Project brief 3 is a portrait based on an interview, which is very different from the previous assessment. In the process of making this video, I went through some problems, developed some new skills and learned new knowledge about media making.

One problem I had was I did not film enough footage for the video. This can be extremely annoying. My interview was with a rapper and I failed to film enough footage for the video at one time. I though it was enough when I was filming but it was way too less. I had to make another appointment with my interviewee to film some more shots in his studio, luckily he had time otherwise the video could be very pale. From this experience I learned I should always film more than footage than I need. It will not only make sure this annoying situation will not happen, but also give you more possibilities in the editing process.

The most successful part of the video is the atmosphere. I filmed in a gallery and used subtle quiet background music to create this silent soulful atmosphere for my video. I also used quite a lot of my favorite focusing shots to add on the subtle feeling. The information I got from my interviewee fit the video very well.

This is a list of questions I asked my interviewee:

1. Hi Kieren, please introduce yourself first.
2. When we were discussing about the location to film the interview you chose this gallery, is there a reason why?
3. When and why did you start rapping?
4. Did any person inspired your music?

I’m glad I had exactly what answers I need.

The audio of the video is the most problematic part. Like I mentioned before I filmed the interview in a gallery, the place was quite huge and empty, so when I used a shotgun mic to record it creates a loud echo. I was not able to avoid it by editing the video in Premier Pro, so I just made the volume louder so my audience can at least hear the voice of my interviewee clearer. I learned a lesson from this experience so next time I will make sure the location is more suitable for the video before I start filming.

There is a part of my video shows a part of my interviewee’s performance on the street, the scene looks very different comparing to all the other parts of the video but I still decided to include it because it shows who my interviewee is in a different way. I received both positive and negative feedbacks about this scene but I still included it although it’s a risky move.

In conclusion, this assessment taught me to film more footage than I need, make sure the filming location is suitable for the video, and always try out new things! These experiences really helped me to become a more mature and better media maker.