Introductory

     Hi, my name is Katie and I'm a senior at Fort Lauderdale high school. This platform will be my space to provide updates and developments in my AICE Media studies class projects. I am excited to take this class as I'm very interested in costuming and overall Mis en Scene in television, and editorial ad campaigns. I think this class will help me develop skills for the future because I want to work in costume design; hopefully for a Broadway show. It has only been about 3 weeks and I have come to notice all the vocabulary words taught in class when I watch television and movies in my spare time. The whole idea of coming from an idea to the big screen still overwhelms to think about. After this class, I think I will truly appreciate how movies/television are made and the time and effort it takes after completing some of my own tiny film productions. They will not be nearly as good but, the experience will teach me a lot.
     I have some prior experiences to pull from creatively for my production work. To start, I do appreciate a well-edited video as I watch many travel montages on YouTube. I have even made a couple myself when I visited New York City last Summer and later a cruise to the Caribbean this past Summer. There is a clear difference between both the videos in production quality. My first major mistake with my NYC video was that I filmed horizontally and vertically so the footage was both properly formatted and cut with slim views with black borders. Overall, it did not look it's best but, it was an attempt at that. My next video the following year was much better. I filmed all the footage horizontally and even learned to cut in sound effects and better transitions. My only major complaint was that many of my transitions and pans from shot to shot were repetitive and did not flow. I think I can take my experience from my past films and the better equipment provided by the school to produce a much better quality video.
     Additionally, I am a majorette in my school's marching band which I feel can help me take a concept and illustrate it in real-life production-wise. Last year, I choreographed a "Wedding" themed routine and performed it with my team. The costumes, music, and choreography all needed to match up which I realize now is "Mis en Scene". I think that is very important because, if something sticks out in a scene then the viewer instantly pays no attention to the message or plot of the scene and just pays attention to the "wrong" prop for example. I learned about this when I was younger because my father is very bothered by this especially for period pieces. For example, my father and I were watching Stranger Things and he was bothered that the main characters were carrying in groceries with a plastic grocery bag. He said they were not introduced until later and that paper would've been used. This "ruined" the scene for him because he couldn't think about focusing on the plot that was developing amongst the scene. Overall, I am very excited about the projects to come and the lessons to learn. Let's get to filming!!