Posted on August 3, 2010
The Summer of Trumpets
This summer flew by fast. But isn’t that how it always works? For The Nintendo Boy Project, however, the summer crawled. What was hoping to be a summer of my first short film, ended up being the summer of trumpets. That’s not really a bad thing since I am proud of “Trumpet Lessons,” but wow what an adventure I had in order to finally release that video out to the public. May 28th was the day it was filmed, I took about a week to edit and put it all together nicely, and then… *EXPLOSION* I run away in fear that my motherboard has fried on my HP laptop, which sadly is exactly what happened. The entire month of June consisted of me practically living in the computer lab of the suites during summer semester, which wouldn’t have been so bad if the computers had something other than Internet Explorer (an old verison of it, I might add). I could live it with that, but what I couldn’t live with was knowing that I was so close to releasing a fantastic new video and then have my computer turn off for the last time the night before I planned to release it. I basically had to sit on this video, hoping I could soon extract the video files by taking out the hard drive and hope that I would soon get another computer. Despite Summer 2010 not seeing a single new video, it all worked out in the end when I found out I would be getting a MacBook Pro! From then on I was able to re-create “Trumpet Lessons” with Final Cut Express and FINALLY get it out within a matter of days of getting the computer! From that moment on, I’ve received nothing but great feedback for this video featuring Parker Buntin & Dale Rivera, and now that I have the incredible technology to make videos better and easier (see previous blog entry), I’ve been working on 3 new videos, ALL AT ONCE! You know, since I can do that now (again, see the previous blog entry)!
So. It might have taken 2 months to get out, but I hope that “Trumpet Lessons” was well-worth the wait. But, only you can be the judge of that, so if you haven’t seen it yet, make it the next video you watch!
Click here to watch it on YouTube! | Click here to watch the Outtakes exclusively on Facebook!
P.S. Sorry for not being able to post this entry about the video until now, but with my final exams for summer semester (passed all my classes with A’s… WOOHOO!) as well as working to produce more videos, I haven’t had the time to sit down and write this. But as I always say, better late than never, right? (;
Posted on July 14, 2010
Trumpet Lessons
Sadly, we can not offer refunds if you are unsatisfied with your lesson.
Starring:
Jeffrey Vega
Parker Buntin
Dale Rivera
Cinematography:
Andrew Shain
Sinclair Buntin
Outtakes: https://www.facebook.com/juniorvarsityteam/videos/450345340465/
Posted on July 13, 2010
The Most Amazing Thing Ever
As I sit at a booth in my dining hall finishing my breakfast, I have much on my mind that I want you to know. I don’t know if I’ll get everything down I want to say without having this blog post not too long, but I’ll give it my best shot… here we go! Today, right now… summer 2010, is a great time to be a fan of The Nintendo Boy Project! The most amazing thing that could ever happen to us, happened: we upgraded. The news I have to tell you is so exciting, that I’m constantly dancing like Conan O’Brien on a day-to-day basis… it’s the best! (; If you’re on a time crunch and can’t read this rather lengthy entry, I suggest at least skipping to end where everything is capitalized… that will give you the gist! So, what did we upgrade, specifically? Well, I’m actually not gonna tell you, because it will ruin the MAGIC! Hah, just kidding, I’ll tell you. Or, actually, I’ve already told you. But I’ll say it again for this entry… MY BRAND NEW MACBOOK PRO! I’m typing on it right now, actually, and it’s a dream come true. Guys, Apple computers are really as awesome as we all think they are. The interface, the features, everything. I could go on with a lengthy scroll on what I like about my Pro, but maybe another time! Although I must mention the incredible power it carries, the HD graphics, the beauty, the operating system, the outstanding battery life (8-9 hours… unbelievable, I know), and just… ahhh, I am so lucky to have this, and I owe a huge HUGE THANK YOU to my parents who got this for my birthday. A bunch of people asked me about the specifications of my MacBook Pro (okay, just two… thanks Adam & Brett! teehee), and I promise I shall in an upcoming entry, I just don’t want to get too distracted as I write this post. But anyway, let’s talk about my new MacBook Pro… after all, it is the title of this blog post! (;
Don’t mistake me for bragging, that’s not what I want to get across here, believe me. If I just happen to emphasis how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE my new laptop and what it is capable of, it’s because I want you to truly understand what it means to me and how it’s upgraded our project here. Sip on some orange juice (or another drink of your choice), kick back, and relax as I serenade you with even more words about how excited I am.
Let me start off with something in our FAQ, that I will end up having to update soon. It’s about our editing process, pasted below. The question was: What editing software do you use? Your editing is fantastic!
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My answer was this: Why thank you, imaginary person! I edit using the Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 9.0, although it’s not as great as it sounds. Okay wait, I take that back. It’s not great… for my computer. You see, the software is specifically for AVCHD files, which is the format, which is the format my camera shoots in, which is great and all, but my little laptop isn’t powerful enough to playback the AVCHD clips in real time, so I can’t watch it which basically means it’s impossible to edit.
Pretty crazy huh? I then followed up the topic with one another question: Wait… so if it’s impossible to edit, how do you do it?
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My answer was this: Good question, sir/ma’am. As I stated in the question above, with the simple laptop I have as of now, it is impossible to playback the AVCHD files to edit. So what I have to do is watch the beautiful HD clips playback on the actual camera, write down the times where I need to trim and clean up, and manually do it on the software without being to watch my edits in real time. Once I’m satisfied with the editing project I basically just completed blind, I then render the movie (which takes hours) and cross my fingers hoping that I got everything right so that I don’t have to go back to square one… so in reality, it’s not impossible, but it’s certainly a tedious process.
Now that you understand how pretty much every video from “Hiatus” (June 5th, 2009) up until now has been to produce… wow… talk about giving me a pat on the back, huh? … and not to continue polishing my own trophy, but I certainly think I did pretty well with the editing considering it was BLIND EDITING (I just now made up that phrase for my situation). But alas, I’m here to tell you that that era, is over. That’s right, I think you’ve figured it out by now. Let me confirm your speculation with some numbers… everyone loves stats, right?
On my brand new Macbook Pro with Final Cut Express HD pre-installed, I was able to create a week’s worth of editing in just 20 minutes. 20 MINUTES. In my book, 20 minutes > 1 week, any day. But I must mention that learning FCE was pretty rough to start out with, but it helped that I’m not new when it comes to editing & editing interfaces, as well as watching all the tutorials on the Apple site as well as some on YouTube. Alright, so the next paragraph (and hopefully last, I realize this is becoming lengthy) must utilize caps to show my excitement…
OH MY GOSH. WHEN I CONNECTED MY CAMERA TO THE PRO AND WAS ABLE TO SELECT, IMPORT, AND PLAYBACK MY AVCHD CLIPS IN BEAUTIFUL HD REAL TIME IN THE FINAL CUT EXPRESS EDITOR, I SCREAMED AND CRIED OF JOY. I LITERALLY CRIED OF HAPPINESS. I AM SO EXCITED, BECAUSE NOW MAKING VIDEOS WILL BE SO MUCH EASIER AND THEREFORE, EVEN MORE FUN TO DO. THIS IS A DREAM COME TRUE, NOW THAT I HAVE A POWERFUL MACHINE TO PRODUCE VIDEOS AND COMPLEMENT THE AMAZING HIGH DEFINITION CAMERA I HAVE! THIS IS LITERALLY IS THE BEST THING TO HAPPEN TO THE NINTENDO BOY PROJECT EVER. AHHHHHH. YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW HAPPY AND EXCITED I AM. WELL, ACTUALLY, YOU PROBABLY DO, SINCE YOU’VE IMAGINED ME SCREAMING THIS WHOLE THING. WHICH I AM, IN MY HEAD. WOOHOO, I’M SO HAPPY!!! :]]]]]]]]]]]
Before you go, let me just say that the all-caps paragraph you just read… it doesn’t even scratch the surface of what I’m feeling right now. The Nintendo Boy Project and I… we’re on cloud nine. (:
P.S. Stay tuned for the long-delayed video “Trumpet Lessons,” tomorrow, Wednesday, July 14th! A blog post will be posted with the respective bloopers at the end of the month. Hope you enjoy it!!