Saturday, September 10, 2011

Segments Critiques

New Staff Piece Analysis

Pre-production
The idea of this segment was based on the new school year, new students and consequently the incorporation of new teachers as well. There was little research given that the teachers’ schedule was in a piece paper. The way teachers were contacted was throughout e-mails asking if they could collaborate and when would be the best time to do it. Also the questions were shown to them before the interview so that they can be prepared. 

Production: Quality
The audio quality was excellent because the location was very quiet. The locations were inside teachers’ classrooms but with different angles. There was also B-roll and this was obtained during passing periods and teachers’ classes. It showed the variety of students in CAP and it also showed the teachers teaching and interacting with their students. The shots were from a diagonal angel with the purpose to make it more interesting and also most shots were MS, MCU, CU & some LS. The camera moves were smooth and slowly to avoid rough movements/cuts. The interviews had great lighting balance, but the B-roll, especially inside the classrooms, it was sort of dark and more lighting would have made it perfect. Finally there was zooming in and panning only for the B-roll.






Script
In the beginning of the segment the voice-over explains that there are some changes for this school years and encourages students to meet the new teachers. The way it captures the audience attention is by not revealing all the name of the teachers all at once, on the contrary one by one. This piece informs students about who they are, what they think about education and what they like about Capuchino. As for the closing the voice-over back-ups the teachers’ ideas and suggests students to welcome them.

Editing
The connection between the B-roll and the interviews was good however there was a part where a teacher expressed her point of view and because there was no B-roll of her, it was replaced with B-roll of another teacher. Also there were no transitions for audio and video, but all cuts were clean and smooth. Given that it was a Segment animations was unnecessary and still images fitted perfect. Finally, the names of the teachers were highlighted with the purple line effect which made it looked more professional.

Overall
The segment was good because the content was informative and along with the camera and audio work the piece improved. My favorite part about it is the closing; the images of teachers waving and smiling. Something I would have liked to improve is the editing, even though is good if the segment was edited differently the segment would have had a different perspective. Lastly something I learned is to spend more time into the opening because that's the fastest way to grab attention from the audience.

Friday, September 9, 2011

Character In Time



In this image the main character is the doctor holding the kid and given the background the story could be the following: he works or volunteers in a camp with more colleagues, probably located in South Africa and saves kids' lives. Time in this image can be interpreted in many different ways. For example; in medical cases every fraction of a second counts because a life is at risk and time is a key factor. However, if time is slowed down everything becomes more dramatic and the emotions are palpable. The story becomes intense showing how time manipulates any situation. On the contrary if time is speeded up the story takes another course; supposing that the kid is about to die and the doctor needs to save him, by everything being faster there is less time to experience all emotions and giving that there is never calmness it transmits the feeling  of  desperation and anguish.  In addition to the power of time; flashbacks and flash-forwards could be included in the story throughout the doctor’s profession; it suggests that in the past he has saved and lost lives, but destiny awaits him and he’ll probably keep on working in camps and increase them by more having doctors helping and not depend on he’s quickness (time) to save lives.