Short Sharp Shock Evaluation
My idea for a 20 second video was first of all getting ready to go out which I then changed to getting children ready to go to school. I felt the idea of getting children ready to go to school would be easier to show in a 20 second video as the audience would be given a stronger idea of who the person is and where they are going. I then created brainstorms and started to storyboard what I would need to film to show a child getting ready. My storyboards worked well as they clearly showed each part I would need to film, what was happening, how long the clip will last and camera angle.
When researching for my 20 second video I made sure to include research in to other videos that are edited to a fast pace, as this gave me a better view of how fast clips with lots of edits worked. I analysed car chase clips that used lots of different camera angles to give the effect of a fast and panicked car chase. I then also looked at videos relating to my chosen subject of getting ready to go out as these showed all the different things people do when getting ready and would give me inspiration for camera angles I could use. one of the other videos I looked at was a Lurpack advert which included a sound track made up of separate sounds like I used in my video.
Some of the feedback I got from presenting my video was about how I used good camera angles when filming, for example the point of view when passing the plate of toast and helping put a school jumper on. I also got feedback in how I could improve, like using colour correction on my clips to brighten them up which I also agree would improve my clips and by adding a clip at the end to show leaving the house for school as this would make it clearer that they have left the house.
I liked my over all video as it shows everything that happens in the morning when getting ready for school and for most of the video you can clearly see what is happening. I also liked editing my video and adding in sounds, this worked better than I thought as although I had less time than I originally planned to edit my video I found it was easier to fit 30 edits in to 20 seconds than I had previously thought. Having used final cut pro before I found it easy to edit my clips and as they were simple cuts I didn't need to include any effects. I mostly used the razor blade tool and in and out keyframes. There were a few times I had trouble when editing as the layout in final cut pro x had changed slightly form other versions of the final cut pro software I had used. Filming my video was one of the things I lest liked about this project because it was difficult trying to get the lighting right for some clips and keeping the camera still without a tripod when filming was also another thing that made it more difficult.
The main problem I had with this project was having access to the software when editing because I had missed lessons and started editing my video in one version of final cut pro in class and then continued editing my video at home on another version. this made opening project files I had worked on difficult and I found it easier to just import the clips and start editing again. I then found when exporting my final video there was a problem with the software and this meant it took time having to re install final cut pro x so I could then export my final film.
My time management for this project didn't work as well as it could have. At the beginning, when the project was set I missed 2 days so this delayed me from getting the new brief and learning what I would have to do. This project was only set to last 5 weeks and so by missing 2 days of lessons and then not getting the brief until after a 4 day weekend made me a week behind in starting the project. This also worked the same as I was ill at the end off the project meaning I missed lessons where we could edit the footage and where we had access to sounds from sound track pro and therefore limiting the time I had left to edit my film and add sounds.
If I did this project again I would take more consideration over planning my idea with storyboards as I found with my final video that it seemed to end with out being clear that they had left for school. I would also make sure that I had more time to edit my video as I had planed to use a week for editing and then as I was ill I had less time to edit my video and some of the sound clips I could only access when in lesson and not at home. another thing I would do if I was to do this project again is to make sure I filmed enough that I could add in other shots or change a shot if it didn't work when i was editing. By having more time to edit my film and having more footage to edit I would be able to make sure I can create the panic when something goes wrong or with the general rush of getting ready in the morning.
The changes I made to my final video were adding an intro as this was not one of the things mentioned in my feedback but I noticed that lots of people had added an intro to the start of their film. I added a simple intro that said "monday morning, short sharp shock" this is enough to tell the audience what the video os about. Another change I made was to add in a clip where you see the front door close as if the child has left for school. I added this hoping it would help make the end of my film make more sense as it is now clearer they have left before the parent made a cup of tea. If I had more time to re edit my video after presenting it for feedback I would have colour corrected the clips that looked dark, but as this would take longer to change and I haven't properly used colour correction tool I found after attempting to adjust the colour I was not improving my clips. Another thing if I had more time would be to play with the length of the clips as towards the end of the video having shorter clips would make the video seem more panicked and then after the door closes using longer clips it would show how things are more relaxed.
