3 prompts to make 3 prompt videos equals a viewing party with commentary after the screening.

We basically started the lesson with watching the 3 prompt videos – action, dialogue and location – and discussed our thoughts on each. Without going into too much detail on each video, let’s just say that we hope they get don’t taken too literally, with the exception of the dialogue prompt. Which by the way, as a side note, was well written and filmed that, personally, I think it could be a scene that could fit in the beginning, middle or end of an episode. But for the action and location prompts, we hope it gives the writers inspiration in some form or other.

And since we watched this on a TV, this lead us into a discussion on exhibition and the differences between watching something on a phone and on a larger screen. For instance, the quality of filming can definitely be seen more clearly when you watch it on the big screen, so if a video is filmed with low resolution, you’re more likely to pick it up on a bigger screen than on your phone because the screen size is much smaller. And likewise, when watching a movie, you’re more likely to see so much more of the visuals clearly on a big screen than on a phone due to the difference  screen size. Personally, I’m a person who prefers to watch shows and films on a bigger screen. The smallest screen I will go to is an iPad. I’m not a fan of watching shows and films on a phone because I feel less interested in it; unless it’s a short video that I came across on social media, then that I’m fine with.

This discussions led us into another topic that I think was important to have early on before we produce anything. And that topic would be what cameras will we be using? Cameras like the Sony EX3 or DSLRs? We basically did a pros and cons of using the “big cameras” and DSLRs, and eventually came to the decision to use DSLRs since that’s what most people are comfortable with and actually own. I’m all for this since I, too, am also more comfortable using a DSLR, though it doesn’t I’m not open to using the “big cameras”. While I think it’s important to improve what you’re good at, it’s also important to learn new skills. But for the purposes of filming a web series that would only (probably) go for a couple of minutes, it would be easier to use DSLRs since most people know how to use it.