Category Archives: Photography

Please note the class change

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Things are about to get very exciting for the fall and it is time to get registered now.  We are trying to finalize a lot of fun upcoming events and projects.  Huge projects like studying with Academy award winning filmmakers and training on pitching to Hollywood executive producers.

There is a lot going on but I do not want to ruin the surprises just yet.  However, we are getting very close to our final approvals of the AFA (Associates of Fine Arts) degree in Cinema.  Coming this fall semester!

Please note that on the Woodbridge campus, the production classes Video I and Video II are moving from Photography to Arts so please enroll in ART 160 (Film Production I) and let’s get this started.

NOVA Woodbridge Film Program 2014 Promo Video

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Here is our promotional video from September’s film shoot.

We tried to give it a Film Noir feeling and actually added grain to the final grading and converted it to black and white to stay with the era.

(Watch it in HD if the settings do not default to it)

Spring class registration starts next week, so I hope potential students will be interested in our classes here at Woodbridge.

 

Importance of Color Correction/Grading

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Since I am teaching color correction/grading in my Digital Editing class (PHT 274), I thought I would show a few stills from the forthcoming behind-the-scenes video series to accompany the NOVA Woodbridge film program promotional video (due in Woodbridge theaters after Thanksgiving).

These are the baseline expectation for any film student because these stills only received primary adjustments (no secondary adjustments, effects, or filters performed/applied).

NOVA Color Correct1UnNOVA color correct1Done

 

NOVA color correct2UnNOVA color correct2Done

 

NOVA color correct3UnNOVA color correct3Done

 

These stills are examples of the most basic form of correction in balancing colors and adding contrast to taste.  Granted, these might be more over saturated than most would like but I enjoy my colors to pop.

From here, the next step is to perform secondary corrections to get the look you want. For example, do we want to further smooth out the skin of our actors to remove any blemishes, or add a sun-kissed look to their skin tone, or give a little punch to their hair color, or even blur the edges of the frame to place emphasis on the center of frame?  There are many secondary decisions to be made while color grading and each is specific to the style the filmmaker envisions.

However, we spent more time on the actual promotional video rather than these behind-the-scenes shots, so we are leaving it at the primary adjustment level and just ensuring the colors are balanced and we added an appropriate level of contrast.

Keep checking back for the videos to be on this site.  We will also be promoting them on our new Facebook and Twitter pages: NOVAFilmExposed.

Music Video Documentary

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One assignment of the PHT 130 class this past spring was to create a behind-the-scenes documentary for the film production of the Dangerous Girl music video.

The students completed it just in time and it is a humorous look at their take on the class and making the video.

Thank you again for all of the hard work of all the students involved and a special thank youo to Eddie Gomez for compelting the edit and the creation of the documentary soundtrack (though he misspelled the name of every one of his classmates – oh, well, do one thing and do it right).

Again, I hope all of the viewers can see how much fun these students had in class and, more importantly, how much they learned about film production.

Special Thanks for a Wonderful Experience

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I just wanted to send a special list of those individuals I wish to recognize and thank for the completion of this special video project we piloted in the spring 2012 semester of PHT 130 (Video I) here on the Woodbridge campus of Northern Virginia Community College.

First of all, I want to give a very special THANK YOU to all of the students in my class who worked very hard on this project (in alphabetical order):

Carl “Doc” Bentley, Kelly Coe, Joeseph Emerson, Eddie Gomez, Kat Hemphill, Sarah Hicks, Anthony Hyter, Meghan Oney, Lorraine Pino, Isidro Ramirez, Selestino Rodriguez, Danny Salzberg, Allan Setash, Darious Thomas.

Special thanks to Eddie for the rough edit of the music video.  Also a special thanks to those of my students who also acted: Selestino and Darious.  And to the students on set who worked so hard: Allan, Eddie, Doc, Kelly, Kat, Meghan, Lorraine, Isidro, and Danny.

Thank you to our other actors:

Shea Davies ( a professional actress from NYC made the trip to help the cause) – fish vendor

Kim Irwin (one of our own students) – flower vendor

America Twiggs (daughter of one of our campus tutors, Kellee Twiggs) – little girl

Jack Mourad (auditioned for the part) – little boy

And thank you to these individuals who were the extras (in order of appearance): Paul Martin (NOVA student – who knew how great of an actor he would be); Broc Pulley (NOVA student and former PHT 130 student – talented filmmaker in his own right); Dennis Sullivan (one of NOVA Woodbridge’s excellent counselors AND a former student in PHT 130); Mitch Gibson (NOVA student and a great looking fisherman); Megan Gazzelli (NOVA student and a member of the NOVA Woodbridge Filmmaking Club); Wendy Gazzelli (NOVA student and also a member of our Filmmaking Club); Kathryn Nordan Lynch (NOVA student and a Woodbridge tutor); and Bharti (NOVA Student and a new, undiscovered talent).

I also wish to thank Tim’s Rivershore resturant, including our contact, Amy Riggleman, for the use of the restaurant and its property for the actual film shoot.  The food is delicious, so if you have not made a trip there, do it quickly before the summer is done.

Thank you to John Ruffino and the board of the NVCC Educational Foundation for approving a small grant to assist in the payment of 522 productions for their dedicated partnership.

And, of course, thank you very much to 522 Productions for agreeing to volunteer their time, their staff, their equipment, and their knowledge to the completion of this project.  They agreed to work at cost (probably at even less) just to help the cause with the actual film shoot and the color correction of the final edit.  Each student enjoyed the experience!

We hope each of you viewing the vdieo also enjoys the hard work and passes it along to someone else so they can continue to enroll here at NOVA Woodbridge and build the demand for our film classes and increase our film course offerings.

Drum Roll Please….

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The music video that was created for the song Dangerous Girl by WorstKase Scenario is finally completed and uploaded to thsi site.  Please view it and the accompanying documentary on the video page of this blog site.

The students from the PHT 130 class worked very hard to finish both projects and to hone their skills they learned in class throughout the spring semester.  they also had the opportunity to work with 522 Productions on the shoot, learning from industry professionals.  We are very thankful to 522 Productions for their time, generosity, and patience.

We would love to hear comments on the video as we continue to prmote this class to prospective students who are considering taking the course in the future.

We also understand there are some minor mistakes in the music video but please know we were on an extremely limited budget and schedule (we did the entire shoot in one long day).  However, I am very satisfied with the professional quality of the completed work and I am extremely proud of all of the students from the spring 2012 PHT 130 course.

There are many others to thank for their time and I will do so in a separate post but I wanted to get this video on-line.  We will eventually load it on YouTube, as well as, the personal Web site of the band and the site of the band’s label.

We will let you know all of those details later.

Photography Courses at Woodbridge

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In our highlight of film courses on the Woodbridge campus, here is what Professor Gail Rebhan says about the photography deaprtment:
“Photography courses at NOVA-Woodbridge are offered year round from introductory to advanced courses, from black and white film to digital. Gain control of your camera and discover techniques that can create great pictures. Learn exposure control and aesthetics. Create meaningful images or learn about the history of photography.”

If you have any questions about the photography courses, you may contact Professor Rebhan at grebhan@nvcc.edu.