Camera Work Reflection

 Camera Angles and Shots Project:

The learning process for this was made up of note taking and observing. During class we did stations, we went from table to table taking definitions of the different camera angles and shots to really understand the technicality of them. At those stations we also cut out and glued examples of the shots and angles into our notebooks so we could see the definitions in action and get a clearer understand of what they would look like.   

For this project we had to pair up with a partner to tell the story of an inanimate object using 15 different shots that we learned. It had to include at least one of the following shots:

- establishing shot

- long shot

- mid-shot

- close-up shot

- point-of-view shot

- low angle (used with any shot)

- high angle (used with any shot) 

For day 1 of this project, I started off by choosing my partner and brainstorming ideas with her, which then led to us making our story board. We decided on a story about markers competing against each other for the best rating. On day 2, we brought out storyboard to life. We gathered our materials and took our many different shots on the white board so we could then make our powerpoint presentation. 

I think we succeeded in completing the project in a timely matter and on following our story board pretty well. Some challenges we faced was getting the shots done properly, since the markers were quite small it was sometimes hard to get them into focus or get them to stay in the positions we needed for the pictures. 

I learned throughout this process how to identify the shots by actually doing them myself, since I had to work on getting the proper positioning and angles I can point them out more easily now. I also learned the effect that the angles and shots have on a story that I had never noticed when watching films before, this allowed me to convey certain messages in my project without have to use words. 

What I would do differently is tweak the story. My story was basically all shot with the same background which made a lot of the scenes look similar and it was hard to add variation. Next time I would make it so that there were more scenes taking place in different locations so that the story could be more engaging and differentiable.  

 

Storyboard: 

Presentation Link: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1zvoMGjTaGdWs2LmMl11jenOQtdWi9gC5/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=101976636099626655852&rtpof=true&sd=true

Camera Movements Project:

The learning process for cameras movement was made up of note taking, observations, and a quiz. We started off by taking notes around the room on the different camera movements and their definitions. We then watched a video that gave examples from films of each of the camera movements so we could see the difference between them all, it also just refined the information we had just taken notes on. We were also quizzed on the definitions after getting a few days to review to guarantee that we understood the information we were given.

For this project we had to get into a group and create a storyboard and a short video sing the prompt "surprise" that included the following camera movements:

- static

- pan

- tilt

- push in OR pull out

- tracking

- one movement of your choice

For day 1 of this project we came up with out storyboard and filmed all our clips since we already knew what we wanted to do. On day 2 we  choose the clips that we were going to use and edited them together. 

I thought this was a really fun experience and a great way to start the year since it was our first project. I liked that were were able to get creative with the prompt and it was a really good way to review the different movements. 

I think the project was an overall success. Me and my group members agreed on what story we wanted to do pretty quickly and had a clear image of what we wanted to do so making the storyboard and carrying it out was a success. We also had people in our group who had a little experience in editing which allowed us to combine our clips and finish the video.  The biggest challenge we had was the quality. There was a lot of background noise and we were working on our phones so the quality wasn't as good as we wanted and we had to do a few retakes because of sound issues like it being muffled. 

I learned a lot about what goes into all the different camera movements. Since we didn't have professional equipment we had to do all the movements ourselves, and for example when we were filming a scene with trucking we had to actually run alongside the characters. This taught me how the movements are carried out and what the different movements could mean. 

What I would do differently is maybe try out a different concept for the prompt "surprise". I think there are so many things that could fit into that prompt and it would be interesting to explore more of them. I would also try and record on something with better quality like a camera rather than a phone. 

Storyboard: 

Video: