Work Journal

My working desk

my notes & thoughts

october 2015

Got the answer from Jill reg. backdrops: "You need to come and visit! We don't really use them much anymore because our stage is too small but we usually order them online. We have gotten them from:
grosh.com, charleshsteward.com, kenmark backdrops, theatre world backdrops. There is a place in Nashville called Dropseverything.com (there website isn't very good) that we have gotten from too. Hope this helps. Jill"
Researched different companies that sell backdrops. Also spent time studying lighting of different backdrops. I feel like lighting is above my head. I learned how important lighting is. Like Howard said, without correct lighting your video is a radio.
Called and met with Howard on Friday, Oct 9., from 11 to 3 pm. Told him about Robo-Pong, school programs, explained our lighting needs, then took him to Newgy, he saw a set. We talked to Todd, and then to Joe. I am suppose to call Brad.
Called different places to find somebody to help us with lights. Danny rec. Howard.
Called Adrian, discussed the video shoots, and times. Adrian said he can do it.
Had meeting with Joe and Jana on Oct. 6th about next video snippets. They have 2 ideas: 1. Learning to play like a pro. 2. No one to play with? Robo-Pong is here. I am to start pre-production and also find lighting help. Also I need to call theater reg. backdrops.
went to a print shop to print and bind 3 copies, brought one to Newgy on 10.5.2015, gave it to Joe. Also looked at the new Robo-Pong, presented by Eric. Very exciting! Eric said he has a friend who will do the design for phone app. I was kind of sad that Julian's design was not even acknowledged. Oh, well, that's life.
printed Data for Schools and prepared for Newgy.

Start looking for film light consultant

September 2015

all done but I am checking for mistakes, doing all the additions, cleaning up spaces in spread sheets, making the inf. on pages clear, well organized
lots of phone calls
problem with Davidson schools. Program didn't take it as there were too many schools. We need to do Davidson by hand. Also Kentaky schools are not listed. I will be making calls.
starting data collection from private schools
on 9/10/15 went in the evening to Newgy wear-house. Filmed Harrison, David, Malte a little. Started my online Journal. Tried different styles, more formal, thinking of future Club Newsletter, but opted out for more personal, for me, to keep memories, tips, new things I learned, or motivational stuff, or whatever. This way I will have everything organized here, instead on different pieces of paper. And maybe it will give us ideas for future site.
met with Joe on 9/10/2015 to go over so far progress. For now use the numeric format, simple, one page.
finished public school data, and the program to use for years turn out successful. We need about 10% more of final "check it." Find out from Joe, what format for now of final results.
focused on research data of schools in Middle TN, public schools.
discussed and started a system that will collect data, for years to come. Jorgen is working on it.

school data for Middle TN.
DONE

august 2015

waiting to hear from Joe when we meet reg. school program
Thomas talked to Mr Collin's from HHS. Thomas really wants TT team. Mr Collins said he also wants very much to start TT team in HHS, but he now can't find tables, and also they told him that he is not allowed to use gym at all for ping pong. This is rediculues. I am thinking that maybe the formation of TT school program needs to be implemented from the "top," like Minister of Education!
studying different TT teams in other states
Got Jorgan to find data from Crash Plan. We have to come up with a good way to store film data, and back up. Dropbox is getting too full.
problem with moving files to Dropbox. Huge problem for me, as now I have so much more data.
tried to buy facility for a school/table tennis program (this is not part of my work, but I just want to remember when). Learned that Joe'w vision is much bigger than keep thinking.
tried imputing After Effects to "Adrian Outside" video
worked on Rubik's cube video
met with Julian, Joe, Jana and Chris, talked about fonts, video corrections, Newgy Logo

http://www.tabletennismn.com/events/tournaments/high-school-championship.html

http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Table-Tennis/Features/2014/April/12/Table-Tennis-Now-An-Official-Varsity-Sport-In-The-New-York-City-Public-High-Schools

We are excited to inform you that the New York City Department of Education has formally added table tennis to its list of varsity sports. We feel this decision is a game changer for our sport locally, regionally and even nationally.

Adding Table Tennis as an official varsity sport, injects prestige and money - placing it on equal footing with sports like Baseball, Lacrosse, Wrestling and Tennis.   Now, New York City students who excel in High School Table Tennis, can include their match results and participation in official transcripts when they apply to college. More importantly, High School Table Tennis will engage hundreds of school students, in what we feel is an ideal urban sport.

Interscholastic competitions for the 2014 season began this week at 12 High Schools. These team matches are gender specific, with equal footing for both boys and girls. In 2015, the league will move to the winter season and will hopefully expand to 24 high schools!   It is our vision to move from initially hundreds to eventually thousands of New York City high school students playing competitive table tennis.   For a list of participating high schools, championship dates, format and rules, please visit - www.psal.org.

The governing entity for high school sports in New York City is the Public School Athletic League (PSAL).   American Youth Table Tennis (AYTTO) is working closely with the PSAL - offering needed know-how, expertize, coaching and event oversight.

A special thanks goes to AYTTO supporters and coaches, Mr. Mitch Seidenfeld - President of Minnesota Table Tennis Association, actress Susan Sarandon -SPiN New York, Andy Brockmann, League Commissioner and Steven Chan -Joola USA.     Your collective support, expertize, and enthusiasm will ensure a successful inaugural year.

Ben Nisbet and former National Team Member Virginia Sung formed AYTTO 10 years ago. Its board now includes, Jonathan Bricklin, Morris Jackson, John McFadden, Ben Nisbet and Brian Sentance.

Note:   USATT has pledged a $5K challenge grant to support AYTTO in quest to provide expertize for the high school league. There is vital need for schools to receive proper tables and equipment for this year and beyond. Anyone interested in donating may visit www.aytto.org and make an online donation in support of our sport and high school table tennis.

july 2015

Week of July 27, 2015

Julian "modernized" the word NEWGY from Newgy logo. We uploaded it on front page for Chris or s
rendered Afterr Effect clip with Newgy Logo on the ball and placed on the site for Joe to see. Write e-mail to Joe.
worked with Julian on placing the Newgy Logo on a ball coming out of Robo Pong on our New Video with Adrian. That took a lot of time as Julian had to do it in After Effects.
we worked on better font for that video
Julian improved the NEWGY effects

Week of July 20, 2015

we created new page here called "Landing Test." Uploaded the video that Jorgen and Julian did, with 4 screens, and you can click on one, then it all goes to this video. FRIENDS video is the one that is active now.
brought Jorgen and Julian to talk meet Joe, and talk to Eric and Chris. Jorgen shared how he's going to do the videos. Jorgen is goint to work on Java script and send it to Eric
Jorgen came few times this week to work on the videos and Java script. Julian helped.
I organized all the short films as I had too many there with all different video snippets, decided to move everything to dropbox

Week of July 13, 2015

studied marketing and learned about USP (Unique Selling Propositions), took the snapshots of some of the big companies USPs, like Nike, etc, and created a file for Joe to see.
Met with Jorgen and Julian, shared Joe idea, and discussed how to do the video
worked on Rubik Pong video, trying different choices of screens
met with Joe, shared USP, we came up with Play Ping Pong ANYTIME. I really like it.

Week of July 6, 2015

researched if maybe there is a way that Joe's idea can work
found a sample of similar concept, studied how it was done
worked on polishing videos
worked on clock for Rubik Pong video

june 2015

Week of June 29, 2015

created, edited and uploaded remaining 3 video snippets
created, edited and uploaded repeated version of 2 snippet, so Joe can get the feeling how it would look.
worked on re-editing snippet. I did 2 version, one 6 s. and I decided to do another, as I felt the waving of the hand may get a bit distructive (not sure). So I did another, 4.5 s. long.
worked on editing snippet for Joe for the idea of 4 video snippet on landing page
met with Joe, Chris, Jana at Newgy: Joe presented idea of 4 video snippets for the landing page. I need to do the 3 to 5 s snippet trial, edit, then upload to your website for Joe to see.

Week of June 22, 2015

FCPX changed something about exporting, I had huge troubles, as I was getting pixels on new snippets, kept trying to solve the problem, watched bunch of trouble shooting tutorial videos, studied Larry Jordan reports, wrote blue prints for best exporting. (4h)
went over with Julian reg. After Effects work I need Julian to do
6h. Aviv Film Summit lesson with Mat Workman www.MatWorkman.com "The Polished Commercial Look" (Matt Workman is a commercial cinematographer based in New York City. He has a background in computer science, 3D animation, and visual effects. Matt uses 3D previs to plan and design the artistic and technical aspects of a shoot with the director, production designer, and visual effects supervisor.
Matt is the editor of Cinematography Database (www.cinematographydb.com), a blog that focuses on modern cinematography and “Production Previs.”)

Above is a 3D visual made for the production set. Each of the plates is 4 f. wide
"Proper focus on pre-production will make you a king in production." so true. The clients/directors may get annoyed with all the details, questions for pre prodcution, but at the end that will pay off.
Your crew can only help you when they KNOW what you want.

One of the most important thing is that the people look really, really good, like $5,000 light.

They had pre-light day, and then shoot day.

3 of 20 by 20 ultra bound in the ceiling, we are bouncing 10 K light into ceiling, it gives a very soft directional top light, commonly called ambient light
So the overhead light gives this kind of soft glow, and I will selectively bring the brizzy and hit the people with it.

I also have here 24K book light, so it's 2 T 12th, into a ultra bounce, that goes through a light crade (or crid), it gives the settle push from the front on the right side, does not much compared to ambien, but it's there for that push.
Walls 14 f high as they wanted a wide shot.

low bounce on the bottom

Brizzy [brizi] 180 umbrella light, that's the key light and sort of eye light, it fills the light into eyes, and brizzy does a really good job. "This is your standard defacto beauty light, if people's looks are important to you, that's the light that you need bring, even though it costs a lot of money. But in the back of my mind I know that them looking good is THE most important thing. I fight for this light. I ask producer: Do you agree with me that making them look good is this important that we will spend this much money? And that's the end of discussion, we all agree.
You can use 5 K briessy, or iven 2 K. you don't have to use as big as theirs.

4 snippets for landing page completed

I would prefer for the 4th snippet to have something with athletic training, instead of me and Thomas. If you agree, we should think of making such video.

Goals:
Complete the video "No need to pick up balls"

Have Julian work in After Effects on placing Logo on the moving ball in "No need to pick up balls"
Fix glow, and outline color on fonts. Have Julian check it and see if anything can be improved, like size, kind, placements of the fonts.
Send to Adrian to see if he's OK with it, or if he sees anything that needs to be improved
Study Film Summit seminar
If time left, see if you can start Julian in After Effects on improving Robo Pong in "I Love Robo Pong." Have Julian work on it.

Not important: (See if you can find a a good picture with a person and Robo Pong. See if you can try to extract from film)

Week of June 15, 2015

worked on editing "Don't need to pick up balls"
learning "Red Giant"
preparing for possible collaboration with Magnetic Dreams
hired magnetic dreams to do 12 clips correction, and to see how it would be working with them. So far I am very pleased.
had to learn (A LOT!) in clip exporting, big problem apparently in newer version of FCP
wrote an e-mail to FCP guru, Larry Jordan, asking for help. He did reply the same day (:-), I was so happy. I did the steps he suggested, wrote him back with more questions, followed up with an e-mail.
study tutorials on clip exporting, and color corrections (I really need help with that, it is frustrating, as it is so difficult in After Effects. Have to keep trying. Julian will be gone in 5 weeks!)
Julian worked on fonts, I need to learn from him!
Almost finished "Don't need to pick up balls," when Julian comes back from work, we need to fix the glow and outline colors on fonts. Have him look at sizes and placement. Also, see if Julian can add Newgy's logo on the ball that comes out of Robot at the beginning,
created a space for School Program inf., sorted all table tennis/robo pong materials
read through inf. I have from Jena for schools (really good)
on Friday, June 19, 2015 met with Joe in my house, we went over some videos, I made a list in Trello of things to keep working on. Very good, productive meeting.
kept working on Happy Father's Day from Newgy,
completed Happy Father's Day from Newgy, sent to Chris
organized suggestions from Joe, and planned the week of June 22.

happy father's day video with Cody - completed

I think I will have to learn After Effects. Really don't want to, but I will probably have to. It will take a long time.
Also follow up with a teacher for animation, maybe then he can teach both, animation and After Effects.

Get Julian to put logo on the ball in "Don't need to pick up balls"

Think how to shoot folding Robot for I Love Robo Pong Commercial. Talk to Adrian.

See if you can start writing time, see if you can START and STOP when planned:
June 22, 2015: 9am - 11:15 am

Week of June 8, 2015

followed up with Magnetic studios
worked on color corrections - purchased Red Giant - Magic Bullet - Collor corection plug in to Final Cut, paid $100.
worked on short video "Don't need to pick up balls..." rough editing
picked temporary music
tried to do some color corrections, ( I need to keep learning, a lot! this is a struggle in a moving picture for me)
Julian worked on font and corrections on "Don't need to pick up balls... Robo Pong will."

Week of June 1, 2015

researched different techniques for possible lightning in Final Cut and other plug ins. Studied and downloaded Red Giant (Colorista +) free trial, to see if it can help. (Julian and me almost whole day)
kept trying to improve I Love Robo Pong - lighting of Robo Pong in car
researched and chose Animation Studios, and consultants in Nashville. Tomorrow will try to contact found via Production Hub: http://www.magneticdreams.com.
Picked 3 samples of Robo Children, cleaned them in Photo Shop, Downloaded into this site for Joe to maybe get ideas.
followed up with Dr Kallister's family
disigned a page banner for Robo Annimation Desk
couldn't sleep on Monday so worked from 1 am to 5:30 am on editing snippets, completed rough of Mother and Son (me and Thomas),
work on editing Happy Father's day, looking through all possible clips
Edited rough of Brothers outside playing against the Robo Pong snippet

Goals: (I don't always write here goals. I keep goals in TRELLO, Julian convinced me. It is a really good program for projects and goals)

√ improve Rubik's cube video
√edit sample video for Father's day
√ get better music for Rubik's Cube (Julian or Thomas)
√ select few clips from Robo Pong outside, put together
√ visit Newgy, just to check, maybe ask Jena for some materials reg. School Program, or wait for Joe
√ write short e-mail to Joe

May 2015

Week of May 25, 2015

Re-editing of Rubik Pong, as Joe wanted changes: First Ping Pong, Then Robo Pong, Now Rubik's Pong. The CHALLENGE. Thomas will solve Rubik's Cube with one hand, in less then one minute, while playing against the Robo Pong. We will need to re-shoot, and have Thomas reaction at the end. Joe had other ideas but forgot as he was leaving for China, so we will get back to it once he's back.
Discussed with boys of different ways to appeal more to school kids (Julian thinks of app for smart phones, starts designing, we stop at midnight, and decide to talk to Joe before he spends more time, to see if there is even a point, maybe they already designed it)
Met with Joe reg. Newgy App.
Met with Larry reg. Newgy App. (wonderful meeting, I learned a lot about "behind the scene" of Robo Pong) Julian to keep learning.

Friends playing against Robo Pong video Completed

Week of May 18, 2015

day of filming Robo Pong outside, Adrian, Julian and Thomas all worked. We filmed Robo Pong by itself, different people (us) playing, different bkg, slow motions, also Thomas solving Rubik's cube.
Edited Rubik's Pong video, (2 days), Adrian did one version, I did second, Julian keeps improving it.
learning more details in Final Cut, like using double screens
trying to figure out how to lighten the Robo Pong in I Love Robo Pong

Week of May 11, 2015

May 13th, 2015 celebrating Newgy's last day on Teal Drive. Took lots of pictures and filmed. Spent time with Dr Kalister's family.
Edited video of Friends playing against the Robo Pong
worked on music for Friends playing
took lost of pictures from the walls of Newgy
May 15th, 2015 filmed Thomas solving Rubik's Cube at Newgy (3 hours with Adrian, Thomas and Logen)
met with Jana, talked about school programs
completed and checked video of "Mother and Son" (have Joe check it)

mother and son video completed

Week of May 4, 2015

researched and tried different possible ways to outline Robo Pong better in car scene
edited and almost finished Snippets Video "Mother and Son"
transferred and organized all the clips from Youth at Newgy

April 2015

Week of April 27, 2015

organized and cleared everything after Newgy get together
Talked to Chris reg. videos and marketing

Edited video of Father and 3 daughters

father and 3 daughters video completed

Week of April 20, 2015

planned and organized Newgy get together in my house
filmed short interviews with people. I asked about what they felt would be important in school programs (learned a lot).
tried re-editing video of Youth at Newgy

Do it now. Do it right. Check it

﻿My working desk﻿