April 24, 2015

On our last day we finished up Savage Pizza video and checked all the rest of the videos. We watched each video all the way through a couple of times and made minor adjustments/fixed glitches. After we did this we started exporting the videos to the desktop. It took iMovie about 45 minutes to export each movie because they have so much content and the high quality takes longer. Also the computer would freeze every now and then while it was trying to process the videos. Basically we spent the last day finalizing everything and watching the "pinwheel" spin on our computer for hours. We planned on uploading them today to Youtube but we both had busy afternoons and busy weekends so we couldn't get to that. We plan on uploading them Sunday or Monday time permitting.

April 23, 2015

Carson and I started and finished most of our final video featuring Savage Pizza. We put all the clips in place first. Then we made the intro look artistic with good music and titles. We then cut up the clips to shorten interviews and what not. After all the footage was arraigned properly we cut up the sound and put it in place. Then we cut up the voice over and put it in sections of the video. All we have left to do is some touch ups around the video which include fixing sound breaks, and sometimes the audio doesn't match up with the lips of the person speaking, adjusting minor volume settings and some other minor cosmetics. Tomorrow we plan on finishing the final video and posting them to Youtube and Vimeo. We will also post the links to our blog and instagram page to hopefully get people watching and promoting local business!

April 22, 2015

Carson and I finished our 4th video today. The video features Mary Mac's Tea Room. Yesterday we formatted the video, got the clips in order and started adding sound over footage. Today we spent the morning changing audio levels throughout the film. This is tricky because typically we have 3 or 4levels of audio. Audio from the film, audio from the music, sound from a different clip and voice overs. Getting all these at the perfect level is tricky and can be very time consuming because we have to cut the clip and sound clips all at certain points where we want certain sounds to be prominent. We also took all the voice overs we recorded yesterday and added them into the other videos. When we made the previous videos we left space for these voice overs so it wasn't extremely difficult but we still had cut some things up to make the lengths fit. We have one video left which we have two days plus the weekend to complete. We plan on posting the videos on Youtube and Vimeo. Youtube is more convenient and Vimeo is higher quality so we will use both.

April 21, 2015

Carson and I started our 4th video featuring Mary Mac's Tea Room. We started with the intro. We used video footage of the exterior, added a title and music. Then we put the rest of the clips we decided to use in proper format. After all the clips were in place we deleted some of the audio from certain clips and added in audio from different clips. After we got all the basics of the video down, we went to Lovett to record voice overs for all five videos. There are certain points in each video where we have good footage but we need something to talk about during. We wrote some quick facts about each place, recorded them and added them into the videos. We also learned this week that Miss Ann from Ann's Snack Bar passed away Saturday at 72 years old. While we were filming we were unable to speak with her because she was in the hospital but we heard all about how friendly and well mannered she was. Because of this we recorded a dedication to her and added it to the end of our Ann's Snack Bar video. I wish she could have seen the finished product but I know her family and employees will be happy to have a copy.

April 20, 2015

Today we finished editing the video for Jeni's Ice Cream. It is getting really redundant to write about but basically we just moved more clips around, changed the audio levels, cut sound from clips, attached new footage to different sounds. We also needed some more footage from around the outside of Jeni's so we looked back through old folders and found some files we never transferred to Carson's laptop. One of the amateur mistakes we have made has been not getting more than one shots of something. Because our video recorded to an SD card we couldn't watch it until we got home to a computer so a lot of the times we would just take one shot at a certain angle thinking it was good but when we get back to the computer we would realize it was shaky or the lighting was bad. To eliminate this mistake in the future it is always helpful to get multiple takes and then choose the best one when you get back to the computer. We now have four more days to complete two more videos. We have been going at a steady pace of one video every two days which has been about enough time. We might have to work some into the weekend but that shouldn't be a huge problem.

April 17, 2015

Carson and I started to work on our third video for Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream. We did our basic editing first which was just formatting and getting clips in the right places. Also we detached sound and made the video more artistic with interview sound over different footage. Music is also tricky; getting the perfect level of audio at all different points in the video takes a while. Making sure the music is soothing and doesn't take anything away from whats being said or done in the clip is difficult. We finished all the basics on the third video and will meet back Monday for more of the cosmetic work. We're trying to make these videos look as professional as possible but we're amateurs so it is certainly a learning experience. Everyday we get better at the process and it continues to move more smoothly as we learn more functions and controls.

April 16, 2015

Carson and I finished our second video today. We worked mainly on the audio. Matching sounds from one clip with footage from another. Also putting music in different places. We went back to little 5 points to get new footage of the area because we lost the old footage. Tomorrow we have to turn the camera in so it was good that we got that done. We are starting to get the hang of editing. Once you figure out the controls it's not so bad. It is still a tedious process but it is nice to see our films come together. We are going to wait and do voice overs on monday so the first two videos will be officially done then. We also still have to finish the intro and come up with a production name. If we have time we are also going to make a graphic design of our logo but if we don't then we will just use a font from iMovie. Basically we are still just editing which is pretty boring to write about.

April 15, 2015

Carson and I started editing our second webisode based on Grand Champion BBQ in Krog Street Market. We are technically done with the first we just need to add a 15 second voice over that we will record when Mr. Silverman's very busy schedule allows this Friday. We have the second video formatted how we want it but we now have to put audio in the right places and do some cosmetic work to the intro especially. We also found out yesterday that we lost some footage from Little Five Points so we will have to go back and reshoot that sometime tomorrow before we have to turn the camera back in. Editing is going fairly smoothly it is just very tedious and often frustrating. Hopefully we can finish the second video today and stay on schedule.

April 14, 2015

Carson and I spent the day finishing our editing for Ann's Snack Bar. One of our clips was 10 minutes long and the computer we are using was unable to process it so we went to school to use one of Mr. Silverman's desktops. We processed and edited the clip on his computer then put the shorter clip back onto the hard drive and back onto our computer. We also set up a time to come record voice overs tomorrow in one of Lovett's voice cover rooms. We have to do this at Lovett because we have a microphone but nothing to record the sound onto. When we were using the camera, the sound would record along side the video onto the camera but now that we don't need video footage we will need to borrow one of Mr. Silverman's digital recorders. This will allow us to download sound onto an SD card through the recorder and then onto our hard drive. Besides the 10 minute video not processing we almost finished the first episode with no other complications. We still are adding in some cosmetics to the intro and what not but we hope to get voice overs recorded tomorrow and then start on the next episode.

April 13, 2015

Carson and I worked on the editing portion of our first video today. We took all the footage from Anne's Snack Bar and sorted that into the usable and unusable clips. We started trimming down clips as well to delete the unnecessary portions. One of the biggest issues we're facing is the size of all the files. If we download every video we have into iMovie it will drastically slow down the computer and application so we have to work off an external hard drive. It was a pretty slow and frustrating first day of editing but that is a part of this learning challenge. The process is very tedious and requires patience and focus. Carson and I will get more experienced with editing every day just like we did with filming so I believe things will start to look up.

April 10, 2015

Carson and I went to Savage Pizza in little 5 points for a film shoot, taste test and interview. We met with the manager and learned more about how they put honesty behind their work to uphold the Savage name. All their ingredients are fresh and he said they don't cook or sell anything they personally would not want to eat. The restaurant itself is a work of art. The place is loaded with comic books and action figures. The manager told us that most of the decorations are from one of the owner's personal collection. It was a lot of fun filming and eating at Savage Pizza because the employees were cool and it is in such a fun and different location. Filming in general was a great experience, we chose some very tasty places with awesome employees. I learned a lot about what it takes to produce documentary type films. It takes a lot of patience and curiosity. You have to be willing to dig deep to film something people ultimately are going to end up wanting to watch and that takes patience. I'm sad we're done filming for the most part but looking forward to the editing challenge ahead.  

April 9, 2015

Today Carson and I hit the first real bump in the road. We had an interview and film shoot set up for Little Bangkok, a famous Thai restaurant on Cheshire Bridge Road but were unable to film because of a miscommunication. I believe the manager was under the impression that we would be interviewing for an article on the restaurant and not a short film. The owner did not feel comfortable with us filming while they were working so we had to respect his wishes and find somewhere else to go. Because we did not want to waste the rest of the day we spent about an hour at Little Bangkok researching on our phones other places we could go. We decided a dessert place would be best because it was such short notice. We called a few donut shops first however they just referred us to their websites. Finally we got in touch with the staff at Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream on Howell Mill Road and they were nice enough to let us film on short notice. We then did some research on the Ice Cream shop so we knew a little bit about them before walking in and we found out that they have a few restaurants nationally and they're famous for their exotic flavors and blends that are unusual to the ice cream world. We arrived and the entire staff was incredibly welcoming and nice. They also were all very eager to help us on our project and had great knowledge of the store they worked in. The shoot went very smoothly and the ice cream was delicious! Carson and I were so happy and fortunate to have made the most out of the first real bump we hit.

April 8, 2015

Today in preparation for our shoot on Friday, Carson and I went to Savage Pizza in Little 5 Points to do exterior filming. We shot the outside of the restaurant and the area surrounding. We also spoke with the manager and a few of the employees to set up a film shoot for Friday at 11:00 A.M. Savage Pizza was started in 1990 and named after the Savage Messiah. The Savage Messiah was a poet who's work was well beyond his time and filled with honesty and inspiration. Savage Pizza strives to incorporate honesty and inspiration into all their ingredients and entrees. Besides having incredible pizza, the restaurant is a work of art itself. The interior and exterior are filled with artwork and comics and super heroes. Besides filming at Savage Pizza, we compiled questions for our interview at Little Bangkok tomorrow. Little Bangkok is an authentic Thai and Chinese restaurant located on Cheshire Bridge Road. We also spent some time separating all the clips we have so far to make our lives a little bit easier when we begin to edit. The hardest part will be taking the 45 minutes of footage we have for each restaurant and cutting that 45 minutes into 3-5 minutes. It will be a tedious process but we're excited for the challenge.

April 7, 2015

Today Carson and I went to film at Mary Mac's Tea Room on Ponce de Leon Avenue. Mary Mac's was started by Mary Mackenzie in 1945 right after World War II. We learned that it was very common at this time for women widowed by the war to open restaurants to earn a living. The "Tea Room" was often added to elevate the social status of the venue. We interviewed two employees both who have worked at Mary Mac's for over 20 years. They both agreed that the customers are what makes their job so special. They have a reputation for establishing strong customer relationships and know most of their regulars by name. We spent a lot of time filming the inside and outside of the restaurant because the interior is so large and the exterior sits right on a busy road so getting good sound was tricky. For the meal it was recommended by the manager that I have the fried chicken with sweet potato soufflé, mac & cheese and the banana pudding for dessert. The fried chicken was crispy and juicy. The sweet potato was incredibly sweet and complimented the chicken. The macaroni and cheese was made fresh right before I ate it and was hot and cheesy. The banana pudding was unbelievable and an excellent way to conclude the meal. Overall we had a great experience and Mary Mac's Tea Room and got some great footage that we're excited to put together.  

April 2, 2015

Carson and I went to Grand Champion BBQ in Krog Street Market to film and eat their beef brisket sandwich. The chef, Anthony Galleta, was very enthusiastic and eager to help us. He showed us how the smoker works and how he seasons the meat. He also gave us the inside details on what makes real BBQ so delicious. He then made me a beef brisket sandwich with the sauce on the side which was a very important detail. The sandwich was incredible and I rated it 5 out of 5 for taste. The restaurant is located along the belt line in the heart of Inman park so it has a ton of activity surrounding it. Grand Champion is a locally owned and started business with plans to expand locations throughout Atlanta. Overall the trip went very smoothly and it was another great experience meeting more great people.

April 1, 2015

Today Carson and I filmed at Anne's Snack Bar on Memorial Drive. We spent our time there getting shots of the restaurant and area surrounding. We also had an interview with the owner's brother who was very kind to let us do all our filming. From their menu I ate their world famous "Ghetto Burger" which was a massive cheese burger with lettuce, tomato, mayo, mustard, ketchup, secret sauce, bacon and chili. The Ghetto Burger was without a doubt the best cheese burger I have ever tasted and the employees were so friendly and happy to help us with our project. Our experience at Anne's Snack Bar was a very smooth and excellent overall first shoot.