This was my first studio for my program and I would definitely say that it was worth it. This studio for me was such an experience and a great learning ground that introduced me to many media adventures I might have in the future. Although it was a fast-paced studio as it is a 6-week run class, I still was able to learn so much more than what I expected. Also, I obtained skills that I never knew I would be able to do before. Thus, it was an incredibly beneficial choice to be able to be a part of this studio this summer.

Firstly, one of the things I learned from this studio is proper camera operation and audio equipment. I have never used the sony x200 camera before or most of the equipment we used for project brief four, for that matter. At first, I was definitely not confident working with a camera, especially the audio equipment such as a  shotgun microphone that comes with it. But, I was able to learn from my group members and Rohan and became comfortable enough to use it on the field to help to film. Additionally, I learned how to utilize the camera to obtain different shots like the still shots, establishing shots, interview shots and much more. Although I had a difficult time to maintain exposure, focus and white balance in every shot, I was able to progress and learn from my mistakes every time I got handed the camera. Moreover, I was able to figure out how to work the audio and recognize the problems during filming with the equipment. This includes, generally being able to be careful and paying attention to audio and equipment itself, as well as, having a good eye for good ‘timing’ to record audio for a certain shot.

Not only, being able to obtain more knowledge on the field during production. I  was also able to learn heaps during the editing of project brief four. Since I was not too familiar with the software we use for this documentary project, which is Premiere Pro. I had to really learn to use it properly from 0 to 100. One of the things that I still am trying to figure out how to get a handle of is audio editing. I watched one of my group members, Jenny who’s in her last year of university working on our documentary’s audio and I get to learn a lot of editing techniques, specifically, the audio. Techniques that includes: minimizing background noises, playing with audio levels, fade in and out, masking and more. As a result, with some advice from Rohan, our group were able to cut irrelevant shots, remove awkward moments of interview footages, minimize irrelevant sounds and simply, put together an appropriate short documentary. All in all, I was able to figure out how to collate a decent documentary that looks proper without much of faultiness.

Finally, the last thing I took from this studio is being able to identify a location as something that could bring out various different stories with meaningful messages. Recognizing a ‘place’ as something that could mean different things for many different people and being able to appreciate that, is something that was well-taught in this studio. Additionally, I was also able to do this by basically, spotting a place in Queen Victoria Market for our first activity at the beginning of this studio and make up a story or visual in my head of how this particular place could mean more than it looks. With that being said, after finishing the last project for this studio I have definitely been able to maintain that first visual in my head, structure a story based on it and produce a non-fiction documentary with it.  Thus, certainly, these skills and experience from being a part of this summer’s studio has developed my knowledge, ability and most certainly, confidence towards being on the field as a media student.

If I were to do this again or a studio or subject similar to this again, I would like to be more conscientious towards most of the duties we had to do during filming and all the little things that matters, such as, keeping up with audio levels, good ‘timing’ to record, background or ambient disrupting sounds, maintaining focus on shots, exposure on shots and all these little things that could turn out to be a big deal during editing. Nevertheless, this studio was definitely one of the biggest learning studios that hopefully will make an enormous influence in my studies for my program and future. It is one of the studios that I enjoy working hard for even if the result isn’t the best but the mistakes I learned was absolutely valuable, I have definitely learned a bunch from Rohan and my peers and I will definitely miss a ton from being a part of the Recording Place Studio.