Field trip!

Tuesday was a busy day! I went to an assisted living center where my sponsors had been hired to create a promotional video. As I am inexperienced I wasn’t much help so I spent the day observing their work. When I first arrived I watched them set up. They spent almost an hour minutes making very minor adjustments to the set, specifically to the angles and strength of the lighting. The space was a very controlled environment, they blocked natural light and shut off the bulbs in the room, only using the lighting equipment they had brought. Noise was also sensitive - when the interview was being conducted the room was silent besides the speaker. And, all of this laborious set up was for interviews 15 to 20 minutes long! Besides all of the technicalities, I also watched how my sponsors interacted with the interviewee, making small talk in between questions and giving positive comments after the interviewee spoke. Interviewing can be a delicate process as the goal is to receive natural and sufficient responses and in order to achieve that someone must feel comfortable. Sometimes my sponsor needed to ask if they could fix someone’s hair and apply makeup to their face or ask a person rephrase the way they answered a question and these things can be slightly uncomfortable. Overall, the day was a huge learning experience and I’m so lucky I could join.

Wednesday was more relaxed. As my camera is not suitable for filming, my sponsor was gathering equipment for me. I spent the day on my own researching the equipment I’ll be provided. The camera I will use is being used more and more by young filmmakers and this popularity provided lots of different tutorials online.