Finished Film + Evaluation

Our finished piece is below:

Thanks For The Year from Peter Simison on Vimeo. Production Slideshow: Evaluation
I believe I have really progressed a lot during the course of this module. I have been encouraged and learnt to experiment with unconventional techniques a lot more than i would have if I had never done this module.  Starting with the original sound piece I did in the beginning of semester 1, I got the hang of basic sound recording and using different types of microphones to get different sounds. I also experimented with the fundamental functions of ProTools using crossfades and gains to blend our recorded sounds together for our sound piece. I then expanded on this for our short documentary where we used a variety of various recording techniques such as Zoom h5 handheld recorders, recording directly to the XLR input on the camera and using radio mics. After experiencing the various benefits and difficulties of using each it helped hone my skills of choosing the most effective equipment for given filming circumstances. My audio knowledge then expanded even more when playing around with various effects for our drama short to express hidden emotions and ideas. It helped progress my technique and interest in ProTools and how software can be used to bring audio to life and be a fundamental part of the whole video.  I cinematography skills were also vastly improved through this module. I thoroughly enjoyed going out into the Peak District with a Canon XF305 and filming the country side. Filming like this really helped to improve my composition skills of the image as it gave me the capabilities of long focus lengths to widen the scope of compositions I could film. While not being a cinematographer in any of the other projects I still developed a lot by chipping in in all sides of production. For instance when on set for the drama short, I observed the possibilities and also limitations of using a dolly track. I also found through not using DSLRs the control of the image you can achieve by using interchangeable lenses. My use of experimentation also increased throughout this module. In our sound piece I don't feel like I experimented enough with video as a form. After comparing our piece to everyone else's I began to appreciate the scope of what can be done and shown through video, as our video consisted of just simple cuts and lacked any added  lighting or any interesting sound techniques. My use of experimentation had progressed a lot by the time we did our drama as we added the 90s element to the video. This gave us a lot of areas to experiment.  I learnt to use resources such as Vimeo to watch a complete variety of different videos that inspired me to use many different techniques.