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This is a promotional channel to showcase post-production content in the art of filmmaking.

21/06/2022

This week I recorded my last interview and started working on a rough cut. The trickiest part now is to construct the story that I want to tell. Quite a few pieces such as the voice over and script are getting created as I edit the video. This is different from tradition filmmaking where you write your script and then start creating your story. I think the part I will struggle with most in the edit is being decisive about what can stay and what needs to be removed. There is lots of good content, but knowing what needs to stay to tell the story can be just as tricky.

The biggest challenges I faced while filming my interviews was learning to work quickly. With every interview I would get just under an hour to find the location, set up all the equipment and have the interview. This made me realize how important it is to do as much pre setup of the equipment as possible. Each time, the day before, I would check my cameras to make sure they were recording with the same settings and make sure I had locations nailed and that I had sent the questions to the people I was interviewing. On a couple of the shoots, I had to quickly improvise to make sure things happened, such as a last minute location change and getting a second hand to help out minutes before I would start setting up.

13/06/2022

This was a very busy week for my documentary. I had the opportunity to meet with John Rice from the University of Utah, who is in expert in the Teton Dam, its construction and why it failed. He was able to give me a wealth of information on the engineering side of the dam.

As for the technical side, it was a little bit hectic. Since it was in Utah, I was running the set by myself, which included lightning cameras and audio. My biggest concern was the audio, which it set up, checked the levels and was trusting that it would work, which fortunately it did. However, this was a small mishap with the lighting, where one part of the scene ended up over exposed and clipped, which I didn’t catch on the camera monitors until it was too late. The image is still workable but spending a bit more time to get the lighting correct would have been good.

I also began work on a 3D animation of the Teton Dam this week as well for my B-roll. Now that I more fully understand how the dam works and why it failed, my goal is recreate accurate depictions of how it happened and present that visually.

For this upcoming week I have at least one more interview planned and the goal to get a rough cut of what I have done by next Monday. I’m going to try and fix the lighting issues I had and continue working on the 3D animations.

(The visual is the first test render of how the Teton Dam was built.)

06/06/2022

This week was a very busy one for my documentary. Most of what is still happening is prep work, but things are starting to come together.

I have my first interview this week with an engineer from BYU-Idaho. I’m also in the process of getting an interview with an engineer from the University of Utah, who specializes and studied the Teton Dam in depth. One more interview that I’m trying to set up is with a local geologist who knows about the composition of the dam and the surrounding area.

I also had the chance to visit the Museum of Rexburg and look over the artifacts and display recording the Teton Dam and when it failed. They also had a documentary on the cultural and area impacted by the dam’s failure. It showed lots of news footage of the time. After watching it, I wanted to contact the local new station, Local News 8, to see if there was a way to obtain some of that old footage in my documentary.

For the upcoming week, I’m hoping to get at least to interviews recorded and begin the editing process. For editing, I’m also hoping to start making my own 3D models for the short to help illustrate the ideas better.

The picture here is of a model of the Teton Dam prepared by the Bureau of Reclamation and housed at the Museum of Rexburg.

30/05/2022

This week for my documentary was an interesting one. My original idea for my film fell apart as the necessary research to make it was not presenting itself. As a result, I began almost from scratch and will be doing it instead on the Teton Dam and why it failed. I have been much more successful at find the proper research and experts in this field. I have one confirmed interview and another with an engineer from Utah State University that I hope to be getting as well. I did some light location scouting of the dam (see the photo).

My plan from here is to get one or two more interviews and also find archival footage of the dam breaking to add to the history of the piece. I’m planning to make a trip to the local museum to find out more of the history on the subject. I’ve also been delving into case studies around the Teton Dam and why it failed.

In terms of technical, this week I have also been testing out lighting and cameras. Since I will most likely be doing my interviews in offices, lighting them appropriately will be a big factor in making it look good. It will most likely be the Aperture 120d and 300s that I will be using. I also did some tests with a light stick because of the small environment it will be hard to get lights in such a small space.

16/05/2022

This week for my documentary I mainly focused on the tools I plan to use along with doing some deep dive looks into research.

For gear I am planning on using, it will be the Sony PXW-Z150 camcorder. It’s a 4k camera that is highly mobile which will be perfect as I won’t have much time once shooting starts. After playing around with it for a while, I found out how to do each of the basics for it, which funnily enough we finding out how to switch the camera into shooting 4k. I also discovered that a standard DSLR mic wouldn’t work for my application and would need a standard XLR cable for my audio. I also plan to look into more lighting options just in case the plan I have right now of a single light won’t work.

The next big thing that I worked on this week was research. After a quick back and forth with the Frontier Prison over email they pointed me towards the Wyoming State Archives website. I went through quite a bit of their website digging for any information about the 1959 prison escape. What I found for now wasn’t much, a lot of their content is buried and some of it restricted. My plan moving forward is to call the archive center and request help navigating their database. Depending on the results I get from them, I may plan a physical trip to dig up what I want.

These key story details are crucial for the story will be moving pretty quickly from here.

09/12/2021

From beginning concept to final product. Each piece has a story and motivation behind it. What's your idea's story?

05/12/2021

My completed WWII image with all the pieces.

02/12/2021

A simple process I used to make a realistic looking texture.

28/11/2021

A quick little project showing the wireframe, clay, textures and final render. It doesn't take very many elements to create a cool looking scene.

25/11/2021

The next piece for my WWII scene. Full scene coming soon!

21/11/2021

An ammo clip for one of my recent projects. Expect mote from it soon.

18/11/2021

The M1 Garand WWII rifle made for a 3D art scene. I tried to make the details as close to the real thing as possible.

14/11/2021

This is a short piece from a recent WWII project I was working on, showing some of the behind the scenes. More parts in the works!

11/11/2021

Some Houdini physics simulations I've been experimenting with.

07/11/2021

A quick render with the breakdown.

04/11/2021

An update on my robot project. Playing around with some simple animations and texturing.

31/10/2021

Showing from clay to color. A simple and quick render done in about a day.

27/10/2021

Trying my hand at animation and texturing for my new project. Lots more to come from this in the future!

22/10/2021

This was the final result from the retro themed challenge I did this week. Are you feeling the retro?

21/10/2021

Working on a retro themed project, planning to have it done by the end of the week!

27/05/2021

One piece of many to come for this project!

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This was a very busy week for my documentary. I had the opportunity to meet with John Rice from the University of Utah, who is in expert in the Teton Dam, its construction and why it failed. He was able to give me a wealth of information on the engineering side of the dam. As for the technical side, it was a little bit hectic. Since it was in Utah, I was running the set by myself, which included lightning cameras and audio. My biggest concern was the audio, which it set up, checked the levels and was trusting that it would work, which fortunately it did. However, this was a small mishap with the lighting, where one part of the scene ended up over exposed and clipped, which I didn’t catch on the camera monitors until it was too late. The image is still workable but spending a bit more time to get the lighting correct would have been good. I also began work on a 3D animation of the Teton Dam this week as well for my B-roll. Now that I more fully understand how the dam works and why it failed, my goal is recreate accurate depictions of how it happened and present that visually. For this upcoming week I have at least one more interview planned and the goal to get a rough cut of what I have done by next Monday. I’m going to try and fix the lighting issues I had and continue working on the 3D animations. (The visual is the first test render of how the Teton Dam was built.)

A simple process I used to make a realistic looking texture. #blender #3dmodeling #textures

A quick little project showing the wireframe, clay, textures and final render. It doesn't take very many elements to create a cool looking scene. #blender #3dart #behindthescenes

This is a short piece from a recent WWII project I was working on, showing some of the behind the scenes. More parts in the works! #americanflag #blender #simulations