1. The firstexperimentIperformedwasapiece tocamera inbrightstudiofilmedonaphone attached
to a tripod.
The purpose of the experimentwaspartiallytogetan ideaof how well the phonescameraperforms
withoutanytinkeringwithsettingsand partiallytosee how confidentIcanperformto camera.
The phone’scameraperformeddecently;producinghighenoughqualityfootageforwhatI’dneed
for the final productwithdetail beingpreservedevenwhenviewedoncomputermonitors.Given
the web-seriesnature of the brief thisseemstobe adequate.The mainissue withthe footage isthe
aggressive automaticimage adjustmentfeaturesthathave trouble withmotioninthe already
visuallybusyandflatlylitenvironmentithadto process.The footage constantlyshiftsinandoutof
focusas I move thisisbecause,whenunmodified,the auto-focusistryingtofocusonthe white
background,the objectsaroundthe frame andme. AsI move aroundthe focus hasto adjustitself to
compensate makingforapiece of footage thatsendsmosttime out of focus.The footage also
constantlyshiftsisobecause asImove the lightbouncingoff me changestrippingthe autoiso,the
twobright lightshave asimilarlybadreactionwiththe autoiso.The resultisan image that
constantlyshiftshowbrightobjectsare dramaticallyandrapidly.
I feltthatmy performance tocamerawas fine,I’mconfidentthatI can deliverthe final scriptto
camera withoutgoingmonotone orstandingstockstill.Icanstill improve however; Istutteredat
timesandhad longpausesbetweenlines.Thiswasprimarybecause Ineitherhadthe scriptwithme
or had time to memorize itandhadto improvise,whichI’mnotto goodat especiallywhile I’mbeing
recorded.Icouldalsobenefitfromraisingmyvoice slightlyandmake sure tonot breakeye contact
withthe lens.Ifeel thatI wasapprehensivetoraise myvoice because Ididn’tknow how soundproof
the room was.I broke eye contact withthe lens,partiallybecause Idevotedmostof myfocus
towardsimprovisationandpartiallybecauseitsquite asmall lenssurroundedwiththree otherssoit
can be slightlyconfusinganddisorientingwhiledeliveringlines.
To fix the visual issuesIwouldfirstdisable the automaticfeaturesandsetparameters likefocusand
isomanually.Tosetfocusaccurately,I wouldfirstmountthe camerawhere itwill be whenitwill be
recordingandmark where Iwill stand.ThenI wouldgetanobjectwitha vaguelysimilarshape tome
that can be placedon my markand focusedon.I wouldthenmove the objectaroundtosee how the
focussettingsdeal withmotion.Once the focusisproperlyadjustedIwouldmove ontoadjusting
the iso;in orderto achieve alownoise andyetwell litlook.
The short clipthat istwinnedwiththisdocumentdemonstratesaclassiccut that hasbeeninuse in
filmaslongas sound:the “j” cut. The conceptis extremelysimple;beforethe visual cutbetween
twoshots isperformedthe soundfromthe future shotis fadedinoverthe firstshotsaudio.This
effectallowsmore continuitybetweentwoshotsthatmayhave none or verylittle,the effectis
roughlyequivalenttothe crossfade inaudioproduction,givingasmoothtransitionandafast pace
to the work its usedin.
