Flourish Furnishings Interview With Michelle Van Pelt
KC Student Interviews (Schooling during COVID)
This was my second zoom interview and I definitely learned some things from my mistakes making my first piece. That’s not to say though that I didn’t make any mistakes in this one. The first big problem arose when I assumed and did not specify certain details about the interview in the email I sent out. Like how you should be in a well-lighted, quiet room, free of background distractions for the interview (this was a BIG problem that post-production me had a… lets just say “fun” time with).
While there are probably ways I could have enhanced this piece even more, I am really proud of it! Although interviews are always good, I hoped to come up with more creative non-interview ideas next quarter.
Quarter 2:
Hobbies With Helton Episode #1
This was really fun to make, and I loved interviewing other people about their hobbies. I would like to do a sequel with me attempting to cook/bake again, and with interviews of other people in the Barstow community. I think next time I may even want to branch out and ask some teachers. Also, I think next time I could get more shots from different camera angles. Along with the alum interview, this was also a piece I had trouble cutting down, because I had so much cooking footage and so much footage of the insightful interviews. In the end, I think it all came together.
Barstow Alum Interview: Michael MacCambridge
Getting to interview a Barstow alum for my piece was really cool! I found it very relatable what he said about his time at Barstow, and how much it shaped him as a person. I found the interview really difficult to edit down because I liked everything he said. With this challenge I think I have gotten a better understanding of how to edit interviews so it’s just clips that really enhance the story you are trying to tell. Also, I believe I’ve learned how to cover jump-cuts better, just by using more and/or longer B-roll.
Introverted In An Extroverted World: A Social Commentary
Making this piece definitely tested my creativity. I struggled to choose an idea for a long time, and when I finally had one, it was really hard to relay my ideas to paper, and then through film. The guitar playing is something I think adds to the piece. I hope I can do it again on a future piece, but maybe next time I would try to use an Adobe application to make the recording process a little bit easier. Also, I think making this piece made me confront my fear/dislike of being in front of the camera, and especially, feeling vulnerable before the camera. As I’ve never really been this vulnerable in a piece before, it was honestly a little scary, but not as bad as I thought once I got filming. Overall, I am happy with what I produced including the addition of more B-roll to enhance it. I hope this piece gives people some insight into introverts and why they do what they do. I also hope this piece and the ideas it conveys lead people to make this world a little more non-judgmental, and a little more connected.
Quarter 3:
Hobbies With Helton Episode #2
Similar to the first Hobbies with Helton, this piece was really fun to make. Again, I had some problems finding people to interview, but I think it all worked out in the end. Unlike the first Hobbies piece, I tried to get people in different grades, and I was able to do that! I would like to make more Hobbies pieces in the future, and think I should try to interview teachers or other faculty. I had trouble finding school-appropriate B-roll for my interview with Caleb on esports, but I believe what I came up with worked.
Interview With Conductor & Composer Kirt Mosier
I think this interview went really well, but I did have some struggles editing it. Each of my interviewee’s answers were 4-5 minutes long, so I had to do some hard cuts as I wanted to include everything he was saying. In the end I believe I did a pretty good job keeping the best parts, but there is always room for improvement. After presenting this piece to this class, it was suggested that I reorder my questions and upon hearing that I agreed completely. Looking out for the ordering of questions to maximize the flow of a piece is going to be something I will do in future interviews, as it wasn’t something I was aware of before.
KC Youth Symphony Interview with Steven C. Murray
I am really proud of this piece. After it was pointed out on my last piece (Kirt Mosier Interview) that the intro didn’t flow, I decided to take a different approach for this interview. After the introduction, I added music and the Youth Symphony logo, and then went to the questions. I think this flowed so much better! Thankfully, I was able to get really great B-roll for this piece which really added to it. Also, I fortunately was able to get enough B-roll to cover all the jump cuts (and there were many…).
Quarter 4:
Hobbies with Helton Episode #3
Like the last two Hobbies with Helton I made, this piece was really fun to make. In the future, I might choose a shorter and easier recipe, as making the cinnamon rolls took all day. It also took a long time to edit it, as I had to edit down around one hour of cooking clips, and 2 fifteen minute interviews. I made this Hobbies with Helton a ‘teacher edition’ and I really like how it turned out. It was a little hard to find 2 teachers to interview, but I think the people I chose had many insightful things to say about their hobbies. Overall, I am really happy with what I made.
Interview With Cinematographer Isaac Alongi
I believe I had a good list of questions for this interview, even though I unfortunately had to cut several. It was a struggle to get B-roll for this piece, as I didn’t communicate with my interviewee until a day before class. His solution to my request for B-roll was a link to his Instagram and website. Unlike my interviews in the past, I was able to edit this one a little bit faster. From the beginning of the year to now, I have gotten better at judging what footage actually adds to the story, and what should and shouldn’t be cut. Even though I think I have improved, this is still something I need to continue working on.
Senior Art Show 2021
I really like the music I chose for the piece, and I like my overall layout of the piece (a photo with the senior’s name, then art B-roll with a voiceover). When getting the videos of the art, I struggled with keeping the camera steady so some of the shots were a little shaky. It was difficult to get the senior voiceovers and pictures, so that gave me a little bit of a late start. When I found out this piece was due a day earlier than I thought, it was a challenge having to edit a lot of it in one night. Even with this time crunch, I am really happy with how it turned out and hope that it showcased the talented artwork of the seniors adequately.