Camera Work Reflection

Introduction

So far in Media studies, I've learnt the different camera shots, angles, and movements through in class notes, in class activity's identifying different shots, and scavenger hunts where my class picks a piece of media or gets assigned one that we must analyze for different shots, angles, and movements. We’ve also learnt how to produce these shots using projects where we must produce media ourselves.

First Video Project

To be more specific, the first video project I had to do was on camera movements. I had to use the prompt “ Surprise” to storyboard and create a short video that included the camera movements: static, pan tilt, push in or pull out, tracking, and one last movement of my choice, I choose to use random movement because it complimented my sixth scene the best and I made my story about how I had to take my dog out to pee but I couldn’t find her and once I finally did she was in my bedroom. That was a surprise to me and the audience but I wanted my story to include more then just that small element of surprise so I recorded my friends deep voice to put over a clip of my dog ‘speaking to me’. This was a second surprise for the audience since it is unusual for a dog to speak and if my fluffy little dog could speak it would be crazy to imagine her voice would be deep.

Unfortunately, I was sick during the class periods my teacher gave us to complete the project in class so I had to complete the entire project at home. This was definitely a challenge since that meant I had limited people available to be in my video and help with the production of it. That is why I decided to use my dog and mom as the other two characters other than myself in the video. I also had my uncle help me with recording the first couple scenes as well so I’m grateful for my family’s efforts.

Though I ran into that small issue, I still enjoyed the project as it allowed me to be creative while learning about different camera movements and how to use them but next time I do a video project I hope I get to do it with my peers and I want to improve on my editing skills since I felt that the transitions between my shots were a bit choppy and un-natural.

Second Video Project

For my second project, I had to tell a narrative story of an inanimate object using 15 different shots, including different use of camera techniques. I specifically needed to include an establishing shot, long shot, mid-shot, close up shot, point-of-view shot, and a low and high angle used with any shot. Me and my group choose to do this project on some school supplies. Our main character was a small glue stick who was sad and lonely, then he met a big glue stick who bullied him and made him cry. Then the little eraser met the white erase and a different type of eraser who befriended him and made him feel happy. The big glue stick saw the three friends having fun together and was very lonely and sad until the other three forgave him and befriend him, then they were all happy together.

The story sounds a bit silly and simple but it proved to be quite difficult since the focus of the project is to create a story using inanimate objects with pictures instead of a video so it was something new for me and my group but it did prove to be a fun project since we had to brainstorm and plan together in order for our project to succeed. The only thing I’d do differently if I were to repeat the project would be using more variety of angles and shots but either way, I believe both of these projects helped me learn about camera movements, shots, and angles in a fun way that will help me retain the information.