Daily Reflections

April 4, 2016

And so it begins! Jordan and I are thrilled to be embarking on this senior project adventure together and I can confidently say that our first day was a great success. Upon picking up the Phantom 2 Vision Plus drone, the man lending it to us decided to give us a short lesson on how to operate it. Unfortunately, he ran it into a tree himself, thus leaving Jordan and I to believe operating this drone was almost impossible. Luckily, the drone was okay and nothing was broken that some super glue couldn’t fix. We watched countless tutorials on how to fly and operate the drone and its many functions. Then we conducted a successful test flight on the Denny Field. The directions and tutorials made it seem like a daunting task, but it was actually quite easy. It felt great to see the drone up in the air and even better when we landed it safely on the ground. I am defiantly nervous to fly the drone over bodies of water or in forested areas, but I am confident that our drone-flying skills will only continue to get better. Other than conquering the drone, we laid out and established what we really wanted to get done in this project, picking out the format and feel for our video and establishing a plan for this week. We finally got the chance to meet with Mr. Silverman and discuss equipment and now we have a list of materials we need to rent in order to produce a high quality video and pictures. Also, we bought a ton of necessary equipment. I really did not know how many bells and whistles are needed to make a simple high quality video. Unfortunately, after buying SD cards, we found out that my camera model is not compatible with them and we now have to figure out how to get our hands on another camera that does. However, now that most of the logistics are out of the way, Jordan and I look forward to actually getting outside and capturing some nature!

April 5, 2016

After today I feel confident that we will be able to go to our first location and start shooting and editing next time we meet. I am a little concerned about the quality of the videos that we will capture because our camera is a little old and is limited in its quality. On a positive note, we flew the drone confidently for the second time today down by the Chattahoochee River at a higher altitude. Getting prepared for this project has taken a lot of time and there were a lot of little things that Jordan and I had to investigate further and invest in that I didn't realize before we began the project. We had to buy a bunch of SD cards, SD card adapters, super glue, and back up camera battery. We were fortunate enough to be able to borrow the drone and another camera from family friends. I have really come to realize how much equipment and understanding of technology is demanded in this industry. We have already run into a couple of problems but we have handled things pretty smoothly.With this being said, so far we are having a bunch of fun and I am getting better insight onto what it takes to be a filmer/photographer. I am just hoping that the footage we capture at our first location is high quality enough or else we are going to have to find another camera.

April 7, 2016

Today Jordan and I finally got to go shoot at our first official sight, Panola Mountain State Park and wow was it a long (yet productive) day. It was a great experience and after we finished our 6 mile hike, I felt confident we got some great shots. It is crazy that this state park is only about 30 minutes away from my house, yet I had never even been. It was so beautiful and the weather was perfect. Living in a society so consumed by technology and always being bombarded with work of all sorts, I realized it had been such a long time since I had appreciated nature the way I did today. In fact, the last time I was so immersed in nature in a similar way was during JOE! Also, when you are looking for good perspectives and action to capture on camera you actually notice and pick up on a lot of the little things that happen in an ecosystem. I got excited when I saw a bird or even a spider because that meant I had a chance to capture some wildlife. Jordan and I talked to some park rangers about their jobs and experience but unfortunately, we were not allowed to tape them because it was not approved. With that being said, we also learned that we cannot use the drone in many state parks and were asked to put it away. As far as human interaction goes, we also met a few people on the trails and talked to them as well. It was interesting because all three groups of people we met were totally different and from different walks of life. It really made me think about how the environment can bring people together and does not discriminate due to race or societal standings. Sadly, when Jordan and I got to uploading the footage onto my computer, we noticed the video quality was much lower than we expected. This poses us with another issue because now we must look for a way to rent or borrow another camera if we want to get the the HD quality we desire for our video. 

April 8, 2016

Jordan and I set out to find some cost-effective solutions to our video quality issue today. We started of the day spending some time down by the Chattahoochee River shooting some test footage using different techniques to improve the image quality. We tried switching SD cards to different cameras, taping on various settings, and even using a different camera. But all of this was to no avail because when we arrived back at Lovett and uploaded the test footage, the video quality was still below what we wanted. Therefore the struggle continues and Jordan and I will have to search for more solutions this weekend, so that we can shoot next week, hopefully getting higher quality footage. On a positive note, we saw Mr. Silverman for a tutorial on the editing program we are using, Premier Pro. It cleared up a lot of issues we were having with it yesterday and after that we were able to edit our video much more effectively. Today was a long day and the editing got a little frustrating at times because it is very complicated and new to us. With that being said, we are getting the hang out if and I am confident that once we solve the video quality problem, we can produce a great video that portrays how amazing the environment in the south truly is.

April 11, 2016

Due to the fact that Jordan and I were extremely busy with personal affairs and pretty tired from a long weekend, we decided to only work a little today. We met at my house to finalize the editing of our first location and other footage from the river. We also emailed many rental shops about renting a camera and reached out to friends and family to see if they had one we could use. Fortunately, a friend of mine at Westminister has a Nikon DX and said we could use it. After picking up the camera, we went back to the river to test yet another camera. The good news is that when we uploaded the videos to our computer, the quality was as desired!!! Though we only worked a few hours today, we solved a big problem and look forward to filming our next sight in high quality! 

April 12, 2016

Today Jordan and I visited our second official location, the Bellwood Quarry and wow, was it an adventure. By the end of our little excursion Jordan and I were both bleeding and scratched form various thorns and brush. The reason for this is, construction workers said we could not go on the main road to do construction so Jordan and I were given the task of finding another way into the quarry. We pulled up satellite imagery on my phone and found what we thought was a short, safe walk in from the railroad tracks. Turns out our little path was riddled with thorns and poison oak. With all that being said, Jordan and I finally got to a vantage point were we snapped a couple of pictures and got some great video footage before we were asked to leave. Apparently we weren't even allowed to be there! Fortunately, the men were very nice and said it happens all the time but to spread the word that people aren't allowed to go anymore until all construction in the area was over. Even though Jordan and I weren't able to get all the footage we wanted or at the proximity we wanted, we still learned a little bit of what it takes to be in that industry. Sometimes you gotta go through some painful stuff to get the shot, and sometimes it can even get you in trouble. All we know is we won't be going back to the quarry anytime soon!

April 13, 2016

Jordan and I did not get as much footage as we had hoped at the quarry so we wanted to hit another location today. We also didn't have much time because Jordan had to make it to a golf match. For these reasons we chose to do a spontaneous trip to stone mountain. By the time we got there, got our gear together, and found the hiking trail, we only had about 50 minutes to hike to the top of the mountain, shoot, and climb back down. With this being said, we didn't get a lot of footage at this site either and it was a little more commercial than we had thought. We shot with our new camera so at least the little footage we got will be in high quality!

April 14, 2016

In my opinion, today was the longest and most fun/successful day we have had yet. We traveled our longest distance yet, an hour and half, to get to Tallulah Gorge State park. And the views did not fail and weather did not fail us. We hiked to multiple different view points and the park was huge and breathtaking. And while we are on the topic of breath taking, the hike was difficult at some points and physically took our breath away. Overall, we climbed up more than 700 stairs and hiked many miles! It was all worth it though because I think we got some great, quality footage. This location really made me appreciate the opportunity this senior project has given me. If I hadn't of done a senior project I do not think I would have ever seen this amazing sight that was so close by. It is actually funny because after seeing a few pictures of the amazing Tullulah Falls I got texts and calls from people asking me where I was. It surprised many to find out that this park was right by most of their lake houses and a day trip away from their houses in Atlanta. It has been such a long time since I have appreciated nature in the way I did today and I look forward to traveling to some of our other locations. What I do not look forward to is editing the thousands of videos and pictures we took today. 

April 15, 2016

After yesterday, which I considered to be the most fun day we have had yet, today was the worst day we have had yet. We had loads and loads of footage from Talulah Gorge State Park and uploading and editing was a very long and frustrating process. The editing app, which we are not super familiar with, can be difficult at times and because all of the footage takes up so much space, my laptop loads things extremely slow. With all that being said, Jordan and I spent so much time editing the footage we got yesterday but have only gotten half way through! I hope we can catch up on Sunday or next week so that we can comfortably shoot and edit our next location without worrying about the editing of our last one. Today made me realize how difficult editing is going to be and how much time it truly takes after a full day of shooting at a location. Hopefully as time goes on and Jordan and I get more familiar with the editing application, we will be able to edit faster and without as many technical difficulties. 

April 18, 2016

Jordan had an important golf tournament today, so we could not get to work till later. Fortunately, we didn’t need good lighting or too much time because we were just editing our videos from Tallulah Falls. We picked out our song for our second video and started piecing the video together. We did not get the chance to finish but we are confident that the next time we meet we can wrap it up. The second video with footage taken with the higher quality camera in a better location looks so much better than our first. Plus, I am seeing that we are becoming better at editing and shooting. Our shots are better, less shaky, and overall, more entertaining. We leave tomorrow for the remote island, Saint Phillips, in South Carolina. I hope that we can take our best footage yet and produce a video that is even better than our second one. I can visually see the progress Jordan and I have made and I look forward to seeing more. 

April 19, 2016

Today, Jordan and I drove to our furthest location, Saint Phillips Island. I drove half the time and she drove the other half. After driving for about 5 hours we met the properties’ caretaker, Boogie at a local Publix. We went shopping to get the food and drinks we would be living off for our next 3 days on the island, which has no shops or stores. We then drove to a dock close by and loaded up a boat with or gear and ourselves and headed to Saint Phillips. It is so beautiful and such a majestic place. As we drove to the house Boogie explained that the Island is a natural environment and virtually untouched. It posses extremely biodiverse ecosystems such as swamps and estuaries. Because of this multiple species of animals live on the island, including a wide array of snakes! On our drive to the house we already spotted Fox Squirrels and Alligators. Upon getting to the house Jordan and I grabbed a snack and our gear and set out to get some footage before the perfect lighting was gone. Boogie brought us too a historical sight where the ruins of a building built in the 1700’s which was about to be washed away by the rising sea. Global warming and the rising sea levels have been a huge issue for the island and have forced Boogie and his wife to build walls out of driftwood to protect their home. After Jordan and I saw the beach and the swamps we raced home and edited the rest of our video from Tallulah Falls and began to upload our new footage. We are super excited to basically be done with our second video and starting our third in such a special place. 

April 20, 2016

Once again I find myself saying that today was my favorite day of our project thus far. We virtually spent the whole day outside in one of the most amazing, untouched ecosystems I have ever encountered. Besides a few grown-in trails, everything is wild and untouched by Boogie and his family. Jordan and I had another chance to fly the drone, which is always exciting. The drone always provides us with the best ariel views and we are excited to upload the footage and see what it looks like. Driving around the island, we saw three snakes, alligators, Fox Squirrels, Osprey, cranes, jelly fish, and even a shark and sting rays. We identified the snakes at Water Moccasins and King Snakes. The shark and the 2 sting rays were washed up on shore during the low tide and Jordan and I actually saved their lives (but not without taking some pictures first.) It has been super cool to walk on a beach without one other person being on it. I really noticed how much wild life and cool shells their can be on a beach if its not disturb by humans and commercial ventures. Not only did Jordan and I walk on the beach and get footage but we also took the Gator Boogie provided for us and drove through the forest and saw the marshes and swamps. Overall, I am sure that we got a ton of solid footage today, while also experiencing our best location yet. 

April 21, 2016
This is L.E. reporting that too familiar phrase "today was my favorite day of our project thus far."The weather was perfect and the lighting was prime for some more great footage. Unfortunately, the weather in the morning wasn't that nice and when I woke up to capture the sunrise, fog made it impossible to see past the dock.We had the chance to fly the drone in 3 different locations today, the marsh, some trails, and the beach, and I am really excited to see what we captured. We drove all around the island trying to get everything we needed to make video #3 before we had to go home later that day. We even treated ourselves to a little time on the beach before we had to make our departure at 5pm. Jordan and I messed around with the drone, video taping ourselves running around and writing messages on the beach. Staying at this location over night really made us more focused, allowed us to get more footage throughout the day, and enhanced Jordan and my relationship. After a long day, Jordan and I made the long drive back to Atlanta (but not without getting a rock shot into our windshield and shattering it). The worst part about today was that we had to come to terms with the fact that our beautiful trip is over and that we will be back in Atlanta editing our brains out tomorrow.

April 22, 2016
Jordan and I decided to go to Lovett to edit our recent footage in order to see our friends and also stay focused on the task at hand. We switched off editing the videos, blogging, and editing the pictures on photoshop. I can already tell that the third video is going to be the best by far and for that reason we are taking more time to edit and perfect it. I never really like editing days because we aren't outdoors and we just sit behind screens all day trying to cut clips so they match up precisely with beat drops. Even though we worked for a while today, we are just half way done with our third video and still have a lot of final editing to do on the first two videos as well.

April 25, 2016
Unfortunately, today was another editing day and I think that our most recent location marked our last one as well. We have a lot of work to do and need to see Mr. Silverman to figure out how to apply effects to our videos. With that being said, our third video is coming together nicely and I am pretty excited about it. With AP exams coming up, I am pretty overwhelmed with work but it is nice that we are done with all of our locations so that I can be at Lovett in case I need to meet with a teacher or get materials. This blog will probably get pretty boring from here on out seeing that we will be behind our laptops for the rest of it.

April 26, 2016
Ahhh! If I wasn't stressed about this project before, I am now. Today Jordan and I spent even more time finishing our third video. When we finally felt satisfied with it we watched our first two and were extremely disappointed with our previous edits. Though it is awesome to see how much we have progressed with our cinematography and editing skills, it really sucked to see how bad our first videos really were. We spent a good deal of time redoing those videos but ultimately they still lack quality due to the absence of nice equipment and quality locations. We also began creating our presentation and realized how much time that would take. After spending multiple hours crafting one on keynote, we still are not even half way done with it and it is difficult to determine what information we want to share. Lastly, we remembered the paper we have to write and that just added to our stress level. I have to admit, this week is surely my least favorite and I miss being outdoors filming.


April 27, 2016
Unfortunately Jordan wasn't feeling well today so for the first time ever, we worked separately. Jordan worked on her presentation slides at home while I did the same thing at school. Jordan and I also split up the pictures for editing and both used Photoshop to edit the pictures. We realized that we do not want our pictures to be the focus of our project or even equally as important as our videos, but we still want to show them in our presentation. I am definitely starting to get nervous to present in front of the board just because that date is becoming a reality. Not seeing Jordan today, I realized how lucky I was to have a partner through all of this because I got really lonely and wanted a second opinion, which I no longer had.

April 28, 2016
The dream team is back together and feelings are getting sentimental as we reach the end of this one month journey. We continued working on our presentation today and began exporting the videos we were done with. Its crazy that we are almost done and I am honestly pretty sad. Jordan and I don't always hang out in the same social group so I never really get to see her. This past month we have had so much fun together and learned a bunch and I am going to miss all that!

April 29, 2016
And finally the day has come where we must finalize our project and it honestly came so quickly. Jordan and I caught up with Mr. Silverman and showed him our final video. And the great news is, he really seemed to like it. It is a very redeeming feeling to know someone who knows cinematography and editing really well thought our video was pretty high-quality. He gave us advice on a couple things we could do to make the video even better and after we acted on this advice, we finally exported the final video and could officially say we were done.