In the course of the last seven weeks, I produced, recorded and edited a podcast about a topic I felt extremely passionate about, highlighted a local park to create a montage, filmed a how-to video in my kitchen while movers and my wifi installer came in and out of my new place and, as a wrap up to this jam-packed two-month period, did what I love to do most: share a story.
I have always loved storytelling because you’re able to share a significant aspect of someone’s life. Something that they may not see as a big deal because it’s a part of their everyday life, or a subject a person never saw as story worthy, but you knew otherwise. That’s how I felt two weeks ago after I approached my subject about covering his triathlon training for my final project. Though he was hesitant at first, I knew this was a story worth telling because it’s not something that most people set their sights on.
Before I began filming, however, there were still a few topics I needed to research before starting the production process.
READING:
Some Final Words
In Tom Schroeppel’s final paragraphs of the “Bare Bones Camera Course For Film And Video,” he shares that that video is considered an art, which means it’s subjective.
This means that there is no definitive right or wrong way to do things. Rules, guidelines and tips exist because they do work, but in the end, as long as we learn from each project we work on, all we can do is continue to grow.
COURSE RECAP:
I have learned so much during these last seven weeks both in theory and in technical skill. Each week, a combination of readings, videos and class lectures fused together to create an immersive learning environment where we were able to not only learn new concepts and skills, but put them in action week after week.
When I started this course, I had never recorded an audio podcast or planned out a video montage. I never would have visited a handful of local parks to scout a unique place highlight and produce work I was really proud of, but I’m incredibly happy I was able to.
In the beginning, I felt like I had a basic idea of how to record and edit video, but after this nearly two-month period, I was able to reach my goal for this class, which was to extend beyond the scopes of my news background and create creative content that I’ll now look forward to working on more.
Looking back, the most useful thing, and also the most difficult part of this course for me, was the pre-production process. Because I’ve always worked in a fast-paced environment, I’ve only ever done run-and-gun projects, so I never took the time to plan out how and why I’m doing what I’m doing.
Though I loved the course overall, I would have loved to stay in the audio design side of this course a bit longer. Perhaps adding even one more week where we produce a radio drama-type production with a script and cast that would have been a creative and intense way to further develop our audio skills.
I do anticipate using what I learned in this class at my current job and in any future career as I work in the multimedia industry. It was an intense seven weeks, but definitely one of my favorite courses thus far.
RESEARCH
This week I learned about J & L cuts, which are certain types of video edits. A J-cut is used in scene transitions where the audio of the next scene precedes what the audience see on screen. The following is an example of a J-cut in the movie “Interstellar” that starts at about 2:50. In the scene, the audience hears the next scene before it’s actually seen.
An L-cut is the opposite of a J-cut in which the audio from a preceding scene carries over the image to the following scene. This editing technique can be seen in the following scene from the 2017 film “Dunkirk.” The character begins speaking at about 2:20 and the audience hears him continue talking at about 2:35.
Create
After reading and watching several examples of documentaries and human interest news stories, it was time to begin my final project!
Before a few months ago, I had never heard of a Half Ironman, or was really aware of the triathlon world. Enter: Jim Zavala, a triathlete who is working toward competing in his first Half Ironman race.
I had so much fun recording this piece as I was able to visit several different locations to make it happen. The hardest part of this project was not being able to use everything I recorded, otherwise I would have ended up with a 30-minute piece. I loved that I was able to tell his story, while also divide the video into three sections to showcase all three different events.
The following is my final project. Let me know what you think!