file:///Users/hour1/Desktop/American%20Idol.m4v

Junior Year Reflection Semester One

What I've Learned

Junior year has been a huge step for me and I have learned probably more in this one semester than I did in ecomm the past two years. Previous years in ecomm I did not know how to work the camera or how to work Final Cut Pro but I have learned a lot and grown in many ways. I learned the six shot system, the twenty one questions you ask for an interview and the different preferences on the camera. There are still plenty of ways I could grow in in ecomm so I have lots of goals for the upcoming time I have in this class. One goal is to learn how to work the camera perfectly and how to write better blogs.

Six Shot System

The six shot system is a way to incorporate sequencing into your stories. There is the extra wide, wide, medium, close up, extreme close up, and over the shoulder. I think that this is very useful when you need more B-roll and can not find anymore. For example, I did a story on MaryAnn Traxler and how she auditioned for American Idol. With the auditions being in Hollywood there is only so much B-roll you can get so we went into her class and filmed her working in class using the six shot system. 

Twenty One Questions

Twenty One Questions is a list of what kind of questions to use for an interview. Mr. Allam gave us a sheet at the beginning of the year for what to ask. During our first project it was very helpful because I had only conducted one interview and it was sophomore year when were assigned to do a news package and looking back on it, it was very bad. I feel like my interviews are usually my best work because I have good questions and with good questions you can get good answers.

Camera Settings

Last year, even though we were taught how to work a camera and all the basics of it, I still really did not know much. I still do not know that much but I have learned a ton compared to last year. This year we learned how to white balance it and the zebra settings and color balance and things all along those lines. I feel like I can actually use the camera and make shots look pretty unlike last year or my freshman year when I filmed a lot in front of windows.

Goals

One of my main goals is that I learn how to properly work the camera in every way. Like I just said I have learned a lot but I still have a lot more to learn. I want to be able to put a camera on the tripod without any help. It's kind of embarrassing that I still can't but I have always had trouble with it. I want to learn how to make sure the audio is perfect without having to take forever on figuring out what is wrong, I will just know the problem and how to fix it and not have to ask for help.

My other goal is to learn how to write a better blog. We did have the opportunity to revise our old blogs and I did not take up that offer. I want to start out the new year with a more positive outlook on writing blogs because I used to really hate it. It honestly is not that bad but I did not put much effort into it. My goal is to get better grades on my blogs next semester and next year.

To Wrap it Up

All and all, I have learned a lot this year in convergence journalism class. I am really happy I decided on this strand of ecomm because I like it a lot. Although, I have learned a lot I still have plenty more to learn and I propose to learn a lot of it next semester. I'm determined to get a better grade in the class and have more fun, too.

           

Ryan Devers feature story

I really enjoyed this package for many reasons. I had seen Ryan Devers doing magic tricks at lunch during my sophomore year, and then when talking to my counselor about story ideas she told me that he also is training to be a third degree black belt in taekwondoe. Ryan was excited to be a character for our story so he had really good answers to our questions for him. Something we did well was we went to his taekwandoe studio to get B-roll. We had plenty of shots of him kicking things over and breaking things so when we had jump cuts or something like that we did not have any troubles finding anything to cover things up. His studio was super welcoming for me and Isabel to come film so it made it easy to get B-roll. We also used the two camera interview while interviewing him preforming magic tricks so we would have a variety of shots. It was hard to find the right kind of shots of him doing magic tricks because in some shots you could see the trick and how he was doing it so that was one of our few problems. But, overall we had a good character and a good story.

German exchange students

I feel that this project was some of my better work. This project was extremely fun and interesting to do. I tried a lot harder on this package because I found it interesting. Something I did well was I got a lot of B-roll. We had plenty of options to choose from when we needed it most. Our interview set up was also good. Something I would have changed was have more questions for the interview, although we had a lot of characters for our interviews, we only had about ten questions each. Most of the German students were not as fluent in English as we were hoping so some of their answers were not exactly what we were looking for. Our interview with Frau Watts was probably our best part. We had a lot of good answers from her and she basically narrated the story for us. We also did a good job getting it done in time. We needed to finish it in a week so that the Germans students could see it before they left. Overall, I feel as if this was one of my better projects.

6 Shot System

When filming a story or documentary, or filming anything at all, you should always remember to use the six shot system. The six shots include; extra wide, wide, medium, close up of hands, close up of face and over the shoulder.

Extra Wide
An extra wide shot is filmed with the camera on a tripod. Extra wide is used for landscape shots and maybe a shot of a bunch of people. An example could be a shot of the gym during a pep assembly. It is an establishing shot. Extra wide isn't used for much.

Wide
A wide shot is filmed with the camera on a tripod. It is used to film a shot of a person from their head to their toes. It is establishing your main character.

Medium
A medium shot is probably one of the most common shots used.  A medium shot is used during interviews. It is of the characters face from their chest up. You should use rule of thirds with this shot.

Close up of Hands
A close up of hands is used during filming b-roll. You can film this shot without a tripod. This close up of hands shot is used for switching shots; you wait for something interesting to happen with their hands to change shots

Close up of Face
A close up of face is used for b-roll. You can also film this shot without a tripod. You use this for filming an intense shot.

Over the Shoulder
An over the shoulder shot is used during b-roll. You use a tripod during this shot. This shot is good because when it's used it looks like it is from your characters point of view.

Interpersonal Skills Class Trunk or Treat

Interpersonal Skills Trunk or Treat

Something I think we did well was our shots, we had a lot of variety of shots in this package. We used the six shot system pretty well and it will teach me to continue to use it. We had a good interview, our character wanted to be a character so it ended up really well. Mrs. Reiter had lots of good answers.

Something we did not do well was the interview with Audrey Ash,she had a good answer, but we were not using a tripod so it looked really shaky. We definitely should have used a tripod for B-Roll because some of our shots for it are shaky. Our microphone also was not working correctly so our interviews with the students did not sound as good as they could've.

Overall, I think this package was a success and very informational.

Indi Cowie

Which was your favorite version?
I personally liked the web #2 story better. I liked it better because it wasn't too long or too short, the first one was too short in my opinion. It left us with a lot of unanswered questions. The second one was very informational and showed some of her home life and that always gets the viewers interested.

Discuss 3 elements the videos have in common.
Both of the videos talk about Indi Cowie and how she became interested. They both have an interview with just Indi. They both showcase Indi preforming the same kind of tricks.

Discuss 3 elements that are different about the two videos.
I think there are more differences than similarities. The second one goes way into her personal life and interviews her parents and shows her little sister while the first one doesn't. The first one is much shorter than the second. The second one films inside of her house while the first one is filmed in some place showcasing her skills.

What is the difference between web videos and TV?
The difference is web videos are not live. TV is always more up to date than online.

What elements can you emulate in your own work?
I can learn to use 2 cameras for interviews. I can learn to get all kinds of different shots, and use ones that are not used as much, like the birds eye view and the worms eye view. Both of those were used in the second film (web #2) I watched.