Google folder link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16oBmXw5ce1wV7I6QqTNkvB_WGM6-GUTk?usp=sharing

In Week 4 and 5, we watched a lot of examples which indicate different ways of combining image and voice-over. The most impressive one for me is the montage clip based on the poem ‘Afraid so’.  To match the voice-over, there are generally two filming styles: abstract and realistic. This poem is formed by numbers of questions, and the director filmed corresponding images for each question. Some clips are very realistic that show exactly what the question describes, but some are more ambiguous. Questions like “Must you go?” or “Is my time up already?” are already very implicit that require more creativity. This video inspired me that both two styles could be used in one work. 

Jackson’s observation is about nature scenery that involves snake, trees, river and birds. It’s almost impossible for me to film a real snake, so I decided to make this part more abstract and keep other parts realistic. To film the animals and plants, I planned to go to Carlton Garden or Botanic Garden. Aria and I borrowed one camera so we could help each other like last time we did. We went to Carlton Garden but found it was closed on that day. This taught me a lesson that I should always search and prepare well before filming and don’t let these objective causes affect the filming. 

On the way to Botanic Garden, I came up with the idea to film from snake’s perspective and later found it was not an easy task in actual operation. I held the camera close to the twig, pretending it was the snake and tried to move it around the twig. The EX3 camera is quite heavy and the frame was very wobbly. This idea was the only solution that I came up at that time. I thought it was creative but not suitable to film with EX3 camera. In all, I was still satisfied with the final effect which could match Jackson’s description. Images for the rest parts went very smoothly. There was a large group of birds on the lawn and I chose to focus on one’s movement. The whole experience was like filming a nature documentary.

Another serious mistake of our filming was that we took more time than we expected. We were both very sorry that we returned the camera late and someone booked it after us. Again, it’s important to have a look at the filming location, and have a complete plan for the content so we won’t waste so much time on next practice.