Evaluation of 'How To Shoot An Interview'

       Initially, we sat in a circle and decided on everybody's individual roles. I was assigned the role of the director and so it was my job to control what was in frame when. I was also the main editor. Originally we sat down and wrote a script for the actor's speech, but then we decided that we wanted to do a voice over for the video (except for the first and last shots where Amber would be talking directly to camera). So, instead of continuing with the script (which we could do after we'd filmed) we chose to get on with the filming.

       We'd had a brief discussion on how we wanted to do things so that we knew where to start. It made sense to leave the shooting of the lighting until the end, as we'd need as many lights as possible for the rest of the video. As for the sound, we only needed one boom pole and mic for the video production, because of the decision to use a narration (which turned out to be a good one!) We needed 3 cameras for the production: two for filming (one for close ups, and one to be stationary) and one for the demonstration. Overall, the filming went pretty smooth and everyone worked together. However, some people were left without anything to do once their job was completed (for example, once the lighting had been set up there was no need for the lighting operator (until it needed to be changed again)). We also filmed more than we needed (multiple takes of most shots) so that we definitely had enough footage when it came to editing.

       The editing process was fairly smooth, as we had plenty of footage to choose from. The two shots that we had to record sound for (Amber talking to the camera) could have done with being re-shot, as the sound quality was a little fuzzy. This may be because I had to increase the volume of each shot in Final Cut Pro though. However, every other shot was of an adequate quality, so I think we've done pretty well in terms of filming. All of our transitions were either cuts or fades, as a tutorial video doesn't need anything too flashy. We chose some "elevator" music for soundtrack to give the audience something cheerful to listen to whilst the demonstrations were playing. 

       We ended up recording the narration twice, as the first set was completely out of synch with the video and it was too fast to cut up and re-arrange. The second time we wrote down what happened in each shot of the video and made a script for Amber to read. These narrations worked quite well. However, there were still some long pauses between narration, due to lack of content (there was no way of elongating the speech without it sounding silly).

       I'd say our video met the brief, as it displayed how to set up lights, camera and record the sound in a way that all audiences could understand. Our team worked well together, as we communicated efficiently - if someone suggested an idea it would be taken into consideration. The final product reflects how well we worked together.

       The only improvement we'd need to make is to make the narrations more detailed, to make sure that no one would misunderstand what we were saying (however, we didn't think this was completely necessary as the narration combined with the visuals made it clear enough for most people). We'd also re-shoot the first and last shot (as mentioned previously).