Final Major Project filming = done!

On Thursday I went along to Hawick Knitwear and finished up filming for my project.  I spent about 3 hours in total at the factory and made sure to take notes to include in my sketchbook. Human Resources and the staff in general were consistently helpful and genuinely interested when it came to what I was filming. I began at the very 1st stage of production and followed the process through the mill capturing visuals that looked similar to each other. I was considering composition with every shot I took. Having the tripod definitely helped me frame certain shots, and even allowed me to venture from stationary recording to slowly sliding the camera left or right. I made sure I spoke to each operator a little before I began filming at their machines, every single one of them were more tan happy to help out and even gave me a basic run through of what it was they were actually doing. This made a huge difference when it came to understanding how long I should film for or how zoomed in I should be etc. I let them know the exhibition dates and that I would provide them with a few invitations nearer the time to show my gratitude for allowing me in to film.

Being Patient

Having new material and fresh clips to take into iMovie is great. Even though nothing is stopping me from using older clips, I feel much more in touch with my imagination when working with untouched material. Plus I sometimes struggle editing together previously used footage as I can't shake the ideas I had first time around.

Filming the Hawick Harlequins rugby team play the Welsh side Bargoed RFC was an interesting experience. I had fun and was able to capture some shots that I was planning on attempting, and even some that presented themselves for the first time on the day. 

It's a little daunting finding yourself in a situation that you knew was coming and had prepared so much for, then suddenly feeling an immense pressure to achieve the things you set out to do. 

This is how I felt the Saturday before last.

Sitting in the changing rooms with the squad felt natural. As a member of the Quins and having played and socialised weekend after weekend over 3 years with the team, there was a relaxed atmosphere as the lads were pulling their boots on and donning the strip. During bouts of recording I would ensure some players that the final work will be without sound, but this only encouraged their enthusiastically explicit language. It soon became apparent that I would need to produce a blooper reel purely for the team's appreciation!

Once we were down at the riverside and onto the pitch, I began recording movement around me. My first few clips were of our committee members pushing the touchline flags into the grass and various shots of legs leaping across the pitch step by step. 

As I looked through the viewfinder whilst recording I couldn't help but think;

"Ooh! That'll look good if I do this..."    or    "This bit will work better if I crop the..."

The editing stage was constantly on my mind and it was affecting the work! I had to focus on the moment and concentrate on capturing the best footage possible. Once the game kicked off I went into a zone of complete paranoia. 

I hope I got that bit!

Shit - was that in focus??

Where's the ball went??

How long until half time? 

I haven't got enough footage...

The first half was traumatic. For both me and the team. The second half went better and I was able to relax and get some images of the supporters on the touchline. There is once clip where I decided to focus the camera on the lower half of one player, and it just so happened he was passed the ball soon after I began filming. Little occasions like that empowered me and made me realise how important being patient was.

I have looked over most of the footage from my day of filming. Most of it is good, and I am confident that I will be able to produce a final work that is as close to my brief as possible. 

Un-edited Photographs from College

Niall gave us each a camera on Wednesday and asked us to take a few photographs in and around the college and it's grounds. I enjoyed wandering about, constantly observing and on the look out for things I could capture. Here are a few of the images I took.

Testing the app 'Cinamatic'

Two weeks ago a man had an incident whilst out on his bicycle. He suffered a fall because of a bad heart. This meant that the local ambulance team were forced to close off the road and call in the air ambulance.

I decided to capitalise on this tragic event and take a walk down the road across from my street and take some videos of the helicopter. Of course I felt a little bad for the guy getting stretchered into the helicopter and all but - I had to try this app out right? He was fine any way, plus they were in no rush whatsoever! I was waiting for the damn thing to take off for more than half an hour... Eventually he made it to Edinburgh where I'm sure he made a full recovery!

The audio on this tester video cuts out after each individual clip but in the future I'll edit the sound out, or at least make it less obvious to people watching.

The filter choice irritated me and I settled for the default, grainy, cheesy retro look. It worked okay, but as I said I'm gonna keep my eye out for opportunities regarding subjects to film.

'Cinamatic'

This is a new app I discovered on the App Store! Not tried it out yet but I may begin thinking about making a couple of short videos, each based on different subjects. 

I use an app called Vine occasionally to view and film 6 second videos, but when it comes to editing and saving the clips - Cinamatic seems a much more efficient way to achieve what I want. Gonna have a go at filming some stuff tomorrow, I look forward to utilizing my phone for uses other than music and Facebook!

Cya First Year

First off - MASSIVE thanks to Siobhan and Niall for teaching, guiding and helping us through our first year on the course. It's safe to say I can speak for the whole of the Level 3 first year class in saying that their guidance has proved very important to our progress.

Secondly, I miss college. Having the resources so close to hand (Macs, paper, printing press etc..) was such a vital part of the creative process. Nonetheless I have been making the most of my sketchbooks and spare time! Staying productive is important to me, slipping into a lazy routine of what I like to call 'easy' activities like listening to music, watching TV and playing my PS4 isn't what I want to do all summer..

I've found that my Kindle has came into good use regarding my productivity. After recently downloading and reading 'A Game of Thrones' I have found that my attention and energy are being focused on more important activities.

My A2 sketchbook is my main outlet for these occasional bouts of creativity. I am lucky enough to have a garden in which I can sit in and admire a view that on a sunny day makes me feel very positive about creating some work. I am able to take that sketchbook outside, sit, and draw away at my surroundings.

As of late, my artistic interests have moved onto the more design, and idea based areas. Sketching and drawing when I can is essential to my progress even if it isn't my favourite thing to do, and so perseverance also becomes very important.

Separately, as my desire for an Apple Mac grows and grows with every day, annoyingly, my bank balance doesn't... Though this hasn't altered my aim in saving money for one! Having access to them daily during first year was a blessing and I grew to love using Photoshop and learning how to create and alter pieces of work. Having such a device at my disposable would be a valuable tool when it came to progressing with my own stuff.

Lastly, I feel at somewhat of a loss on what 'theme' or possible 'area' to pursue in my second year on the course. Going down the personal route and exploring possible issues or problems I have with myself or the world around me - is definitely not what I want to do. Dissecting my secrets and laying bare my every thought and feeling doesn't feel right to me. I love how others are able to do this with themselves though. Plus who knows you better than yourself, right? I don't want to rule out any personal references in my future work altogether, but I do want to address that going down that road just isn't for me. Actually reading over that last part it kind of paints me as some sort of machine like, heartless sod - I assure you this isn't the case! I have feelings too...

I guess I just want to keep things a little more subtle and less obvious - and if that means either myself or my work coming under fire for being too mysterious...then so be it!

30 Seconds of Nonsense