Lesson Four

More interviews! This lesson we got to venture into the real world again - but this time the question was entirely dependant upon us and we had to get cutaway shots as well as the interviews. I was put into a group with Natalia, Miseth, Ornela and Kat, and I feel we worked quite well together. However, one of them in particular was more difficult to work with in terms of not being able to voice my opinions or ideas, which was a bit frustrating at times. But we still managed to make it through to the end! The question we came up with was "How do you feel about Google's lack of action towards internet piracy?". A question we all agreed was simple and open, a non "yes or no" answerable question, which was what we were after. 

Because our question revolved around that of music and movies, for our cutaway shots we wanted to find media outlets such as CD, vinyl and DVD stores. In such a short time span that we had, however, we couldn't venture too far so had to work with what we had! We ventured down Baker street and found a Beatles store (we wanted to interview the lady inside but unfortunately she didn't consent) and a Rock 'n' Roll CD/vinyl store. We were lucky enough to grab an interview with the owner inside, which was quite cool with all the rock 'n' roll posters in the background, and he was very passionate about the whole thing! But we had to adapt a bit as it was really dark inside, so an adjustment of the iris was in order (yay newfound knowledge!).

Panning shots of the outside of these stores and a shot of a phone downloading music were the only cutaway shots we managed to get in our timespan. But we managed to get a few interviews, I believe we got around 6, all with different types of people ranging in age and gender to achieve a fair, well-rounded response.

My role was cable/reflector gal. I was too nervous to be in charge of the camera! I'm hoping one day I can take the responsibility and take charge with it - I do feel I have good ideas and know what I'm doing, but I'm worried others won't like the way I do things! One day, fingers crossed, I will feel comfortable to take charge!

Lesson Three

There was no venturing outside in lesson three. We learned about the different roles within filmmaking and we also took a special test that would assess what roles would suit us best.

Learning about the different roles was very helpful to me! There were a few more than I realised, especially concerning the different production roles, and all the assisting roles that are necessary to get the show on the road.

For me, the roles that I always hoped I'd get involved with were Scriptwriting and Editing. I'd like to have thought I could be a Director (what a fulfilling role!), but I don't know how I'd go with all of that pressure as well as giving out orders to others. You'd have to be so focused and know exactly what you want. At this point, I feel I'd struggle a bit with all of that! I love writing and coming up with ideas of a story, and seeing those ideas come to life on the big screen would just be incredible! I also love Editing - I'm a bit of a perfectionist so chip-chopping everything to make the final clean product is rather appealing to me.

The test we took was called "The Belbin Test". It was a series of multiple choice questions, however it was a little bit more complex than average! We were asked what we would do in different situations, and we had to tick the answers that related to us most, and THEN we had to disperse 10 points between the answers we ticked in order of what was most relevant. For example, one of the questions was:

In contributing to group projects in general:

1. I think I have a talent for sorting out the concrete steps that need to be taken given a broad brief.

2. My considered judgement may take time but is usually near the mark.

3. A broad range of personal contacts is important to my style of working.

4. I have an eye for getting the details right.

5. I try to make my mark in group meetings.

6. I can see how ideas and techniques can be used in new relationships.

7. I see both sides of a problem and take a decision acceptable to all.

8. I get on well with others and work hard for the team.

In this scenario I ticked 2, 5 and 8. Then I had to share my 10 points between them (which was quite difficult for my brain at the time)! I gave question 2 3 points, question 5 2 points and question 8 5 points. At the end of the test was a scoring key, where we would assign our points into different categories to determine which roles would best suit us. 

Overall, my points were very well rounded with similar totals for each category. The two categories I ended up with were tied! I scored 14 points for both IMP and TW. IMP stood for "Implementer" and was assigned to the role of Editor. Yay! I was quite happy to see that, and definitely confirmed my passion to delve into editing. The TW stood for "Team Worker", and was assigned to Lighting. I'd never really thought about lighting much, but I suppose it could be quite fun to play around with shadows and contrast and essentially the 'look' of the film. Apparently, in order to be a good Editor and good at Lighting, I have to have great organisational skills, have practical common sense, be hard working, have self-discipline and an ability to respond to people and situations to promote team spirit. I would like to think that I obtain all of these points, but especially in terms of self-discipline and organisational skills, I have my lacking moments! My weaknesses, according to the test, is that I have a lack of flexibility, resistance to unproven ideas and that I have indecision at moments of crisis and some failure to provide a clear lead to others. I would say these results were fair!

However, while this test may be quite on the mark with its results, in terms of the questions asked, it's hard to judge yourself in these scenarios. I may think I'd react in the ways I ticked, but then again I don't observe myself from an outside perspective. I could be more assertive in my ideas than I thought! I guess I'll never know until I play a part in every role. Also, looking upon the question above now, I would also tick question 4. Either way, I think the results are fairly accurate!

Lesson Two

After learning to set up the camera (including sound equipment) and how to get it film-ready in the first class, we then ventured into the real world in our next class! We had to interview people... dun-dun-dun! It wasn't as scary as it seemed at the beginning, as we were given a direction in terms of our question (fees for the uni). We came up with our question and set off. I was working the sound, and boy do I have a new-found respect for those who do this as their profession! My arms were killing me after holding the boom for a mere 2 minutes! But it was interesting to see just how much can be heard in the background, and how conscious you have to be of little things like air conditioning, planes, birds, or someone skateboarding a few meters away. Definitely an eye-opener! 

We managed to get 3 interviews within our time limit, as we tried to keep things interesting by changing up our background. We had to learn to work with the rain and the wind, so finding sheltered places to film was key! The interviewee was informed before we began recording to look at the interviewer and not into the camera to ensure there would be no awkward eye contact in the recording that would break the professionalism of the overall product. We also checked the sound before filming by asking them to count to 10. Even though it was impossible to avoid background noise due to being in public, I made sure that the interviewee was louder. All important things to make sure we get a smooth recording!

Hugo was our camera man, and from what I saw he was following the rule of thirds and made sure the background was non-distracting yet visually appealing. As we were showed in class, a distracting background is the worst... 

This was an example used in the lecture presentation, and even though it's a still image, the viewer is faced with a lot of goings-on here! Her scarf, her hair, the pot plant, all the colours - it's just too much. When it comes to background and the "empty space", simple is best. Yet it's good to have more than just a plain blank wall, it's all about finding that middle ground and using your instincts!

I thought this class was super helpful in teaching me the ways of working efficiently and with what you've got - you may want beautiful sunshine but if it's pouring with rain, you gotta go with it! Also, it was good to put our knowledge into practice. I find the best way of learning is to jump right in!

Lesson One

The first lesson... the one to start them all! Even though I've studied film for about a year previous, I went into this class feeling brand new to everything. I was hesitant as to the levels of my fellow peers as well as the expectation the uni would have of me, and the skills they may expect me to already possess (which would be very few...). Despite this, I was super excited to get started! 

We learned all about the cameras; how to assemble them, how to adjust the settings, and generally what we needed to do to be ready to film (white balancing, adjusting the iris, temperatures... the list goes on!). By this stage, I couldn't help but compare the teachings to my previous studies. I was learning so much more here! I loved how hands-on the class was, as this is how I learn best. I could easily understand my teacher, and I felt truly comfortable in the learning environment which really makes an impact on how I withhold information. My brain has a knack for forgetting things straight away, but I can still remember what we did to this day, 2 weeks later, which is an achievement! 

My peers are also awesome, and I love how small and intimate the classes are (which also helps the learning process). The only problems I can sense at this stage are with some strong personalities in the class; some appear to be quite opinionated and a bit difficult to work with, but I'm hoping they'll learn to work as a team along the way, which I think is quite essential if you want to last in this industry! 

Overall, I really enjoyed the first lesson. I learned the basics of the camera and how to set up, the teaching was perfect for me and I was happy with the people I'll have to spend the next 3 years working with! How good is that? Bring on the rest of the course!