Quarter One Reflection

Description: At the start of the quarter I took a trip to Hays, Kansas with some fellow classmates in order to film the first football game. Although, the ride down and back from Hays was long the football game itself was an exciting win, and I felt like we got some solid shots. If we had taken another lens to the game we could have gotten some closer shots which I think could have benefited us. Later in the quarter, I got involved in the Behind the Scenes: Soccer video which I'm really enjoying so far. I have filmed a few soccer games, and I also edited roughly half of the soccer promo video with some of the other people on the soccer video team. I'm excited to see what the video turns into, and what our story ends up becoming.

Feelings: During the time I spent filming the football game in Hays I was trying my best to stay positive, because I was sick and exhausted, but the trip ended up being memorable and we got the shots that were needed. I've enjoyed working on the soccer project, because I really enjoy soccer games and I also know quite a few people that play soccer. I think I will like second quarter a bit more than first if we start doing a bit less client work and more other projects in small groups like we did last year.

Evaluation: As I said earlier, I think we could have benefited from taking the telephoto lens to the football game in Hays in order to get some more interesting shots. Personally, I think that I have a lot to learn about how to use the telephoto lens in order to get the best product.The soccer video has really improved  my communication skills, and I also think it's pushing my leadership skills towards improvement. I wouldn't say I lack leadership skills, but I am more shy so I think this first quarter has put me a bit more outside my comfort zone. Additionally, I think we could definitely use the telephoto lens for soccer which makes me realize even more how beneficial learning how to work with that lens could be.

Analysis: With first quarter in mind I now think that I have the ability to improve my communication and leadership skills. Again, I think I should learn more about the telephoto lens because I don't have much experience with it as of now. I learned that I would like to do more small group projects in class like we did last year.

Learning: This quarter I have learned that there's a lot more different components that go into story than I ever realized. I also learned that my communication skills are really improving throughout this school year. This school year in general is really pushing me to create good habits and become a more independent and responsible student.

Action Plan: As for future quarters I plan to learn more about the camera itself, so that I can have more visually pleasing shots. I hope to go film outside of class on projects such as montages like we did last year. I also am planning on to find more of a direction for my portfolio, because right now I have no idea what direction I want to go with it. 

Student Tutorial

Light Writing

Most of us have probably seen light writing before, but if you haven't you should definitely check it out! I recently noticed that lighting is becoming one of my interests, although I don't know much about it there's something about a shot with a gorgeous lens flare or crisp light that grabs my attention. I came across a proposal video that used light writing, and I decided that I wanted to know just how light writing works. 

Here are the steps I found in order to successfully create light writing: 

1. You need to be in a dark room or atmosphere. 

2. If your camera is a DSLR, set it on manual mode and make your shutter speed 30 seconds. A longer shutter speed means more time that light is allowed in through the lens.

3. Depending on how bright the room you are in is, set your ISO to 100 or 200. 

4. Next you are going to change your aperture (or f/stop) to 5.6, because the higher the aperture the more light is let in.

5.Set your camera on a timer so you have time to get in front of the lens.

6. Face a flashlight, glow stick, or something similar facing the camera and begin to doodle. BAM. You just wrote with light!