In my one semester in Broadcast technology One I learned many things. Firstly, I learned that editing video is the most tedious task anyone could ever do. In editing my interview with Evan I had to edit out a bunch of times that he sniffed and a bunch of long pauses and it took forever to make those edits smooth. I also found that B-roll is a video producer's saving grace at some points. I also learned that shooting B-roll is much more fun than shooting an interview. Though I believe I've improved greatly from my very first class, I still have a lot more learning to do. It would do me some good to fiddle with cameras over the summer in order to improve my behind the camera work. I would like to reach the point where all of my work looks seamlessly professional. I would also like to learn to shoot from my phone. There's a youtuber whose videos I adore that shoots a lot of his films from an iPhone and in his editing he makes it look professional and cinematic. This year I learned how many different types of shots there are and how to capture them. I learned that my favorite shot is just a simple closeup, there's just something about a closeup that I love. There's a lot about Broadcast Tech that I love. can't wait to return for Sports Media next semester!
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Throughout our lives we leave shells of the people we used to be in countless places; boxes, bags, rooms, houses. i have many shells as does every other seventeen year old. I left myself behind, in many ways I used to feel as though I'd abandoned myself. My first shot is a high angle that pans upwards, I used this shot because I wanted it to show me looking at all of the things that I'd worked so hard for and I stopped the shot and looked at it for a second, I made that one of my shortest shots because I wanted it to feel too short. My second and shots area split screen of two extreme closeups. The shot on the left was of my track medals, the first one I won at Nerinx gently swaying. The one on the right was of my softball jersey, the first sport that I ever played at Nerinx. The fourth shot of my video is a medium closeup of me packing up all of the things that I showed in the first shot. I wanted it to be a medium shot so that the hesitation of placing the skirt in the box was clear. The skirt was the hardest thing to put in the box, the skirt or "the plaid" is something that catholic school girls wear like a badge. My fifth shot is a medium shot of me attempting to put the top on the box. I don't put the top completely on the box in this shot because I don't want it to fit. I don't want the little girls who looked up to me to be disappointed, I don't want my aunts and uncles to believe I failed, and most of all I don't want to step out of the comfort that was this box and face who I actually am. My last shot is a bird's eye view shot from above the box, I finally place the top on the box correctly because I accepted that life is a long journey of reinvention. If I'm not brave enough to pick myself up and be true to who I am, then why am I here? This is Caroline Washington, signing off. In the sultry haze of cigarette smoke exhaled from the lungs of the lost generation; poets, artists, authors, and every other type of down-world dreamer taps their feet to the music of the 1920s jazz scene. Comfortably nestled in the center of the room at a table right off of the bar Ernest Hemingway, Francis Key Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, and Thomas Wolfe sit debating a topic far above the heads of those whose lungs didn't know how to handle the air in this bar. Everything about this place made you feel, every breath challenged lung cancer, every word teetered on forbidden, every glance a dare. Hemingway raised his whiskey soda to his lips as he looked around the table. Fitzgerald had just sent him a letter telling him to end A Farewell to Arms with, "The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure that it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry." Hemingway responded with his usual amount of sardonic bite, a colorful form of no. As Fitzgerald stared across the table with his, "excited and friendly eyes," he offered up a challenge knowing that Hemingway, a man who could never shy away from the opportunity to thrust his masculinity in the faces of all wouldn't be able to refuse. He said, "I'll make you an offer. Unless any other sorry soul here can write an entire story in six words, then Ernest will adopt my conclusion to A Farewell In Arms as the adequate wrap to his commentary on the everyday tragedy that is humanity." And with that he sat back with a sparkle in his eye raising his Old Fashioned Lime with Gin and a touch of soda water to cover his smirk. Fitzgerald, believing that Hemingway had always been a better writer than himself, knew that Hemingway would come out the victor yet. The writers immediately got to work. Their brows creased in frustration though their minds were alight with the excitement of a challenge. A small dish at the center of the table overflowed with tobacco reduced to grey ash. Fitzgerald offered to go first his story read,"I hope she'll be a fool." which the rest of them immediately recognized as a quote from his then flop of a novel, The Great Gatsby. Close, but no cigar. Stein's read, "There never has been an answer." Interesting, but this was an excerpt from her novel, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas. Wolfe's read, "One belongs to New York instantly." All four of the writers nodded their head with respect to this one. It was intriguing but it was simply a statement, not a story. All heads turned to Hemingway, he spoke with his usual air of macho arrogance, "My dear friends, you see.. you cannot pull an entire story from an old on, you must birth an entirely new one. It is as if you all have attempted to present the same gift in new packaging as if the suspense will be the same as it were the first time. No." Hemingway paused and focused on each set of eyes around the table before he brushed the bit of ashes from his page, "For sale; baby shoes, never worn." The mouths of Stein, Fitzgerald, and Wolfe parted slightly in question as Hemingway stared directly at Fitzgerald he recited what would be the actual ending to A Farewell to Arms, "It was like saying goodbye to a statue. After awhile I went out and left the hospital and walked back to the hotel in the rain." END
A circus wagon is a feature at a carnival present for no reason other than the amusement of carnival attendees. This video is for no purpose other than learning how to use Final Cut Pro. I learned that Final Cut Pro is like heaven's version of iMovie. Final Cut Pro allows you to do all of the things you couldn't do with iMovie, cuts can be more precise you can be your own editor, your own sound mixer, your own colorist, and basically your own everything. It seems to be to perfect software for any beginner independent film maker.
Lesson #1: Eyes On Third I am a softball player that comes from a family of softball and baseball players. In my mind when I hear the words, "eyes on third," this means to watch third base because the runner on second is going to steal. This is not what I mean by eyes on third in this post. If you are a softball/baseball player, calm down. There is no runner making a break for third. I repeat there is no runner. In this case the only thing running is the camera. And when said camera is capturing a shot of a person their eyes need to bee in the top third line on the screen if it were divided into a grid. This is helpful in the sense that it allows a viewer to almost feel as if they are speaking to the person being filmed. Lesson #2: There is no such thing as shooting too much B-roll You must shoot plenty of B-roll. B-roll is a shot or multiple shots of a space or thing to play over a soundbite in order to help tell a story. Having Plenty of B-roll gives you more room to be creative and altogether tells a more interesting story than a camera in someone's face. Lesson #3: Always leave talking space This is very important. When a person being interviewed is not given any talking space or empty space in the shot is not given in order for the person to talk into it feels very awkward. It is almost as if this person is directly in your face talking at you. This is very distracting and a glaringly obvious error. Lesson #4: ALWAYS have headphones One of the unsung heroes of the film world is whoever first put a headphone jack on the side of a camera. The headphone jack is one of the most important parts of the camera, it gives you the power to check your audio as you shoot. If you were to happen to forget you headphones and not a single bit of sound was picked up you wouldn't know until you went to edit and then you'd have to reshoot your interview. You never want to reshoot interviews. One, its disrespectful or the interviewee's time and it's less authentic than the first time you shot it. Lesson #5: SPOILER ALERT...you're not Edgar Wright. For those of you who are not familiar with Edgar Wright, he is a director and a very famous one at that. Edgar Wright is known for his infamous jump-cuts. There is a key difference between Edgar Wright and the rest of us, when he does jump cuts they are cinematic genius when we do jump cuts they look like a video that a fourth grader made for their mom. Unless your birth certificate reads Edgar Wright, stay away from the jump cut. Thanks for tuning in! This is Caroline Washington, signing off. Hello, welcome to "Inside the TV Studio with Caroline Washington" this week we don't have a guest. I will share the lessons I learned in Room 1337 of Ladue Horton Watkins High School better known as the TV studio.
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AuthorCaroline M. Washington is a student who blogs about films. Archives
May 2019
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