In this assignment, our objective was to learn how to effectively operate and use the interviewing devices as well as learn how to confidently approach the public and conduct an on the spot interview. A lot of this task was learning how to be socially spontaneously but more so learning to properly use audio equipment. Specifically, the interviews were about student living and lifestyle and asking questions that a lot of prospecting and potential future uni-students may be interested in, so we had to think of the of questions that a potential student or mature student may want to hear.

This was the first usage of audio equipment and It took a bit to get to grips with the audio levels and understanding how they work. There were multiple recordings we had taken that were either too loud or too quiet, sometimes unfixable in post-production. As with other tasks in the unit, audio is something I want to keep learning and get a better understanding of to try to get it to a much better standard, as it is one of the most important factors of filmmaking so I have always known its an area of improvement I have to make. As part of our group of several people, we had to split up and conduct interviews with random people, this was solely on the St John campus so it was pretty relaxed interviewing fellow students, I’d say it was a good step towards eventually going out to the general public and really appreciated that as im a pretty introvert person. Other people in the group who were more outgoing helped me in approaching and asking questions to people when it came my turn to conduct the interviews, I was also helped several times when it came to the audio equipment as I was a bit confused on the audio levels and making sure they were correct.

This task was also another confidence booster for approaching and talking to people, sometimes getting denied sometimes not. Being clear and confident when interviewing someone is something I need to work on in order to improve my work that will involve more of the public later down the line, especially with interviews.

As a group, we made sure not to leave the uni campus and also not to go into areas where we shouldn’t bother people, certain buildings were off limits and we were told beforehand. Another important factor on our risk assessment was that of the noise levels, and to make sure they were not really high when the headphones were on as injury to hearing could have occurred. I noticed this as a loud mechanical crash happened close to us and it spiked loudly, and at the time my headphones were on my neck but it still clipped.

I felt like this unit could have been improved in terms of who we can approach, as when we went out to interview people for the task, the only people outside were us or very few people travelling to other buildings, no one was really out socially so there were not many people to interview besides each other. I’m not sure how it would work because the task block is for the hours within the lesson.

Please click here to see the video

For this task, we set out to produce a 1 minute in length video showcasing different aspects of camera movement and utilise industry standard production techniques, including but not limited to things like Close-ups, pans, wide shots and in particular shot framing and the rule of thirds.

The sequences unit was the first time using the camera kit at YSJ and it was great learning how to shoot a sequence and tie it together in post-production. During this shoot, I was crewed with one other person and together we took it in turns to do our parts accordingly, each helping each other out in regards to understanding how to use the camera and its functionality. We both had unique ideas and approaches to what we wanted to film, so when it actually came down to shooting we were able to swap and share ideas and experiment which was great for the final product and I feel it really brought in a lot of personality and uniqueness to it for just a 1 minute experiment. When it came to post-production, I was able to use my own experience with premiere pro to make a good product as well as help my partner in their own work as they were not used to the program. 

In regards to health and safety, we were shooting just outside of campus grounds so we were pretty in control and not too worried, however, we were both very cautious of the roadside and the constant traffic around us, as well as shooting on a busy footpath where there were a lot of cyclists coming through in and out of shooting that could have accidentally hit our tripod setup. We made sure to move out of the way of the public when filming to avoid these issues and only setup shots that could be done without interfering. 

Looking back at the production and how I could have improved, I felt I was far too close in to the subject, at the time I felt it was a good artsy idea and I do still like it – however, I should have shot an establishing shots and more wides to get the audience orientated correctly to the subject, as it’s a bit confusing. Post production was the best learning process for me in the unit, as I got taught how to string the footage together so it flowed more naturally, especially with audio which was another big learning curve that I’d been trying to improve on.

That being said – some dialogue would have done the shoot good, just to practice audio levels a little more. Understanding an using the cameras was also a bit of a challenge, as I’m very used to using manual focus on a completely different camera, so getting to grips and learning on the fly with the different kit was also really good and I think the autofocus helped me get a bit more creative and manoeuvrable. I do feel like this task set me up quite well for learning the kit, however, I wish at the time I was able to do it with a bigger crew but two was enough in the end.

Please click here to see the interview.

For this task, we were set to film an interview to a professional industry standard by utilising all that we had learned over the course of the first year in the module, this includes Camera, sound, and most recently and importantly for the task, 3 point lighting.
We were looking to improve our skills in communication with those we were recording and how to appropriately interact with them to be both courteous and efficient at the same time.

Before filming the interview, we got together as a group and assigned the roles that we felt most comfortable in taking, but together we all worked on the three-point lighting system as a group due to our early experience with it. I chose the camera role as I felt very confident over the course in using it in a group, and felt I could use it in a professional set up. Whilst preparing and setting up the equipment, we made sure to set up the lights correctly and safely as to avoid any fire hazards due to their heat, as well as making sure all the cables for our equipment was safely out of the way. We also made sure that the lights were not too strong for Marcella, our interviewee. Before shooting we were unaware that she would be bringing children, and she was happy for one of our team to take them outside and play with them whilst we were filming. This was done as not to interrupt the recording and also so they were not potentially in harm’s way of any equipment such as the lights.

Before filming had started and we were setting up, I began to struggle with the Tascam setup and couldn’t figure out how to use it, as audio isn’t my strong suit, and one of the team stepped in and helped me fix it and start receiving audio. Everything was functioning well and we could all provide help to each other, as it seemed our group was pretty diverse in everyone finding the roles they wanted to do.

Early on into the filming, we noticed that the lighting was off and didn’t look right on Marcella. It was then we decided to stop the recording, correct it, and try again. It took several minutes of corrections but eventually we figured out how to make it look good and were able to carry on filming, and eventually ended up with a strong looking video with good lighting. As for the editing, I believe it turned out really well and I was happy with what was produced. Looking back on the task, I believe audio is where I need to improve as I still have a lot of missing experience with the Tascam system and how to effectively utilise it.

Please click here to view the Instagram video

For this task, we were tasked to shoot a short video about and gather excitement for upcoming Christmas celebrations in York and beyond, more specifically by utilising social media and the platform Instagram. The task specified we had to build up to and document our production and use it to gain an interest and following, sort of like a breadcrumb trail leading towards the final video release. Another focus of the task was formatting in the edit and making our end product specific to the platform we intended to upload to.

The Instagram task was, for me, one of the more difficult tasks to do, I had a lot of issues during the filming and post-production parts of the task as well as adapting to a form of social media I hardly used and felt I could have done a lot better in the end. I was crewed with one other person and she helped draw up plans for our initial theme and idea for the video and I pitched in what we could do technically to achieve the idea itself. Our equipment consisted of one camera and a tripod to carry around York for the filming so we split and shared the load evenly when walking around when setting up the tripod and the camera we had to be cautious of how busy it was, as we were in the market area which gets very populated in the holiday season.

This meant having to be extra careful not to bump into people or get in the way, but in the end, we managed it pretty well and even got to talk to some stall staff and talk to them about our task and even show them our Instagrams to look at later on when it was uploaded. If we could have improved the health and safety aspect anymore,  a less bulky/lighter tripod could have been better for the shoot as we were worried about the crowds but it didn’t turn out that busy when we started filming.

One of the first issues was that we were a bit limited on what we could do with the camera for the shoot, as we were going for a ‘moving through a dream wonderland’ feeling, but it was quite difficult to do as we were limited to a tripod or handheld. In the end the shots we took turned out quite wobbly and really undercut the feeling we were trying to get, and it took a lot of stabilising and slowing down to make it less jerky in post-production.

I felt in this task I learned a lot in regards to preparation and planning a shoot properly so it doesn’t turn out a struggle, but, I feel it was also good because I learned how to fix things in ways I never thought I could using the editing programs available by slowing the footage down, stabilisation, warping etc. I did enjoy the preparation for the topic also, it highlighted the importance of social media and how it is used to enhanced projects and spread awareness of something, as well as in some cases how it can be free advertising when getting people to spread it for you. Learning how to use Instagram was odd as its not something I’ve ever used before, especially with the hashtagging system and learning how to get views using specific algorithms and methods that big companies and accounts use.