All Categories - Ben Murray's Blog

Improvments

5/22/2016

Hey guys, Ben back with another blog. Well, actually, this is my last 5 paragraph blog forever for CKTV! I'm amazed on how fast the years went buy. It seemed just yesterday that my mom recommended CKTV after I finished 5th grade because making videos was a hobby of mine. And here I am now, three years later and film making has become my passion, and I learned so much about it, and I made a lot more friends because of it. But anyways, this week's blog is about things we plan to learn over the Summer, and since I won't be coming back, I am going to change it around a bit and talk about things I want to learn, now that I am leaving CKTV.
First, I want to learn more about Photography. My passion I plan to pursue as a career is Film making or editing, but I would love to take a class on Photography in College or something as well. Mainly because during College, I know money is going to be really tight, even when I get out, so I think taking some Photo shoot opportunists like Weddings or something could help me make some money to help me out, plus it could be cool to have a profession on Photography to put on my job application.
Second, I would like to work on meeting deadlines and procrastination. This is more of a high school goal, and I know I always say it, but I always need to work on procrastination. It's pretty difficult for me because procrastination isn't an issue for me for classes I enjoy doing, such as Media. I finished my project, more than a month before it was due! Insane right! But for classes I don't enjoy, such as Math or something, (No offence) I find it really hard to feel motivated to get my work done. The only thing that motivates me to do Homework I don't like it the due date or how it would affect my grade. But for classes I do enjoy, I get easily motivated because I enjoy what I work on.
Lastly, I want to learn, and this is far in the future, how to do CGI. (Computer Generated Images) Now I don't feel very confident that I will do this, because if I do pursue it as a career, It will take hours apon hours to complete the simplest shots, and because the market for CGI artist is very small. But if in the future, it becomes a lot easier to do, not skillfully, but time wise, then I might consider it.
In conclusion, I hope you guys enjoyed my last constructed response for Middle School and CKTV. I am looking forward to reading your guys blog, and I will miss you all. Thank you so much. And as always, bye. :)

8th Grade Slide Show

5/15/2016

Hey guys, Ben back with another free blog. For this week's free blog, I will be talking about the 8th Grade Slide show. Now as many of you know, as well as Mr. M, we aren't really what you would call on top of this. Well, we are definitely making progress, but we definitely procrastinated this. My job is to get two interviews with Kaden, and edit the video. Since I'm done with my project, every class I have been editing and scanning through all out pictures and video. For the interviews, we got one, and we have scheduled the other one. But we haven't gotten it yet. When it comes to editing, we finished around 2/3 of the video, and we need a rough draft by next week Monday at the latest, so if the other kids get their interviews, I will be able to edit it together and we might be able to finish on time.

Dear Newbies

5/15/2016

Hey guys, Ben back with another blog. This week's blog, we have to share some of our advice to the new students that are coming back next year. I don't know who any of these kids are, and I wont find out because I'll be gone next year, but I do have some advice from my 3 years of experience.
First, learn the equipment. I learned a lot from last year about the equipment, so I stuck with the stuff that I knew. Don't do that. We are always getting new equipment. This year we got a drone and a Osmos. I didn't learn how to use that stuff, and I couldn't use it this year. I was going to use the drone to get some wide shots for our second quarter project, but the nice lady we interviewed was able to provide Aerial footage for us. So in the future when I'm gone, and you guys get new equipment, make sure to use it if it would help you out to get the shot you needed or something.
Next, start early on radios. This also applies on Projects, but I mainly run into this problem on radios. We are suppose to start radios a month out, but sometimes, that isn't enough. I always had a problem with radios. I usually think that I could dedicate all my time to Radios when we get them, but we always have our actually projects for the quarter to deal with as well. My best advice to is start 5 weeks out instead of 4. I would say 6 weeks, but most schools don't have their information out 6 weeks before it happens. So I've learned to start a lot earlier. Because you will ALWAYS have a problem.
Lastly, expect to work outside of school. This happens a lot in Media. Whether it's fund raisers, the STN trip, filming, editing, ext. You will be working outside of school. I've had to film at home on multiple occasions. Because most of your work you do, you don't even do it in school. This includes Interviews, B-roll, and filming for your PSA and 4th Quarter Project. I've had to edit radios at home because I didn't want to be late, and if you plan on going on the STN trip, expect to be doing a lot of fund raisers and practices outside of school as well.
In conclusion, Media is a very fun class if video production is what you enjoy doing. And I enjoy that, and I plan to pursue that as a career. But if you don't like the things that we do in the class, it's just going to become a lot of work for you. So if you are a new student next year, prepare for a wild ride! And this is coming from a 3 year student! Bye!

"Traffickers" A GTA 5 Machinima

5/1/2016

Hey guys, Ben back with another blog. This weeks free blog, I want to show you guys this really cool series of GTA 5 Machinima's called "Traffickers." Now I found this a couple weeks ago while trying to find a mod that allowed me to make better Machinimas by using animations and controlling a mass amount of actors at a time, and when I watched it, I thought it was really well made, even though there was little to no dialogue in it. I thought it was a really good example of the power of the Rockstar Editor. The guy who produced the short films even game me some good mods and advice for animations, so all credit and my thanks go to user "Nucky."

Music

5/1/2016

Hey guys, Ben back with another blog. This week's blog is about our musical inspiration. Now this blog is pretty difficult for me because I personally don't care for most music nowadays. I feel most music after 2013 has almost always either been poorly made, or sings about wrong or inappropriate stuff. Now don't get me wrong, there are definitely good songs out there, there are just a lot more bad songs I don't want to be involved in. So my musical taste might be a little different than most people's.
First, since I am a gamer, music I enjoy listening to are, as you probably guessed, are gaming songs. Now, there are a lot of people who make gaming music and music videos out there, and a lot of them are really good, but the person I listen to that make really good songs are JT Machinima. JT Machinima does some really good rap songs weekly, and the ones I enjoyed was there Fallout 4, COD Black Ops 3, Just Cause 3, and World of Tanks rap songs.They just use a really good example of mood and rythem in their music videos.
But JT Machinima isn't the only person I listen to that makes Gaming Music videos. Another person, or group of people I should say, is Nerd Out. Nerd Out is a channel that is owned by The8thHawk, NemRaps, and Ben Schuller. They make gaming music videos based from popular new game titles and occasionally they also do parody videos. If you ever check these guys out, all of there music videos are really good.
Now even though I like people who do music videos on YouTube, I have kind of learned to like music from the 1950s - 1990s. I haven't heard a lot of songs from those times, but what I have heard are songs from those times, you guessed it, in a video game. I listened to these songs from the video game series "Fallout." If you haven't heard of the backstory of Fallout, or haven't heard about it at all, it's basically a game that takes place in an alternate universe in the 2050s, but technology and culture seemed to stop around the 1950s. Everyone went into Nuclear war because China and the US had a recourse war, and 200 years after the world seemed to end, the story takes place in a new world with new people, creatures, and culture. And over the radio, all they play is music from before the 2000s because that was all the music they had. So for the near 200 hours I played that game, I got to listen to around 15 different songs from before I was born and was able to memorize most of them completely.
In conclusion, my music taste isn't like many other people, but I do have my own taste. I hope you guys enjoyed the blog, and I am looking forward to reading about your music tastes. Bye!

Second Idea For a Second Project

4/24/2016

Hey guys, Ben back with another free blog. This week, I've been looking for more ideas for a second project since I am basically done with my first one. I cool idea I found was a GTA 5 Parody of "Happy," based around the emergency services all around GTA 5, Police, Paramedics, and Firemen. Now, a way I can spice up this video is to actually make the actors dance, using animations in the game files. There are mods that allow you to access all the animations in the game, such as Menyoo and Simple Trainer. Menyoo's animations don't have every single one, which is probably a good thing. Instead, they picked out the coolest ones and put them in nice and organized. Now Simple Trainer has EVERY SINGLE animation in the game, problem is, there are over 10,000 animations. So somewhere in there, there are dancing animations, and I have to find them, which would be a struggle. But, food for thought. Anyways, see you guys next week.

Mistakes

4/24/2016

Hey everyone, Ben back with another blog. This week's log is about mistakes. Now, everyone makes mistakes, and I have my fair share of them. But, in most situations, you learn from your mistakes, and learn to not do them, or change something about it. So in this blog, I will be talking about three mistakes I have had over my life, and explain what I learned from it.
First, a mistake that I learned from was from when I was about 7 or 8. This was before IPhones as stuff, when DVDs had their shine. My family and I were driving down Kokee from staying there over the weekend, and I brought this bulk portable DVD player up there with me. I didn't watch it much while I was up there because I didn't want to run out of battery and because Kokee is FUN. But I decided to use it on the way home, and I was watching an episode Power Rangers we rented from the Library in Hanapepe. I already watched it a couple times since I only brought two DVDs up. But on the way down I began to get really car sick until the point where we had to pull over for me to throw up on the side of the road, and for some reason my dog threw up as well. But I learned from that that I get car sick when I am staring at things in my lap while we're driving. So that's why I can only look out the window and listen to music while driving instead of playing on my phone.
Second, I made a mistake in 2nd grade during lunch recess. Back then in Kalaheo Elementary School, instead of the big office up front, we had a big empty basketball court. And no one really played on it. So, me and a couple of my friends decided to use the big empty space to see how far we could kick rubber balls for some reason. And for some reason, other people started joining in the game Me, Kevin Peterson, and Karter Kester started known as "Kick Kick." (I know, amazing name) Soon we had almost all of second and third grade on each side kicking several balls to each other, and we usually had me on one side, and Karter on the other because we were the best kickers. One day, I decided to put the ball on the concrete and run in for a kick to see how far it would go. When I went in for the kick, I swung to low, and with all my force, I kicked the concrete. My big toe burst open like a watermelon, and my friends helped my to the health room. I learned from this not to play sports barefooted, and to not kick stuff on concrete. Sadly, by the time my toe healed, second grade had ended.
Lastly, also in elementary school, this time in 5th grade, during every lunch, for some reason all the girls would buy food, but they wouldn't eat it. Instead, they gave all their food to us. So instead of having one sandwich or something, I WOULD HAVE 8! And for some reason, I would attempt to eat them all along side with a couple chocolate milks! I am not proud of it, except holding the record for most chocolate milks drunken in one sitting, 14. Thanks to that mistake, that is why I looked like a obese potato in 6th grade. I think what I learned from this is pretty self explanatory, DON'T EAT THAT MUCH FOOD.
In conclusion, those are three mistakes that I made during my life that I learned something from. If I could, I would go back in time and stop me from doing those things, but I am sure that I am doing things now that I would regret doing 5 years from now, and I just don't know it. Anyways, see you guys later!

Project Update

4/17/2016

Hey guys, Ben back with another free blog. Man, it's been a while since I've done a project update, maybe because I've been so busy with the one I'm working on now, but I don't know. Anyways, we are approaching mid term in the 4th quarter, and I am almost done with my video. I am looking to be finished this week, so I can work on my next project over the weekend. But as far as my current project goes, I've been doing a lot in the last couple classes. I have put in all my clips, music, and almost all the sound effects I need. And I have gotten almost all the voice overs I need. That's why I think I need one more class for voice overs, and then another class for the final touches, and then I will be done. I wish I could show you guys what I've been working on, but I can't, obviously. But if you want to see it, feel free to ask me in class. Anyways, see you guys later!

Comfort Zone

4/17/2016

Hey everyone, Ben back with another blog. This week's blog topic is about a time when we went outside of our comfort zone recently. Now, me personally, I never really go outside of my comfort zone, because I just like my comfort zone. It's easy. But I think the last time I left my comfort zone was when I had to work really hard in Math, at the end of 3rd quarter to get my grades up.
First, the reason I had to work really hard at the end of the year was because at the beginning of 3rd quarter, I was doing really bad in Math, all the way until after mid term. After mid term, I was getting a D in the class, and I knew I had to redo the mid term to bring my grade back up. But me being a HUGE procrastinator on things I don't enjoy doing, I didn't consider retaking it until 2 weeks before school ended.
Second, did I succeed? Well, in my eyes, yes. Once I finally brought myself to retake it, I learned that I needed to finish EVERY homework assignment she assigned us over the quarter to retake a quiz. And I missed A LOT of homework. A little more than half I think. But, over the weekend, I worked hard, stepped out of my comfort zone, and finished every single work assignment and Cornell notes she gave us. After I showed here and took the test, I went from a D to a B, which I was happy with.
Lastly, would it be worth it to do it again? Well, hopefully, I don't do as bad as I did last quarter, but if somehow I do, then I will definitely put in the work and effort to raise my grades up. Now I'm not going to say that working that hard was fun, because It wasn't. I hated working that hard on Math, but there is not denying that when you see that your hard work pays off, you feel really good about yourself.
In conclusion, that is one time that I stepped outside of my comfort zone. I am looking forward to reading about when you guys did something similar, or different. But anyways, I will see you guys later! Bye!

My 2nd 4th Quarter Project

4/10/2016

Hey guys, now you might be confused by what I mean in the title of this week's free blog, so let me explain even though I already mentioned it before. I want to do I second video this quarter. The reason I want to do this is because by the time 4th quarter started, I had already finished filming my movie trailer, and now, all I need to to get vice actors and finalize it. Then I will be done, before we even reach halfway through the quarter. So, I need something to do in media then, so I decided that I want to do a second video. So I want to make one because I have a lot of time, and because I don't know if anyone in media has actually done two videos in 4th quarter before, but if no one has, it would be cool to be the first. Anyways, I was thinking to do a music video in GTA 5. Now I haven't finished y first project yet, so I don't really know a lot of details, but all I can really tell you is I the song I want to do it to is "Paradise" by Elias Naslin. I'll put the song in for you gusy to listen to. The song sadly doesn't have a music video that I know of, so this is the first thing I found on YouTube of it. That's going to have to do it for this free blog, so I'll see you guys next time!