Senior Capstone - Final Thoughts

            This final project has taught me a lot of new things; things I never thought of learning in college. This has been a very important semester for me because I found that I knew a lot more about studio production and filming work than I thought I did. In 3 months, I learned a good bit about production work. Of course, I didn’t learn everything there is to know, but I’d say I got 2 semesters-worth of work under my belt.

            The main factor of this project was breaking it down by 3 different levels of Communication study. The first part was building the script. In order to do so, I had to bring out old notes from Media Studies and other New Media classes. This required a lot of research into genre and film clichés. This was the most time consuming, as well as boring, but I believe the script was both fun and interesting for my audience.

            The second part was actually filming and editing the film. I knew less about this than the rest of my entire project. Luckily, I had the Comm professors as well as students to assist me. Again, this part was time consuming, but it made me feel very accomplished once it was all finished. Of course, because I’m less familiar with filming and editing, I did make some mistakes, but I’ve been told that they’re beginner mistakes, so no big deal.

            The last part of my project has been the social media aspect of it. This was the part I was the most familiar with, but in order for it to be successful, I needed many people to participate. Unfortunately, my audience was small and non-committing. If I would do this project differently, I would have focused a lot more on the Facebook page.

            As I said, I was very excited to learn a lot more than I thought I would. I’m very excited to do something new for my Capstone, and I hope the rest of my audience loves it as well.

Cultural Event - French Film

High Tension

            On Wednesday, October 30, I attended a French film titled High Tension. It’s a French horror film about these two female students who go to a country home and are attacked by a crazed killer. The one girl gets kidnapped, so it’s up to the other girl to save her. It was an ok film. I’m not too much on gory horror movies, and this was definitely one. The twist at the end was really good, and I didn’t see it coming. The heroine in the film was cool, and her character development throughout the film changed dramatically. If I was to rewatch it, I’d try watching it in English because French with English subtitles was too much. Regardless, I’m glad I went because I still had a fun time, and even though I’m finished with my cultural events, I’m still going to try and make an effort to watch more foreign films.

Cultural Event - Third French Conversation Table

            On Wednesday, October 20, I attended a third French conversation table at the Blue Moon Café. This was a very big conversation table, and there was hardly enough room for all of us there, so I got a smaller table for myself and three other students. Most of us at this small table were only 101 classmates, but there was one student at our table who was taking a French Phonetics class. He wasn’t completely fluent, but he could speak more than us. We didn’t talk much, but when we did, it was in English, so there wasn’t much foreign culture involved. We did, however, learn a little about each other, talking about school, work, and what are plans for the weekend were. For what it was, I had fun, plus I got to eat, which is always a plus.

Cultural Event - Second French Conversation Table

            On Monday, October 21, I attended another French conversation table. We met at Mellow Moods for a late lunch and a riveting conversation. There were five of us and a teacher, and we just sat around and shot the shit. We didn’t speak much in French, but we did discuss how important it is to study foreign languages. There was one man there (husband of another student) who told me that he has spent the majority of his life in foreign countries. He talked about the importance of visiting these different places, and how we just need to get out there and explore the world. I agreed with him completely, and I plan to travel a lot more once I have a full-time job that can pay for travelling expenses. Other than speaking to this man, I didn’t really learn more than I already knew. I’m just glad I went and was able to talk to this learned gentleman.

What Makes Shepherdstown A Great Place To Live

The reason as to why Shepherdstown is a great place to live in is because everything is so relaxed and chill. Shepherdstown is a college town where laid-back students are able to comfortably get through four years of school without going wild.
You know about those big, popular schools where it's normal to constantly throw parties, drink, and cause a ruckus. Shepherdstown doesn't have much of that. In fact, it's quite out of the ordinary. We're so laid-back, we have everything your little college town could ever have.

• Bars
• Pubs
• Sweet shops
• Fancy restaurants
• Bike shop
• Museums
• and more...

 So, can you think of a time where something big and dangerous happened in Shepherdstown? Probably not. So come visit Shepherdstown, WV anytime. We'd love to have ya!

Senior Capstone - Progress as of 10/27/13

            Well, I can definitely see the light at the end of this very long, very dark tunnel. This has been a very stressful, but at the same time fun, experience. It would have never dawned on me just 6 months ago that I would have spent my fall semester making my own movie, but I am so glad that I made this decision.

            As of right now, I have everything visually just about, if not completely, perfect. I showed Jason my first draft, and he was pleased with it. There were some things that he had made comments about, but they were beginner mistakes made while shooting. He just made me aware of them that way I can be better prepared if I was to ever make another film.

            In terms of audio,  I still have a little bit to tweak here or there, but it’s almost complete. Audio was difficult because I had to use the audio I picked up via the camera. We did record using my computer, but it didn’t work the way I wanted to. I was fine with the audio from the camera because I could just transfer it from Premier to Soundbooth, but since I’m not too familiar with the program, some of the audio is too warped. It works, but it wasn’t what I initially intended.

            The only part of this project that I need to continue keeping up-to-date is the Facebook page. I’ve made posters and trailers for the page, but I still need to post more director’s notes and actor bios.

            Like I said, this has been an exciting and new experience for me, and I’m very happy that I made this choice. I think that it gives me more opportunities with my degree, making me a better candidate when I apply for any type of job in the communications field.

COMM 399B - Bummin' Around with Budweiser

 Kayaking on the vicious Potomac? That's pretty dangerous, don't you think? Well, you're a daredevil, and you live life on the edge. Kayaking may be dangerous, but it sure is a hell of a lot of fun. The adrenaline you feel while going down a rapid or fighting off alligators makes you feel really special, so live it up. Enjoy it. 

  And while you're on your special adrenaline high, you might get a little parched. Even though you're surrounded by water, it's probably best not to drink it. You're better than boring tap water. And you're smarter too, because you remembered your cooler. Open that bad boy up. What's in there? The best decision you've made all day. You have a cold, delicious Budweiser sitting there, just waiting for you. Pop the tab and take a swig of liquid awesome. That adrenaline high is gonna get higher now, bud. Are you ready for the greatest adventure of your life? Get out there. It's waiting for you.