Friday, December 16, 2016

Final Exam In Video

This semester, I took video production, and we've focused more on the journalism side of video. Here are 2 projects I made:

ONW 1 in 200 Interview



This is a news interview of my friend, Lizzie. This took 2 classes to film, 3 to edit, and I chose not to revise. Some challenges I faced was finding a good location in the building to film. I found a well-lighten hallway, yet students occasionally passed through. However, I learned how to use white balance. The feedback was positive, and I was praised for the creativity of the interview. This is probably my best video of the semester.

Feature Story: The Culture House and The Arts



My most recent project is another shot at the whole feature story thing. This took around 2-3 hours to film, 3 classes to edit, and 1 to revise. Some challenges I faced were finding subjects and classrooms to film in. I wanted to interview teachers, but obviously teachers have to teach, so I didn't interview my first choices. But the very nice receptionist helped guide me, so props to her! Some feedback I received was that the subjects were looking in the wrong direction while the camera was rolling, but it was on me because I didn't realize this. Lesson learned: YOU direct YOUR interviews. Obviously I wasn't going to re-film the whole thing. When I was revising though, I noticed a few jump cuts from when I was cutting the interviews, and covered those up with b-roll. I really like this one though.

Now how did I use this time to film, edit and revise?

How I used my Time

Of course, the first step was the concept. You can't just walk into somewhere with a camera and start filming random stuff, you have to plan out how you are going to use your filming time. In my freshman year, I would storyboard, but this semester I used writing. I would write out my interview questions, describe b-roll I could get, and voiceover.

The next part is filming. I would interview my interview subjects, and film my b-roll. Just in case I didn't have enough b-roll, I would film some more.

Then I would edit. I would try to get my video in the time limit, and cut my interviews so that it flowed without me asking questions.

When I was done, I would rewatch it, export it, and upload it to YouTube. We watch all the videos in class, so I know what to revise through feedback. Then I would export and upload the final project.

Strengths

I think I was doing the best as creativity. I knew cool shots to get, and how I would get them. I was also good at cutting videos just right, so that the b-roll was interesting and the interviews flowed nicely.

Improvements to Make

Definitely need to improve my use of the camera. I still don't feel comfortable holding and operating a camera, with things like the tripod, white balance, and focus.

Summary

This semester was a good one, and I liked journalism more than I thought I would (even though I still prefer Entertainment). I would take more control of my interviews though. Next semester, I would like to unleash my creativity and have fun making the short films. Well, see y'all 2017!

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