module three pre-production

The topic of my next video will be my own version of This I Believe. I am very interested in this topic since I have a few firmly-held beliefs that I always am happy to share with others. I will be focusing on the idea of living purposefully and making every moment count.

At this point, I am not certain of all the characters I wish to include. I imagine I will be including myself, and also perhaps either some of my childhood friends or friends in general. I may specifically include people who play video games.

Based on my subject, I am predicting that many of my shots will be outside and involve showing both the beauty of the world as well as activities I enjoy doing. This will also tie in to much of the b-roll.

I hope my main take away will be that people can see how they could benefit from reviewing how they spend their time and hopefully choose to spend time in more ways that are productive and in ways that truly make them happy and fulfilled.

Everything is an Argument

I don’t feel that an argument can be any “text” that expresses a point of view in the explicit sense, but I do believe that a text could have implied arguments. For example, the embossed leather cover of a prayer book could suggest the importance of the book and of prayer to the owner. A health warning on a package of cigarettes is an explicit argument against using the cigarettes. A Rolex watch is an argument for the wealth and sophistication of the person wearing it. 

I have recently informed my girlfriend of my current job situation. This is an argument, since it led to revealing the truth.

I have convinced my parents why I should pursue entrepreneurship. This was persuasion, since I had to change their beliefs.

I have explored the idea of working abroad. This was an argument, since I was exploring the costs and benefits of pursuing this option.

I have made the decision to get formal training in photography. This was both an argument and persuasion, since I had perviously been against taking classes, but realized it may be helpful to do so.

I have sporadically practiced meditation. This is both an argument and persuasion with myself, since it is both a practice of discovering and convincing.

 

 

Advertising

One purchase I made recently was Heineken beer. Although I’ve purchased it previously, I did especially like their advertising. The advertisements did resonate with me to a good degree, since the characteristics of the main character are something that I can identify with and aspire to. This also ties into my beliefs of being that kind of person and enjoying life.

Another recent purchase I made was my first pair of Sperry Top-Siders. I wanted to buy a pair since I am very big on personal style, and although these shoes are very common, I liked the look and the versatility I would have in pairing it with other clothes. Their advertising resonates with me since Sperrys are essentially the boat shoe brand, and as an avid sailor, I like to signify that with some of my personal belongings. Its marketing appeals to my beliefs in the sense of its casual yet sophisticated lifestyle and image.

A third purchase I made recently is the Canon 7D. As an aspiring professional photographer, I was impressed by the 7D’s capabilities and wanted to upgrade to a good camera as to not be limited in what kind of shots I could capture. The advertising didn’t necessarily resonate with me since I was mainly concerned with the technical aspects of the camera; I was already aware of what the results could be of taking good pictures. Similarly, the marketing didn’t really appeal to my beliefs, since I was more concerned with what specifically it could do for me.

Research

Research involves investigating a subject in order to learn more about it. At this point, I can see myself researching production and editing techniques, yet when it comes to research based on the content of my project I am unsure. When evaluating the credibility of a source it helps if the source has experience with your subject. As a basic example, a doctor would be a credible source talking about medical issues. Also, it needs to be believable. For example, if the director of the university dining halls gave an account as to how wonderful the food is, while the students flat out admitted it was terrible, the students would have more credibility in this case. In contrast from researching for a paper, research for a video project may often involve more first hand accounts and references as opposed to research in something such as a scholarly journal. Also, for a video you may often be looking more for a narrative as opposed to factual information.

This I Believe

I believe in living purposefully, not reactively. Although I haven’t decided yet, I’m not quite sure if watching video after recommended video of cats doing funny things on YouTube everyday is part of my own definition of living purposefully, although maybe it is for others. If you asked me what I thought my purpose in life was, or what is the purpose of anyone’s life, life in general, I wouldn’t quite know what to tell you, although I have tried to research it on Wikipedia.

When I was younger, much like many other kids my age, I’m sure, I always asked my parents for things – more things. I always needed more things. A couple notable things come to mind – Nintendo 64 and cable TV. As a kid, all my friends had Nintendo 64 and they all had cable TV at their house, and man, did that make them cool. I thought that was the coolest thing ever. Their houses were the places to hang out. In my own naive opinion, my house was boring and had literally nothing to do. Even as years went on, PlayStation 2 came out, Xbox, you name it, and I’m pretty sure I asked my parents for just about every gaming system ever made, maybe except for Atari, but only because I completely missed the boat on that one and had no clue what that even was for awhile. Needless to say, my parents declined every request, plead, and logical argument I could throw at them, and to this day, I couldn’t be more thankful. You may be asking: what ever did you do with all that free time during your childhood when you could have been playing video games or watching TV like a normal person? You poor thing, how did you survive? The answer? I got some hobbies. I got some interests. I chose to do things because they felt rewarding to me, not just to take up time. While I admit that there isn’t anything necessarily wrong with video games or TV, the essential absence of them from my childhood, especially with my friends being way cooler than me because of them, forced me to analyze my dilemma, which led to taking a better look at the opportunities out there just waiting for me.

Something that I often tell people is that I never get bored. Ever. And I feel that’s because I always try to see opportunity – opportunity for growth, opportunity to work on a skill, work on a hobby, or just sit and appreciate the world around me. I don’t like to wait. I believe in action, in choosing – you always have a choice. I believe in having a zesty, passionate, adventurous life…because I want to. Like I said, I don’t know what my purpose is, but that isn’t going to stop me from living like I do. This I believe.

Beliefs

My belief in owning your own life formed upon realizing that there are countless opportunities to go and live an exciting, productive life, yet many people merely take things as they come and do little to seek out opportunities or work towards goals. This belief has become especially strong over the past few years. I firmly believe in truly owning your own life and living proactively so as to make the best of your time while you’re still alive. I maintain this because I feel very strongly towards making good use of your time and living with passion and purpose. There is very little that would make me change this belief.

My second belief is that of ghosts. I think I first acknowledged the possibility of the existence of ghosts during high school after hearing a close family friend recount a story of an encounter with one, and I felt that she was a fairly trustworthy person. I don’t believe very strongly in their existence, but I don’t discount the possibility either. Basically, I’ll really believe it when I see it. I maintain this possibility because it would be very interesting if they do exist and it has also been exciting to go ghost hunting in the past. Nothing would change my beliefs since I have heard arguments both for and against their existence.

I believe in having a curiosity about the world because there are so many fascinating things to see and experience. I feel fairly strongly about this belief. I’ve had my own curiosity and admiration since a very early age, and I always admire other people who have a similar admiration. Nothing would be able to change this belief….I’ve seen too much!

Things I Believe In

humor

the future

myself

enthusiasm

ghosts

hard work

learning

personal growth

friendship

optimism

learning by experience

boldness

always having a choice

owning your own life

living proactively

never being bored

curiosity about the world

appreciation

travel

happiness as a choice and a habit

Module Two Reflection

Key moments in my production process especially came about during post-production when I realized what the limitations of my video would be as a result of my overall methods for creating the piece. First of all, I think that from now on I will forever shoot what seems to be an absurd amount of b-roll. If it seems like way too much while filming, it will probably be just right when it comes to actually putting the video together. Also, I know now that it will be beneficial to have more of a focus or purpose for the video, since that will give me direction when it comes to the filming.

Regarding feedback, I feel that much of the feedback, especially the criticisms, were well justified. I had received a comment regarding the pacing of my video, but that is something that had I filmed more b-roll footage, I would have had greater flexibility and control with. Also, I received a comment regarding the background music not quite fitting the video, which again I agreed with. One of my top reasons for including the music was again a result of having a shortage of b-roll and was an attempt to keep things interesting during the somewhat drawn-out interview segments. Lastly, I realized the risk I incurred by including my opening scene, although I was unsure after discussing it with the class what a better alternative would have been.  On the other hand, I appreciated the positive remarks I had received regarding such things as the specific shots I included as well as the topics covered during the interview. It is interesting to me to receive a compliment about very specific aspects of a shot when that is something that I didn’t even originally articulate myself as to why it was a good shot, but rather something that I sought out and included instinctively. Regarding other students’ work, one thing that I noticed was a mixed review of the interview format, which ranged from the use of subtitles to display the questions, including the interviewer in the video, and excluding the interviewer altogether. It is clear that there is a multitude of factors at play that help dictate which method would be most effective, and it seems it is something that can really only be approached on a case-by-case basis. Since every video utilized a somewhat different style, some of the best overall advice that could be applied to anyone’s work is to make sure that the technical side of the video is well done, such as smooth transitions and good camera work. Without even considering the creative side of the video, this will ensure that distracting elements are kept to a minimum and the audience can focus on the intended message and purpose of the video.

One thing I learned about myself during this project is that I am often comfortable with ambiguity. Although I had a fairly detailed list of the shots I wanted to capture, there was still quite a bit of uncertainty and flexibility going into the filming. However, I do feel that it can be more effective if I spend additional time planning out the details and narrowing down the focus of a project. I also realized that I take an exceptionally long time while working on such a project since I have high expectations. In cases where the post-production dragged on for hours each day, I think taking breaks and revisiting notes for the purpose of the video would be in order.

I can see another audience for my video being anyone within the art community with an interest in Nick and his artwork. Nick may use my video in order to promote himself as an artist, even if it is only until he can afford to have a more professional one produced! I think that this will show others how dedicated Nick is to his craft and reflect positively on him with potential clients.

Somehow, this video took me five nights to film and produce. It was actually somewhat frustrating, but now that I have already tackled this project, I feel more prepared with insight and experience to tackle another project in the future.

Documentary

Module Two Post-Production

One thing I learned firsthand is that filming a documentary requires an extreme amount of excess footage. Much of the footage is not suitable to include, and so it takes a large amount of sifting through mediocre footage in order to find a few clips of good material. One issue I had was regarding the lighting. I had a large light to use during the interview, but it had a noisy fan on it, so I ended up not using it since I didn’t want the sound to be in the video. This drastically changed the look of the interview segments, which I’m not very happy about.

Most of my material at Nick’s house is useable. However, I won’t be able to use a good clip that involves Nick preparing to draw since there were no interview segments that would relate to such a scene. Also, most of the footage from the frame shop turned out well, although I did have a few shots showing various tools and equipment by themselves which I won’t be using since it may be unclear as to what they are and it doesn’t contribute much to a narrative.

I feel the most interesting edit will start at Nick’s frame shop and transition into him working on his artwork.

Since both Nick and I were working under time constraints, I will only have the footage I gathered over the original two day filming period and will not get a chance to reshoot.

My project evolved very little from the original idea through production.