How has my practice changed in the studio?
In the studio, continues practices and digging new ideas are achievements and rewards. This class opened my mind. At beginning, I understood the pro and cons of cellphone video, which I can use its advantages and avoid those disadvantages. The depth of cellphone focus is short and quality of videos are not as brilliant as professional cameras. But by wisely using, cellphone video can make marvelous images. Mobile applications in smartphones provides significant assistance for improve efficiency. As certain, editing footages made by smartphone on desktops can add effects that are unachievable for mobile apps. Editing on desktop is only more complicate than editing on smartphone. Smartphone is portable, has more possible angles, less preparation, less support equipment, faster and easier uploading, widely sharing and spreading than traditional camera. As an important instrument in new media era, smartphone is playing an irreplaceable role.
At times before, I have not utilized smartphone for making video projects. However, with many practices recently, I found that smartphone is a flexible and interesting filming tool. I will constantly think and innovate my shoot skill and filming methods, which is undoubtedly meaningful.
What have I learned from the sketching process? Did you like it? Was it useful?
From the sketching process, I have learned that utilizing advantages of smartphone to create remarkable video requires innovative ideas. For example, by selfie sticks and other cranes, smartphone can stimulate animal angel and reaching difficulty locations. This will make attractive footages. On the other hand, smartphone is light and portable. It can instantly record activities happening around us and “game your video”.
I really love produce creative videos by adopting advantages of smartphone. It is useful and low cost. With creative ideas, it can make great videos at any time, any places.
What do I know do differently? What could I develop further?
To make creative videos, I must get rid of those traditional concept of using video camera. The mobile phone is an entirely new equipment which can make different pictures and has a lot of mobile apps supporting it. To make a development in the future, I must learn experiences from others and keep reading blogs from other professional cameraman who is good at filming with smartphone. For example, smartphone filming has no blur-in and blur-out effect. And smartphone zoom is much shorter than video cameras. These are obvious differences between smartphone video and cameras. Another example, there are a lot of tricks which can only be used on mobile phone. For example, by tying mobile phone on balloons, the mobile phone can easily take pictures which are only made by rocket arm camera or helicam for video camera.
On the other hand, I must keep utilize new mobile apps that can improve or simplify mobile video making. On iTunes, there are hundreds of thousands of video assistance apps. And there are a lot of apps that has different filters promoting image qualities significantly.
What of my strengths and weaknesses?
Strengths:
- My most obvious strength is my creativity of story telling methods. I have a lot of creative shooting ideas.
- I also possess experiences of graphical modifications, color grading and simple After Effects.
- Graphic design skills: I have experiences as a photographer, which allow me to make good shots.
- I have strong organizing skills which are trained during my student union works.
Weakness
- English is not my mother tongue. I waste more time on writing reports and my communication with other people sometimes has risks of misunderstandings.
Collaboration process.
As a team work at the beginning:
- Our team had meetings every week, which we discussed shooting plans. We also discuss as a group online if we have something to talk.
- The most idea of our group was mine and I worked as a team with Jessie and Florence to do our Project 1 & 2 for 6 sketches and Project 3 for 15 sketches. We are our own director but we can be other’s actress. And we give feedback each other.
As an individual work at last:
- I bought equipment (selfie stick) and borrowed props (alpaca head and the toy) from friends.
- CIci, Chi and Me have a lot of discussions about shooting time schedule, finding shooting locations. And we have made the final project that everyone is happy about it.
For other’s work:
- I helped Cici to do her Project 4 as an actress and stage manager then also ask my friend who study Master of Art in RMIT to borrow the location, color paper materials and tripod.
- I participated in Jessie’s Project 4 as an actress and background music provider.
How this semester changes your thinking about becoming professional media practitioner?
Before this semester, I thought a professional media practitioner must have professional skills on every area. After this semester, I realized that:
Firstly there is no one who can master everything. If I want to become really professional in this industry, I must concentrate on one special territory and gain specialties in this area.
My skills are more concentrate on graphic making, color grading, story ideas. But directing and editing are not my specialties. Each skill needs considerable time to learn. And it will require more time to really control it. Everyone’s life is limited, which cannot provide unlimited time to master every skill. Therefore, I must choose one or several relative skills to focus. By concentrating myself on these skills, I can really bring strategic advances compare to others while it will bring competitive for my future career in media industry.
The other important thing is that I need to have a wide social circle with others who has specialties on different territory. During this project, I have gained a lot of helps from classmates and my friends who is professional media practitioner. In the future, project must be made by teams and groups. If I have a lot of connections with other professional practitioners, I will have more solutions when confronting difficulties in project. Furthermore, I will receive reasonable and remarkable suggestions and advices from friends, which may significantly decrease risks of failures or making mistakes. For example, during this project, I gain a lot of professional guides from one of my friends who is a professional editor and director. A lot of his suggestions and assistances really improve my works and bring effectivity and efficiency for making the video. He also taught me how to make visual effects which were utilized in this project and improve the quality of my work.
janetbubble 