THE
ASSIGNMENT:
Create a ONE MINUTE "spot" edited IN CAMERA. This means
that you must plan out your shots and shoot them in sequence.
No special effects, no digital editing allowed. Your assignment is to use the
camera as a tool to record video and audio as
creatively as you can. Imagine that you are sending this tape to someone who
speaks a different language.
You must communicate in IMAGES about one theme in your life:(choose one)
**Private Side
Visually explore your personal life as a student, family member, partner, friend,
the domestic scene, home, comfort, daily rituals, habits, parents,
background, secrets, dream you had in the past year, worst fear, your journal,
your sketchbook, etc.
**Public Side
Visually explore your life outside of home, social activities, places, people,
political involvement, etc.
The piece
must include:
-at least one photo still
- at least one unusual perspective/angle (bird's eye view, cat's eye view,
through one object to look at another, etc.)
As you consider the composition and overall concept of your piece, keep in
mind that you are recording 1 minute of video and that this is a time-based
medium. You can use that one minute to reflect an entire day, one event, the
same event happening again and again everyday or every hour, events of a week,
a particular activity. Repetition, speed, slowness, acceleration, simultaneity,
etc. can also be utilized. Since this is a piece with a beginning and an end,
with one shot following another, think carefully about how the meaning of one
shot is influenced by what comes before it and after it. How you juxtapose
a particular shot/scene with other scenes can radically alter your viewers'
understanding of it.
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HOW
TO DO IT:
1) This
piece is to be completely edited in-camera, therefore, you must plan
your shots very carefully.
2) Make
a storyboard that briefly outlines the sequence of shots.
Think carefully about your use of the camera. Frame the scene, person,
pattern so that everything in the frame is
IMPORTANT. Think like a photographer. Create innovative compositions within
the rectangle. Pay attention to lighting: is the lighting from
an angle,
indirect, reflected,
etc.? Try to
avoid putting your subject in the geometric center, as this creates
a very stagnant composition.
3) Familiarize
yourself with the camera's controls.
4) Black
burst your tape (pre-record time code on the tape, see above).
5) Practice
shooting some short segments before attempting to do the entire assignment.
6) Shoot your piece!
Use your camera in a variety of ways:
-shoot from
a low or high vantage point (not eye-level)
-try panning a scene (left to right or right to left), follow an object, force
the viewer to see the subject through your eyes
-Try tilting the camera (top to bottom, bottom to top) to follow the subject
-Keep the camera still and have the subject or some part of the composition MOVE
through the frame
7) When finished, rewind/cue your tape. Bring it to class.
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