Filming Commercial Blog

Yesterday, my group finally began the filming process for our Gatorade commercial. If I am being completely honest, it was a little harder than I initially anticipated, but at the end of the day we managed. I didn’t expect us to be masters of the craft on our first try, though,  with practice, we will eventually. Even so, when I reflect on what we accomplished within 90 minutes alone, 

Storyboard Blog

Today, we finally managed to complete the storyboard for a Gatorade commercial, a step that will ultimately make the filming process much easier. Storyboarding was quite the group experience. Coming together and allowing our creative juices to flow from our minds, intertwining with one another and spawning even more ideas, resulted in what we saw as the best path to take for this project. In a nutshell, our commercial will go as follows: The commercial will begin with a full Gatorade bottle displayed on the screen placed on the field of grass and instrumental music will start playing. For our score, we decided to use the song “Hot” by Young Thug as it coincided with our vision for the commercial. Then, it will transition to 3 different scenes, each carrying a dull, dim atmosphere. This works to give the impression that the individuals in the scenes are tired, completely deprived of the energy and unable to carry out the tasks at hand. With this, slow transitions will be used in order to have the effect of the sluggishness that our actors will have. Transitions like slow pans and slow tilts. This develops the idea of a problem, which Gatorade will soon provide a solution. After this, each actor will take sips of Gatorade and this will be shown on a three-way split screen. The colors would change to a more vibrant setting and the music will be at a more upbeat tempo. Then, the same tasks that were attempted before will be attempted again, but performed better, illustrating the ‘liquid power’ of the Gatorade. As typical conventions used in Gatorade commercial, faster transitions, and dynamic shots will be used in order to get the attention of the audience. To end the commercial, an empty Gatorade bottle will be placed on the same field at the same spot.

Editing Lesson Blog

As I have stated in my introductory blog, one of my goals for AICE Media Studies is to expand my skills within the field of cinematography. Today has brought just one step closer to reaching my goal. In class we began to go over the editing process. Learning how to edit would not only be critical for the development of our commercials, as mentioned previously, but also how well we do in the class. Recording shots and using various types of camera angles is important as well; however, but what you can not have a good movie without editing. It just

Planning Blog For Gatorade Commercial

During class, we continued our discussion from the night before about the props, costumes schedule, location, and the back-up plan to film our commercial. Figuring out the props, costumes, and location for the commercial were the easiest to discuss. Going into the planning, we all had our ideas for the commercial and what we wanted it to look like. We were trying to decide what route we want to take for the commercial, if we wanted it to be different from the ‘traditional’ Gatorade commercials or put our own twist to it. Inevitably, we all decided to steer from the norm and make the commercial school oriented. Since all of us partake in activities for school like percussion, auxiliary, and even studying for a big test, we thought our commercial can have a larger target audience if we made it revolve around school. Our group went ahead and decided the slogan that we wanted. Even though Gatorade has their own slogan, we wanted to change it up and come up with our own. We decided on “Liquid power, Liquid drive, Liquid intensity, Gatorade”. 

Props

·                     ‘Quints’, drum sticks, and a harness for the percussion scenes

·                     A baton for the auxiliary scenes

·                     Books, writing utensils, and glasses for the studying scenes

·                     Gatorade bottles (different sizes and colors) for almost all scenes

Costumes

·               A black visor, grey band tracksuit, and marching band dinkles for the percussion scenes.

·                     A blue and white leotard that is long sleeve, tan tights, and white gogo boots for the auxiliary scenes.

·                     A crimson sweatshirt and glasses for the studying scenes. 

Schedule

·                     10/7- We researched our product and explained what it takes to make a Gatorade commercial.

·                     10/10- Today, we explained our idea and planned out what the costumes, props, and locations.

·                      10/14- We are going to storyboard, write the script for our commercial, and start to brainstorm creative ideas to how we’re going to film our scenes.

·                     10/21- Our group is going to start filming for our commercial. Go to the locations and figure out how we want to film.\

·                     10/23- Start to edit our scenes, figure out which we are going to keep and have to cut out of the final product. Voice overs and different editing styles.

·                     10/28- Turn in our commercial.

Locations-

·                     For the percussion scenes, we are going to film on the football field.

·                     For the auxiliary scenes, we are going to film on the senior patio. 

·                     For the studying scenes, we are going to film on the senior patio at a picnic table . 

Back-up plan-

·                     In case of rain, the locations that are filmed outside like the football field and the senior patio, we are going to film in front of the large auditorium under the pavilion for the percussion scene and the auxiliary scene. For the studying scene we would have to move it to somewhere under a cover. 

·                     In case of an absence, we would lengthen the time of the scenes to where it can make up for the absence of a group member. 

·                     In case of the locations being used by other filmers, we would move to a location that not many people would think of. Possibly a corner of a building or another field like the softball field.

Codes and Conventions

The product we chose to do a commercial for is Gatorade. We chose Gatorade because we all personally like Gatorade better than Powerade, found it to be more accommodating for the location available for us to film at, and it seemed to be a more fun option to film for. We also chose Gatorade because unlike the other options available to us, we all drink Gatorade rather than Powerade. As members of extracurricular activities such as band, swim team, and auxiliary, we all have our experience with how Gatorade truly works and how it can help us go on to do these activities after a seven hour school day. 

When one hears the word ‘Gatorade’ electrolytes typically come to mind. Gatorade has a variety of commercials revolving around how the electrolytes help replenish your thirst and helps you continue on with your task. Since it is an energy drink, these commercials are usually geared towards athletes, but it can target a broader audience because of the dialogue the commercial uses. Within these commercials, they usually have some fast dialogue happening where they’re talking positively about the drink and how it makes one perform better. This can be geared to athletes, academics, and all those that fall in between. These commercials can also include celebrities like Michael Jordan, Peyton Manning, Serena Williams, and Misty May-Treanor, all of different races, religions, and ethnicities. Having these different celebrities help with targeting the majority of the audience. 

During a Gatorade commercial, they typically use bright colors to try and grab the audience's attention. That’s why you will see a scene of people being outside because outside is associated with exercise and movement. They also use editing styles like ‘action match’, ‘burnouts’, and ‘reaction shots. They do this to carry out the ‘fast pace’ activities related to Gatorade like exercise. Often times there are a lot of voice-overs and dialogue to help move the flow of the commercial as well as bring in another scene.

Introductory

Salutations to whomever may be viewing this body of text. Welcome to my blog. My name is Jeffrey and I am a senior at Fort Lauderdale High School. I am currently enrolled in the AICE Media Studies class during fifth period, which is taught by Mr.Katz and Ms.Marchionne. As required by the course, I have created this blog with the intention of recording my progress within this class throughout the school year. Though I may lack much knowledge on cinematography, I aim to become enlightened on the various aspects of media, grow proficient in the likes of editing, filming, and producing, and ultimately acquire the skills required to excel in this field, all by the end life this year. Though I will not pursue a career in media studies, I am looking forward to this course and what it has in store. By completing this course and passing the AICE exam in May, I will be able to earn more college, making my enrollment in the class even better.

Being a member of the Cambridge Program, I have always been taking AICE classes with the goal of receiving my AICE diploma. After countless essays, last minute assignments and exams, I finally earned it at the end of my junior year. During my 4 years at Fort Lauderdale High School, I have taken a total of 8, going in to 9, AICE classes. These include courses such as AICE Marine Science, AICE Psychology , AICE Sociology, and AICE Euro. Though it was rigorous and often left me ready to give up, the Cambridge program has helped me in several ways: It has provided me with college credits that would not only enable me to advance in college, but also have financial coverage over classes that would have cost me thousands of dollars. It has given me my AICE Diploma, which has made me eligible for the Bright Futures scholarship. It has also taught me various essay strategies and techniques that have improved my writing through the course of my high school career. Most importantly it has made me knowledgeable in a variety of subjects.

With the opportunities, skills, and development I have acquired since birth, I believe that I have the potential to do great things with my life. I must note there are limitations preventing me from being where I need to be academically, financially, and mentally, but once I overcome them I am sure my success will be in arms reach. After I graduate from high school,  I have decided that I want to pursue a career as a pharmacist. I intend on heading north to study my major. I am aware that it will be hard work and may take me 6-8 years to reach my goal, but with determination, perseverance, and faith, it is possible. If I could go 12 years of school with no issue, then a little more should not kill me. I hope. As you continue to read these blog posts, I hope you gain a deeper understanding of my personality and see my progress as a media studies student.