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.

Senior Capstone - Progress as of 10/21

            I’m very excited at how my capstone project is going to turn out by the end of this month. I’ve put so much time and effort into this movie, and it’s really starting to shine. I’m looking to put the finishing touches on it this week.

            As of right now, filming is complete, and I’m almost finished with editing. I have everything finished with the movie visually, I’ll just have to touch things up if need be. I’m focusing on audio right now, and that is almost finished. I took a day from Fall Break, and spent close to 5 hours putting in the audio for a good two-thirds of the film. At the same time, I exported the first draft of the movie to show to my director. That way, he can give me pointers on what to touch up visually. Plus, I wanted to see how to use export, since I’ve never used it before. Wouldn’t want to mess up on the final draft.

            Hopefully by the end of the week, I can focus on promotional material and have editing completed for my presentation next Monday. I say hopefully to pace myself, because if I cram it all into one weekend, something might go wrong. It always does when I work with computers. All I can say is that this has been quite an experience. I’ve learned so much, and if the opportunity to make another short-film presents itself, I will definitely jump on it 100%.

Goodgrades Does Better Than "Good"

Former Shepherd University Communications student, Samantha Goodgrades, won "best new director" at Sundance Film Festival this past weekend. Samantha, from what I knew of her, was the quiet type who never talked in class. If I remember correctly, I didn't even talk to her. But the good thing is you don't have to talk to people to become successful; you just need to have a positive mental attitude and a very high opinion of yourself.

Senior Capstone - Progress as of 10/4

            As of right now, I would say that after this weekend, I’ll be on the home-stretch for finishing up my capstone project. As of right now, I have a final script, I have half of my filming completed, soon to be almost if not all finished by Monday, and I have my video edited with most effects in place. Really, all I have left is to continue editing, with a focus on soundtrack and audio, and continue to constantly update my Facebook page.

            If you haven’t seen the page yet, you have to see it (https://www.facebook.com/alphaandmccoythelongnight). It has teaser posters, videos, director’s notes, and set photos. My goal for the week is to put together a teaser trailer by the end of next week. I realized that it’s difficult to gain followers and likes unless you pay for advertising. Even when I share the page on other sites or among my friends, I don’t get many results. I think it’s because people don’t want me clogging up their timelines, which hurts my feelings.

            Editing has probably been the most stressful part of this project. Don’t get me wrong, working with actors and extras does get hectic, but it’s kind of a fun hectic. Editing is difficult because I’m not familiar with the software, I have to constantly fast-forward and rewind, and it takes at least an hour to put together 1 five-minute scene. It’s killing me, but I think it will all work out.

            So far, I’ve had a lot of fun with this project. I knew this would be a good idea because it’s something I’ve always wanted to do, but never had the time to do it because of schoolwork. Now, making the movie IS schoolwork. Like I said, I’m sure all of this hard work is going to pay off at the end, because I still have more I want to do with it.

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