover Page:

Page #

Scene: where something is taking place

Rule of Thirds: on a screen divided into nine squares, having an image or text on the focal point (intersections or lines )makes it stand out more

Codec: Compression/ Depression

DV Filmmaking

• Pages 15 aspect, wide vs standard (x)
• page 17 frame rates,
• Dv firewire, depth of field (22)
• types of shots (draw)
• Transitions (30)
• sequence
• 180 degress (page 31)
• white balance
• shooting for coverage
• ch. 9 time code, non-linear editing
• ch. 11 126-127 images in photoshop *
• treatment vs script
• ken burns

Notes: Hollywood Tips/ Ten Ways 3-15-10 (cont.)

Terms:

• Location: involves lighting, sceneary etc. It is best to avoid direct sunlight, and noises
• External Microphone makes hearing the dialouge much easier
• Manual Controls are better in most cases
• Focus can be adjusted by zooming in first
• A white object can help to adjust the white balance (zoom in to object, calibrate it, and zoom back out)

Checklist for shooting a video

• Release Paper
• A white object (white foam board)
• tape
• batteries
• people to help out

Rules

• Shoot for coverage. (same shot/scene, different angles)
• Continuity (mans tie didn't change color, after he turned around)
• communicate
• Rules of third...........

Terms dealing with light

• Depth of field: amount of distance between subject & camera (one part of shot is in focus while another part while others arent (draw attention to one part)
• Auto-Exposure
• F-Stop
• Manually adjust light

Shots

Establishment shot

master shot (entire subject, scene_

2 shot

over the shoulder

Ten Ways to shoot a chair

shot attributes

shot sizes: Long shot, medium shot, close up, extreme close up

Focal Length:

wide angle: wider than the human eye, great depth of field, every thing is in focus

normal

Telephoto: magnifies subject, shallow depth of field, everything else is out of focus (except subject)

Close up: distorts features of face

Camera angle:

high-above subject looking down

Normal- eye level with subject

Low- looks up to subject

Lesson: DV Filmmaking: Chapter 2

Chapter 2 ~Digital Cinematography~

working in film and video is a technical process because a filmmaker uses technology of cinema to realize their dreams and share with an audience

1. Aspect Ratio: the difference in size or proportional relationship between width and height.

Traditional forms of video use a 4x3 aspect ratio. For every 4 inches of width theres 3 inches that corresponds with it. Screens must conform to standard aspect ratio so that the images can maintain proportions on any given television.

• 16 x 9 is referred to as widescreen. These formats allow a photographer to take create striking panoramic landscape shots and big screen action sequences.

Different ways to get a project shot in a different aspect ratio to a standard 4x3 aspect ratio.

• Pushing the edges of the frame in toward center. It allows directors to use the entire frame but it makes everything a little taller and thinner, therefore distorting everything.
• Pan and Scan- keeps widescreen at its original aspect ratio but only shows a selected area that is wide enough to fill a 4x3 screen. Anything outside of it is eliminated.
• Letterbox: proportionately shrinks the widescreen image to fit the width of a 4x3 screen, and leaves strips of black at the top and bottom. (The preferred choice especially to cinema fans, and filmmakers.)

To display 4x3 content on a widescreen on solution is to leave curtains which is empty space at the sides of the screen. The simplest solution is to shoot in the same aspect ratio as the desired format.

Anamorphic Video: To create these images a special (anamorphic) lens distorts an image to appear at a wide aspect ratio when played back on a projector (cont.)

Frame Rate: number of images that appear on screen each second. Measured in FPS (normal measurement) anything less (15fps) may look jerky or choppy

Film/Video "simulate" motion by displaying series of images, one after another

Persistence of Vision: (human brain processes a limited amount of images at a time), if a person sees more than 15 images per second, brain sees it as a series of images.

Frames Rate: measured in FPS. 30 fps is normal (15 would look jerky).

Video equipment confirms to specific standards. NTSC is broadcast video standard in America, uses 30 fps.

NTSC divides each frame of video into 2 fields

• half of the image is displayed in a field of odd numbered lines
• image is completed by displaying remaining field of even numbered lines.

NTSC method referred to as interlaced video because each frame is made of two interlocking frames.

Pixels: small squares used by images created by computer monitors (video uses lines of resolution)

Pixel Aspect Ratio describes width of a pixel in relation to its height.

Square Pixels (generated by most computer application) are equal in height and width (making them square)

Non-Square Pixels: appear more taller than they are wide

*Adobe Photoshop compared to Final Cut and After Effects have different pixel aspect ratios, therefore transferring images from one to another may cause an image to be distorted. It is not hard to compensate for different pixel shapes because programs like photoshop can resize images to fit.

Swing-out monitor, viewfinder, or external NTSC field monitor

-external NTSC field monitor connected to your camera does not hide flaws, but its bulky.

-Swing out monitors good for filming in hectic situations, see whats going on around you (work with handheld Steadicam which stabilize but makes you hold it at arms length

-look through cameras viewfinder-helps you stabilize shot when the eyepiece is at your face

working with a view finder

-images will appear bigger than when you see them in a view finder-imperfections become bigger in large images.- Viewfinder images with great contrasts make it easier to focus mistakes, black and white viewfinder images generally contain more contrast than color images.

Script Draft 1

Script First Draft - 360

http://issuu.com/mauriceworks/docs/scriptfirstdraft

Lesson: Imovie 08 & iDVD ch. 1, 4, 12

imovie: software that edits videos by grabbing footage from digital camcorder or still camera. Good for home movies, web movies, documentaries, short films, etc.

Old vhs tapes lose quality when you make copies of them, while digital video can last for a long time when the original is the source for the copies.

Equipment that uses tape and digital media:

• Mini DV camcorder record with tape, but can be transferred to imovie

Tapeless filming equipment:

• DVD camcorders: mini dvds that hold about 20 minutes of video, but will not play in regular dvd players, or in a mac
• Hard drive camcorder record hours of video, but when space is full, footage needs to be transferred to a hard drive
• Memory-card camcorders: memory cards are expensive

Recording Formats

MPEG (1,2, or4): Motion Picture Experts Group (the asscociation of people who made up the format) (format for tapeless recordings)

AVCHD: Advanced Video Coding/ High Definition (high def format by sony and panasonic 06, so it is the format of Blu-ray discs and hd dvds. A dvd camcorder of this type records 15 minutes of good quality video on a disc. (not compatible with imovie 08)

Camcorder features:

• Firewire connector: jack for connecting camera to mac
• Analog Inputs: allows for connection for old pre-DV equipment
• LCD viewfinder:(liquid crystal display) screen that shows what is being filmed (technology used to produce image.
• CCDS: (charged couple devices) three chips/ electronic plates which are covered with thousands of light sensors that convert light rays into a digital signal. (more expensive than one chip cams, but deliver much better color.
• Image stabilizer: feature that records less video, in order to eliminate small "bumps, shakes and jerks". Comes in "Electronic" and "Digital" stablilization, both used for cheaper camcorders.
• Optical Stabilization: an alternative that uses two transparent plates separated by special optical fluid. The plates create a prism effect when the camera shakes keeping the shots clearer than electronic digital stabilizers.
• Manual controls: Includes having the option of turning off anything automatic, which becomes helpful sometimes.
• Optical zoom: the times a camera can zoom to magnify an image (like a telescope) as indicated by the numbers on the body of a camera.
• Backlight mode: camcorders today set the aperture automatically, the image is analyzed and the brightness is adjusted according to how bright or how dim the scene is
• Flexizone or Push Focus: allows you to a specific spot in the frame to serve as the focus point, even if its not the center of the picture
• night vision mode: infrared transmitter on the front of the camcorder measures the heat given off by various subjects (acts like night-vision goggles).
• Still photos,

Useless features

• Title generator
• audio dubbing
• special effects
• date/time stamp
• control-l
• digital zoom
• 
  

A professional video should have adequate lighting and should use zoom mostly for close-ups (while slowly walking towards the person).

Where to buy

Storage Problem

Chapter 4: importing video

Prpject Library: create a new one with "file> new" where new movies are placed

storyboard: where the video will be edited, movies will be represented as filmstrips (frames form each clip)

Viewer: where footage is watched

Toolbar: location of onscreen controls

Event Library: where raw footage is placed (organized by event)

Event Browser: raw unedited footage is stored, where you can organized filmstrips of individual footage can be organized.

Playhead: little handle of a normal scroll bar (shows where you are in the footage)

small Plug goes into part of camera labeled "FIREWIRE", i.LINK, or IEEE 1394.

1. Camera is turned on. Switch to play mode. (import window should turn on automatically).
2. Specify what you want to save (leave on automatic to import the whole tape), (or manual to import some of whats on the tape. Playback control buttons can be used to control the camcorder, and scan what you want to be imported.
3. Indicate what you want to save.
4. Specify an Event-
5. Import Settings- if importing in a high-def camera choose large or full
6. Click Ok- automatic importing happens without interruption, imovie auto-rewinds the tape when it reaches the end. Manual settings allows the use of playback controls to shuffle through it to find certain parts.

importing the whole movie is faster than clicking stop and only recording certain scenes

Automatic scene detection- imovie separates events by detecting breaks in time, each shot is turned into a new clip

importing from tapeless cameras

-since they store videos as files on a computer, imovie justs needs to copy the files in the computer hard drive. Connects to the mac using a usb cord.

-instant access to individual scenes on the camcorder meaning, making it easier to import wanted shots. (you can also import the wanted scenes.)

(camcorders that store video on sd cards (memory cards) card readers makes it so the camcorders battery isn't used up while video is transferring) (AVCHD footage will take a while to import because imovie has to convert ti to a edible format.)

(84 in imovie)

Importing from DVD camcorders

-is the same as importing from a tapeless camcorder with a few differences -imovies dont import from DVD camcorders that use AVCHD video (most high-definition DVD camcorders)

-most DVD camcorders offer multiple recording formats (DVD-video and DVD-VR; one plays in more DVD players, another lets you erase scenes before committing the DVD to plastic).

-Choosing DVD format (standard) is the way to go, choosing DVD-VR will cause imovie to think you just inserted a DVD and wont be able to record the video.

Importing live from a camcorder or isight camera- captures video straight from camera & sends it to imovie

Importing old movie projects-(imovie ignores sound and special effects when importing, so do so with caution.

*AIC apple intermediate codec retains quality of video, be is faster to edit,play etc.

Dragging Video in from the finder

Importing footage from Non-DV Tapes

-tip: use a recent sony/canon camcorder (Canon Mini DV acts as a converter and turns signal from your old analog tapes into a digital one to be edited in imovie) (not all camcorders do that)

-tip 2: record onto your DV Camcorder

-tip 3: use a media converter> analog to digital converter ( a box that sits between the mac and VCR (103)

Chapter 12

Imovie also handles photos to be used as slideshows, still images/ freeze frames and export individual frames as graphic files.

Uses

• With video photo albums, photos can be integrated with crossfades, titles, and music. (photos are imported directly from iphoto or harddrive) even though iphoto can do the same with a looping feature
• Effects such as fighting sound title cards such as a color "BAM" when someone is fighting
• With the use of the photo browser, the contents of the iphoto library can be displayed
• photos can be inserted into movies
• 
  

Photobrowser: iphoto lite shows a scrolling panel of thumbnail images

Imovie stores away a copy of the photo.

Ways of adding photos

1. Photofilmstrips: photos that come between to filmstrips and becomes one in itself, (its timing can be adjusted by using set duration command). Imovie automatically gives it a time duration.
2. Photostripes can be made by dragging a photo on top of a video clip. It covers a third of the screen. 3 advantages

• Easier to adjust (use mouse to shorten or lengthen, drag it from left to right)
• If photo dosent cover up the whole screen, you get video letterbox bars instead of black letterbox bars
• cut-aways are easier to create (even cut-aways to photo)
• with photoshop, an effect can be used to see video through the photo

Critiques

"A Girl Like Me"

The video directed by Kiri Davis, and produced by Reel explored the topic of society valuing being white as being beautiful, or better. Several young black females where interviewed about their experiences with seeing that looking white made you look beautiful in the eye of society (i.e. having straight hair). Several children were shown dolls and asked which one looked mean, between the black and white doll most of the children said that the black doll looked mean and choice to play with the white doll instead. The point of the video was that society tends to have a white man/ woman as the illustrated typical American, while blacks aren't exactly always painted in a good light.

No Child Left Behind

This video features a school group referred to as the "counter recruitment" group, which are against army recruiters going to schools because they lie to students, to keep them interested. One of the students separately interviews two recruiters who seem to answer the questions asked differently. The fact that the recruiter whom was not aware of a camera filming them said whatever would get the interviewer to want to join. As a classmate pointed out this make the video seem as if all recruiters would bend the truth and tell school kids what they would want to hear.

"Slip Of The Tongue"

This film was based off of a poem of the same title written by Adriel Luis. It was directed and edited by Karen Lum, who also stars in the film about an Asian girl telling a guy about how her race (or any other race that isn't European) should not conform to look like European, just because they are in America. The asks her what is her ethnic make-up, and she ends her answer by saying she does not wear make up, because you can't make up your ethnicity and refers to make-up as "make believe" as it is just used to look like someone else. This video is notable for clearly stating the point of not having to conform to the majority.

"Bits and Pieces"

This is a short film from Jordan which is a place in the middle east. The film was by Ben Mandell, and Jackie Swariris, and features middle eastern people, many of whom talk about how they do something that is different from a common conception about their race, such as drinking. While these people are talking, mosaics are being composed which relate to the topic being talked about. One of the last people being interviewed talks about how Americans and people from the middle east feel uncomfortable around each other, and promotes unity and at least communicate with people you may fear because you do not know them. This video does a good job not saying that people should not be judged or feared just because of their ethnicity.

A Loud Color (directed/ produced/ edited by Brent Joseph, produced by Tim Ryan)

This film takes place in New Orleans, featuring an elderly man who is dedicates time to helping the youth. In the former community center, which functioned as a place to teach the young economic Independence before Katrina. He goes through the town and shows the inside of some building that he owned, before the natural disaster occurred. The video enlightening in the fact that the man speaks of how blacks used to value and help practice unity more so back in the 1940's than the time before Katrina. He speaks of how blacks used to own businesses and 5-star hotels, until desegregation where blacks started going to white owned Establishments. One of the main ideas of the video are identified when the man speaks of how most of black youth today do not have people telling them that they could do significant things in life.

African Underground: Hip Hop in Senegal (directed by Magee MCIlvaine, and Chris Moore, Produced by Nomadic Wax Soul Production)

This features showcases conversation of Africans in Senegal that decided to express themselves by rapping. They were inspired by the pioneers of rap such as Grandmaster Flash, just like some rappers in America. The rappers in this video spoke of how they avoided rapping of negative subject matter, as there aim is to use music to help the community. Watching this video has informed me of a subject I would have not otherwise known about, making it a notable video.

The Foreign Exchange "I Wanna Know"

This mini-movie/music video has the theme of a relationship under stress. The skits along with the r&b song helps to convey the emotion expressed by the couple in this video. The way the video looks makes it look more personal, which helps it.

Foreign Exchange feat. Daren Brockington "Take off the blues"

This is a prequel to the video "I wanna know". It shows how the couple met, and possibly the beginning of their problems in the following video. The way the footage looks give it a "homey", down to earth feel to it.

HBO Imagine Cube

An original idea using a cube and its four sides showing different perspectives of what seems to look like a failed robbery at an art store. The fact that the story was not immediately clear to me, it convinced me to look at the short film several times at different angles to understand. Even though the plot of the video may have been meant to not be completely clear as those left in the museum are confused as to what happened.

Forevers Not So Long written and directed by Shawn Morrison, produced by Garrett Murray

In this video, the end of the world causes a man whose experience a break-up bonds with a girl he just meant over the course of time it takes for the world to end, in Brooklyn New York, because none of them wanted to die alone. The point of the video may be of how it did not take long for the couple to get to know each other. It was an original and creative video non the less.

10 Minutes

Set in Sarajevo Bosnia, and Rome Italy. The point of the video may be to show how much can happen in 10 minutes. The video consists of long shots and wide shots of people walking around and interacting with one another. The first part of the video shows a man going to a sort of store that specializes in 10 minute developments of photos. The second part of the video shows a boy sent out to get water for this family, but when he comes back his family is died. Right after that happens the guy from the first part of the video gets his pictures back and 10 minutes is almost over.

Strangers- directed by Erez Tadmor & Guy Nattiv

The video starts with two man across each other on a train, one being Jewish and the other, Palestinian. The plot of the video is about strangers who put aside their differences and work together to help each other in a dangerous situation. The use of music helps the mood of the film as the music gets louder and more dramatic as the action gets more intense. The close-ups of the characters in the film say everything about what they are thinking, and what is happening. The excellently executed premise makes the video have replay value.

A Thousand Words

Directed by Joselito Serling, this film has the theme of a simple photograph reminding the character Author of a past relationship. The video was edited to fit a letterbox format which was suitable for the video. The changes to different shots seem awkward, especially in the park scene.

Emmett

Written and directed by Onyou Hung, and Alexandria Taylor. Produced by Rob Tuscani, Katie Brandbo, and Onyou Hung. This 10 minute remake of the story of Emmett Till, provided a very tense mood as needed for the video. The actors did a good job of playing their roles, and the camera shots made the film seem organic. The silent walk through the park did not really seem necesarry for the film, otherwise the film was good.

The Landlord- by Will Ferrell

This is a comical video featuring Will Ferrells daughter as the drunken landlord. The camera angles were good considering the landlord was just about two years old. The close-ups on his daughter came at the right moments when she started to get angry.

Guestroom- directed by Greg Kwedar, produced by Daniel Brough Stevenson

A man who likes to keep to himself finds a young man beaten up and lying in a bathroom, he decides to help him and it leads to a lengthy adventure on the road. They bond together and it becomes apparant that the older man has taken a trip to be away from his wife and child, while the younger man is distressed over his mother dying and decided to go on the road. Why he was found laying in the bathroom by the older man, and why he is on the road is not readily apparant. It appears as if the older man begins to push the younger man away just like his wife and kids and promptly leaves him on the side of the road by a store. At the end they both decide to go home. At one point during the video a close-up shot is used where everything behind the subject is out of focus. This was a good video to see almost every type of shot used.

Butterfly Circus- directed by Joshua Weigel, produced by Joshua Weigel, Rebekah Weigel, Angie Alverez

A limbless man ends up leaving a "sideshow" where he is made fun of and joining a circus of people who perform. The people in the circus come from backgrounds where they were made fun of, or they were unhappy with their lives. The limbless man thinks all he is good for is being a sideshow freak. It is the announcer of the performing circus that convinces that limbless man that he has talent that he hasn't realized, because his self doubt is getting in the way. At the end of the video the man overcomes his doubt and starts performing with the rest of the circus crew.

The point of the video seems to be that people should not let others tell them that they are unable to do anything talented and that they are no good. The video had good use of lighting as most of it was shot in the sunlight.

Corrinne Bailey Rae- "I'd do it all again"

Ms. Bailey stars in this video which consists of three days of her doing mostly the same activities by herself. Later during she does something out of the ordinary and dances in the street. This may symbolize her wanting to be different than everyone one else. The parts where she is walking the opposite way of the people going into the subway station says the same thing. The name of the song says that she does not want to be everyone else and she dosen't mind being different. The camera shots cause the viewer to feel as if they were in the video with her throughout her day.

Part of me died in black island- directed by Gregor Shanks, produced by Stand Alone Digital Records.

This somber video featured a man dragging a bag of which is presumably a died body considering the title. The shots were mostly long shots of the man coming to the screen. The music makes the video exciting but it abruptly goes from calm to dramatic to calm when the scenes all contain the same action done in the same way. By the end of the video, it is not really clear how the title relates to the video. One can only assume whatever was in the bag was the part of him that died.

The video has shots that makes it look as if he appear out of nowhere which makes the video a little much better. In the end, it is not one of my most favorite videos to watch.

Jerome Hyde- Color Blind

This very dark video is off a women who sees everything in black and white. Effects are used to make the surrondings look black and white, and to make her eyes look all black. At the end of the video she receives a cure, which makes her surrondings gain color.

Help Haiti-directed by Byron Hurt, produced by Stacy Muhammad

A sort of documentary about different peoples thoughts opinions and actions taken toward helping Haiti , this video informs the viewer of how strong Haiti is even after the natural disaster. The video had an appearance from Chuck D. amoung some other notable people. It was nice to see that The "Help Haiti" event featured in the movie made around $11,000 total.

Just Another Day (five minutes)- by Noah Borer, produced by Karil Woods

This one shows the day of an assassin who goes through his day only to be killed by another assassin in the woods. Or so it seems as the voice of the assassin could have belong to the assassin who was the victor.

Cornelius- Drop

This vid featured creative effects with water flowing in a sink. The music goes with the water interacting with the kid throughout the video. The sound of a drop of water is loop at the beginning of the video, and played with other sounds for a big musical score. Watching the video is definitly worth it because of the creativity.

Window Seat by Erykah Badu

Lesson: DVD Filmmaking: 1 (Chapter 1 & 13)

DV FILMMAKING: From Start To Finish

DV Filmmaking: from start to finish (Chapter 1)

Digital Video: Film was seen as the better medium to film movies as it had better quality, (even though alot of independant film makers could not afford it)while Analog video was cheap but ugly, lacked color, images were flat, and the color did not look natural. Enter the age of the Digital Camera/Mini DV. New DV cameras such as Prosumers blurred the lines between high-end consumer equipment and low end professional gear. The digital camera followed with affordable editing systems and created opportunities for independant film makers.

Digital Cameras often preceeded non-linear editing which uses digital technology. With this someone can skip to a scene and edit a movie with Apple cut pro for example. Linear editing on the other hand required someone to fast forward to a scene everytime. *Some people shoot movie with film (beleiving its better and use non-linear editing).

It was much more cost effective to use digital equipment, as opposed to film which could cost more than a hundred dollars to shoot with and go through the stages of editing. Plus you may be satisfied with the result of what is shot with film, as opposed to shooting with DV in which you can immediate see what was shot.

Chapter 13

Film, video, animation consists of still images

Some of the first artists like Chuck Jones created still images on cells of "acetate" (clear sheets) layed on top of one another for animation fuctioning like the frames of film/ video.

Including stills does not make a project a slideshow

When film to shoot stills the plane of the camera must be identical to the plane of the photo or else some angles may not be the correct size.

Digital Editing Software has motion control features as opposed to expensive methods used to record clean shots with film.

"Keyframes" are important frames where changes take place (i.e. a shot with Elmer Fodd pointing a gun at Daffy Duck, followed by a shot where Daffy's hat is turned sideways, with a hole in it.) require the technique of tweening in which the in-between frames are filled in, relating to techniques in DV Filmmaking.

"Simulating a zoom in "Final Cut Pro"

Keyframe: an important frame where changes take place

(cont.)

Notes 2-2-2010 PhotoRoman, Production Pipeline, Screenplay Fomat

Photoroman

Photoroman is a collection of still photographs in a certain order telling story. It only shows the necessary images for the viewer to understand what action is taking place. Audio is also optional and may be narrative. (source) http://masonmcmillendit.tumblr.com/post/197777122

Production Pipeline is the categories in which each action of production is categorized

1. Pre-Production

• Proposal: An idea written as a brief paragraph discussing scene, location, plot, characters, scenes, style, genre etc.
• Treatment:
• Screen-Play Format: (http://celtx.com/) used for writting a script. Scene Heading (int., location, time of day), Action, Character, Dialog, Parenthetical, Transition (how the scene cuts into the next scene), Shot (ws, cu), Text, Cover page, page #, scene

1. Production (define)
2. Post-Production (define)

Screenplay Format

scene heading, (int. or ext.), Action, Character, Dialog, Parenthetical, Transition, Shot, Text

APR: Aspect Pixel Ratio (define)

NTSC DI (define)

Art 360: Treatment 2-1-2010

Maurice Washington

Art 360

Writing Treatment

2-1-10

“Death of a co-worker” (Drama)

"It becomes a matter of life and death between best friends/coworkers Trevor and Lawrence"

Trevor Smith, Lawrence Walker, Sylvia Valdez, Marc Johnson all work for John Kane in a company that specializes in selling forks. Trevor and Sylvia have a history with a very bad relationship. This affects Trevor's work performance as they constantly argue. His jealousy of her friendship with Larry causes him to draw disturbing illustrations of Larry being killed in many ways. Marc the associate manager tells Sylvia that she should alter Trevor's work behind his back and use his jealousy, and his lowering work performance to make him look like a bad employee. When she tells their boss, he expresses his dislike for Trevor and advises her to let him deal with it. One night Larry is attacked by someone, Sylvia thinks is Trevor.

Sylvia is sure Trevor is going to be fired. Marc's guilt of how he help Sylvia, causes him to quit. He tells her that she was a "model employee" but that person "died" when she let her personal life affect her work performance. Sylvia finds out that Trevor has been promoted and by his decision, transferred to another company. Both of them talk and find out that neither of them were ready for a relationship, and its better for them to separate from each other for a while. Trevor tells her that he knew about her attempts to alter his work sheets, behind his back and that he went back and used her wrong information to help point out mistakes that he would have made in the first place.

Sylvia tells Trevor that she thought he told her last boyfriend about why they broke up, to ruin that relationship, so she wanted to ruin Trevor's work performance and his opportunity for a raise. It is also found out that Larry was attacked by a stranger and has decided to work somewhere else. The boss informs Sylvia that she has been let go from her job because of all her time talking to Marc, and Larry while they working, as opposed to what Sylvia knows she did wrong.

Art 360: Proposals 2-1-2010

Maurice Washington

Art 360

Writing Proposals

2-1-10

The Worst Professor

"Teacher during the day, wild man at night"

Professor Cordozar who teaches at Bowie State University has visions at night which cause him to see apparitions at night. This is why he teaches during the day and goes home at sunset, where his friend Marcus gives him medication to combat this illness. One day the Professor stays at the school after sunset, because his car does not work. Unfortunately Brandy, one of his students is with him trapped with his life threatening condition as he hunts Brandy thinking she is a demon. Brandy's friends arrive and kill the Professor before he strikes. It is revealed that Marcus who gives Cordozar his medicine every night was murdered by him, because he neglected to give him his medicine that week.

“Baby Nolf”

"Some children can’t seem to fit in"

A woman Stacy, who lives in a apartment is pregnant from her boyfriend Vick. Eight months into the pregnancy the doctor Stuart is perplexed that her baby is still able to survive after seeing irregularities in its x-ray. The baby turns out to be a "Nolf", a mix between a mythical creature called a Gnome, a wolf, and a human. The child becomes internationally known and is left in Stacy's care. Her neighbors are not able to accept this "abomination" and come up with a plan for the Childs death that does not make them look like they caused it. Whether it is poison, causing a car accident or killing it in its sleep and causing the evidence to point to Stacy, it seems almost every idea is tried. Stacy eventually finds out about this from her friend who overhears the neighbors talking about this. One of the neighbors Mescudi refuses to give up the notion that this child should be given the chance to live with normal human being and attempts to kill it himself. Just as a cop burst in a door and shoots Mescudi who seem holding a knife, Cudi realizes that his actions while only make things worse.

“Death of a co-worker”

"The friendship of two co-workers is tested"

Trevor Smith, Lawrence Walker, Sylvia Valdez, and Marc Johnson all work for the same company which specializes in selling superior forks. The presence of Sylvia seems to negatively affect Trevor's work performance and his friendship with Lawrence. Sylvia and Trevor had a bad break-up, and Sylvia has the notion that Trevor became jealous of her new boyfriend and convinced him to break up with her. This causes her to alter Trevor's work behind his back, and uses his jealousy of her friendship with Lawrence to make him look like a bad employee. Lawrence is attacked by who Sylvia thinks is Trevor, but it turns out to be a stranger who did it. Sylvia plan to out Trevor as a bad employee fails as Trevor knew about her actions for a while now. At the end of the story Trevor becomes promoted to Associate manager and decides to transfer to another company to get away from Sylvia. Sylvia gets fired because her actions were caught one tap. Both Trevor and Sylvia find out that neither of them were ready for a relationship and working together was a mistake.