Week 6: Videos!

When it comes to video production, it's no stranger to me. I've enjoyed video production ever since my poly days, and I am constantly trying to find new projects to film. Be it a friend's wedding, a school project, I'm always excited to come up with a video from scratch.

My most recent shoot was for my upcoming COM 125 presentation. As our presentation was about Instagram and its many merits, I thought it would be fun to film a video to complement it.

http://youtu.be/iPa3OGbZRU0

As all filmmakers would agree, the preproduction, filming and postproduction processes are all equally important in video making. Sloppy preproduction, such as failing to come up with a proper script, or being unsure of what you want to film, would lead to a bad filming day. If the shots during filming were bad, postproduction would have you tearing your hair out. Believe me, I've been there, done that.

To me, preproduction of a video is grueling and frankly tiresome. Ideas don't just pop out when you want them to. If you are working in a big team, any creative differences could also wear you out before filming even starts.

During filming, it's important to be diligent and have your brain work overtime. Situations might change and it's entirely up to you, as the director, to handle it. Things might not work out the way you expect them to. A thousand things could occur during a shoot that would make it go haywire- a flat battery, an absent or unwilling talent, locations might be unsuitable or even disallowed. Thankfully, the team of actors- my group mates- were cooperative and Janice graciously lent us her house for filming.

Postproduction is probably the part where you either hate it or thoroughly enjoy it. If the shoot went well and you have a clear picture in your head, you would love editing a video. If not... well, let's just say you'd pay to not look at the project anymore because you know it wouldn't turn out right.

The editing tool I use is Final Cut Pro. In polytechnic, we were mostly only taught the basics and had to find our way to create entertaining, informative and creative videos. To me, editing is a way you can expand on your creativity. The joy of watching your accomplished work of art afterwards is exciting.

A screenshot of what I work with

I'm very meticulous and editing is a brilliant way to bring out the OCD in me. I've lost count of the times I've practically pressed my face up to the screen to make sure each dissolve is of correct timing and placement. Being off by a few milliseconds would make the effect less pleasant to watch, hence my severe scrutinization every time.

Here's another video I made for another module (Organizational Comms) two semesters ago, entitled The Internship Effect. I cringe when I watch this because of the voiceover... Even Johnny Depp doesn't watch his own films! (It's true.)

I don't think anyone really likes to hear themselves talking, unless you're Morgan Freeman.

I love watching movies, but as of late all I've been thinking when I'm watching a movie is:

• I wonder how many takes they did.
• How many cameras did they use?
• Was that filmed on a steadicam? 
• They definitely used a crane camera for that one.
• Is that green screen? 
• How many days was principal photography?
• I wonder how long they took to finish editing that.
• How did they create the lighting? 

Annoying. I had to watch Iron Man 3 (my all time favorite superhero) and The Avengers three times each because I couldn't stop wondering this and that and how long they took to render the film. I always marvel at fantasy, fictional, or action films because I'm a sucker for them. Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Hunger Games, especially any Marvel film... Talk about marveling over Marvel. (Sorry.)

Anyhow, never underestimate the amount of time and effort needed to create the 2 hour film you so casually watched and forgot about. That's why I yell at someone whenever he or she tells me that Avatar "was not so good leh". I'd like to see you film and edit that.

Going forward, I hope to buy/be gifted/pirate the Adobe Creative Suite (especially Premiere Pro and After Effects- fantastic video editing software). I can only have that after I get a new computer because my laptop is nearly five years old now, and a heavyweight software like Adobe Premiere Pro will probably give it an aneurysm. Adobe Premiere Pro has been partly used to edit many famous shows, even movies like The Social Network. Unfortunately, the Adobe Creative Suite costs over a thousand US dollars.

But an aspiring filmmaker can dream... Right? :)