Final Blog: Reflections

My favorite parts of the class were the interactive, hands-on lab exercises. In particular, I really enjoyed going out on the Hunter campus to shoot different film shots and angles. There were 8 different required shots and, unknowingly, my partner and I took a different approach than the rest of the class. We tried to connect all of our 8 unique shots into some sort of cohesive narrative, all within 30 minutes, and it was a very fun exercise. In addition, I liked the still photography assignment. Generally, I prefer shooting on moving images on film/video and I think I have a better stylistic eye for it, but I was pretty happy with how my still photographs for this exercise turned out. I also really enjoyed the lighting exercise, especially since we were able to work in groups, which is pretty realistic for an actual film set. Lighting wasn’t something I had very much practical knowledge of beforehand, and this exercise really helped me to visualize and understand the reasoning behind why all of the lights are used and how they should be positioned. It also taught me a new way of setting up a shot stylistically. I think that exercise alone has greatly improved my lighting skills and overall knowledge and familiarity with on set production. The only other thing I would have liked to learn more about, which I know is addressed in greater depth in 160, is video production and post-production. With all of the many programs we were introduced to, I would have liked to also gotten a glimpse of perhaps editing software like Final Cut Pro or Avid. Overall, though, I definitely feel like I am leaving this class with a better understanding of various areas of digital media, which I think is very useful. Although it’s virtually impossible to gain expertise in any of the individual areas in such a short semester with so much material to cover, I am glad to have a relatively broad knowledge base of digital media and familiarity with several programs.