My directing, filming and editing skills are put to the test by presenting the fruits of my labors: I call it “The Drifter” commercial. I thought it would be cool to give a pair of shoes a name, and the inspiration may or may not have come from watching a couple of Nike ads on YouTube.

Speaking of YouTube, I’ve uploaded my commercial on my VT YouTube channel and your feedback is very much appreciated! I am a bit disappointed that it didn’t upload in full HD after two attempts, but the quality isn’t really that bad.

I’ve also created the official homepage of the entire project which you can access by clicking here.

What I Did:

Lots of filming done over break! The weather was windy but we worked with it and some of the shots really turned out great. Production was a success.

- Bought a new pair of shoes for the cast member on Black Friday

- Filming at Royal Lake Park and Old Town Fairfax City in Fairfax, VA

Why I Did It:

I had a lot of work to do for my other classes so Thanksgiving break seemed like the idea time to focus on this project. And if you’re wondering why I bought a new pair of shoes for the cast member/shoe model, there was a Buy One Get the Second Free deal happening on Black Friday (it was technically free!). This worked out perfectly considering the shoe store where it was bought from was a small company that doesn’t carry any major shoe brands (that’s one way to avoid copyright issues, right?).

Also there was a six to ten foot anaconda warning at the park we filmed in, so this was the risk that was involved for the project! Haha!

Sources: I plan on creating a page on my website for my video commercial that includes all the credits. I also plan to upload it on YouTube.

What I Did:

- I’m editing the mp3 file of the song on the video editor. At this point, I’m just adding in some transitions to make it sound smoother.

- I finished writing some of the saved blog posts I had in my drafts section to catch up with updating my professor on what I’ve been working on since last time I had a different story pitched which was Oh! The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss (see my previous blog post detailing some of my initial concerns).

Why I Did It:

The short story is actually really cute (even though it doesn’t compare with a Dr. Seuss classic) and this is the first time I feel excited about a project for a class. I’ve never made an original video (even the song is original!) for a class before and I’ve always wanted to even though I didn’t know where to start initially. I had a lot of self-doubt earlier while working on this project because I just couldn’t grasp what I wanted until I made the decision to change my story after a lot of hard thinking. I’m happy with the decision I made and I want to make sure I mention that in my reflection memo. It has honestly been one of the most stressful semesters I’ve ever experienced. Sometimes I believe that college has sucked out a lot of my creativity that I had when I was a freshmen, but it’s moments like these that make me want to challenge myself. I think that’s the big “takeaway” from this project overall.

What I Did:

- I pitched my video concept idea to two of my peers in class since I didn’t start shooting until Thanksgiving break

- Came up with the tagline: “Shoes with character.”

Why I Did It:

It was nice seeing what other people were working on and at what stage of the work process they were in. I didn’t have footage yet on this day but I still went ahead and explained what concept I was striving towards for this video commercial. My peers positive feedback was very reaffirming and made me even more excited for this project.

Tentative Timeline (according to my recent schedule)

* Storyboard finished by 11/08

* Send storyboard to music composer to begin drafting compositions 11/20

* Clear out footage on 16 GB SD card and do practice shots on Canon SLR camera

* Filming starts 11/29

* Filming ends 12/02

* Meet with music composer to finalize the composition choice and record the mp3 file live by 12/03

* Editing starts 12/03

* Editing ends 12/04 (final touch ups & uploading)

What I Did:

- Created a Rough Storyboard via Shotbox

* Note: In all honesty, you could create a more elaborate storyboard by using the drawing tools in Adobe Illustrator or even Photoshop and upload those images on this storyboard. Though, if you’re in a time crunch like me and want to do a quicker storyboard without all that hassle, just find some pictures that have the general idea of what you’re looking to shoot on camera via Google Images and upload them to your storyboard. I found this method very efficient and it also gave me some inspiration for camera angles to use.

Why I Did It:

This concept is a stretch (and might be too cliche), but I was thinking of starting out in a shoe store with someone casually trying on a pair of shoes (at this point it looks like I’m leaning over towards boots) that takes the viewers on a stroll through various locations to demonstrate a sense of history behind the shoes. The video ends back at the shoe store with the person taking the pair of shoes off his or her feet and setting them aside. I might have to revise the story a little bit more, but I do want to make sure I incorporate a series of shots of the shoes walking along streets or parks.

What I Did:

- Contacted my cast

- Looked at royalty free music to use (not a definite option)

- Brain storm commercial concepts

Why I Did It:

I’m considering making a commercial video for the fictitious shoe store in the short story “Walk a Mile” by Bob Stein. I really enjoyed the lightheartedness, adventure, and mystery throughout the piece and I want to find a song that not only conveys that sort of emotion, but I want it to compliment the concept of the commercial.

Additionally, I’ve been brain storming concepts for my commercial and after watching some shoe commercials on YouTube (for 2014), I decided to make the entire video from the perspective of one person. A lot of shoe commercials have more people modeling around the shoes, but considering it’s more convenient for me to have one cast member, the latter would be the better option, especially since this isn’t a popular brand name store. Plus, following around one person is more personalized and demonstrates a sense of individuality, which I believe the shoe store in Bob Stein’s story could seriously bank on. Individuality is very prominent in today’s fashion industry and thrift stores are popular as a result.

Story: Walk a Mile by Bob Stein

Story Relevance: Walk a Mile is a shoe thrift store that encourages its customers to walk a mile in their shoes, and if not satisfied, they can return them for a full refund. Walk any more than a mile and the shoes are yours. What’s interesting is that the shoes they sell have some sort of “magical” element to them since trying on a pair means they will actually step into another person’s life (the original owner of the shoes).

Citations:

Original story

Definition of Idiom

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Desired Concept for Video Commercial