Practical Artefact Idea

My idea for COP 3 practical is to conduct a series of interviews with people of society with an Afro- ethnicity. I am being specific with the race of people I interview mainly because I want more voices of black people heard than what is shown on movies or TV. I want this to be a collective series that just features them, I am not going to be specific of the country in Africa that they originate or travelled from. In the future if I carry on with the series, I should definitely add the opinions of Caucasian people, creating a more rounded view of the issues the media industry create.

Currently, I have only met one willing participant who is comfortable with answering the questions that I propose. I will be extending my search not just of university students but now adults of any age.

Filming Interviews

At first I was trying to decide between an outdoor or indoor location, though after weighing the positives and negatives I decided to choose an indoor location.

Outdoor location will require constant altering to the equipment set up, a crew would be needed to supervise the equipment.

Indoor studio means that I can keep track of equipment, does not require a large crew to help and there is more control over the whole process.

I will be using the lecture studio hall in my university as my location because it is enough space to play with the set up for the interview.

Lighting

For my practical, I am conducting a series of interviews featuring individuals who are African and of the diaspora. I want to make sure I have researched the basic lighting techniques used for interviews or documentaries before I edit it to suit the style of interview.

The three-point lighting seems the most used, though I shall be making slight tweaks when I experiment with it.

The first light is Key Light, used to light the subject, is the brightest and important light. The Fill Light helps compliment the Key Light, it lights up the shadows created by the Key Light. The Back Light separates the subject from the background. Other tips I learnt from tutorial videos on YouTube, was to make sure the subject is not close to the background. This keeps the lights for the background from interrupting the lights used for the subject.

I went for a Lighting Induction by Matt Burton, and he explained the principles of lighting. I shall be experimenting with different light setups to figure out what works best for my interviews.

Besides the Lighting to think about, Framing, Audio and Backdrop need to be considered.

Backdrop

I am deciding between having a plain background or an African Print background.

If I chose to have an African Print Material as my backdrop, it would be eye-catching but it might take the focus off the subject, whereas I want it to enhance the visual presence of the subject. My lighting technique would be more complicated because African prints are colourful and vibrant meaning consideration of how the multiple colours will affect the overall look. If I had a plain background, this means less complication with the lighting and the subject. The audience will be more focused on the subject.

Framing is important because I want to use at least two cameras during the filming, and considering the space to allow the subject to move around and make gestures has to be thought about for the composition.

I will be revising the rule of thirds, but the tips that were given on framing the subject on camera was not to have too close either sides of the frame, have the subject’s eye focus facing the camera but leave room for them to look elsewhere on the frame. I know that I want to have a full body frame shot, which is not used much for interviews but I know regarding the theme for my practical, having a full body shot helps to give the audience a complete view of the subject. I shall have extreme close ups and close ups which as advised will be used when the subject is answering personal questions.

The plan is to have one camera filming a full body shot; it will be static throughout filming. The second camera will be switching from close ups to extreme close ups and I can control this when the subject is answering personal questions. I will group the personal questions together allowing for smoother transitions of the multiple shots.