Intro
The definition of zenith is the time when something is at its most powerful state. As we reach the end of our second year at Freestyle Academy we have also reached the end of what it has to offer us educationally, meaning we have reached the highest level we can reach as of now. We are at our zenith right now! What I chose to do for my zenith project was to create a commercial for a butter knife.
This project is a challenge for me because in the past I have focused less on the editing aspect of my movies and more about the story telling and cinematography. For this project, I learned more about how to edit, and I used my camera skills in unison with my new editing skills to make what I think is an awesome commercial.
Process
Before making the commercial I had to do a couple of things. First I had to create a script.
INT. KITCHEN
Butter is spinning on a lazy Susan.
A knife comes and cuts half way through the butter…
NARRATOR (V.O.)
This knife cuts through butter…
The knife completes the cut…
NARRATOR
Like butter.
Peanut butter and jelly jars slide onto the table from the right.
NARRATOR
With the capability to not only be a butter knife…
Knife scooping peanut butter
NARRATOR
But a peanut butter knife.
Peanut butter is being spread on a piece of bread.
NARRATOR
Versatility…
Continued spreading
NARRATOR
Elegance…
NARRATOR
Look at that spread…
Jelly gets introduced to the bread.
NARRATOR
Don’t let temptation get the best of you…
Folding sandwich.
Cutting Sandwich.
NARRATOR
Or do…
Throwing away sandwich…
Licking knife.
End.
I also created a shot list.
This outlines the different shots I need to get in order to make the commercial.
Final Product
Reflection
After Mr. Taylor introduced the Zenith project to us I had to figure out what I wanted to do for my project. The person I sat next to was Nate Randolph and he knew exactly what he wanted to do: his own brand and a commercial for it. He inspired me greatly. My project is a commercial, not for my own brand, but for something that seems difficult to sell: a butter knife. I took a lot of inspiration from McDonalds and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, the way that they just make the food look mouth-watering and have a funny narrator.
I got a lot of help from Mr. Taylor who showed me an example of a commercial that shows me what I need to do in a very slow and coherent way. It helped me understand better what kind of shots I should use to make my commercial as good as possible. But, I didn’t make it as good as possible. If I could do this project again, I would focus more on making my shots better before editing. For this project I focused a lot on editing and making sure that the shots looked good after I took them. I did a lot of color grading and editing the position and scale of the shots to make them more appealing to the audience.
What I learned from this is that I should make sure I follow a schedule to make sure I get the work done on time. I followed my schedule all the way up until the end, when I turned everything in on the same day that I edited it all. It was stressful, but at the end of it all I felt so accomplished and I am definitely proud of my final product. I feel like this would be up there with one of my best Freestyle Academy projects. At the time of writing this, I haven’t finished editing my Senior Narrative Film, and at this time this commercial might be the best work I have made.
After presenting my Zenith to the class, I feel great about it. I got a lot of laughs and people complimenting me after class saying it was great and they thought it was funny. Obviously when I watched it in class I could only see the glaring details and I’m sure Mr. T was on the nose with those details too, but the general audience loved it. I think if I were to take any of the skills I learned from the Zenith project into the future, I would take the amazing ability to spread almond butter on bread.