During the filming process, as someone who as never had any experience with media, I found it very beneficial. Through the preliminary exercise I am now confident with setting up the camera, filming and editing.
As part of my job, of being in charge of sound and props I made sure that everyone came in with the right costumes and brought in any extra things that may have been needed for the film. For example we had to bring in some pills and open them to create something, that on camera would appear as cocaine. Also I learn that it is crucial that any background noise can be easily picked up by the camera so I had to make sure that there would be nobody around and that anyone not acting had to be silent.
After a quick tutorial, I was able to help the group set up the camera successfully and use it appropriately. For different shots we had to put the camera at different levels and arrange it in a in a certain frame. After our first session of filming, we looked over what we had and realised that we had missed out on a lot of the things we need to include in our preliminary exercise. We had broken the 180 degree rule and had missed out the shot-reverse-shot that was necessary. So we booked another slot to re-film everything. However, although the camera was obviously recording, we couldn't find our filming on the tape later on and so yet again we had to film everything from the beginning. By this time, as a group we were a lot more confident in what we were doing, so everything was done quicker and more efficiently. With shot-reverse-shot we had to keep on cutting and moving the camera so it faced a different direction which sometimes could be tricky to get just right.
As nobody from our group had ever done media before, it took a little longer for us to do the editing process. Uploading our clips onto the mac wasn't extremely difficult, however when it got to the cutting and selecting part, in Final Cut Pro, it got a little more tricky and took a little longer for us to get the hang of. The cuts were pretty simple though we just had to cut the bad parts out and put the scenes in order, then making the title and credits were simple enough.
Overall, I am personally glad that we had to do this preliminary exercise as it gave me the chance to learn a few basics and the whole process has made me more confident with the camera, filming and editing process.
A very useful post that shows you are on a steep learning curve Veronica. I have been very impressed with how well you have picked up new skills and I am confident you will do well in this course. You clearly have leadership capabilities and I have high expectations that your group are going to be a strong team.
ReplyDeleteYou have proved yourself reliable with your contribution to the research and planning of the preliminary exercise through the props and in managing your time so, although this is a very scaled-down version of the main construction exercise, I expect you to be working at Level 4 in this area from the outset.
Your blog is assessed partly for the use of ICT, so this post can be nothing more than Level 1 in that particular regard. Please make sure you upload a quicktime of your final edited piece at least, but also some images of the tools you used in Final Cut Pro (FCP) and an explanation of what you achieved with them.
Do see me if you have any specific questions, or attend coursework catchup for a chance to work under supervision.