Due to health reasons and inability to access the normal amount of resources and technology, this past week has been an interesting test of my abilities to operate under restricted conditions. When approaching Assessment Outcome 2 of Translating Observations we were tasked to interview a subject utilizing the technology and practical skills shown in class, due to an unexpected turn of events on Monday I was unable to interview my initial subject or rent the equipment on that day meaning It wasn’t until Thursday that I was able to finally rent the equipment and begin approaching this task which required us to conduct an interview, paying close attention to detail on the filmic potential of the shot to compliment the topic being discussed as well as highlighting our skills with operating the Sony EX3 cameras. Unfortunately both the Boom microphone and the camera itself had some issues due to undesernable reasons with the audio not coming through into the camera and the camera itself not being as easily navigable as per usual due to my foolish decision of resetting all presets in order to resolve the first problem. All of these issues really tested my skills with problem solving and I think given the circumstances the outcome achieved was to some degree the same as my initial vision once a new topic and subject were chosen. What i have learned from this experience is to spend much more time earlier on preparation as to account for hindrances such as sickness or inability to access resources within time constraints.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0vHbb2dyJfHcllQU1h4dXlFY3c

Unfortunately due to unavoidable illness and a last minute involuntary dental appointment my ability to attend class this week was not an easy task and therefore I had to resort to secondary means of resources to consolidate my knowledge based on an email sent by Robin outlining the basis of the weeks covered content. With “filmic potential” being a key focal point for this week I took it upon myself to research academic articles written on Jstor.org and thankfully there was a robust amount of content in this particular field that I believe helped to parallel what would have been touched on in class. These articles specifically caught my interest:

• Bottomore, Stephen. “Introduction: Behind the Camera.” Film History 24.3 (2012): 255-59. Web.
• Mateer, John. “Digital Cinematography: Evolution of Craft or Revolution in Production?” Journal of Film and Video 66.2 (2014): 3-14. Web.
• Allen, Richard, and Turvey Malcolm, eds. Camera Obscura, Camera Lucida: Essays in Honor of Annette Michelson. Amsterdam UP, 2003. Web.

These 3 readings covered a more historical approach to giving content to what can make a good shot as well as the emotion and draw factor assigned to a specific shot based on positioning and how it is interpreted. Jon Arthur Little’s piece: The Power and Potential of Performative Documentary Film while not being exactly in the same field as the other readings did provide another credible source for understanding how the actors and locations inhabited within a shot can provide new meaning or a different content based on presentation, and while this subject operates somewhere in the grey area between documentary style fact and a sense of manipulated fiction it provided a thoroughly relevant source that I have applied thus far regarding the current Assignment Outcome and will continue to do so for future projects in this subject.

Reflecting on the past week of classes we have expanded our knowledge of interviewing techniques through group exercises in positioning, lighting and filming techniques to apply meaning to a shot. In groups we were tasked to decide on a subject to interview and undertake key roles in an interview or behind the scenes in capturing it. My group consisting of Dylan, Aliane, Jenny and Jess all took on different key roles based on our skill sets or on what we wanted to learn. I took on the role of the interviewer and required to comprise a list of open ended questions for the interview subject (Dylan) who decided on discussing the topic of Theatre in High School. The other three members took on behind the scenes roles in sound (boom operator), director and lighting as well as determining location. This exercise served useful in understanding the level of detail required in setting up a shot and in preparation, as Robin also noted, you cannot really afford to adjust a shot while it is being filmed and given the nature of an interview as a “one-take” style of filming it is extremely important moreso then in other film mediums to prepare and ensure everything is how it should be. This knowledge will be further applied in this coming week with the editing required for the footage from this group project as well as in our solo assignments requiring us to interview a subject and undertake multiple roles in pre and post development of the processes.