Remix Project #4 - Video - Tying a Tie

DS106, Tying a Tie 101 - Remix Project

The Process:

For some reason, this project gave me the most difficulty!  Like...for real...very frustrating!  I started it last weekend with a couple of ideas, but nothing that I really liked.  By Sunday, still nothing.  On Monday night I had a perfect idea with the "Redub Project" with the movie Se7en and began working.  After a couple hours of struggling to piece together my project, I realized my shortcomings as a "remixer".  I soon abandoned that project all together, mad and angry at the time that I had wasted.  Or maybe it wasn't a waste??  I'm a wishful thinker.

For this project, I looked up a couple of things that I could very "easily" teach to someone.  Something very basic with a few steps.  When I saw, "Tying a tie", I immediately got the idea for this project--that "aha" moment that I was finally so excited to get.  I pulled out three ties from my closet and elicited the help of some of my homeroom students to make this video.

The process went along very smoothly.  I got to school very early, along with two students who are there at around 7:15 as well.  Alyssa filmed my step-by-step process before anyone showed up.  When the homeroom bell rang, I went to work on filming what I needed for the rest of the video.  I used Jabril and Asher in the video because they are some of the most animated guys in my homeroom.  Surprisingly, the filming didn't take long at all.

The next day, I went to work on editing the video using Moviemaker.  I have used Moviemaker in the past, so it wasn't too unfamiliar to me.  However, the format did change a little bit (last time I used it was approx. 2 years ago).  It did take some refreshing.  The whole editing process took maybe 90 minutes, tops--nothing too crazy.  I think I spent more time deciding what project to work on than the time I took with the editing.

For the music selection, I wanted to have something "old-timey", but also something that had a very "monumental" feel to it.  I think that I achieved that with the selection I made.  In order to change the color of the video to make it look old-fashioned, I very simply changed the color to "sepia"--a simple alteration, but still a really cool effect.

Reflections:
All in all, my homeroom students and I really got a kick out of doing this video.  We watched it in our homeroom class today and the kids really liked it.  Interestingly enough, Jabril, one of the students tying a tie in the video, taught me a different, more simpler way, of tying a tie.  It is funny what you learn from doing projects like these.

A side note: Ever since I was a little kid, I always dreamed of directing movies.  Growing up in Arizona, I spent almost every summer creating a new movie and using the neighborhood kids to star in the short films.  It was some of the most fun.  And to get all sentimental for a second...this project brought back a lot of those great memories.  Haha...I feel old now.