Just a step away

It is sometimes really helpful for me to think about progress in steps or separate phases. That way I keep moving and focus on one thing at a time, but when I look back I see that I have accomplished more than I am aware of even after I started thinking about my video in a final phase. Once it got to a certain degree of finish I started thinking of things in terms of finishing touches on a minor scale, but in some ways I have been doing more work or at least more intensive alteration since I have entered this stage. There are always a few more things that I'd like to tweak and play around with. I hope that feeling serves the project well, but I also I hope I do reach a state where I can feel satisfied with the product to feel like the video has reached my original or revised set of goals and encapsulates the message that I want viewers to receive. I have been working to swap out and trim down some of the current scene choices to make the video a bit tighter, more direct, and more effective.

The result of changing, trimming,and adding footage, not to mention credits and titles, has put me very near 10 minutes. I think that means I still have a good minute and a half by which to reduce my video so that I safely fit within the confines of the ten minute viewing timeslot with a brief introduction and maybe a question or two, barring technical difficulties. I hope to avoid technical difficulties by starting to think about putting my project on dvd middle to late next week when I still have time to work out kinks in the final stages of development. This week I have done a lot of tedious fiddling with minor parts to get them right, find a medium between abrupt and lengthy transitions, add some subtle filters for emphasis and some aesthetic purpose(rather than unnecessary dazzle), and try to consider solutions for some of the criticism I have received. So far, these general issues seem to be getting resolved better than I anticipated.

My next concern is music. I want to keep the strongest portions of the video intact without detracting with music, but I think it will also help make some of the less effective transitions work, and generally help hold the video together. I am a bit apprehensive because I don't want to disrupt the current tone of the film or overemphasize it too much, just compliment it. I have been dabbling with Garageband and I have started recording material for background sound, but I am not far enough along to say how much it will help. I definitely think music is important to the communication of a vision if applied more judiciously than arbitrarily. One of my concerns is vocal use. I think that is the most effective and also the most dangerous part of adding music. I don't want to steal anything from dialogue, but some parts may not make sense to have solely instrumental music. Both can be powerful if used well. I have also been trying to find the right angle on my working title. Here are some of my considerations:

Un/Familiar Voyage
Reverse Shock: An Uncanny Journey
Raw Shock: A Story of Return
Raw Shock: A Study in Cultural Adaptation

I think that the title should be open to interpretation to make the viewer wonder, but also be applicable enough to suggest that some kind of analysis is taking place.

IHRTLUHC

Jordan Severson

Onward and Upward

This week I got some good interview footage with the help of my friend Nate. I got a substantial interview with him that we actually managed to be more of a friendly dialogue so that it was like a dual-interview with the two of us. It covered a lot of the topics and questions that I wanted to make sure to fit into the interview portion of the video, so I think I might turn this interview into a lot of subclips to splice into the movie at the appropriate intervals. I think I have also solved a few of the other issues I have been having with timecode errors and whatnot. I was able to capture and store the majority of my footage so far. I hope to continue with some interviews (I have already discussed this with some more candidates) as well as begin filming the fictional, scripted portion of my movie. I have also thought that I might try some things I have thought of as ways to integrate other materials I have at my disposal into my finalcut project. For example, I think I may want to include some of my images from Italy as transitions in the film when they make sense, rather than always fading to black. I am also hoping to do some shooting of a fencing tournament this weekend because that will provide a different atmosphere and it will take me to a different environment where there is a different kind of diversity than at Lawrence. Some of the fencing teams that LU competes against recruit students from specific countries because of their fencing skill and I think that could be interesting difference in perspective, especially since other countries put a much different emphasis on this and other sports. I'll try to add some footage of that next week when I have it. I have also had a little difficulty in finding some time in which to film part of my project that requires several people at the same time and a friend that may visit campus to have a role in the film. I think I might employ Doodle to try and make this task easier, so we'll see.

IHRTLUHC
Jordan Severson

Off and Running

So, my project seems to be underway sufficiently. This week I got my external hard drive and most everything else I need for my project in order. I oriented myself with both Garageband and Final Cut Express on a basic level. I practiced using both and investigated some of the basic functions. Garageband seems fairly simple and intuitive to use, especially from knowing some similar music programs a bit more intimately. I had a few more issues getting used to Final Cut, but now that I worked them out and played around with some footage, I think I will be able to progress fairly quickly. The layout and some of the basic steps of starting a project are a bit confusing until you get used to some of the concepts, but they soon begin to seem quite useful for a great degree of control. Once I was able to figure out how to open and manage my project so that I can save all my clips and other project materials to my hard drive, things got much easier. I have a couple clips already and I think I have decided to keep adding them to the project as I go. I have a few little issues with audio compatibility and some settings that don't always agree, but I am sure I will continue to work those things out as I go. Overall, it seems like I have the basics down to start working without spending much more time figuring out the things I absolutely need to do with the program. I think that will enable me to gradually improve without slowing down production until I am fairly proficient. I also used the camera quite a bit with practice footage and some of the actual interviews and things that I may include in the final project. That makes me feel generally like I am at a pretty good starting point to just go ahead and start getting all the footage I want without worrying about comfort with the equipment. I know now that some of the little things will be decided for how I want to conduct interviews and get some of the other footage I need, though I am sure I will adapt my plans as I go through each stage to make everything easier.

IHRTLUHC
Jordan Severson