Milestone 1 - Shotlist & Storyboard

Mid project feedback and reflection

I originally had a different plan for this project which involved shooting on campus because it would be the easiest to work with in the limited time schedule and small amount of people I have available to help. Antony's feedback in class was that it did seem too easy and encouraged me to push to be a little more creative. After some deliberation I decided to take his advice and redo my idea. I worked on a new shotlist and then developed the story board to go with it. I also planned a location and listed the equipment and props I would need. The hardest part will be scheduling the shoot with two of my friends from SAE who are the only people who are available to help and be actors for me.

Milestone 2 - Final Submission

Post project reflection

What went well?

• I was able to get my friend Harry to help me shoot before our 5pm class together. We went to Wentworth Park in Ultimo. I spent a few minutes making sure I had the correct camera settings. It was cloudy and we were under a tree so I started out with a white balance of 7000K which is considered a good setting for shadows, however I found it didnt look correct to me so instead I changed it to 5600K which is for daylight (Lancaster, 2013) and it looked much better so I used that instead. The final product came out well with the exception of the final image where my eyeline appears to be above the other person. I was rushing when taking this photo because we were running late and had a class starting very soon so I snapped the photo and didn't look closely because we had to pack up immediately and run to campus. In general I'm still pretty happy with how it went. I used my vintage lenses from home as a 'budget prime lens kit' to emulate what a shoot with a professional camera and lens kit would be like. I also spent an hour editing and adding music and sound effects in Davinci Resolve.

What didn't go well?

• Scheduling was difficult. The only time everyone's schedule lined up was on Wednesday, the day before the due date, but one of my friends ended up sick and was unable to come.

So what did I do?

• We canceled the orignal shooting day and I had to think about how else I could achieve it. I was unable to present on Thursday and told Antony I was aiming for Monday to submit the assignment as that was when at least one of my other friends was available. Antony gave me the idea to use a tripod and remote shutter on my camera so I could be one of the actors. This is what I ended up doing with my one other friend being the other character.

So what should I have done?

• I should've had a backup plan in place from the beginning, such as using a tripod and remote shutter so I could be an actor. This trimester is the busiest with this class as well as work placement and my capstone project all happening at the same time. I need to make sure I have redundancies in place so if my original plan fall through I will have a fallback already in place because my schedule doesn't allow for doing things last minute.

Now what do I need to learn now?

• With this project complete I can focus on the next project which is a practical demonstration of camera operation.

References

Lancaster, K. (2013). DSLR Cinema (p. 31). Taylor & Francis.