Powerpoint portion of my VisComm Project 1

2. My Project
 For this project, I decided to make a music video for
the song “One Day” by Matisyahu Ft. Akon.
 We were required to make something that was
considered a way of „visually communicating‟ with
another, and I recalled that music videos are an
example of a „condensed code‟, combining several
signs together to form a new, composite meaning.

3. Why a Music Video?
 I used to act in my brother‟s independent film
projects when we were in high school, so I thought
that this would be a chance for me to try out the
filming process.
 I‟m a writer and have written scripts for projects, but
never have I ever tried something like this.
 This was a way for me to broaden my horizons and
learn something new.

4. Why This Song?
 I thought that this was an inspirational song the first
time I heard it, especially when there is so much
violence and hate in the world today. It sends a good
message about bringing people together.

5. The Starting Point
 After getting my pitch sheet accepted, I was faced
with the question of how I was actually going to
achieve making this music video.
 I had no video camera, I knew nothing about
editing, and had never done anything like this before
in my life.
 The closest thing I had experience with was using
Windows Movie Maker to produce electronic
newsletters in high school.

6. The Starting Point
 I did, however, have a camera that recorded
segments of video, which was what I used when I
went to concerts, and I had gotten decent footage
from it in the past.
 So I would have to use my Kodak EasyShare C180
to shoot this project.

7. Building A Storyboard
 I knew that I wanted a video that showed the simple
things in life, where everyday people are enjoying
life.
 Today it seems that happiness is defined as having
a two-story house on the beach with a sports car in
the driveway, and not everyone has that.
 Happiness is about friends, family, love, and the
simple things in life that make you smile. That‟s what
I wanted the concept to be for this video.

8. Strengths & Weaknesses
 I‟m a photographer so I know how to point a camera
and shoot, so I figured that filming wouldn't be any
different. I had that covered, but what was I going to
do about editing this thing when it was all done?
 There is this guy that I knew back in high school who
was pretty good at editing videos, and that was what
he was planning on doing with his life when he
finished school – becoming a video editor.

9. Strengths & Weaknesses
 I gave the guy I knew a call and asked him if he
would be able to help me with the editing process at
the end of the filming, and I would of course give him
credit as doing so.
 He said he wouldn't mind and even offered to let me
use his HD video camera to do the recordings since
he knew I didn‟t have a camera of my own.
 I appreciated it and figured I was all set to make this
an awesome project… how wrong I was.

10. Filmed on Location
 I wanted to do all of the filming back home in
Brevard County, since that is where I‟m from, and I
know where I can get footage. I also know people
there who I can film and wouldn‟t have a problem
with it.
 I would be filming in my hometown of Indialantic, as
well as in Melbourne and Cocoa Beach.
 In Orlando, I would get footage of UCF and my
friends here.

11. Good To Go
 I was all set to start filming for the video. Downtown
Melbourne has a monthly street fest where they
close off the road and vendors set up booths.
People in the area come out to eat and drink, and
there is music and entertainment for the entire
family.
 My friend agreed to meet up with me and bring his
camera for me to film the „night life‟, so I was
happy, thinking that this would be a smooth process.
 How wrong I was…

12. First Night of Filming
 When I showed up at the street party and met up
with my friend, I was excited and ready to start
filming; however, he didn‟t look as thrilled as me.
 When he pulled out his camera for us to start
filming, he only then realized that he had 2% battery
power, meaning his camera was practically dead.
 I had thought he was only joking, always been a
comical kind of guy, but when he showed me, I felt
all the colour drain from my face, seeing he was
right.

13. First Night of Filming
 I didn‟t panic, seeing that he had his charger with
him, so I just found an outlet near one of the street
lights and plugged it in to charge.
 We waited around about a half an hour before there
was enough battery life, getting to work on filming.
 He didn‟t want me touching his camera, so I directed
him, finding the shots that I wanted and telling him
exactly how I wanted it captured.

14. Friday Fest
 All throughout the night, I saw that there were things
that were filmable, but I wondered whether or not
they would actually be interesting enough to put into
the video.
 There is always a drum circle at Friday Fest where
people come out with traditional hand drums and
belly dancers join them to dance.
 I knew that would be interesting, so we headed over
there to film.

15. Friday Fest
 The dancers weren‟t exactly the best I had ever
seen, and I knew that I had to make sure that I got at
least something useable from the three hours or so
we were out there.
 I belly dance, so I made sure that I went out and
joined them, despite being in jeans, and made sure
that my friend got a shot of me dancing, which I
would use for the film.

16. Disaster Strikes
 After converting the footage into .wmv files, my friend
brought the clips for me to see the next day what he had
filmed for me.
 Upon looking at the clips, I saw that he had done a
terrible job at filming and that of the 16+ shots we had
gotten, I didn‟t think that any were usable except for the
shot of me belly dancing.
 They were unfocused, not angled well, and all around
was sloppy work for a guy who is getting a minor in film.

17. You Want Something
Done Right?
 I thanked my friend for his work, telling him that I
would call him in a few weeks about the editing, but
knew that there was no way that would ever happen.
 After seeing how badly he had filmed I knew that I
couldn‟t trust him to edit my footage, nor did I want
his help with anymore filming.
 I would do it all myself without anyone‟s help. I
guess the saying is right: when you want something
done right, you‟ve gotta do it yourself.

18. Getting It Done
 I filmed various locations for this project, all which I
believed captured what everyday life was: people
working, kids playing, dancing, and laughing.
 I ran around Brevard County filming anything
interesting that I could find with my Kodak
camera, and was able to use my photography
background to help me get certain shots at different
angles to see how it affected the image.

19. Putting It Together
 I knew that I wanted the video to contain clips during
the chorus showing people singing „one day‟, which I
hoped to represent how, even though it may not be
entirely possible, people do hope for a better world
without all the violence that we face.
 As for the rest of the video, I soon saw that the idea I
initially had wasn‟t going to come through since the
footage I had actually gotten differed from what I had
imagined getting.

20. Putting It Together
 I ended up having to change my storyboard around
to fit the images that I actually did acquire, but
ended up liking what I came up with.
 It wasn‟t exactly how I envisioned it to begin
with, but I knew that would have to do since it was
out of my control at that point. I needed to start
editing this video.

21. Editing
 As mentioned before, I had no prior experience
concerning editing, because when I first put this
project together, I was under the impression I would
be aided by my friend.
 So I opened up Windows Movie Maker and decided
to use that, knowing a few tricks to use on that. I
could put together a decent video from it that didn‟t
look absolutely terrible.

22. Editing
 Movie Maker ended up not working because I would
have had to convert all the files and I didn‟t have
time for that, so I would end up just having to use
the iMovie feature on my laptop instead.
 After hours of playing around on that and trying to
figure it out, I felt comfortable enough with the
program and decided to start putting my video
together.

23. iMovie
 It wasn‟t the worst thing possible, but there were
some points where I was frustrated beyond
belief, ready to punch a hole in the wall.
 Editing this video was much harder than I ever
expected, having to match up audio with the visual
material, and the fact that I had no idea what I was
doing didn‟t make the project any easier on me.

24. I Made It
 Over six hours was put forth, but I was finally
finished with the video, and it was all ready to go.
 I was actually quite happy with the final project and
saw it as an achievement, where I accomplished
something.

25. What I Learned
 First and foremost, I learned how to edit a video
using iMovie. I think that was the biggest
accomplishment from this entire thing, because that
was something I never thought I would have do.
 I‟m not saying that I‟m good enough to edit the next
Hollywood blockbuster film by any means, but I do
believe that I did put together a satisfactory video
for this project.

26. What I Learned
 This project also reinforced my earlier belief that you
can‟t count on anyone to help you.
 I had asked that other person weeks before filming if
he would be able to help me, and told him that if he
couldn‟t I would understand and that he didn‟t have
to feel obligated to help me.
 I trusted him and he only let me down, just like
everyone else does.

27. During Filming
 There were many times that I was told that I couldn‟t
film at a certain location because of certain
reasons, which I respected, always asking
permission first, so that cut down on the number of
shots that I could use.
 I actually felt like a nuisance at some points of
filming, because there were times when I was filming
things that I probably shouldn‟t have been, but I was
on a public sidewalk so I couldn't be arrested.

28. Can You Say Awkward?
 For example, the wedding clip at the beginning was
shot in Cocoa Village, where an outdoor wedding
was taking place.
 I did did not know the couple, nor did I know anyone
else present, was merely passing by, having spent
the day up there gathering footage of an art festival
that was taking place.

29. Can You Say Awkward?
 I was just in the right place at the right time when I saw
the couple starting to walk down the aisle, so I pulled out
my camera and go the shot, standing on the sidewalk.
 The bride didn‟t seem to care, too caught up in the
moment of being the new Mrs. Whatever, smiling
brightly, but if you look at the clip, you‟ll see the groom
give me a „who are you?‟ look when they passed by.
 I just smiled at him, in response. After all, I was just a
student trying to get my project done.

30. Last Thoughts
 All in all, I thought that this project was a lot of fun
and it helped me grow, teaching me something new.
 I wasn‟t in my comfort zone and was basically
thrown into it with no idea what to expect, but
luckily, everything worked out for me.
 This is a video that I‟m proud of, despite what others
may say, and from this, I‟m going to continue to
make short films and such, just like my brother does.

31. Credits
 Song written and performed by Matisyahu and Akon
 Video filmed and edited by Sarika Ramdular
 Scene from video of belly dancing with the drum circle
filmed by Kyle Contorno
 Filmed on Location in Brevard County, FL and UCF
Orlando Campus.
 2011 Ramdular Productions
 All rights reserved