Here is a photo we took while shooting at Old Main
There are many visual storytelling skills that are crucial to creating a compelling package. One of these skills is recording good audio. Clear, powerful audio can easily connect scenes through sound bridges. Otherwise, these scenes would not flow well. For instance, while editing Project 1, we learned that we should have used more of a sound bridge with the audio from the Old Main Bell Tower when we cut to a different scene.
We also learned how difficult it is to edit out audio that you do not want there. You cannot just mute the video in that portion, because you still need natural sound. Approaching this issue sounds simple–just avoid talking while the camera is rolling. However, that is easier said than done. When there are three people working with one camera, we all have different ideas as to where the camera should be pointed, for how long and how close/medium/wide the shot should be. So, it is difficult to keep your mouth shut when you want to give someone advice or make a suggestion. Sometimes, the shot is so good that you just want to comment out loud about how great it will look in your package. But refraining from doing this will save you a lot of editing grief in the long run.
Regarding something positive for our audio, while recording our voiceovers, we repeated each portion of the dialogue many times. This presented us with the opportunity to nitpick the audio and choose the very best pieces to use in the final package. In the future, we plan to do this again to maximize our chance of creating a “perfect” voiceover track.
Another simple but critical piece of shooting a detailed visual story is making sure you have enough b-roll. In class, we discussed how important this is. When you have been out shooting all day, though, you forget how little video all that work truly boils down to. Dr. Z recommended in class that everybody keep the camera rolling for 10 seconds in each position in each angle in order to ensure there will be enough to work with once you get back to the editing lab. In the future, our group will benefit greatly from applying this advice.
Also, if possible, we would like to check out two cameras instead of just one. This will give us double the footage for the same amount of time, as well as give us the opportunity to get multiple angles of the same event or action. Two cameras would have been helpful when recording our sequence.
Overall we are proud of our work on project one and feel that by changing these things, we can create an even better project two.