Video Reflection Take 1

Video Class Reflection Final

  This year has been very hard on me in video, but I've been pulling through. I have worked hard and spent a lot of my time filming. Though I'm an awful writer and I tend to get bored of typing (and therefore avoid it), I have done well both in front of and behind the camera. Included are some of the works my team and I have done.

ONW procedures; "The Hydration Station."

  This video is a short clip that was meant to be both informative and humorous. The assignment was to create a thirty second segment to show that we understood the six-shot system and other filming techniques that we had learned in e9 video class last year. This was probably the project that took us the least amount of time; it only took about four days for my team and I to film and edit the clip. Some challenges we faced were trying to figure out how to do graphics for the first time, and finding the right music for the tone. The things I struggled with helped me learn how to do lower thirds and how to correctly use audio, which is a bonus. While we were not given the chance to alter the videos after receiving feedback, I was told that I could have done better on the continuity between shots. Overall, this video was extremely fun and I had a good, sturdy team, all of whom worked well together.

ONW news piece; "Cyberpatriot Story."

  The news piece was close to my heart, with my own club being the main topic of the story. The project requirements mandated that we chose a current topic with a tie to our school that had some kind of recent or upcoming event, and to come up with a script for a news anchor. Some challenges were the time constraints and a lack of help from my team with filming outside of school. It took me a long time to complete all of the interviews and gather the b-roll. The feedback we were given was that our voiceover was too quiet and that we could have used more engaging b-roll. We eventually ran out of b-roll and were unable to fix it, but the critique was still helpful. This assignment stressed me out very, very badly, but I enjoyed the topic and was satisfied with the end results. I was disappointed that it got cut out of the above news segment for poor sound quality.

I have a tendency to waste time focused on insignificant details instead of pacing myself. I tried to stay well within the time perimeters, and any extra time I obtained I used to enhance the project with graphics and such. Outside of class I filmed bloopers and tried different angles with the camera to test and see what worked for me personally.

Some areas of strength I've discovered in myself is the fact that I'm very good with people, in interviews and such. I've also found that i enjoy being in front of the camera and I work better with a script than I work just doing improv. I maximize these strengths by doing my best work as an anchor and interviewer and by choosing to do those jobs as often as possible. I definitely need to improve upon my time management skills, both in and out of class.