Although project one was not my first experience with a camera such as the one we have been learning to use, it was the first time I have used one in recent years. I was in TV production club in high school and the in studio experience I gained in grade school was far more limited than the experience I have already gained in this course.
Because we had a script to follow for this package, we were able to allot most of our time to deciding which shots to use and how to to shoot them rather than setting up the story. Due to this, we were able to learn about the functions of the camera and what shots work best which will help in filming future packages. Along with this, we recognized how important white balance is when it comes to filming anything anywhere. We filmed on one very overcast day and another day when there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Obviously, the white balance was completely different each of these days and had we not white balanced with each shot, I am sure that our shots would have come out extremely overexposed.
I also learned the importance of having extra b-roll. When it came time to edit, we didn’t have much b-roll left over and I considered myself lucky. I realized that for the future, you can never have too much b-roll and I plan on taking shots of just about anything related to my story just in case. In addition, I realized how important creative and focussed shots are when it comes to b-roll. Some of our strongest footage came from creative shots like the one from behind Old Main or the focus on the Lion Shrine’s head with the soft focus of the background. When it comes to straight forward stories like this one, the importance of being creative and catching the viewers eye is second to none. There is no reason to not be creative when you’re the one behind the camera and even though simple shots are easy, they aren’t the best.
Conclusively, this project was a great experience and gave me first hand insight into what we have learned so far this semester. It reiterated the importance of both the technical and creative aspects of production. I look forward to using all that was learned throughout the process of creating project one in project two and can only hope that I continue to learn about what works and what doesn’t work in the weeks to come.
