Commercial Editing blog

 

For my commerical, I decided to use CapCut for editing. It was pretty simple to use. I really enjoy using programs like this one due to them being beginner friendly. I am super interested in film and photography, so I am just now starting to try different forms of editing. CapCut has helped me experiment with such. Doing this , I have created the most visually pleasing commercial. I just had to import all my videos . The full length of the commercial has to be about 30 seconds. I did a system where each scene I filmed was 5 seconds and then I had 6 different scenes. This keeps my editing in an orderly fashion and keeps everything simple enough to keep track of. Something specific that I really liked about the editing for example is scene 5. The use of the Split screen shows two guitars playing together. The most important element to this was the visuals. When thinking of visuals this lead me to pay attention to the colors and scenes when editing. Creating a visually pleasing commercial is very important in the eyes of the person viewing it. In my opinion the next most important aspect is the music. So then I imported the music to capcut and just synced the scenes to it. When watching the final product, I was pleased.This meant my commerical was done. All the scenes lined up and the music and visuals we're on point. 

Commercial production blog: the Music

 

For my commercial I decided to use a Beatles song. The Beatles are well liked in Music and well recognized. I really enjoy their music as well. I own most of their albums, either records or CDs. In the commercial I wanted to use one of their songs. The song I decided on is "Here, there , and everywhere". This whole song has a very beautiful sound throught it. The harmonies have always stood out to me. They make me feel calm and at ease. This is by far one of my favorite Beatles songs, and songs period. The song has a feel of togetherness. This goes with my theme for my commercial, music or guitar bring people together. By playing this record on the record player, and the music queueing after, it starts the whole commercial because of the music. This has a bigger meaning, this refers to music starting beautiful things. This plays on the theme of connection all around. The shots in the commercial start out with one person playing the guitar. This slowly evolves and shows two people playing the guitar. It creates a bond and connection through the instruments. This also connects the viewer watching the commercial. If the person who sees this commercial knows the song, they will instantly feel at ease due to the calm and familiar nature of it .

Production for Commercial

 

On Thursday I took the time to film for my commercial. 

I decided to do it in my room, due to my commercial being about guitars. My room contains music posters all around. I assumed this would fit the theme well. When advertising guitars, I thought there would be no place better to film. I started off by putting the Beatles Revolver record on the record player. This is just a scene of me starting the record and the music will be queued after. I tried to do a take just with the lighting the way it was in my room. This was to dark and I had to use the light from a flashlight on a phone to shine a light on the subject. The final shot of this scened ended up being bright and well lit. This is why I decided to film all my scenes like this. The next scene was filmed with me and my bass, different shots were taken to find the best one. I ended up doing a close up shot of plugging the cable into the bass guitar. This was a close up emphasizing the process of plugging in then playing the bass guitar. The scene filmed after was a two shot of two people playing the guitar and bass guitar. This shows the togetherness of music. This also shows how music can give people a reason to connect. Then there was separate footage shot of two different people playing the guitar. I will edit this into a split screen. The last shot on the screen will be the two guitars on stand with the Epiphone logo on top. 

Storyboard

Scene 1: A person puts "Here, There, and Everywhere" by Beatles on the record player.

Scene 2: A close up of a person plugging in a guitar.

Scene 3: The camera zooms in on a person playing the guitar that was plugged in the previous scene.

Scene 4: A two shot of the original person and a new person playing guitar together.

Scene 5: A split screen shot of both people playing the guitar-close up and different angles for each shot.

Scene 6: The Epiphone logo fades in over the scene of the two people playing guitar, scene fades away until screen is black with Epiphone logo.

Planning for My commercial

 Props:

Since me and my group are doing a commercial for guitar center, our main prop will be a guitar. Other props include an amp, record player, and guitar picks.

Costumes:

In our commercial, there will be two people featured. One will wear causal everyday clothing. This will consist of a t-shirt and jeans with sneakers. The other will wear clothes that resemble an 80's rock star.

These different costumes will show how all different people can pick up the guitar and enjoy music.

Schedule:

On 9/16/25, our group researched different techniques used in guitar commercials.

On 9/17/25, our group decided what techniques to use infour commercial, as well as what props, costumes and locations to use. We also decided what our backup plan would be if we could not film when we wanted to.

On 9/19/25, our group will create the storyboard for our commercial. It will include pictures and a description of each scene.

On 9/26/25, our group will film the shots for the commercial together.

On 9/28/25, our group will edit and put together the commercial so it is ready to submit.

Location List:

The location of the commercial will be in both group member's houses and rooms. Some portions of the commercial may be filmed outside, if the weather permits. In the rooms, we will him someone playing the guitar or listening music. This emphasizes how music is a big part of everyday life.

Backup plan:

If the weather is not good, we will only film inside our houses and not include shots from outside. If something comes up and we are not able to film on the original day, we can film over the weekend or if need be film separately and edit the clips together.

Research blog: commercial

  

Guitar commercials typically include a wide shot of a person with a guitar. This establishes the setting and shows the product being sold. There is also a zoom into a close up shot of someone playing or tuning the guitar. Sometimes there is a two shot showing multiple people playing guitar together. This can also be a three shot. There could also be a split screen shot of two different angles of the guitar. For example, one high angle and one low angle. For sound, there is both diegetic and non diegetic sound used. Some commercials have clips of sound from the guitar being played as it is shown on screen, while others add in sound over the real world music. Typical costumes are just casual clothes, as it is meant to be relatable.

Props include guitars, amps, and sometimes other instruments. Some different settings are a house, music store, or stage. Music in guitar commercials can be upbeat and fun, or it can be mellow and calming. Both can show the positive feelings that come from playing music and sharing that music with others. There are multiple transitions that different commercials of this type use. Some use jump cuts to quickly move between shots. Some are slower with their transitions and use fade in/fade outs or dissolves. The editing for more upbeat commercials is fast and busy. In contrast it is more subtle and slower in more mellow commercials. There are many different ways to film a guitar commercial but there are some techniques that all have in common that make them more enjoyable to watch.

Pitch blog!

 

Pitch 1: Guitar center commercial about how music brings people together.

I have a really cool idea for a pitch, in relation to music. I really enjoy music and various instruments. Since Guitar Center sells a lot of different musical items, I could use many things for this commercial. It would be lighthearted and comforting, and show people that everyone is connected by music. The acting would be genuine and happy, which would be pretty easy since I like music a lot. It would mostly take place inside.

This commercial would appeal to all ages and audiences, since it is a theme everyone can relate to. It would also be an interesting project to film with friends. I could work with them to figure out how to best convey this message. At the same time, advertising Guitar Center as a place to shop that will help create music to further connections between customers and other people in the world.

Pitch 2: An advertisement for the shoe brand Converse.

While I really like Converse shoes, and wear them a lot, I would not be as interested in filming this pitch. I do not think it would be as interesting. Shoe commercials do not have as meaningful themes most of the time as the first pitch would. I don't think there would be much acting, as the commercial would mostly show the shoes and not faces. I also think this advertisement wouldn't be very original, since most shoe commercials are pretty similar. This would also be lighthearted, but more adventurous. It would mostly take place outdoors.

Chosen Pitch: A commercial for Guitar Center that shows how people all over the world are connected by something as priceless as music! 

Elise and I!

I am working with my good friend Elise! We have known eachother a long time. Due to this, we have gotten close over the years. We attended the same middle school and have been inseparable since. 

Elise is a lot of fun to work with but also a very good, hard worker. She really prioritizes stuff like school. This also makes me want to work harder and stay focused on school. 

We both think alike on ideas and are open to ideas. It makes the work a lot easier when you work with sombody who really listens. An example is, in middle school we did a group project together. The project was for civics, we got it done in a flash! This is all due to our good work ethic.  It was about the bill of rights and had a catchy tune to it and came across very well, everyone loved it. This is how I know we will be able to float ideas around easily and agree on them! Elise is a very talented person in many ways. She likes things like literature and music. She is a phenomenal artist and pianist! 

I look forward to working together this year. I know with our dedication and motivation to work, we will do phenomenal. 

About me Nikki Rapanos

 

My name is Nikki, I am in media studies because I love films. 

If you look above, that is a picture of me playing a live at one of my gigs. Somthing about me is that I love music, I play guitar and bass. I have been fortunate enough to play MANY shows and I love playing live music! I have also got the opportunity to record in the studio for an album multiple times. I have been playing in this band since I was 14, so I have had a lot of learning experiences and come a long way from then. Just the other day, as you can see in that photo; we played at a Cafe and record shop. We had to jump through some hurdles along the way, but it ended up being a very busy show and the crowd loved us. Despite the complications and difficulties... We still stuck by it and went on with the performance.

I am also a collecter of all sorts of physical media, including Records, CDs, cassets, DVDs, and VHS tapes. Most of my life and the way I dress is based around the music I am into, it is a nice outlet for me. 

I also am a movie enjoyer. Some of my favorite films include, Vannila sky, Eternal sunshine of a Spotless mind, memento, Deathproof and the Rocky horror picture show! I love watching movies and having sombody to talk to about the films, I find all the aspects of them very fascinating. The idea of being completely immersed and into a piece of art is something that is beautiful. 

Other than music, or school, a really nice part of my life is the fun dates I get to go on. One of our favorite spots is a little diner called Moonlight . The walls are covered with posters from movies, some of my favorites include the Pulp Fiction ones!

I look forward to being apart of this media studies class. I look forward to learning more about the process of what goes into film making.