Reading and Writing

When Tom Schroeppel wraps up his book, The Bare Bones Camera Course for Film and Video, with final words saying that filmmaking is subjective, you can infer that the rules of filmmaking are open to interpretation. He continues to explain that the techniques in his book are merely guidelines to help clearly tell a story and not confuse the viewers. He encourages creativity and also self criticism to learn from your mistakes (Schroeppel, 141).

However, I believe the only way to grow your creativity is to learn from your mistakes and explore out-of-the-box ideas. Throughout this course, I have learned a lot about filming and editing techniques and also had the opportunity to explore and make mistakes.

During the course of this class, I learned many filming techniques that I will use whenever I film anything such as the rule of thirds, framing, and shallow depth of field. I also learned to always take more shots and longer shots than you need so you have more material to work with in post production. Learning to be creative and solve problems in post production is the part I enjoyed the most. I’ve always used iMovie and found that Adobe Premiere Pro has so many more options. In addition, having Adobe AfterEffects experience from the Motion Design class helped with understanding key-framing and how to create motion effects in my films.

Finally, the storytelling techniques were very helpful and also applicable to all of the projects I created during this class. Understanding the 180 degree rule as well as continuity when filming multiple takes with a single camera was something I previously never considered. Creating a story and plotting it out frame by frame and making sure it is clear to the viewer was a great tip to critique your work in all phases of production. Schroeppel also recommended taking a break between filming and editing to have a fresh set of eyes.

Although creating audio for podcasts was challenging until I found the right microphone that worked for me such as the Blue Yeti, I enjoyed the editing in post-production as well. Exploring the different filter options in Adobe Audition was challenging to find the right balance of clarity and the right dynamic for each project. Finally, my favorite part was utilizing music and sound effects in post-production. Finding ways of syncing video with audio was the most rewarding for me. I also enjoyed learning how to freeze a frame and to create a specific comedic or dramatic tone with editing. Although the journey from pre-production, filming, and post-production was lengthy in time, the final product was extremely rewarding.

Research to Inform

This video shows a successful L cut where the video comes before the audio in an interview. At :44 in this Al Pacino interview, this video shows an example of an L cut because the video is shown without the audio from the interview. The narration is still playing while we see the visuals of the interview and then the audio subsequently comes in.

This video successfully shows a J cut where the audio comes before the video. In this Steven Colbert interview, at :34, the audio comes in before the video is visible. This helps set up the scene and make the transition into the audio smoother.

Create

My final project started out as a mini-documentary, but morphed into more of a news story in its feel and mood. The narration style, street scenes, and swift cuts made it turn into more of a news story on holiday tourism in New York City. I learned that I had created narration that needed many more visual clips than I planned for since New York City has so many different tourist spots to show. I found the lighting set up challenging to find the right light to convey a serious but informative tone. However, I found that using three lights really made the room feel like it had depth. The backlight also made the room feel very warm in mood and feel.

I also ended up having to re-do the narration with the lavalier mic instead of the Blue Yeti to match the interview and it worked better for the narration sound. However, I enjoyed matching the visual shots with the narration and syncing it with the music and sound effects.

Below is my news story on how the entertainment industry in New York City thrives and depends on the holiday tourism surge. I wanted to show the magic of New York City during the holidays and also show how much the artists and culture depend on it. I also wanted to create conflict with showing how the pandemic created such a challenge for entertainment workers. Then I wanted to end by showing NYC’s resilience and how the arts culture always prevail.

Citations:

Schroeppel, T. (2018b). The Bare Bones Camera Course for film and video.