You would usually expect a reflection to be done on paper and pen, but today we decided to switch things up a bit! Instead of reading what I learned after two months of ACT prep classes for my independent project, why not wAtCh and HeAr about it?
One of the most important things that I've learned about film making is that anything that is part of the scene, and is visible to your audience, has an
effect on the emotion and idea being portrayed . Thus, after analyzing the effect of certain film techniques such as my choice in location, body position, and script, I've come to understand my videos strengths and weaknesses. - Having bright green grass, plants, and trees as a background gave the video a very relaxing mood. Since this video was a reflection, and it was intended to be something a little bit more relaxed, I think that the setting played well with the purpose of the video.
- Sitting down on the grass and using my hands as I talked also helped portray a relaxing mood because it made it seem as though I was having a normal conversation with someone instead of informing them about what I had learned.
- Although I did read from my script at the beginning, for the most part, it seemed as though I was having a conversation with someone because of the angle being filmed from, the angle I was looking at, and the fact that I only used my script as a benchmark to know what I had to talk about next.
- Sitting down on the grass and using my hands as I talked also helped portray a relaxing mood because it made it seem as though I was having a normal conversation with someone instead of informing them about what I had learned.
- Although I did read from my script at the beginning, for the most part, it seemed as though I was having a conversation with someone because of the angle being filmed from, the angle I was looking at, and the fact that I only used my script as a benchmark to know what I had to talk about next.
WEAKNESSES
- To me, my video seems a bit dull because I am simply sitting down and talking for the full two minutes. Although this is mainly because my independent project isn't about the most "exciting" topic, I could make my video more dynamic by playing around with my setting and camera angles. For instance, Barbara, who took surfing lessons for her independent project, had a very engaging beginning where she was at a beach (on photo booth) pretending to surf and was teaching her audience the "basic" surfing position.
- Since I filmed with an Iphone, towards the end of the video the quality was not very good and you can hear the wind in the background.
- At the end of the video, I think my body position is a little bit too relaxed. Although I did this completely unconsciously, I realized the importance of finding the balance between something looking relaxed and it looking so relaxed that it takes importance away from what is being said.
- Since I only used the script that I had written to remember what I had to talk about next, I improvised most of what I said and repeated the words "and", "test", "realized", and "um" a lot. Although I think improving this comes mainly through practice, talking more slowly would give me more time to think about what I want to say, and therefore, prevent me from using benchmarks such as and or um.
- Since I filmed with an Iphone, towards the end of the video the quality was not very good and you can hear the wind in the background.
- At the end of the video, I think my body position is a little bit too relaxed. Although I did this completely unconsciously, I realized the importance of finding the balance between something looking relaxed and it looking so relaxed that it takes importance away from what is being said.
- Since I only used the script that I had written to remember what I had to talk about next, I improvised most of what I said and repeated the words "and", "test", "realized", and "um" a lot. Although I think improving this comes mainly through practice, talking more slowly would give me more time to think about what I want to say, and therefore, prevent me from using benchmarks such as and or um.