LAUVC502

I really feel that this final outcome shows an accumulation of technical improvements, learnt from less successful outcomes produced up to this point and advice from my specialist tutor meetings. In particular:

Colour balance & continuity

Unlike the Human Aquarium Event Film, I dedicated more time on adjusting the tint and temperature of each individual clip to improve continuity throughout the film. There was a mix of natural and Tungsten lighting at the event, and I think I balanced it out in post-production so that the sequence has more visual consistency.

No jump cuts!

One of the most satisfying elements of this film is that finally, I managed to avoid any jump cuts! I have always fallen short of footage in previous projects. The main reason for that not happening in this case, is that it was a really successful collaboration with videographer Anya Kelly. Clear communication throughout the day meant that we each covered slightly different roles – I filmed the audience interviews, assisted by Rachel Stanley and Devon Chambers operating the boom. Anya used a gimbal, collecting general view shots. We both captured closeups throughout the day.

Representative

One of the tips discussed in a recent tutorial was to ensure that I interviewed a representative sample of the audience. I feel this comes across in the final edit, as there is visible diversity in age and ethnicity. This is especially important considering Summat is focused on social justice.

Areas to improve on:

• I still haven’t managed to confidently use a gimbal. I brought one to this shoot but decided to try and use the accompanying app to operate it, which was unsuccessful and meant I didn’t use it at all. In this case it didn’t matter as Anya was primary Gimbal Operator, however, I need to spend some time practicing using one before my next event.
• It would be great to get a second angle on interviews. Even when this isn’t possible as I am self-shooting, I should remember to get cutaways of the audience member before/after the interview, as these are useful shots to lay over cuts in the audio. I did this a little in this film, but could definitely make a conscious effort to do it more next time.
• A few of the interviews are poorly lit. It can be hard to plan good lighting at events, especially when you are getting turned down for most interviews. However I found these difficult to correct afterwards so will try to film even more interviews next time so that I am able to omit the poorly lit ones. There is also one shot which is overexposed and slightly out of focus. In hindsight I regret including this interview in the edit as it slightly reduces the overall quality of the film.

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