Blog 7!

Alright, so those are my groups 2 videos for the joke video assignment. I am torn between which one I like better.

There are several things I really like about the first one. Since this video was more directly related to the joke itself, the creative aspect of making this video was really more in the camera angles than the actual story line. We concentrated on the concept of line and framing. When our main character first walks into the diner, the lights on the ceiling are positioned horizontally, in the same direction that he walks, almost as though they are lighting his path or pointing him to go a certain way. This helps create an affinity of direction, which I think makes the shot flow well.

When our main character takes a seat, we tried to frame him in the white border of the window outside of the diner. From here we played with more camera angles. Since we were not supposed to pan or anything, we experimented a lot with over the shoulder camera angles. These shots were really funny to get, because I was completely scrunched up on the other side of the table in the booth, trying to get the camera to be far enough away so the shot wasn't alarmingly close up. We got a lot of smiles and smirks from fellow diner-goers, especially when they watched us pull out a can of pork and beans and open it with a can opener right there on the table.

I think that the use of the OTS shot at the start of the scene was good, because it allowed us to reverse it slightly later on. Instead of our main character being in the background, his fellow bean eater is in the background, in the same position that he had been in earlier. The part of the video when he makes the sort of growling sound at the fellow diner is my favorite part, it makes me laugh every time.

The idea of rhythm can be seen in the scene when our main beam-eater leaves the diner. He is obviously sick, almost drunk-looking, as he hobbles down the street. We got lucky that some speed-walking girl walked by right at that second, because her pace was so quick and intentional, that it helped to make bean-man look even more slow and disheveled.

I really liked the sound affects that were added, especially the squealing girl-voice sound that was dubbed over Alexa when she came in. That also makes me chuckle every time.
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Alright so video number 2. I love our opening shot. I think the framing is really nice in that creepy alley. There was the perfect place for him to squat down, with a dark background. His bright red sweatshirt really contrasted against against it, and helped him to stand out.

Again we have the walking into the diner scene, with the lights helping to create line and rhythm, with our main character walking in the same direction as them. I like that the red lights on the diner match the red of his sweatshirt. I also really like the warm light coming from inside the diner. It makes it look like a place you'd definitely want to go, as compared to the cold gray environment outside. 

As a side note, I did not want to be in the video at all. I was really grungy that day, and it sort of pains me to have to watch myself in it. But anyway.

When he goes back into the diner the second time, the light in the background flickers as he says, "my car breaks down." This was another lucky accident. It creates a sort of tension, and feeling of uneasiness. It almost works as foreshadowing, like something bad is about to happen. I feel like flickering lights in movies always mean that something bad is about to happen. 

I think my favorite shot of this video is at 1:53, where he looks over to see a man eating a Reuben sandwich in the seat where Katie was originally sitting. You expect to see his wife, and instead you see a a random man with his mouth full smirking at him. I let out the biggest laugh when we shot this.

I also really like the shot where we have the blindfold come down over the camera, to show that we are now viewing the world from our main characters eyes. The sound effects add a nice touch, again adding an aspect of tension and release. There is that scary "dun dun dunnnn" sort of sound when he is first unblindfolded, then it gets really quiet with only some chirping cricket sounds. It remains quiet as his wife sits down and is whispered to. Then after she learns what has just happened, her face changes and the music comes back it, serving as the release.