Process Diary: Interviewing A Filmmaker

WEEK 8 OF GOA FILMMAKING:

This week my fellow GOA filmmaking students and I each worked on a project that was different from our previous films: we were tasked with creating a documentary-style interview of a filmmaker. Here's my interview:

Scheduling: I had some trouble scheduling my interview--the first two people I contacted both happened to be out of town last week. Fortunately, the third person I asked said yes and we were able to find a time that worked for both of us. From this, I learned that it is important to be flexible because other people's schedules are usually quite busy, and I also realized how important it is to get a meeting on someone's calendar early. 

Filming: During filming, I tried to move the camera around a couple of times, and although I think the different shots makes my interview more interesting, I'm not sure that my interviewee's eye line is where it's supposed to be at all times. In addition to learning about shot composition during interviews, I also realized that it's important to listen to what my interviewee was saying, rather than just focusing on getting the shot. While the latter is important, it makes the interview more personal if you're paying attention to they are saying. I also found that making the interview more like a casual conversation in which we asked each other questions and listened to each other made us more comfortable.

Editing: I had trouble with sound during editing. I had to mess around with the music in audacity for like two hours before I was able to make my interviewee's voice audible other the soundtrack. From this I learned a lot about how to use audacity and working with sound and music.

Lighting: My interviewee and I tried to pick the classroom that we thought would have the best lighting for my film. However, due to the overcast weather, our position in the classroom, and likely the camera angles I chose, the lighting was not great in my shots. Unfortunately, I was unable to see this through the camera when filming, and I was left with undesirable shots I was not proud of when editing. 

I definitely learned a lot about sound and lighting this week, which are two aspects I have struggled with in past films. Now that I've learned a bit more abut them, I will be sure to focus on those two things in my upcoming films.

Later!

-Emma