Final Week of 2009

For the sake of completion, I'll mention something about the last week of term.

Monday I was ill - so stayed in my bed.

Tuesday was a class in Directing. We were working on storyboarding a short sequence based on a "ticking clock" idea. Ours involved a foolish boy playing with a toy car in the middle of a highway while a drunk driver sped past him.

Wednesday was a day off, as I recall.

Thursday was, I think, a class with Cammy on Sound gathering. I didn't feel I learnt an awful lot in this class. I think we are beginning to bump into a bit of a ceiling in terms of our advancement. Perhaps if we progress to recording scripted dialogue we might be able to further hone our techniques, but largely what we need as a class is the same as what we need with the camera: practise. And for myself I find it difficult to be motivated for practise unless it has a specific aim in mind, or unless it is to learn a specific technique prior to recording. What I have found my biggest challenge with Sound Recording is dealing with the cold in Mugdock Park while holding a freezing boom pole. Lucky I have now acquired a pair of leather gloves for when I'm next on boom duty!

Friday was an editing assesment: building a scene from Balamory based on the footage collected. I did feel myself constrained occasionally, with the only shot of one or two lines from one character being the Master shot. I wasn't sure if the director had forgotten to film an extra shot, or if some footage had just got lost on the way from the set to our Media folder, but either way, ti showed me the importance of getting "options" for the editor. (I still hate Avid!)