Beginning Of The Year Goals

 Look back at your goals for the Fall and Spring Semester blog posts.  Were you able to achieve your goals?  Why or why not?  What could you have done differently?  Looking back at them, what could you have done to focus more on your goals in the course?

My goals from the beginning of the year were:

1. Learn how to set up a tripod and camera quickly and efficiently
Accomplished. 

2. Learn how to write effective dialog that makes sense and is placed well (actually relevant and necessary)
Not accomplished.

3. Write stories that are meaningful and more complex
Not accomplished.

This class teaches a lot of technical skills, which I really loved, but I wish we focused a bit more on the storytelling aspect. How can we tell a good story and make good films if we didn't learn about effective storytelling, and how to tell a good story? I do appreciate the technical skills though, as that's what people hire on. I just think some lessons on proper story would be great, though I know the advanced kids go into that in the fall. 

Film Festival Reflection

   Reflect on your experience of the film festival.  What was it like to see your or your classmates' work on the big screen before a live audience?  How did this make you feel?  How could you improve in the future?  What would you do differently?

It was so fun to watch the films with an audience. I'm actually really disappointed that the screen couldn't seem to cast colors correctly. I noticed everything was blown out, and that the exposure of the colors were all bad. It sucked, since the color grading for Iron Gun was done so nice, and there's a lot of scenes that had a lot of colored lighting, and that was really unfortunate. It was so fun to hear everyone's laughter during the funny parts of Iron Gun though, it made it all worth it. In the future, I'll try to have more of my films in different festivals, but I never really minded. My groups were always very unfortunate. 

Comic Book Heaven

 What kind of mood do the filmmakers convey in this short?  What are 3 techniques that you noticed that help convey the mood of the film?

The filmmakers use color guarding to give the shots a warmer tone, and help the mood feel more nostalgic and welcoming. I also noticed a lot of shots of the owner, and the owner interacting with the customers to help this as well. Shots of the storeowner working also added to the hardworking and warm feeling in this documentary. It's short and sweet, and feels welcoming. It may motivate people to visit the store more if they "get to know" the storeowner, and see that he's a sweet and hardworking person. 

Terrance Documentary

 What are 3 techniques that it uses that you learned about in the documentary?  How does the documentary use them effectively?  Are there any techniques it uses that weren't in the keynote?

The use of interviews in the documentary add a lot of personalization to the video. They use them effectively by adding a lot of b-roll and having the camera close to the participant's face. There's a lot of effective b-roll showing moments in the participants lives, and showing who they are as a person. The coloring of the interviews is also quite dull, the background plain. This helps the tone of the documentary, and shows these peoples upcoming adventure in a bitter-sweet light. 

The Bull Rider

 What are 3 techniques that it uses that you learned about in the film?  How does the documentary use them effectively?  Are there any techniques it uses that weren't in the keynote?

One technique that I noticed is the coloring. The coloring was more muted. Something else I noticed was the use of a lot of slow-motion clips. This gave the documentary a more serious feel, especially because another technique used was close ups. There were so many slow motion clips all throughout the documentary, and it opened my eyes to the fact that these can be pulled off well. I'll definitely try to use slow motion clips in my next documentary. It adds more of a serious tone to the film, and makes it more visually interesting to look at. 

Storytelling Techniques

 What are 3 techniques that the filmmakers use to tell a compelling story?  What kind of mood do they create?  How do they accomplish this?

An important technique to keep in mind is even though your cinematography may be simple, your driving question and your execution must be good. This is crucial to create an effective documentary. They accomplish a nostalgic look by grading the footage. The simple shots feel raw and genuine. While the shots aren't extreme, this documentary paid great detail to the entire experience of going to the drive-in.

Documentary Status

  What is the status of your documentary?  What is each of your team members doing to support it?  What exactly have you been doing?  What are some challenges you've been having?  How can you overcome them?

The current status of my documentary is that it's completed. I'm satisfied with how it looks. I don't think any of my teammates are done though, since I have a laptop and was able to do a lot of work at home. I've filmed multiple days of b-roll and operated the camera. It was hard to try to stay close to my group, since I had a lot of days where the advanced kids wanted to work on Iron Gun with me, so I felt really guilty when Amber and Shania went to go shoot b-roll by themselves- but I didn't even end up getting that footage. I didn't need it anyways. Next time, I'm not too sure how I could change this, since I was needed in both groups. I tried as hard as I could though, and I finished everything in time, so I think I did a good job managing my documentary, reel, website, and documentary film all at the same time.
    Some advice that I would give to other groups in the future, is to try to get to know classes before you pick them. Some students in certain classes aren't very outgoing, but we had to pick our class the day of, so it was tricky. I would've wanted to pick another class, since the class we picked had a lot of shy students. Nobody was outgoing, and they gave us rough answers, that we had to go on and adjust. This was because the participants were so shy and nervous. A lot of them also weren't completely fluent in English, as in you could tell that English wasn't their first language. This made it so much harder to complete a good documentary.

Documentary Mistakes

 In your own words, which of these three are the most important?  Why?  If there were one more mistake that could be added to this list, what do you think it would be?

I think the top mistakes, are not having a vision when filming, not asking a good question, and choosing a theme. These are important mistakes you should keep in mind because making these mistakes will affect the overall quality of the documentary, even if your camera work is really good for example. Another mistake I would add is not getting enough B-roll. This is a significant mistake to make, as it can lower the value of your project.

3 Point Lighting

 What are three key points that the presenter makes about lighting?  Why are each of them important?  What is one point that you would like to learn more about?

Something that I learned is that 3-point lighting refers to only your subject. This doesn't include the lights that are lighting up your background. 3-point lighting is also just your "home base". You can add more, and especially subtract more if you want to go for a certain look. I also learned that the hair light is to separate your subject from the background. The key light is the "most important" light, as it supplies the main source of lighting for your subject. Having just the key light lighting the scene will create dramatic shadows on your participants face, which may be the look you're going for. The fill light can then be added to film more of a casual setting. Something I want to learn more about, is if you want the lighting to be different colors, which light would you change the color of? The key light? The hair light? Both? I'm curious as to what that looks like. 

Shooting An Interview

 What are three key suggestions that this video brings up?  Why are each of these so important?  How could you use them in future productions?

Interviews are one of the most common shoots that you'll be asked to film. A good tip to keep in mind, is to chose good framing. Allow some look room to be present, and depending on what the interview is on, you'll want to have the subject looking either at the camera, or to the side of it. This will depend on what kind of interview it is, and what your message is! Also, you'll generally want to keep your interviews at eye height, but it depends. Another tip, is to add a fitting background! A great idea is to use a green screen, since you can be more creative with the background, and switch things up! Lastly, running a 2nd camera may be helpful to you, if you want to include a lot of A-roll in your interview. This will help keep the interview more engaging and interesting to look at. 

Interviewing People On Camera

 What are three tips that you think are the most important from this video?  Why?

The most important tip that I got from this video is to ask open ended questions. Simple yes or no answers are going to give you a bland answer, and it won't give the interviewee an opportunity to explain yourself. Also, to get the most natural answers, you shouldn't give your questions out. This allows for original answers that are genuine. Lastly, keep your question short and concise. Don't ramble on and confuse your participant. Let them give you their simple answers. 

A-Roll

 What is the difference between A and B roll?  Why is B-roll needed?

A-roll is the main footage that you'll use for your documentary. It's the interview footage. B-roll is supplementary to A-roll. It's needed to hide the cuts of the audio, and fill in the video to help viewers visualize your story/the unfolding of events. 

What Is B-Roll?

 B-roll is essential for your documentary.  Check out this article with embedded videos for a closer explanation and examination of it.

If your main story (your A-roll) is a welder talking about their life, your b-roll would be the welder working. This could even include infographics, images, stock footage, animation, etc. You want to shoot b-roll to support your main a-roll footage to help the audience "buy-into" your story. You need to make sure you're shooting as much as possible so you have a variety of clips to use for your documentary. 

Writing a Documentary Treatment

What are the 3 key things that this article tells the viewer to keep in mind?  Why are they important? 

The main thing I learned was that there's no template to making a documentary treatment. It can be "a script (not unlike a fictional narrative script), a story outline, a treatment, a creative brief or an audio-visual breakdown." It's also important to keep in mind that while writing a script, you want to try to keep viewers on their toes while watching the documentary. You should keep them asking for more and keep them curious. Writing a synopsis might also be valuable, and help you keep all your shots on the right track to use to use. 

Nonook Of The North

 What are 2 things that the filmmaker did that are controversial?  Why were they?  Do you think the film was "authentic" after reading this article?  Why are why not?  Why is this film so famous?

The Nonook Of The North is famous because it's one of the first "documentaries". But, two things that the filmmaker did that are controversial is that the information shown in this documentary is both dated, as well as scripted. I don't view the film as authentic after reading the article. I believe that to be a documentary, you can't stage events to happen to film. I think that's the entire point in a documentary. That it's real and not staged. The fact that this film was created, and wasn't accurate, it infantilized the Inuit people, and it showed a romanticized depiction of Inuit culture and life. It's not a real documentary because it's fake, and it doesn't have accurate information. 

What Is A Documentary?

   Imagine you are talking to a person who has never before seen or even heard of a documentary film. How would you describe it? What are some essential elements of a documentary film? What distinguishes a documentary film from a narrative (Hollywood) film or a broadcast news story?

I would describe a documentary as a nonfiction, informational video made to educate. Some essentials elements are a video baes on fact, and usually interviews. The largest thing that distinguishes a documentary from a narrative, is that a Hollywood film has a story. In a documentary, there isn't a story being told. It's just information (and sometimes opinion). 

Music Video Reflection

 Reflect on your performance in your music video group.  Look back at your pitch.  What was your role in the project?  What went according to plan?  What didn't?  How could you improve future productions?

All in all, I think it was my favorite project to shoot. There were a lot of struggles with my group though. Patrick and Jonary did nothing. While Jonary was in the hospital and that's not his fault, he didn't even help the week he was here. Jace and I were texting in the group chat, and he was reading messages but not replying. It was basically just Jace and I doing everything, but I was mostly taking care of things myself. I messaged the record store a week in advance, and they didn't reply. Luckily, when we showed up to shoot, they said it was okay if we used the location. I like how the record store clips turned out. It was a fun project, but I wish we could've done more, since I was super excited for the project and I didn't get to do my best work, since my group didn't help. Next time, I'll pick a better group if a project means a lot to me. 

Sound Design In Film

 After watching this video, what do you notice about the importance of sound design in film?  Why is it so essential?

Watching the compared clips with audio and sound effects versus the same slips without any sound or sfx was truly impactful. I now fully see how sound changes the complete meaning of the video. I really want to learn more about it and get better at it. I see how important it is now, and I appreciate the art of sound design. It's so essential because it's actually telling the story. Just visuals won't give you the emotion that you really need in the film. 

Using EQ To Enhance Audio

 Explain the process of using the EQ to enhance your dialog.  Why would you want to use this process?

You may want to use EQ to mellow out harsh audio, or to help with audio lacking articulation. To use it, go to the effects tab, and click filter and EQ. Then click Parametric Equalizer. There's some helpful presets you can pick from, or you can personalize it yourself! This can be helpful when you need your audio to sound a big larger and less weak.