https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B9hMqQxEohUBZkdfaHljQkJYbms&usp=sharing
My VT clip didn't quite go along with the production schedule day for day, but I still managed to get it done and handed in before the deadline today.
I wasn't fully aware of when the competition was until the Monday before, and so did not have a chance to complete all the pre-production work before the competition actually took place. This meant that some things - such as the proposal and treatment had to be done after filming, and I had to try and get as much done as possible in the few days before the competition.
Having discovered the competition was at such a short notice, I was unable to find the time to write a list of questions to ask people, and so I had to try and quickly think of some on the day. Just like I did not have time to write a script before the event, and so I had to try and make sure I had all the footage that I would possibly need to finish the VT clip, and then work out a script after the competition had finished. This made things a little difficult, and I would certainly manage my time more wisely and accurately if I were to do this again instead of having to arrange a lot of the pre-production work after filming. The main issues I had were the lack of script and questions, so it was a little difficult to figure out everything I needed, and trying not to forget anything on the day.
When I actually travelled down to Suffolk to film the competition, a number of things went wrong, and I was slightly underprepared for the day ahead. I got up at 5:00am, to travel an hour and a half to Rendlesham Forest, arriving at 6:30am. There was already quite a large number of people with their dogs there before we arrived, although the races did not start until 8:00am. This gave me a chance to get set up with my equipment, and figure out where would be the best places to stand, as well as what would be happening and when throughout the day. So far, things were going well, but it wasn't until I started trying to film the first races that I noticed something was wrong.
I realised that the camera I hired from college wasn't working properly for some reason, and stopped filming automatically after around six to eight seconds, which I knew wouldn't be suitable to film interviews with as you cannot keep starting and stopping the camera whilst asking people to tell us about the event. I tried reading through the manual and changing different settings, including resetting it to its factory settings, checking the SD card and asking someone else on site who was using the same camera to see if they knew what was going on. Nothing seemed to work, and so I decided to settle with using the college camera to film parts of the racing, and simply setting it up to catch the dogs and the sled as it went past instead of continuously filming. I did actually bring a smaller handy cam with me on the day, just incase we did happen to have any trouble with the main camera and so I used that to film the interviews with people. The only issue with using it was that the quality of the footage is far lower than the clips shot with the college camera, and so there is a little bit of a contrast between the shots and it leaves the final product rather inconsistent. If I were to film this again, I would make sure that I check the hired camera properly before the day so that I could take it back to college and get it fixed before it was too late to do anything about it, as it affected to overall quality of the final VT clip, although I am extremely thankful that I brought my own camera along as back up, otherwise I would never have been able to record any interviews on the day.
The sound recording worked well, however, and we didn't have any issues with it at all on the day. The only trouble we had was to hold it in such a way that any dogs wouldn't try to grab it, as well as keeping it out of sight of the camera and close enough to catch what the person we were interviewing were saying. When I listened to the audio back at home though, it sounded reasonably decent and I am happy with the quality of the sound, although I had a problem with some of the audio being far louder than the others. The audio I recorded during the interviews with people sounded at a normal level, however, the noise picked up by the Cannon camera I hired was extremely loud compared to it, and then the voice over by David, recorded at a later date was extremely quiet and so I had to adjust the sounds during pre-production to make them seem reasonably even - although that resulted in the entire clip sounding much quieter than it should be. I'd make sure I know how to properly record sound the next time I am to do a project like this, so that the audio levels are at the correct height and are evenly matched.
The editing took slightly longer than I expected it to, with having to adjust the sound and crop the microphone out of some of the shots, although in the end I am mostly pleased with the result. I feel as though the clips aren't too long - yet aren't too short either, and also merges with each other well to tell the story that is heard through the voice overs. Of course, some parts would work slightly better had the camera recorded for longer, but with the footage I had, I am happy with the outcome.
I believe that the final product would fit the style and the format of the entire news show that we are working on in the live television studio, and therefore met the aim of the VT clip. It shows a different light on sled dog racing to what some people believe, and shows that the dogs actually do enjoy the event and are excited to participate rather than being forced to like some people feel. It also encourages families and animal lovers to attend upcoming competitions in the South East by showing their positive and friendly atmosphere, with the excitement of watching/participating in the races. It shows the competitions as a fun day out that's suitable for people of all ages, and this ties in to the news show which is trying to highlight events in the local areas that could interest/affect families.
I also believe - asides from the issues I had with the sound, and the interviews being on a camera of lower definition and a few of the frames dropping during editing, I feel as though it was a successful VT clip. The shots blended together well, and felt like it could be a real news report if the quality of the clips were higher, and the sound was at a reasonable level instead of being quieter. I will try and fix a couple of these things before the VT clip is used in the actual news show, but I think that with the issues I had to work around, and the short amount of time I had to plan and record the project in, I am pleased with the final product.
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