After having show one under my belt, I felt way more confident shooting out in the field. I started with Jackson in Clarksburg, WV at the MK Airsoft arena. It was my first time traveling for this class which was interesting. It created more pressure because we knew we needed to get everything right because there was a good chance we wouldn’t be able to go back and reshoot everything. The main positive of the trip was that the owner gave us full access to the arena and helped us out with the shots we wanted. This was my first time working with Jackson and he was very easygoing and knew what he wanted. Since the arena was 72,000 square feet, we split up and shot in different areas. I focused on getting more close-up shots because that was the number one thing I needed to work on from the last show. Once again, there were some audio issues during the interview, but I moved quickly to get the problem resolved. Jackson had a clear image of what he wanted his stand-up to look like. He wanted to “clone” himself. We worked together to make sure the framing was right and that he would be able to edit it afterward. I think the final product of the stand-up looked great and our creative side was shown through it. After the interview and stand-ups, we had a lot of downtime before the players got there. We had to manage our time and find other things to do while we waited. Once the players got there, we had to wear safety gear, but we were allowed to go into the arena and get the shots we wanted. We had to stay up in the catwalk while the games were going on, so we didn't get hit with any pellets. Because of that, we had to utilize the zoom on our camera to still get some close-up shots even though we were further away from the action.
Next, I helped Trent with b-roll shots at the mountain lair. We wanted to get students engaging with each other. It was a little difficult because many people were just staring at their laptops and not doing much. We had to find a way to make the shots look better and more interesting. When we were outside of the lair, we tried to get more creative with our shots and not just have wide shots of students walking. We didn’t shoot any interviews or stand-ups, so it wasn’t as much work. Since it wasn’t as much, there also weren’t any issues like audio. The main challenge of this shoot was lighting. We went from outside where it was bright to inside where it was more dim. I had to adjust the white balance and exposure to make sure the shots would have the same quality lighting.
Next, I helped Tyler with his interview with John Antonik. I wasn’t even supposed to go with him, but he knew the coliseum would be locked and I had swipe access to the doors. He asked if I wanted to switch with Ellie. We got there early so we had plenty of time to set up the camera and test the audio. When we moved into Antonik’s office, I got a white balance and set the focus quickly and we got started immediately. In one of his answers, he mentioned Jerry West and Hot Rod Hunley. Tyler had the idea to go into the stands and get some shots of the banners that have West and Hunley on them. This shoot taught me to move quickly, but pay attention because something may be said that gives you inspiration for other things.
The last person I helped was Tanner at a men’s soccer practice. Adam Grossman told Tanner we would be able to shoot practice around 7:30 p.m. When we got there, he told us they were only going until 8 p.m. Since we did not have a lot of time, Tanner and I quickly got our cameras out and started shooting. Tanner wanted me to focus on getting more tight shots. The story was focused on senior Carlos Hernando, so I also had to keep an eye out for him and get any shots of him that I could. The team ended up practicing till 8:30 p.m., so we had more time than expected. Even though we had the extra time, I think Tanner and I worked efficiently and could have had all the footage we needed at 8 p.m. As soon as practice was over, Hernando was ready for his interview. We had to move quickly because we didn’t want to hold him up and we had another interview after. Both interviews went well, and we did not have any issues. Tanner’s sot TZ was where I struggled a little bit, but it was the best learning experience from this show. While shooting, I had to roll him a ball and then tilt and zoom the camera, which got challenging. After a couple of failed attempts, we Facetimed Prof. T and she was very helpful and gave us suggestions on how to make it easier for us. When we made the adjustments, the stand-ups and sot TZ looked great and the overall package was well done.
During the edit lab, I tried to make myself as useful as possible. It seems like everyone gets focused on their work and likes to edit themselves, but they used me to look over their work and add any feedback. I did this for Joey, Tyler, and Luke. They were all open to constructive criticism and made the changes that I suggested.
Show two was definitely a step up from show one. It was more challenging on the technical side, but that made us all push ourselves and get better. Tyler and I have good communication skills which help make the show flow smoother. Reading over the script multiple times before the show was a big help for me because I knew what Tyler was most likely going to call before he called it, so I was ready to push the correct buttons. We had some video playback issues during our first take, but during the break, we went through and looked at the issues and came up with solutions. Take two we applied the solutions, and it went much smoother. Overall, I think show 2 looked great, but there are a lot of improvements we still need to make. I am excited to continue to learn more through everything we do in this class and I can’t wait to see what Sam and Tyler come up with to make show 3 even more challenging but successful for all of us.
