Michael Salazar

Digital Storytellying

Tag: AssignmentIdea

  • Create a Commercial

    The new Personal Pizzas from Papa Johns are a great addition to our menu. Three specialties are offered: Sheriffs Round up, Space Ranger-Roni, and Reach for the Pie! They can also be customized with any sauce or toppings. There are three new Toy Story 5 themed boxes with limited time prints. Don’t forget about the Rootin Tootin Ranch!

    Image From https://www.papajohns.com/personal-pizza/

    Filmed at the Papa Johns in Chatham Heights. The constant humming of the ovens combined with the smell of baked dough and cheese makes for an unforgettable atmosphere. The heavy foot traffic in the area means that these quick personal pizzas fly out the door. Our friendly staff will help get the order made and out the door.

    Be sure to stop by and grab yourself a Personal Pizza! Each one made to perfection with care. On sale for a limited time for $8.99 at participating stores.

  • Blooper Reel

    Bloopers are an essential part to every piece of video media. I don’t think I have ever recorded myself to make a video like this so there were quite a few mistakes. It was also insanely hot in the store this day.

    Filmed at the Papa Johns in Chatham Heights. This was late night after the recent storms and our air conditioning went out. The flour gets sticky and the dough starts to get wet. Everything starts to get wet. Condensation aside, the personal pizza turned out perfectly as always.

    Looking back on the assignment, I would have prepared a script instead of just winging it. I had a lot of bloopers for my commercial because it was improvised. I learned that creating video media takes time and planning to end up with an effective product.

  • Tell Your Character’s Story

    The Midnight Rider needs no introduction at this point. Typically found, or should I say heard, riding the streets after dark on his way home from work. However, the Midnight Rider still rides for fun. He and his crew get out to enjoy the sun and the breeze any chance they get. Today it was just him and P Long hitting the road.

    Snapchat-699981420
    Image of The Midnight Rider

    We ride through the backroads of Stafford and Hartwood. We feel the sidewall of the tires on every twist and turn we make. It was about 90 degrees outside and the sun was beaming down onto us. However, with all of our vents open and acting like a wind tunnel, we stay cool as long as we don’t have to come to a stop.

    Music by Frequency

    The Midnight Rider Learned he needs to slow down and enjoy the little things in life. Riding home from work at night is definitely different. The night rides start to feel like a necessity. However, the leisure rides feel like an escape from reality and all of its problems. The random daytime rides get more and more rare as life goes on and people get busy. As long as there are two wheels down on the right side of the pavement, everything will be alright.

  • Spooky Season

    shadowForest
    AI generated image of the spooky forest that was inspired by the sound.

    I created a spooky soundtrack that sounds like it belongs in a horror shooter videogame cutscene. Imagine waking up in a dark unknown forest. Shadowy figures weaving through and flying above the trees. The camera pans down to alien looking technology attached to various parts of the players body making ominous beeps and boops. There is massive silhouette in the distance. The footsteps can be felt through the grounds and the vibrations of its growl make vision blurry.

    I used Studio One for the sound effects and instrument recording on this assignment. My favorite part about the soundtrack is the quiet background music behind all of the effects. I took a classic drum track and slowed the tempo down to keep the ominous tone. It was still missing something, so I plugged in my bass and used heavy distortion to get those scratchy low notes.

    Everything layered together gives the spooky ambiance that I was looking for. There are a couple parts where all of the effects go silent and it is just the music. Those moments give a sense that it might be over. However, the groans and booms of monsters looming return louder and closer after each silence.

  • Eat Your Heart Out Beethoven

    Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes is already considered to be a classic. For this assignment I wanted to take the classic and make it classical. I changed every instrument using Studio One and a MIDI file of the original song. Most of the instruments came from the East West sound libraries. Piano, flute, violin, cello, trombone, and a harp are all used to replace the original instruments.

    Original song by The White Stripes

    The new instrumentation starts off the iconic riff with harp and trombone to replace the original guitar and bass. The low pitch coming from the trombone sounds menacing by itself at the start. However, the drums kick in quickly followed by the piano at the first chorus which makes the song sound more recognizable. I chose Seven Nation Army because the riff is so recognizable that really any instrument could be playing the main riff and it would be obvious.

    My favorite part about the new instruments is the guitar solo. Instead of a solo, the part is being played by a flute, violin, cello, and piano. The flute was ran through an old radio sound effect that makes it cut through the rest of the mix. The new instruments in the solo give the part a lot more power than the original had. The song has been steadily building up to this crescendo moment of the solo. Overall I think the new instruments still keep the iconic song intact while giving it a more classical and orchestral sound.