Joshua Houston

Assignment 1

Small Things

What are my goals in this studio?

From what I understand so far, Small Things is a Studio that’s devoted to fine tweaking our knowledge about editing, cinematography and technical understanding, and so my goals are in this studio are to do just that. Specifically, I would like to further my understanding regarding the actual use of camera technology, and editing techniques with cinematography as I feel comfortable with my ability to figure out video editing programs, though I’m not very experienced in the actual structuring of a film.

I am surprised so far about the things that I didn’t actually consider, like the structuring of folders within Premiere, and the complex camera settings (outside of a basic white balance and making sure the exposure isn’t ridiculous). I would like to further tweak my knowledge on the basics before trying to create advanced film while missing the basic foundation. I’ve had issues in the past where I try to ‘run before I can crawl’, where I’ll try to create do or create something fantastic without actually knowing how to go about doing that. Often, I’ll end up unsatisfied with the end result, because of simple little things that I missed throughout the creation.

In other projects I’ve also often struggled with team work, because often one person in the team will choose to take charge, and the rest of the team will blindly follow that one person. I would like to learn to be more assertive within a team, but also become better at co-operating with others in a positive manner. I’m looking forward to group projects that involve filming, but I’m also interested in the group projects that heavily involve editing, so that I can see the techniques that my peers use in premiere and other editing programs.

Reflection

Choosing when to cut was a more difficult process that I thought, not so much in regards to a film about making a bed, but more just thinking about future films, conveying the right amount of emotion and understanding before going to another shot. I watched a video from Every Frame a Painting called “How does an Editor think and Feel:

I found it interesting the way that editors would sometimes hang on a shot for just a little bit too long to make the audience uncomfortable. It’s like even to somebody who is completely untrained in video editing can feel when a shot should come to an end.

The first video that we chose to edit was difficult because there wasn’t a message or some kind of underlying theme that we were trying to communicate within the film, and the scenes didn’t seem to show any more or less information if we extended them or if we chopped them. There wasn’t really a beginning, middle or end, which made things difficult.

I found the “Making the Bed” exercise a little easier and a little more interesting because it did indeed have a beginning middle and end, and I had to be aware of that in the shots, so coudn’t have the next shot being inconsistent, regarding how made the bed was, and the surrounding scenery. Looking back, I wish I had positioned the camera differently for the last shot, because the entire left part of the screen was completely wasted space, and I should’ve utilized the light more efficiently throughout the shots. The exercise did make me consider what shots I should use to “set the scene”. I should’ve finished the film by showing what had been done, and though I’m very fond of the cheesy thumbs up, I don’t think it communicates the point of the video very well.