Week 4 - Talk With Kathy Craven

When I first heard that I would need to shoot a documentary for my media project I just froze. I thought there is no way I can do this at all and I don't have the skill for this but then I remembered that we have some of the best faculty at Full Sail. I knew the person to ask would have to be Kathy Craven. She really helped me to look at film in a different light and I really enjoyed her class. I was a bit nervous about asking her about what to do because I don't have a plan at all, but she took my thesis topic and idea and just came up with the idea. I want to share with you our conversation via iChat:
AIM IM with Kathy Craven 7/27/09 10:40 AM
hello ms craven it is aletha w and for my media project that is coming up I want to shot a documentary
i would love to get some ideas from you on how to do this the best way
Hi there!
sure i'd be glad to help
do you have something you'd like me to look at or are you starting from scratch
starting from scratch with an idea right now
what is your idea?
i talked to dr. bebdard and my thesis is virtual science labs for low ses but she wants me to get interviews from students, teachers, administrators and show how they are using the technology but the end will be me presenting the issue to my superintendent of schools
so you need to think about how to set up interviews, etc.
yes because it sounds like will be hard
have you thought about interspersing live action (video) interviews with interviews of students in their virtual world would that work?
no that is a great idea
the first think you need to think about is making a list of who you need to interview and a list of questions that you need them to address. you want to get them to give complete answers. For example, every time you begin an interview tell them: please answer in complete answers. for example if i ask you what your favorite color is say, "my favorite color is green" not "green". does that make sense?
So get them to answer in complete sentences and think about how they could be linked. like what one person is saying can flow right into what another person is saying so that it is almost a continuing conversation. this would be neat if you could go from live video person to avatar. also remember to shoot broll. (do you remember about broll?)
yes that makes a lot of sense
no i don't
about lighting. i know you do not have a lot of equipment but think about some intereting, pretty places and use natural light as much as possible. do not put someone in front of lit window. they will get washed out
broll...
ok
sorry yes i do remember broll
ok
i am really enjoying all the ideas thanks so much
i will send you video if you need help. but it is important to get other objects,etc. so you can put that in the places where you need to cover video that isn't great or if you change your camera position. during the change (zoom in or out for example) you should cover it with broll or maybe footage that is an example of what they are talking about. so after the interview plan to spend a few minutes getting broll of stuff in the shot. think about the longest shot you got and get objects, etc. in that shot. with that said, be sure to get varying angles and focal lengths (wide shot, medium shot, CU shot) this will make it more interesting visually than if you just shoot a "talking head" from one perspective.
so
1. plan who you need to interview.
2. what do you need to answer? what are your questions?
3. where will you intereview
4. check out your locations ahead if possible
5. think about lighting in terms of what time of day. if you shoot outside, morning or evening is best light
do not shoot in front of a lit windwo
6. get broll at the location of the interview
7. once you go home and watch footage make notes about what they are talking about in terms of what you might want to shoot. for examples students working at computers, you can cut to that from the interview. the point is to not stay on the interview person too long so it is not boring
thanks so for the help
you are so welcome
if you have any more questions, or want me to look at your footage...i'm glad to help


Resource
Photo by miffdesigner (2008). Video Designer. Retrieved March 5, 2008 from http://www.flickr.com/photos/miffdesigner/2312683960/