Blake Schilling (Final Post)

Overall I am very glad at the way our project turned out. We worked with the material we had and really got to learn the entire process of setting up, shooting, and editing. This project really made me see the industry a bit and realize what needs to be done for a professional standard. Nothing went our way it seemed but in the end i feel that this made our team even stronger because we were forced to overcome many obstacles and put our minds together. All this being said, the project really made us more of a production team, instead of just a bunch of students and a project. Our final product for Operation Hope is now finished and burned to DVD. We just need to give Russ and Operation Hope their copies at the screening. This experience has really opened my eyes to how vast homelessness is in San Diego alone. In doing the research presentation I was forced to explore the realities surrounding this community of people that are wandering through our own cities and towns hopeless without any shelter to go to. There is a problem with homelessness here in San Diego and I really hope that our project and the final video will help out Operation Hope and allow them to gain more awareness and recognition for what they do for our homeless community.

Final Post: Nicole Gonzaga

this project has definitely taught me a lot of things. First off, it taught me the importance of working together as a group. I've done group projects before, but this one required a lot more time and team work to create something. Although we've encountered so many obstacles with this project, it really showed how important it is that each member fulfills their assigned jobs. If one person didn't do their job, then the rest would fall behind. Overall I thought our group did well as a team. I'm proud of what we made considering that most of us haven't had much experience creating videos, especially one as complex as this one.

As for my artwork, I'd really like to work with issues concerning the community. I've never really been interested in social issues before but after this project, I think it is really awesome to create something for the community. This is my first time with a project like this and I really want to do more of this kind of work and develop my skills in video production.

I learned a lot of different techniques from this class. I've learned to use Final Cut better and after many attempts, i've definitely learned from our many failed attempts with audio. But one of the best things i'll take from this project are the amazing people i've met and the friends i've made. It makes me happy knowing that a class/project can bring even the most unexpected people together. Russ was such a character, but i really admire him for what he does and all the hard work he puts into the shelter. i'm so honored that my group got to create something to give back to the community and let people know about all the great things Operation H.O.P.E. has to offer.

Final Post: Megan Nelms

WOW! I cannot believe this semester is coming to an end. This is a definitely bittersweet feeling. I feel so blessed that things worked out the way they did in this class. Not only did I get to work with a dedicated, talented, and fun team, but I got to work with a great organization. Operation Hope is doing great things for the community, and I really believe this.

I came into this class with very little knowledge of video at all. Honestly, I still have no clue about the editing process (but I plan on learning), but I have learned so many other little things. I never would have known that so much goes into the production of a short video. It has been such a learning process.

This class has inspired me to learn more about film and even possibly getting into it myself. I love photography, but film covers a whole other realm of the art world. I was fortunate enough to work with people who I could really learn from (and who had a lot of patience with me).

I wanna take this opportunity to thank everyone in my group, you guys were AWESOME, and really all worked to make this video come together. And thank you for your patience as I navigated my way through the film shoots and such. You guys rock.

Julian Giron Final post

So we did it, we finished our video and we are just putting the finishing touches on the video. Coming into CSUSM i have never experienced a class like this one. And i must say that this kind of class is difficult. There is so much that goes into making and producing and editing videos and i applaud people who do this kind of stuff for jobs. I have learned a lot about video and production, and i also learned a lot about team work. We could have not gotten this done without working together and i really liked that most about this class. I met new people and experienced new things and it was just amazing. I also learned a lot about the homeless community in San Diego. I sometimes took for granted of how many people are out there suffering. But it is good to know that there are shelters out there constantly helping people. I really enjoyed working with Russ even though we did not get to film the success story. I really enjoyed filming @ Operation Hope because i got to see how life was like in a shelter. Operation Hope was a warm and friendly environment. When we shot the B-Roll there, we were welcomed with open arms and i will never forget that. I will never forget Operation Hope and i will never forget the experienced shared and the things i learned.

Alex Weinberg Post # 8

We have finished our edit and are ready to put it on a DVD in class. I wish we did not get stood up by our success story family, but what can you do. My experience of working on this project was given me a new prospective on my life as how so many people you would never think of are homeless. I learned how homelessness can effect everyone and how there are great shelters and programs to help them get back on their feet again. This project has given me a new perspective on work as I see how to deal with, and produce content for a non-profit organization such as Operation Hope. This project has given me a new prospective on documentary work, as the process of achieving your final project is very different when you are working with a non-profit.

Megan Nelms Blog 7

This week has been sort of hectic for me as far as getting ahold of our community partner. Russ has been great the entire time, just this week has been difficult. He just called me yesterday to say he finally lined up our "A Team" interview. I am so looking forward to meeting this family. From the way he talked about it, they sound really sweet. Their story is so heart-wrenching, I think it will make for a really great piece of the video. They have gone through the program at Operation Hope (last season), and so they will be a good example of what Operation Hope is really doing for the community. Our group is really working well together for the most part. There have been some bumps in the road, but I think we work well together as a whole. The editing is obviously what takes the most time, but we are getting there! I am so excited for the screening in a few weeks. I'm thinking it will be really successful.

Julian Giron blog 8

We just got news from Megan that Russ has our success story lined up to interview on Thursday. I usually have work Thursday mornings until 4 so hopefully i will be able to make it. I really want to interview them and listen to their story. Tomorrow, since we are not shooting we are going to edit the footage we already have to make the first part of the video, then when we get the interview footage we will be able to edit the both and complete the video. I am very excited to see how the final video will play out. Things are coming to an end and i hope our video will be good, but i know it will.

Alex Weinberg post 7

We still are waiting for Russ to set us up a family for a successes story. I am not sure if we will be able to get a success story in time for our project deadline. Other than that we have made a good foot in editing our footage. I think I still need to work with the sound of the footage and the 3 band equalizer more to get some of the hissing from mic sound out. We should also be able to get good b roll now that the warehouse is empty, because they are closed down.

Megan Nelms (7)

Over the past few weeks we have made significant progress. The team got to shoot b-roll of the kids at craft night at the Operation Hope warehouse last Friday night. We are hoping to shoot an interview with a family that Russ has lined up for us. The warehouse is empty as of March 31, 2010. It's nice that we were able to shoot that b-roll because I feel it will be really helpful to have live footage of some kids playing. I was not able to make it last Friday to the shoot because my family came to visit me. Russ was supposed to get back to me about shooting an interview with a family, but having him get back to me has been a little difficult. I am going to call him again and try to set up the interview for later on this week. I think it has been hard for him because with the shelter closing down his work load has been heavily increased. Overall, we are well on our way and have plenty of footage. We just need to figure out the editing, and how we can make it into a cohesive film!

Blake Schilling (Post 7)

Currently we have began editing down the footage we have, and cutting out the things we feel we don't need. We were finally able to shoot some b-roll of some of the kids @ Operation Hope in Vista, Ca. Julian & Nicole have been working on an edit of the CEO of Operation Hope. Megan and I have been editing down and slicing together Russ's interview sequences as well. As far as our shooting days go we only have 1 or maybe 2 days left of shooting and then the group can focus on editing more. The project is coming together nicely. Once we get our final interviews with the "A-Team", we will be done shooting and can start finishing & putting together all of our edits. Russ also gave us his company logo for Operation Hope in a digital format so we can now incorporate that and even take it into motion or after effects and create something nice for the video. All together we are still working on the same idea as in the beginning, which was to make 2 short videos and editing them together into one larger video for presentations etc. The 2 shorter videos will be displayed on Operation Hopes website and or blogsite. They consist of 1 being Russ the head of Operation Hope discussing and explaining Operation Hope cut with various b-roll and other interviews etc. 2 being the "A-Team" interview/ success story. The third video like i said, will be an edit of those 2 videos put together. We are close to being done with the first edit of Russ so that will be nice to have done soon.

Nicole Gonzaga Post#7

So far Operation Hope has been doing well. Before spring break Blake, Julian, and I went to the shelter to record some b-roll of the children. It was so great because they were running around and jumping off the playground and just having a great time. I'm so glad we got a lot of that on tape. Also from that night Russ surprised us with the case workers of Operation Hope. Although we didn't have all the equipment we needed to set up the interview, the video and audio turned out surprisingly decent. We still need to conduct one last interview with the "A Team" family. Russ actually set up the interview with them last thursday but we had to reschedule it because we all had class during that time. Russ still hasn't called back yet to let us know when we could interview them but hopefully we can do it sometime soon. In the mean time, we are editing the footage that we have and trying to put it all together. Blake is working on one interview and Julian and I edited a segment that focuses more on the children. We used clips from two interviews and used the b-roll of the children playing on the background. Overall, we're doing great! we just need to do interview the A Team so that we can start finalizing our video.

Julian Giron Blog 7

Things are going smoothly for Team Hope. Before spring break; Blake, Nicole and I went to Operation Hope on a Friday to film the kids. They were so excited to be filmed, they were running around and just having fun. On that night we ended up doing a surprise interview with the case workers who worked there. They both were excited to talk about the kids. Russ said he has the "A team" ready for our last interview. After Spring break, Megan called him to confirm but he has not answered his phone. So HOPEFULLY he will call back soon because we are almost at the end of the semester and almost time for the show. Nicole and I were in charge of editing the footage of the children playing and we tied it in to the interviews we did. Jean and the case workers were really excited to talk about the children so we created most of the video with that footage. Within the coming weeks we will finish the last interview and work on the FINAL cut. I am very excited to see what will happen next.

Alex Weinberg Post #6

Jean the CEO of Operation Hope was there and we got some good interview footage from her. Today we also got footage of a kid playing on the kid's playground. We finally finished up the interviews of Russ and we have all we need from him. We also got good footage of a quilt that the kids made. Russ and Jean also lined us up a success story interview for us to interview soon. We plan to go on Friday to film crafts night we will probably have to film the backs of the people or below their heads. looks like we have all we need to finish up the editing soon.

Nicole Gonzaga Post#6

today, I wasn't able to make it today at Operation Hope but we interviewed Jean, CEO of Operation Hope. She was very comfortable on camera and she gave a lot of information on how Operation Hope started. She brought her grandson to the shelter and we recorded him playing in the playground. We are thinking about using this shot for b-roll. Also, last Friday Blake and I interviewed Russ again just to make sure we have some good answers to use in the video. Overall i think it went well and Russ seems to be loosening up when he answers questions. Russ also invited us on friday to meet at Operation Hope at 7:00PM for crafts night. we then plan to shoot more b-roll of the children and use this in our video.

Megan Nelms #6

Don't think there is a blog due today. But just for an update, we shot b-roll at the warehouse and interviewed Russ's boss and the CEO of Operation Hope. Her name is Jean. She was amazingly natural on camera. I think we got the lighting to look good as well. Because of the spontaneous nature of working with Russ (little time to plan), it's usually a hit or miss. I think overall, today was a great success. We will see as soon as we throw the footage into Final Cut, but I think it went really well.

Julian Giron post 6

Tomorrow we are going to Operation Hope to shoot more B roll. We are going to check out some light kits and hopefully we will be able to light the place up to shoot some nice B rolls. We are also going to try and shoot some time lapse stuff for the video. We are all set with Russ' interview and all we have to do is interview a couple of families to put the video all together. We are on the right track and im excited to help edit the videos when we get all the footage we need. I am also excited to meet the success story families because i heard their stories are really interesting.

Megan Nelms post #5:

This week we reshot Russ's interview. Overall it was MUCH BETTER! Julian did a really great job of interviewing him as not for him to rehearse. We tried to get the lighting close to the same as last time, but it was different because we didn't have the same lighting equipment. His answers were much more heartfelt and overall, he looked much more natural on camera. We are just waiting to hear from him about interviewing a family this Friday. It will be good because it's a family of four girls and a mom. When we do we will definitely change the setting in which we interview.

Blake Schilling Post #5

This week we are meeting back up with Russ at Operation Hope. The group and I are going to re-shoot some of the interview of Russ as well as shooting a lot more B-Roll. Hopefully we will be able to do another interview with either a staffer or maybe even a family of the program if Russ can pull one together for us. Overall we are getting the feel for the shelter and the way it looks on film. We now know the correct lighting and sound requirements and should be coming out of every days shoot with quality footage for the final product. As far as the actual shooting goes I feel like we need to get 3 or 4 more interviews. We also need to get access into some of the bedrooms to shoot them. Overall I feel like Team Hope is on the right track we just need to shoot more footage and begin the long editing process.

Julian Giron Post 5

Tomorrow we are going back to interview Russ for the second time. I am going to make it an obligation to break him out of his shell. He has a lot to say about Operation Hope and i want to make sure we capture it. Megan has also told us that Russ has a family lined up to interview also, i am very excited about that because i really want to hear a success story. Hopefully the family is not nervous and we end up with a good shoot. I will make sure that the questions are not yes or no, and that the questions leave room for stories. We are going there around 10AM tomorrow, and im kind of nervous but i know we can do it.

Alex Weinberg post 5

We are going to go back to the shelter this week to re shoot our interviews. I hope to interview Russ outside by myself with my smaller camcorder so he does not seem so "prepared". I think i will shoot it with my Steadicam so he does not feel so prepared, but i might want to do it with my tripod so the image is perfectly stable. I am not worried about the sound because it is far enough away from any real noises source and I have a wind screen on my camcorder. However the lighting might be an issue out side, but if worse comes to worse I will use my interview techniques to get good "unrehearsed" sounding responses out of him. I will also get shots of the library this week.

Julian Giron Post 4

We did a quick and rough edit to all the footage that Blake, Megan, Nicole and Alex shot at school today. It was hard because there were not that many good takes with Russ' interview, but Blake found one of the good takes he did and he edited it. So far i believe we are making good progress, although im kind of worried about getting certain interviews for the video but i guess its common because i havent done anything like this before. Hopefully through out these coming weeks we will be able to meet and shoot more interviews. I am determined to break Russ out of his shell of memorizing what he is going to say. Wish me luck!

Nicole Gonzaga Post #4

Last week we conducted an interview with Russ and a lady named Faith from the shelter. We captured and did a rough edit of some of the footage and b-roll that we took. I think we have some quality footage but most likely we are going to try to get another interview with Russ. For our next attempt at Russ' interview, we'll try a few different approaches so he can sound more conversational. We were thinking about having Julian ask the questions next time and just have the environment be more relaxed. We're still trying to conduct an interview with Lisa, another person that works at the shelter, so hopefully we can do that at our next visit. I think she'll be a great addition to the video because she knows a lot about Operation Hope and seems very passionate about it. Overall, I think we're right on track. We're working well together and learning a lot from each other. We also learned a lot from our first shoot and we'll definitely take from that and be more prepared the next time around.

Blake's Post #4

This week Team Hope re-visited the footage we shot last week at the shelter. In this footage there was the interview of Russ, as well as a surprise interview with Faith. We captured the footage and decided what we could use and what needed to be scrapped. We also discussed what we wanted to accomplish next time we go to the shelter.Lighting is playing a key role in any shoot we do at the shelter. We need as much as we can get for every shot, so in return the shoots take a bit longer to set up and break down. Overall we are getting the hang of things inside of the shelter and are working pretty well together as a group. Next week we will be doing more interviews and re-shooting certain things that did not come out as well as planned.

Post #4 Megan Nelms

Last week we did footage on sight at Operation Hope. We got to interview a woman named Faith, and Russ Blackwood (who runs the facility). Faith's story was really great. We had a few bumps in the road as far as the shooting went, but overall it was a good turnout. We spent the rest of the week taking turns editing and uploading some footage to the blog. We are still working on what is and is not useable for Russ's interview so that we can figure out how to approach a re-interview. I posted some photos I took while we were setting up the shoot last week to the blog so that you can get a sort of behind-the-scenes feel for what we did. We really just need to get Russ a little more comfortable to do his next interview, but we have some good ideas.

Photos from the Film Shoot 3-2-10

Alex Weinberg Post #4

We got the footage of the shelter as well as interviewed Russ and a client named Faith. We need to re shoot lots of the footage because Gus sounds to rehearsed in most of the footage. We also want to get more people from the shelter interview. We however have trouble finding people since most of them do not want to be interviewed so we will see who else Russ finds. Our project goal is addressing awareness of the shelter in Vista. I think besides the video good placement of the shelter on social outpost would help to raise awareness. I also think that we can raise awareness of the shelter by having articles in the local newspaper about the shelter published.

Blake's Post #3

For this week we met up and filmed two interviews. Everyone in the group minus Julian were there to set up the lighting which turned out helping so much.I felt that Russ' interview went really well. The lighting seemed to be very nice and he was stoked at the footage and quality after the interview was done. The mics seemed to pic up the sound well and all of the equipment ran just fine. We shot a total of two interviews. The first being a women in Operation Hope named Faith. I do not think her audio turned out too well though because of her voice due to the lack of teeth she has making it hard for her to speak clearly. Overall i felt like today was a huge success. Basically our project is going to be showing the public what Operation Hope is doing for the homeless in their community. O.H. is there to help the families and kids find a home and place they belong. I think that our main problem is that we cannot shoot very much footage of the actual residents in Operation Hope. Many of them do not want to be on film or are simply not there most of the day. I think our group has figured out the way around this is plainly going to be more interviews and intimate shots of success stories and current employees within Operation Hope. Overall i feel we are making great progress and are working in the right direction for what our client wants us to produce.

Alex's warehouse overview video

Inside the shelter

Nicole Gonzaga Post #3

Today we met at the shelter so we could start interviewing Russ for the video. We came up with a few questions to ask him and we let him review them while we were setting up. I would say it took about a little more than an hour to set up everything. We also had an unexpected visitor who came by the shelter. Her name is Faith and she is about to be leave the shelter in a couple of days. She just came by the shelter to pick something up and Russ asked her if it was alright that we interview her.  She agreed but you could tell she was pretty nervous and self-conscious. We tried to not make her so nervous by talking to her little and letting her know that she will be helping others by participating in our video. We then asked her a few questions about Operation Hope and how they've helped her get back on her feet. She was very nice and helpful and I'm glad we interviewed her. I think in a month or two we will try to interview her again and see where she is now. On the other hand, I thought Russ' interview went alright. I mean, we got the lighting down well and the video looked great on the camera but Russ' responses sounded too rehearsed, not natural.  He'd mess up a few times while answering and he felt like he had to answer the entire question all over again, which was fine, but I think it would have been better if he didn't try memorizing his answers word for word. Overall I thought we got some quality footage. We definitely have stuff to work with, i think we just need to spend a little bit more time editing. If anything, we can always interview Russ again if we're not satisfied with the footage and while we're there maybe we can conduct an interview with Lisa, another staff member who works at the shelter. 

Julian Giron Post 3

Tomorrow we are going to the Operation Hope shelter to interview Russ Blackwood who is the main person running that shelter. We will interview him using various techniques. Somethings we have learned was to be more prepared with lighting. The lighting at the shelter is horrible and for tomorrow we have checked out 2 light kits so hopefully we will be able to light the place up so we can have a perfect interview. Mainly what Operation Hope wants is to show everyone about what they are all about. The video will be straight forward yet thoughtful and informative. Hopefully we will be able to create something that Russ will be proud of and a video that will help the shelter for everything they need.

Alex Weinberg post 3

We are going back this week and re shoot what we did last week. However this week we are going to light the whole warehouse so we can actually see the footage and also do an interview. I have brought the group my unique video skill son how to over take problems. For example I came up with a back up plan in case our lighting is a low quality shot.

Pictures cont. 2-23-10

PICTURES 2/23/10

post #2 Megan

Today we met with Russ. We went to go and shoot some footage of the empty shelter. The lighting was TERRIBLE. The florescent lights were the cause of this. We tried to white balance to get the light a little bit better, but nothing really helped. This is good that we went early so we know for the future. We can bring ample lights next time so we know it will look better on camera.

I spoke with Russ about meeting times, and potential people to interview. I also spoke to him about potentially thinking of what he wanted to for his personal interview, and he is going to get back to me when he figures it out.

Blake Schilling (Post #2)

So we met up again with Russ at the Operation Hope Shelter. We filmed every room there so we could figure out what lighting we would need. It turns out that all the shelter has for lighting is overhead florescent lights. There are not too many, and they are placed way high up on the ceiling of the warehouse. So as far as lighting goes the situation is horrible. We are most likely going to have to set up each shot with lights. We discussed with Russ the interviews we are going to be shooting, and how he wanted them to be perceived by the viewers. We also set the location for Russ' interview inside of his office, and are set to shoot that next time we meet up with him. Overall this trip to Operation Hope taught us a lot about what we need for next time. We are now set to shoot the first interview and start filming the inside of Operation Hope. Russ also let us know that he had a list of people for us to interview, some being families and success stories of Operation Hope. To date I have added my camera experience to the group, along with what I know from other experience like lighting, sound, editing, etc.

Julian Giron Post 2

Things are going smoothly for Team Hope. Today, Megan, Blake and I will be going to Operation Hope to shoot some shots when no one is in the shelter. This will give us some ideas on how to approach the video we are going to create. Nicole and Alex will not be joining us to do to some conflicts with schedules. From an Artist stand point i want to make sure i contribute as much as i can and give new ideas my group. Hopefully it will work out well and our video will turn our great. Since i really do not have experience shooting and creating a video, im hoping we can take an artistic approach to this video, to make it stand out from the rest. I want the video to be what Russ from Operation Hope wants it to be.

Nicole Gonzaga Post #2

Our group will be meeting with Russ this Tuesday (2/23/10). Unfortunately, I will not be able to make it to this meeting but i'm hoping to make it to the rest. The group's plan is to go to the shelter and use the DVX 100 to record and plan out some possible shots for the video. Megan also informed me that it might rain tomorrow so the group might not be able to shoot if people are inside the shelter. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens. As for any unique contributions that I've brought to the group, i'm still not exactly sure but I do have some ideas on how we can go about shooting. I'm still fairly new to video but I'm interested in shooting and working with the camera. I even checked out a DVX 100 myself so I can mess with and hopefully learn how to use it a little bit better.

Alex Weinberg post #2

This week we are going to shoot video on Tuesday. Hopefully I will get to get some shots with my Steadicam or maybe we will just conduct interviews. To date I have brought the contribution of my skills in pre production to get effective ideas for the content of the video. Hopefully we will be able to get some good footage of the facility I have some good ideas for faking a dolly shot so we will see how it turns out.

Alex Weinberg Post # 1

I was not able to attend but I heard that, today we met with Russ at the Operation Hope shelter in Vista. He drove in on his motor cycle through really small doors into the warehouse and he told us what he wants for the video. He wants to videos, one about the success stories and the other about what they do there. We can combine the 2 videos to make one five minute video. He also said that he does not want to say that the organization needs money, but just to show what they do. I liked the lime green carpet and the playroom in the center of the place. Every where no one was there because no one can be there until 4:00.

pictures of the Shelter

Pictures of the Shelter

Pictures of the Shelter

Pictures of the Shelter

Nicole Gonzaga Post #1

Last week in class we learned about the different camera angles. We went off into our production groups and tested them out on the DVX 100. We also worked with the lav microphone and asked each other questions. Today we met up with Russ Blackwoood from Operation Hope. Our group arrived at 12:00 and Russ arrived at 12:30 on his motorcycle. While we were waiting, two ladies working there were nice enough to answers some of our questions and give us a tour around the place. They showed us one of the biggest rooms which can hold about four people. They also have only one bathroom for 50 people and only 2 washers and dryers. The atmosphere of the whole place was really nice. It's so welcoming and comfortable I just want to go in there and hang out. What was also really neat were the bright colors. The bright lime green carpet and the different colors of the playground really stood out. I can imagine filming success stories in that place. When Russ finally arrived we asked him questions about what he wanted out of the video. He said the main thing he wants out of the video is to make people smile and feel good. He also mentioned that it would be nice to interview a group of kids talking about how Operation Hope helped them and their parents. Overall, i'm excited to work with Operation Hope. I think we can produce something great for them.

Julian Giron's Post 2/16

Today we went to the Operation Hope shelter and it was more than welcoming. As I walked in I immediately felt that this was a place that really helped people. Russ was not kidding when he said he had lime green carpet. The whole shelter resembled a big house with different sections. They had a spot that they called "The Play Station" where all of the kids hang out and play video games or watch movies, they also had a section where the adults can watch movies. Throughout the shelter they had various "cubicles" or spaces where the residence live. They had a section for big families and on the other side is where single moms and their kids sleep. Lisa who worked there gave us a tour of the whole shelter. Russ was running a little late but when he came he rode his harley motorcycle inside and parked in the kitchen. While we were there we talked about what we wanted the video to be like. We bounced around ideas and figured out what we are going to make our video about. He wants one for the website and also wants another longer video to show to various organizations. I took pictures using Megan's camera(the pictures will be shown on a separate blog). They have 2 washers and 2 driers, 2 refrigerators , 4 computers, and 2 tvs. We talked a lot about what we wanted in the video and we plan to shoot very soon.

I am looking forward to shoot this video and to use the skills i learned when we were using all of the equipment.

Megan Nelms Post #1

Today we met with Russ at the Operation Hope shelter.  We loved the facility.  There is lime green carpet, a playground, lots of couches.  It is much more welcoming than I would have expected.  We were hoping to meet with Russ earlier than today, but it was hard because he wasn't able to meet us over the weekend.  

Overall, it was a successful meeting because we got some photographs (we will post them in a separate post).  We talked about doing 3 videos.  We will do two short 2 minute videos to stream on the website, and a longer video that he can show at presentations with a projector.  One of the short videos will include an overview of the facility and what they are all about.  The other will be an interview with a family or some kids that showcase a success story from the shelter.  The longer video will be a combination of both.  His aim for the video is to show people that they are doing a good thing for the community with the assumption that funds will follow.  

Our next step is to talk with the group and figure out when we can go back to film while the shelter is empty.  Monday-Friday before 4pm is when we are able to do this.

Blake Schilling blog #1

We met with Russ today at the Operation Hope center in Vista, Ca. After walking around the outside of the center, two of the volunteers let us in and gave us a tour of their facility. We were shown the main living room and living quarters, as well as the kitchen, bathroom, and laundry room. We found out what direction Russ wanted the Operation Hope video to take, and the content to be filmed.

Currently we are waiting on Russ to contact us with the first interview times and date. We are interviewing a family that has benefited from Operation Hope and their facility.