Hello people of my class (and others if you’ve found your way here,)

I just wanted to send a big thank you out to everyone who took the time to read our blog. It’s been fun giving you all tips on how to be more confident in front of the camera, and in everyday life. Confidence is easy when it’s faked (though faking is never a good thing, ladies.)

It has been a great semester and I hope everyone took something away from this, even if it is just how stupid I am telling you all how to fake it. But it works, try it for yourself. So have a great summer, good luck on your exams and may the confidence be with you in the face of the opposite sex.

Comm-entator forever,

Liam McWade 

Hi everyone. It’s been a fun and busy semester for all of us here at Comm-Entary, and it has been the same for all of you, I’m sure. We just wanted to take this time to quickly look back on the semester. Thank you for following our blog, and we really enjoyed all of your projects and postings as well. From a personal standpoint, your projects helped us learn a lot of cool new things, so thank you very much. This was a different experience for many of us. Some of us took our first steps into the world of blogging this semester, and it was definitely a unique experience. Good luck to all of you in the future and thank you for everything. Have a great summer everyone!

-David M.

Hello people of the internet, 

Final audio/video podcast presentation finished and I think it went pretty well. I missed the post last week so I am going to double up this week. This week I will continue to give tips and tricks on how to be more comfortable (or at least appear so) on camera. 

Tip #3: Dress Sharp

Look good is key to feeling good. Regardless if you’re skinny, a little overweight, too tall, too skinny or anything in between, anyone can dress sharp and impress. There are many options, none of which I will go into since everyones style is different, but don’t go too crazy. Look good, feel good. 

Tip #4: Speak Up

This could be one of the most important and even I myself have trouble from time to time. Speak loud when talking with others to appear more confident in what you are saying. Do not mumble! Sometimes it is difficult when your are nervous around new people but if you talk as if you are an expert on the topic it will make people feel as if you are, therefore, you will appear to have confidence which will give you confidence. 

Look for more tips and tricks on how to be more comfortable on camera this week. So until next time, stay classy. 

Liam McWade

Hey everybody. We’re coming up on the end of the semester here at the University, but the Commentary Blog is still hard at work. As projects pile up, and finals begin we’re keeping busy. Here are a couple of quick tips to help get you through.

1. Set yourself a timetable: It’s definitely a good idea to budget your time wisely. If you have multiple assignments and hours of studying ahead of you, plan out a day-by-day schedule for yourself. The due dates can’t sneak up on you if you’re prepared for them.

2. Don’t try to finish an assignment in one day: We’ve all been there and done this before. Leaving something to the last minute and trying to finish a project the last day isn’t a lot of fun. It’s stressful, it’s exhausting, and it’s definitely avoidable.

3. Get some sleep: Everyone is up late studying and writing papers at this time of year. It’s unavoidable., but whatever you do, try to find the time to get some sleep, even if it’s just a nap. Heading into a midterm well-rested is almost as important as being well-prepared.

 Thanks for reading everybody, and keep following the blog. Have a great day, and good luck with those projects!

-David M.

Hey guys, enjoy Comm-entary audio podcast number 3: In Which We Grill Natasha About Photography.

Cheers,

Ryan

Check out our second video podcast as Liam finds out what it takes to be a good host!

Hey everyone, so todays picture is food! Mmmm just looking at it is making me hungry! haha and to be that is what food photography is all about. It is about making people want your food and to make people buy or eat what is in the photo. 

This photo was taken with a Nikon D40 using a sigma 70-300 mm lens. 

Shutter speed: 1/125

F stop: 13/f

This photo was taken out in the sun so the shutter speed needed to be a little bit faster and the aperture needed to be a little more closed than if I was taking the picture inside. 

Hey all. Thanks for keeping up with the blog. As you’ve all seen, Liam posted some great tips earlier today that can come in handy when you make your move in front of the camera. If you’re like me however, and happen to be terrified at the very thought of being filmed, there are plenty of options for you. 

I just thought I’d flesh out a little bit of what makes editing so enticing, and hopefully you’ll agree with me. The opportunity to take footage that may be less than stellar, and turn it into its own story is very satisfying. Watching a story take shape in post-production can be one of the most rewarding aspects of filmmaking. The great thing about editing is that no matter how much time you spend on it, there is always something else to be learned. Collaborating with people you like and respect can be equally rewarding, and you can always learn something new from them as well.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve had little to no experience editing, or if you’ve been doing it for years, it is a lot of fun, and a great option for someone who doesn’t enjoy the on-set experience as much. Good luck to all of you with any and all projects you have, and thanks so much for continuing to read our blog.

Have a great day!

-David M.

Hello to everyone reading our blog, Liam here. 

I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather. If anyone was like me today, you just read the temperature on the computer because you have been inside all day watching March Madness. (Let’s Go Duke)

Anyways, tonight I am going to give you tips on how to be more confident. You can use these next time you are in front of the camera, talking to a group of people or just out with some ladies and a conversation arises. It is very important to be able to appear confident in all of these situations because people can see weakness and smell fear. 

Tip #1: Eye Contact

When you are talking to people in small numbers, try and make eye contact. This is often difficult when you lack self-confidence but the easiest way to do it is to make a triangle with you eyes - start with one eye, move to the other eye, then look at the mouth. Talking to large groups is easier because they don’t know if you are actually looking at them or not, just look between people and move your head often. It prevents staring too long at people and eye contact attracts more attention and makes you appear confident. 

Tip #2: Positive Affirmations

Some people will say the way to boost your self confidence is to say positive things to yourself; “I am strong,” “I am attractive,” or “I am incredibly talented, funny and everyone likes me.” These don’t always work but your welcome to try anyways. My tip is to have other people say these to you. You can’t ask them to or hint at it, it has to be genuine. The trick is to set it up so they think the idea was theirs, (like Inception.) Show people something of yours that will prompt a positive response. This will increase four self-confidence while at the same time make everyone see how awesome you are. 

That is all the tips I am going to share today, I hope you find them useful. I hope you all have a great night and a St. Patricks day you can’t remember. It’s time for me to get back to March Madness and try and pick myself up from VCU busting my bracket for a second year in a row. Let’s Go Duke and I’ll see you next week!

Liam

This photo was taking on the music video set of The Blue Stones for their hit “Vain Vixens” 

It was taken on a Canon t2i using a 50 mm 1.8/f lens. 

The f stop was at 2.5/f and the shutter was 1/125. 

This was one of my favourite shoots. It was a 50’s themed shoot taking place in Villians! If you havn’t gone there then you defiantly should. 

Check out their music video here: