Reflection on Green Screen Exercise
The green screen exercise was something that I initially found quite daunting as I thought it would be quite a lot more difficult than it was. While it was still difficult, it was something I could see myself getting better at if I had reason to use green screens more. The process for setting up the green screen and lighting was probably the biggest challenge; we had to ensure that the screen would stay up, as well as setting up the lighting for the screen as well. The lighting was probably the hardest part as we had to make sure that there was an equal layer of light all across the green screen, as well as making sure that when there was a subject in front of the screen no shadow would be cast. Working with the lights was hard because there was a lot to worry about and a lot of equipment to move and adjust when necessary. This process of lighting the green screen and then lighting it with me in front of took about fifteen or twenty minutes but eventually we got it about 90% right. Once we recorded the footage, we had to use premier to actually access the green screen, putting images behind our footage. I found this aspect especially difficult as when filming we used too different shades of green, a darker green for the back wall, and then a lighter green drape to cover my body. The too shades of green conflicted when I tried to put the image behind the section of footage I keyed out. Next time I’ll have to make sure that the greens are the same shade and have the same amount of light spread on them. Overall the footage didn’t turn out how I would have liked but this was definitely a good starting place to learning how to use green screens well.
Reflection on Audio Exercise
This audio script exercise was especially fun and I found it incredibly useful in learning how to use the audio recording devices. For the exercise we had to follow the script we were given, recording the dialogue and also using foley recording to record sounds such as doors opening and footsteps. My role in the exercise was to record the sound; I made sure that the sound levels were right and I was also in charge of the microphone and boom pole. This was useful for me as I have always felt that sound was one of my weaknesses and I have wanted to increase my understanding and proficiency with sound for a while. It was a bit of a challenge to find spaces around the university that weren’t too crowded with people or too echoey, but we eventually found a hallway that was fairly empty and I think it worked very well for our recording as it wasn’t overly echoey but still sounded like the space was open when we played the audio back. The edit of the exercise came out well and the audio was crisp for the most part; there were occasionally lines that sounded distant and were softer than others and also some takes where there was lots of background noise, or lines when I wasn’t quite pointing the microphone in the direction of the spoken line in time. These were good mistakes to have made however and I will definitely learn from these going forward. One aspect that I think would have made a big difference to the quality of the overall piece was if the background noises and fuzziness was eliminated, this would work best in a studio environment, so maybe next time when I need to record sound it would be useful to do so in a quiet studio environment.
Reflection on LOOPHOLE film
The idea behind the film was that we wanted it to fit into the supernatural thriller genre, with a character grappling with an unexplained phenomenon that they couldn’t explain. I think we were successful in this as when I watched the final edit I felt tense and confused for the character, even though i knew how the film was going to end. The ending was something that we were unsure of how to execute and shot a few different sequences for; ultimately we decided to give it more of a light hearted ending, with the character realising that they were just daydreaming the situation. I think this was the right decision as it adds a layer of confusion but also a reprieve from the danger of being stuck forever. The shooting process was difficult to organise as everyone had busy schedules, but when we did get everything organised it worked really well. My role for the most part was to record sound during the scenes we shot. It was a challenge to make sure that the boom microphone and pole weren’t in frame during takes but it was a good skill to learn. I had a better understanding of the sound recorder this time around, the last few weeks I have had the opportunity to record sound and practice during a few different exercises and this time around I felt much for confident, although there is still a lot to learn and a lot of ways I can improve. The experience of shooting the film was a really positive one overall and it taught me the importance of communication and organisation, which are very important in this field of work. Overall I think the group produced a piece that we can be proud of.