https://drive.google.com/a/rmit.edu.au/file/d/0BzsJ1KwHFXRTR1pWeGxMdi1ZcDg/view?usp=sharing

This small task gave me a sample of some of the challenges we will be facing in the future. As simple as the brief was, as a group, we quickly learned how true Murphy’s Law was.

We were given a script which we all deemed average, and found the first challenge to be turning it into something slightly better. We found that the best way to do this was to mess with the mise-en-scene completely. And so we originally planned to make the conversation appear as if the two characters were sitting across the table from each other, to which we would later reveal that they were actually sitting on opposite sides of the room. Halfway through filming, however, we were kicked out of the room, due to a class that was about to start. Eventually, one of our group members had to leave for a meeting, and so we all decided to postpone filming to the next day. But we soon found out that our other group member had to leave the course, and so we had to figure out a way around this, considering she was one of the characters in the video. We decided to use the whole situation to our advantage, as we had originally planned to mess with the mise-en-scene. The situation gave us further opportunity to do so by completely switching room, character, positioning, and costume.

The process of editing was a much simpler task, since we had already planned out how the whole video would be structured, and so all we had to do was follow a formula. But since it was a little bit rushed, I didn’t bother to use good quality speakers when equalizing. Going back to the video after uploading it, I realized how much the gain levels fluctuated, and how there were some awkward cuts from one audio section to another. I also did have a bit of a problem with editing some of the audio files due to the actors’ volume fluctuating. I fixed this up with increasing levels at certain points, but it was just more difficult work that could’ve been avoided.

Based on the way that the project went, I am now a little bit more ready to shoot the web series, and I have a better understanding of what challenges I am going to face. When working on the next project, the main thing my group has to make sure of is that we’re all as organized as possible. Hopefully some of the other problems such as awkward audio levels will be less of a problem with trained actors and better equipment.