This year in e-Comm I learned plenty. Many of the skills I learned last year in e9 carried over into this year. The six-shot system, three-point lighting, editing, and audio skills all carried over into my experience this year. So far, we have studied convergence journalism. We have made several videos, including two feature stories. Not the most creative titles, but they were called "Feature Story 1" and "Feature Story 2".
Feature Story 1:
The first feature story I made was about my classmate Austin Wilson and his involvement with the school play. He was the only sophomore in the pit orchestra for our school's musical. The video consisted of him playing some of the music and talking about everything that he did. It was pretty easy to film, but some of the footage disappeared from the SD card. And the fact that I missed three days of class prevented me from getting it in on time. So while it wasn't the easiest project, it certainly gave me some experience to carry into the second feature story.
Feature Story 2:
The second feature story I made was about my best friend TJ Dahl. The video was about his volunteer work at our church. Every Sunday morning, he goes early and does any odd job that needs to be done around the building. I was originally going to film him talking about it at our church, but I forgot my SD card, forcing me to wait and do it later at his grandparents' house. However, I was able to get footage of us working thanks to an extended due date and my personal "GoPro rip-off". It was a little rough at times, but it was by far my favorite story to shoot, considering I got to spend time with a friend in the process.
Class time:
Most of my class time was used to edit or film videos, but I had some free time. I've been a perfectionist since the day I was born, and I spent most of my time in class trying to make my videos look as good as they possibly could. While this was often frustrating due to poor lighting or camera issues, I made some quality videos and cranked them out in record time. There were a few videos that we filmed in class, so that time was completely devoted to trying to make the cameras work. Outside of class I watched news stories and movies. Not as entertainment, but to try and figure out how everything was done. When I watch movies, I watch them for entertainment and I try to find errors. Whether that be continuity, grammar, statistics, or special effects, I always try to find something that could be fixed. For example, there is a scene in Jurassic Park when two velociraptors follow children into a kitchen. As the velociraptors enter, they stop. One starts to lean forward, then it stands up straight again. This looks completely normal, but if you look closely, the model dinosaur used in shooting was actually about to fall on its nose. A crew member's hand comes up into the shot and lowers the raptor's tail down, bringing its head back up. Against the dark shadows of the doorway, this is not something you would spot unless you were looking for it.
Video Skills:
This year, I've gained many new skills. Rather than editing in Final Cut Pro, this year we used Adobe Premiere Pro. Many of the concepts and controls are the same, but it is a different layout, so we had to practice a little bit. An area I may need to improve in is filming. While it seems really easy, I often forget to check the lighting, natural noise, and anything else that's going on in the background.
Summary:
What did I love most about this semester? I don't know. I love video production, whether for journalism or entertainment. I already know that I'm going to choose video over animation next year. I don't think I would change anything from my experiences at e-Comm. This is a fantastic program, and I hope that I'll be able to finish my high school career with it. I don't have any goals except to continue my amazing experience in this program.
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