Danny Thomas - Version 1

I have now shot everything for the moving image element of On Assignment, here is the first version of my video. I have used an interview as the basis of the video, and shot a number of detail clips to use as cutaways, including live shots of SPOILS. I know that for the next version of my video I will have to lower the duration to three minutes, and I think that my removing some clips it will actually make the whole sequence flow better. I have also used 'Glass Snake's from SPOILS during the intro to the video which I think sets the tone nicely and better than starting the interview straight away. I would have liked to use some ambient noises that I have recorded when shooting the interview and also at the gig but I couldn't find a section in the video where this felt suitable. I was sure to use varying focal lengths when shooting, using mostly the 35mm & 50mm lens. For the interview I was sure to use a tripod to steady the camera, I thought I did pretty well in my efforts to steady the hand held clips, naturally there was some shake within the other clips but I think the Steadyshot feature of the Sony Alpha assisted well also! It was also a great experience to use manual focus throughout the shoots, and got some great results through the pull focus technique. During some of the recordings made for the interview, there seems to be some distracting variations in exposure, which seems to be triggered by the movement from the subject, I corrected this by changing the exposure meter from Spot to multi segment, this has settled the exposure and is noticeable when spotting differences in interview shots. 

This was also the first time that I have properly had the chance to use Adobe Premiere Pro, It was great to use this video editing software as the interface is clearly separated into four sections for a smooth workflow. I liked trimming imported clips in the source window before being placed on the sequence, it allowed less space to be taken up on the timeline, however I also used the clip tool for finer trimming. Once on the timeline I have used fade to & from black transitions at the In & Out markers of the sequence. I have used Cross Dissolve twice to emphasise the change in subject during the interview. From an audio perspective I thought the RODE Shotgun Mic did a fine job of picking up Danny's voice, I didn't find the need to lower the volume on this audio but like the visual elements I have used audio transitions (Contstant Power & Exponential Face) at the start & end of the video for a smoother feel overall. For the Glass Snakes audio I was sure to lower the volume & add transitions. I did some research for exporting the video, I knew that it would be hosted on Vimeo, so I read up on the recommended settings which was H.264.