Final Project

  Late Monday afternoon I received an email from the lady at the soup kitchen, who I had been corresponding with, informing me that I could no longer film there this holiday week. After a little bit of scrambling I was able to establish another direction for my video project. I have a large network of families for whom I have babysat for over the years and my mom is also a preschool teacher. I immediately began to contact the various families and described my situation and project and asked for permission to film their children. I was well received by the families. At preschool today, my mom's class was having a Thanksgiving Feast and some of the children I babysit for were there. I was able to film there and record many sounds. Later this week I have meetings to film other children. My project is now focusing on a child's perspective of hunger. 

Video Training

1. Three techniques that can be used when trying to shoot steady shots without a tripod are gripping the camcorder tightly by the strap with your right hand and steading it with your left hand under the lens, supporting yours elbows against your chest to keep your hands stable, or  while standing, holding the camcorder at eye-level and secure your footing standing slightly apart. 


2. Camera shake can be minimized when walking and taping by keeping your legs bent and and your body lowered all the time, and by moving slowly to create a gliding feeling.


3. Panning, or moving the camcorder from left to right or right to left, and tilting, moving the camera up and down or down and up, are camera movements that mimic the way the eyes move.


4. It is important to consider how long you remain on a shot and how quickly you move the camera so that the image does not blur and the audience can take in the information from the image they are looking at.  


5. (Watched the videos and read the information on copyright, creative commons, and video releases)


6. The main points of learning for videos in #5 are intended to protect me. The video on copyright discussed fair use rules and what is considered copyright. People have access to a public domain and can use that work without copyright infringement. Work that has been made in the last 70 years, however, is under copyright laws. You can not use work without permission, unless it falls under the fair use rules. It is usually best to make your own sound piece. Creative commons discussed how people can legally share and use other peoples' work without it being copyright infringement, depending on the type of license he or she has. It then discussed the symbols for the various types of licenses, which are sharealike, non-commercial, attribution, and noderivatives, and what they entail. Video releases discussed the four main elements of informed consent, which are disclosure, voluntariness, comprehension, and competence. Disclosure is that the use and purpose of the information sought must be fully explained. Voluntariness is that the subject must consent voluntarily and must consent to the use of the material. Comprehension is that the subject must understand the implications of the interview, and competence is that the subject must comprehend the implications of his or her participation.

Learning Reflections November 17

In today's flash critique I was able to see everyone's best ten second video. Some of the videos had components that made them more appealing than others. These components can be incorporated into my final project. 
What helped some of the videos work better than others is:
   Flow- there was a consistency of movement
   Use of Colors or Lack of
   Beat and Action
   Total Work of Art
   Subject Matter- Themes/Connection Between Clips
   Speed of Transition
   Volume of the Audio/Sound Piece
   Uneven editing or Inconsistency in Pace/Tempo Making for an Interesting Texture
   Color Contrast- Visually Appealing (Aesthetics)
   Cohesiveness
   The Harmony of Warm Colors or Cold Colors
   Amount of Zoom
   
   The videos were connected to things that matter to the artist. 


Main Ideas: UNITY, CONTRAST, RHYTHM, REPETITION, and CONSTANCY vs. VARIABILITY.

Concept Brief 2

   Over the past couple of days I have started filming the food of many college kids. I think as a college student it would be an interesting piece to look at the food many students have in their dorm rooms. I also am going to film at some of the dining halls, because many students obtain their meals there. The different times of day I film at the dining halls will affect the amount of light and shadows in my video. I have still been talking to a lady back home about meeting with her to film at the soup kitchen. We have set a time and day. However, I want to gather as much film as possible on many different subject matters and see what really resonates with me.

Concept Brief

 For my final video project on hunger I intend to film at a soup kitchen at home over Thanksgiving break. I have been corresponding with one of the directors and we are still in the process of determining a set time and date. As of now though, I have permission to film and talk with some of the people at the soup kitchen. Filming at the soup kitchen matters to me, because I have spent many hours of service there and the stories of the people there are truly fascinating. I also have been looking into ideas about filming at fast food restaurants, cafeterias, and every day kitchens. I have not reached a final decision, but I will begin filming here and continue over break at home.

Learning Reflections November 10

  In today's class we learned how to re-edit videos in iMovie '11. Majority of the time was devoted to viewing everyone's abstract videos and then moving onto the new project of ten second short videos. The concept for the final project was also introduced and I have started to think of areas to go and film. 

Learning Reflections November 3

      In today's class we began by working in random groups to troubleshoot problems we faced in last week's class. This helped to generate different solutions to the problems. By communicating with others and solving problems together it is easier to reach a solution, because you are feeding off one another's ideas. These skills of being able to communicate and problem solve are very useful in future break downs in projects. It helps to avoid future problems and continue with the project.
      Also in today's class we divided into groups and analyzed the youtube video gardyn. One group observed that the background is blurred, which causes the viewer to focus on the movement of the hands. Another group noticed that the sound/image relationship allows the video to move forward, without it the video is very fragmented and jumpy. The video is filled with familiar images to the mother and we are slowly brought into her world in her garden. Rhythm is  emphasized through repetition. The mother's auto-toned voice is heard when she is touching things in her garden. This helped in analyzing what goes into editing a video project.
    We also went through the steps of editing and importing sound, video, and pictures into  iMovie '11.