My Projects
ONW in 2000
This project was a story about someone at Olathe Northwest who has a unique talent or participates in a group at ONW. This project took about three weeks for us to complete. It took a long time to finish this project because this was pretty much our first experience with news stories. This new type of project came with some difficulties, such as conducting interviews and working with microphones and sound. During this project, I learned about the different film processes used during news and feature stories. I also learned more about sound and how to use the different equipment and software. After I made this video, my teacher told us to try and have a closer cut for our interview and to make sure the audio levels of our clips matched. She also told me to use a larger variety of b-roll. I made all of these changes in my video and then turned in my revised version of our story. I am very pleased with my end product and I think I did a very good job at telling this story in our video.
Advanced Feature Piece
This project was an advanced feature piece. We had to come up with different ideas on what ideas we wanted to portray in this video. Our group decided to use diversity at Olathe Northwest as our topic. This project took us about two weeks to complete, and it was definitely a time crunch to get it finished. During this project, we had a lot of problems with the cameras. Many of them didn't record our audio correctly, and some of them just didn't work at all. One of the biggest points of emphasis for this project was the use of natural noise and how it can advance your storytelling. Our group struggled with this for this project, but I still think this will help me in future pieces. We were also taught about different ways to lead in to our story. The biggest critique I received for this video was to change around some of my b-roll so I could show more diversity. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to make these changes, but I will definitely remember this advice in the future. Overall, although this project is far from perfect, I am still happy with how I was able to finish and turn in a complete video by the due date.
How I Used My Time
I think I have done a great job at using my time wisely while in class. A lot of people got distracted very easily in our class, but I always did my best to stay on track. I didn't really finish any of my projects early, so I didn't have a ton of downtime during class. I usually worked on my videos up until the day it was due so I could fix as many little things as possible. For example, I often tried out different visual effects on my videos to help improve them. Outside of class, I have watched various news stories such as ONW Now. Also, I watch a lot of YouTube, which helps me see more examples of well produced videos and great camera work. Overall, I think I have done a great job at using my time both in and out of class and I think that will really help me make my videos even better in the future.
My Strengths
I would say my greatest strengths in this class include my time management and leadership abilities. I think I do a great job at keeping my group on track during class. I also think I have really improved with Premier Pro. Lastly, I would say that I am pretty good at planning out what we want to show/tell during our video. I think I am also a good storyteller. I can write a voice over effectively and can sequence my shots appropriately.
Areas For Improvement
I would say the main area I need to improve is my camera work. Although I am definitely a lot more comfortable with most of the aspects than I was before, I could still improve with certain things. For example, I definitely need to improve at the different audio settings on the camera. I messed up some of the audio in an interview for one of my projects, so I will definitely need to learn more about that in the future. I also need to improve with my b-roll. I need to remember to get too much of it, and to try to get a large variety of shots, so my video isn't too boring. Lastly, I would like to improve at my communication skills with my peers because at times, I can be a bit quiet and fail to express my ideas.
My Experience With ONW Now
This was a really fun--and stressful--project for me. I didn't have a huge role during the making of my teams' story. I filmed some b-roll and helped film an interview, but that was all I really did for our Girls Basketball Story. However, I had a much larger role during the filming and making of the whole news show. I was in the control room, and my job was to switch to the different cameras and stories when needed. So, I had a very big role during the production of the video. I also had a pretty big leadership role. I had to keep everyone calm during production and also tell others what they needed to do at a certain time. During this project, I definitely learned the importance of assigning roles and executing when needed. In real news shows, you don't get multiple takes, so it's important to do everything you can to prepare in advance. I also learned a lot about what people behind the camera do during a news show. Specifically, I learned a lot about what people do in the control room. As a whole, I really enjoyed making our own news show and it was definitely my favorite project so far this year.
Summary
This semester, I really enjoyed learning about convergence journalism. This is what I am planning to go in to next year, so it was cool to get a close look at what it is like to produce these kinds of video. Obviously some of my projects were more successful than others during the semester, but I would still say that I learned something important during each project. If I were to redo some of my projects, I would have definitely put a bigger emphasis on b-roll, since it can really make or break your video. However, knowing this will definitely help me in the future. My biggest takeaway from this year is the importance of pre-production. Last year, we kind of blew it off and just came up with stuff on the go. However, this year I really learned how much easier the production of the video is if you do a good job at planning. One goal I would like to set for the future is to improve as a camera operator and also learn other techniques that will help to make my videos even better. I really enjoyed what we did in class this semester, and I'm looking forward to what I will do later on in eComm.
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