Creating the abstract video was an interesting task that was a useful and practical learning tool. Not having as much experience with the camera as I would like to, or should have, caused the filming of the shots to be more difficult than needed. In the end we got some interesting shots of shadows, our intended theme, however they were not as effective as they could have been due to not fully understanding or knowing well enough how to make the focus and exposure be at good levels for what we were filming.

I missed the first class so used some sounds from an unnamed folder in the media sever (hope that is okay and thank you to whoever’s sounds I used). The sounds I used we completely unrelated to the footage I used which was great as I was able to experiment with the idea of creating something abstract really well. Normally I am very included to create things that are straight forward and tend to shy away from the abstract.

I still think that I could have created a more abstract piece than I did, however it has turned out to be more abstract than I have created before.

My main two limitations for this exercise were:

1. control of the camera and therefore control of the shots and

2. knowledge of the editing process, I knew the straight forward things to incorporate, however I didn’t know how to implement some of the ideas I had to make the film more abstract due to not having enough knowledge of premiere pro and not leaving myself enough time to experiment with the program fully.

 

Gabrielle McLeod Abstract Task from Gabrielle McLeod on Vimeo.

 

 

Imagining Reality

1. The idea that documentary ‘is not to convey objective information about the world, but to show it as I see it’ is an interesting one that I think a lot of people over look. Often Documentaries are seen as fact or presented as objective but I think it is vital to understand there is no way that a documentary can be created without someone’s perspective or view swaying the content of the film.
2. I never knew the reliance that documentary film has on TV. It was an interesting problem to read about and is something that is not widely known.

Pawel Pawlikowski. In MacDonald, K & Cousins, M. Imagining reality, (p. 389-392). London: Faber & Faber, 1996.

I think that the creators of the film ‘End of the Line’ produced a really intriguing documentary. The people they interviewed provided the documentary with a really interesting base of knowledge and examples of the place Broken Hill. There was a constant feel created throughout the film that reflected the ‘vibe’ or ‘atmosphere’ in Broken Hill that was being explored. The element that I believed worked in their favour the most was the choice of participants, in particular the elderly woman who spoke mainly about death. The morbid things this lady talks about, in a matter of fact, even almost cheerful, way are partnered with eerie shots of the lifeless town and red dessert. This lady is the perfect participant for the film and what she says is confirmed and enhanced by the other participants.

The filming was another element of the film that worked well. The shots of the town and surrounding areas, as well as the filming and location of the interviews was well done and provided extra context for the film, allowing the audience to build a greater connection to the story of the participants.

‘End of the Line’ was an extremely engaging documentary that drew the audience in with a portrayal of Broken Hill and the citizens who live there. They took a topic that could have been quite dull and presented in a way that was truly powerful.

I found the use of music instead of dialogue in “drinking for England’ a really interesting idea. I have never seen a documentary presented in this way and it was intriguing seeing the effect sound can have on a film as well as the different ways it can be utilised.

 

I hope to get a couple of things out the film and tv 2 course this semester. First is to gain a good understanding of what is required to produce a documentary and to be able to implement this understanding to produce a final product that is of a high standard. I also hope to gain a better understanding of how to use the equipment.

How is online advertising used on Facebook and other social media sites? Interview advertising experts to gain an understanding on how and why out information is used by Facebook to make them money. What age groups of Facebook users are aware of this use and are all happy with this use of their information? From the younger users (aged 10-15) to mid range ages users (aged 15-35) to older users (aged 35+) who is fully aware of why adverts and suggested pages appear on their pages?

monochrome moments essay

Monochrome Moments – Final K-Film 

Keyboard shortcuts.

Most applications reserve keyboard shortcuts for the functions that use most often. It is really good to learn all of these as it will speed up your editing and additionally alert you to functions that the software developers and other users find important. (You can learn much about the software by looking at keyboard shortcuts).

Find the keyboard shortcuts for Adobe Premiere and note two or more functions that you’ve never used before that may be invaluable to editing.

Some of the short cuts in Adobe Premiere that I think are extremely useful are:

1. The nudge clip ones:

– Nudge Clip Selection Left Five Frames: Shift+Cmd+Left

– Nudge Clip Selection Left One Frame: Cmd+Left

– Nudge Clip Selection Right Five Frames: Shift+Cmd+Right

– Nudge Clip Selection Right One Frame: Cmd+Right

I am terrible at moving clips just a frame or two one way, this short cuts makes this process precise and easy!

2. The simple Selection key: V. The best and most useful short cut there is.

In this clip screened in the lecture from the Coen brothers’ ‘Blood Simple‘ describe what is happening in terms of the edits specifically in terms of the audio and video.

 

In the scene of Blood Simple, clean and sharp editing of video and audio is used. In the video they are all clean cuts from one shot to the next, never using transitions such as fading in or out. The audio is also very matter of fact, each movement has a sound, from the ruffle of a suit when a character moves to the obvious clunk of the lighter on the table. A large majority of the sounds used were foley and would have been recored and interred during postproduction.

Consider Sandra’s lecture “Directing Actors” and describe at least a couple of points that you took away from it (even if you’re not the director).

There were heaps of points I took out of the ‘directing actors’ lectures that I think are vital for a shoot to go well. Two of the most important things that I took away were:

1. Rehearsing with the actors before the day/ time of the shoot. This is really important as it ensures the actors are not only comfortable with the script but also used to having your direction and it also ensures that they are able to work well with each other (if there is more than one actor). I personally have been in the situation of acting in film without first rehearsing with the director and other actors. It can be an overwhelming experience with so many new aspects to deal with and can effect the actors performance. This can lead to not only a less than desirable performance from the actor, but can also cause the shoot to run overtime due to having to reshoot unrehearsed shots.

 

2. Another point I took away from the lecture was the importance of giving actors some freedom with the script and character and allowing them to interpret the script themselves. Not doing so can stifle an actor’s creativity and also prohibit you from finding new depths in your script and film. You can always direct actors to perform the way you see the script, but if you shut off the possibility to their interpretation you may miss out on something special.