Project Management

For my Group's MLK video Project, we were very diligent in the process of organizing and strategizing what needed to be done. We meticulously planned out every moment of our process, from storyboarding, to location scouting. We did our best to work around obstacles, like filming in the rain during an outside scene. We kept a running google Doc during the entirety of the project, and frequently texted our team in order to make sure everything ran smoothly. We planned constantly, and despite our challenges, we were able to execute this video properly.

Film Crew

While I know I could handle the job of being a Producer, I know my schedule keeps me quite busy, and I would be slightly concerned about how demanding the responsibilities of being a Producer would entail. Director of Photography is a very exciting, yet stressful job. This is arguably one of the more challenging jobs, because it involves being capable of shot composition, noticing visual dynamics, and being confident in camera work. The gravitation of this job is quite heavy, because without this person,  the film itself would not exist.  Project managers are highly important because it is their responsibility to keep everything running smoothly. While I know I would be good at this job, I feel that my talents would be better suited for something else.  Directing is having an overall vision for something, and convincing everyone else around you that its a good idea. I think I'd be good at Directing, but i enjoy more creative responsibilities. Editing is a detail oriented process that would require patience and a good eye for what looks best. I believe I am fairly qualified to do a job like this. I am skilled at finding ways to make something look its best, even if there is very little that went right in the filming process. I am good at thinking creatively, especially when I need to come up with a solution to a problem in short periods of time.

Codecs

Recently, I've had the opportunity to learn about Codecs. Initially, I couldn't say I knew a thing about Codecs. After doing some research, I discovered that the word Codec means compression/decompression. It also stands for compressor/decompressor and code/decode. Essentially what that means is that Codecs are computer programs that shrink large movie files so you can watch them on your computer easily. Even if we don't consciously know about Codecs, we use them on a regular basis; we need them every time we want to listen to music or watch a video on our computer. A commonly known Codec is Mp3, that renders music and allows sharing to be quick and attainable. Codecs get very little credit from the public, because no one even acknowledges the work that goes into displaying movies and music. We use codecs every day, and we need to remember how important it is.

10 Camera Techniques

One of my favorite things about being in a film class is constantly learning new techniques. I do my best to experiment with new ideas every time I have an opportunity to get behind a camera, and enjoy being assigned to try something new. One of our early on assignments this year was to attempt to use cinematic classic techniques, such as whip pan, whip cut, Focus Transition, and Search Up. I collaborated with a small group, and for one day we played with the ten different techniques we were challenged to learn about. While we easily can research all of the camera shots online, we couldn't possibly fathom how to properly execute the techniques without an opportunity to try them for ourselves. the main objective isn't just to learn about them; it is to take what we've learned and apply it to our own work as cinematographers.

 As we all tried the techniques, we were forced to be inventive and creative as we did our best to do the camera angles justice. The truly amazing thing about being able to film for assignments is being able to look back on past assignments to see how we have grown as film students.  We will never truly be done with the learning process in film. this world is a constantly evolving and innovative and its our responsibility to be not only capable of keeping up with these changes, but also being one step ahead.

At the end of the day, I could say with absolute certainty that my favorite Filming technique was the Whip Pan, Whip Cut, because it required the knowledge of how to properly transitioning between two scenes flawlessly. For those of you who may not be familiar with this particular technique, Whip Pan, Whip Cut can be seen in several instances and is most frequently utilized when portraying a memory transition. A good example I like to think of is in the TV show, How I Met Your Mother. The show is primarily based on memories and uses a whip pan, whip cut at least once an episode. Their intro used a slight variation of the process, but in general possesses the same principle. http://youtu.be/ZPLOsabhQSM