Hey Everyone! Happy 2016! Hope your winter break was great. We are back here with yet again, this week's constructed response. As Bill Copeland perfectly put, "The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score." Goals are very crucial in improving because a set goal helps you focus your aim into getting better at something, rather than not knowing what you're working towards. Back in October as the second quarter commenced, we were asked to write a blog entry about our goals for the quarter. The goals I set for the second quarter were to have higher production value, avoid procrastination, and do a better job at our Inside Scoops. For this week's constructed response, I will be reflecting on those goals and setting three news ones for quarter three. Three goals that I will work on this quarter is to procrastinate less, improve on the technical aspects of a video, and show Mr. M drafts of my PSA before I submit it.
First I will reflect on my quarter two goals. For the second quarter, I set three goals: have a higher production value, avoid procrastination, and do a better job at the Inside Scoops. The first goal I had was to improve my production value. Production value meaning the technical quality of a video; lighting, composition, audio, etc. I first set this goal as an intention to compose a better interview shot. In the first quarter on the story Kirra and I did on Moses Hamilton, there were multiple things wrong with the interviews we shot. We shot the interviews in front of a wall, therefore no background compression, Moses was too off to the side, not following the rule of thirds, and in the interview with his father, Hawk Hamilton, the shot was blurry. My original intention was to fix all of these visual mistakes. In the second quarter, Kirra and I did a story about the need for resource caregivers on Kauai, and we conducted three interviews. Visually, I thought they were all an improvement composition wise, and I learned that if you want to compress the background better, the 18-135mm lens worked better for me than the 18-200mm that most of our 60D's have. (Although the 135 has the disadvantage of zoom distance compared to the 200, the 135 I found is much easier in blurring backgrounds. I have also heard that the 50mm lens was good in compression too, but I wouldn't rely on it because it's fixed, meaning it can not zoom.) Although I'd say we improved visually, the visuals are only half of it. Everyone knows that the two essential parts of a shot is the visual and audio. Audio makes up 50% of your video. Unfortunately, that is where Kirra and I did not complete this goal. In the interview with the Aguilars, we paired up the sennheiser mics with the DXA-SLR Mini box, and that resulted in a LOT of hiss. We should have checked the mics thoroughly before bringing it out to shoot, and play it back in a laptop to make sure instead of just trusting the camera playback audio. Since that incident, I have discovered that Sony Mic #2 is a good microphone. I've always been cautious about shooting without the box, because I was afraid that I couldn't monitor the audio. However, I learned that you can plug headphones right into Sony Mic #2's receiver and you can monitor the audio without a box! That is now my go-to set up for audio. My second goal I set was to avoid procrastination. This goal was specifically directed towards my blogs. Though, I did not meet this goal. I still end up doing my blogs at the last minute and that honestly is such a bad habit. I need to stop being lazy and just do my blogs whenever I have the chance. My third goal I set was to improve me and Kirra's Inside Scoop radios. In the first quarter, we turned them in on Thursday, the day it was due! That was cutting it too close. We decided that we needed to stop procrastinating, and be prepared for our next set of scoops. In the second quarter, we had to turn in our scoops early because we aired during the winter break. Kirra and I turned in our radio files a week before it was due, and with closer durations to 2 minutes. I met this third goal of improving our Inside Scoops. Sorry for this long paragraph. I had a lot to reflect upon. Continue on reading to see my three new goals for this quarter.
One of my new goals for quarter three is to procrastinate less. It is a goal that I have to constantly work towards achieving because there are so many opportunities for procrastination to take over. Specifically for the future, I want to turn in all of my blogs no later than Saturday. That means no writing blogs at the last minute on Sunday. This will force me to stop watching TV or turn off my phone, and start my blogs earlier in the week so I can get them done on time in order to get that A. I'd also like to put in more thought into my blog entries, and share things that I'd think would help my classmates and myself improve. Besides doing my blogs earlier, procrastinating less affects my other projects, too. This quarter, we have to do PSA's. I recently got my idea approved, so I should be starting on my shotlist right away. I want to be on it, regarding deadlines this quarter. Instead of waiting to start on my shot list or filming, if I get the 'OK' consent, I should be starting instantly after! One of the goals I set for this quarter is the procrastinate less on my blogs and on my PSA project.
Another goal I have for this quarter is to improve on the technical side of a video. I enjoy writing the scripts and finding the real story behind things, I'm not saying it's easy or that it takes minimum effort, but that it's a really fun process. However, as I mentioned earlier in my reflection, Kirra and I had audio issues with our second quarter project. For this third quarter, I'm setting a goal to improve technically. That means having better audio, focused shots, better lighting, etc. I want to make sure I have a great technical side to the PSA I'm shooting. That means I need to plan everything out precisely, and test all of the equipment I'm using. Then in editing, I have to carefully review all of the shots to see if I may need to reshoot. A second goal I have for the quarter is to improve technically.
A third goal I had for the third quarter is to show Mr. M drafts of my PSA before submitting it in for grading. Last quarter, Kirra and I cut it close to the deadline, not planning out ahead enough to show Mr. M our rough cut. So instead, we had to submit the first draft of the video. It is well known that you can never have a perfect video on your first cut. Therefore, my goal is to show Mr. M multiple drafts of my PSA instead of just submitting the first cut. I want to take his constructive criticism, and refine the video to make my PSA the best it can be. A third goal I have for the quarter is to show Mr. M multiple drafts of my PSA.
Overall, setting goals are a necessity in becoming better at something. You need to know what you're working towards and what your purpose is before you can be improve the most. I've only met one of my three goals I set for the second quarter, to get better at the Inside Scoops. The two the goals that I did not accomplish, have a higher production value and avoid procrastination, are similar to my new goals for this quarter. This quarter I will work towards procrastinating less, having a better technical side to the videos I create, and show Mr. M drafts of my PSA before turning it in. What goals have you set for yourself? I wish you the best of luck in fulfilling them! Well, that is it for this week's constructed response! Thank you for reading, Bye!
First I will reflect on my quarter two goals. For the second quarter, I set three goals: have a higher production value, avoid procrastination, and do a better job at the Inside Scoops. The first goal I had was to improve my production value. Production value meaning the technical quality of a video; lighting, composition, audio, etc. I first set this goal as an intention to compose a better interview shot. In the first quarter on the story Kirra and I did on Moses Hamilton, there were multiple things wrong with the interviews we shot. We shot the interviews in front of a wall, therefore no background compression, Moses was too off to the side, not following the rule of thirds, and in the interview with his father, Hawk Hamilton, the shot was blurry. My original intention was to fix all of these visual mistakes. In the second quarter, Kirra and I did a story about the need for resource caregivers on Kauai, and we conducted three interviews. Visually, I thought they were all an improvement composition wise, and I learned that if you want to compress the background better, the 18-135mm lens worked better for me than the 18-200mm that most of our 60D's have. (Although the 135 has the disadvantage of zoom distance compared to the 200, the 135 I found is much easier in blurring backgrounds. I have also heard that the 50mm lens was good in compression too, but I wouldn't rely on it because it's fixed, meaning it can not zoom.) Although I'd say we improved visually, the visuals are only half of it. Everyone knows that the two essential parts of a shot is the visual and audio. Audio makes up 50% of your video. Unfortunately, that is where Kirra and I did not complete this goal. In the interview with the Aguilars, we paired up the sennheiser mics with the DXA-SLR Mini box, and that resulted in a LOT of hiss. We should have checked the mics thoroughly before bringing it out to shoot, and play it back in a laptop to make sure instead of just trusting the camera playback audio. Since that incident, I have discovered that Sony Mic #2 is a good microphone. I've always been cautious about shooting without the box, because I was afraid that I couldn't monitor the audio. However, I learned that you can plug headphones right into Sony Mic #2's receiver and you can monitor the audio without a box! That is now my go-to set up for audio. My second goal I set was to avoid procrastination. This goal was specifically directed towards my blogs. Though, I did not meet this goal. I still end up doing my blogs at the last minute and that honestly is such a bad habit. I need to stop being lazy and just do my blogs whenever I have the chance. My third goal I set was to improve me and Kirra's Inside Scoop radios. In the first quarter, we turned them in on Thursday, the day it was due! That was cutting it too close. We decided that we needed to stop procrastinating, and be prepared for our next set of scoops. In the second quarter, we had to turn in our scoops early because we aired during the winter break. Kirra and I turned in our radio files a week before it was due, and with closer durations to 2 minutes. I met this third goal of improving our Inside Scoops. Sorry for this long paragraph. I had a lot to reflect upon. Continue on reading to see my three new goals for this quarter.
One of my new goals for quarter three is to procrastinate less. It is a goal that I have to constantly work towards achieving because there are so many opportunities for procrastination to take over. Specifically for the future, I want to turn in all of my blogs no later than Saturday. That means no writing blogs at the last minute on Sunday. This will force me to stop watching TV or turn off my phone, and start my blogs earlier in the week so I can get them done on time in order to get that A. I'd also like to put in more thought into my blog entries, and share things that I'd think would help my classmates and myself improve. Besides doing my blogs earlier, procrastinating less affects my other projects, too. This quarter, we have to do PSA's. I recently got my idea approved, so I should be starting on my shotlist right away. I want to be on it, regarding deadlines this quarter. Instead of waiting to start on my shot list or filming, if I get the 'OK' consent, I should be starting instantly after! One of the goals I set for this quarter is the procrastinate less on my blogs and on my PSA project.
Another goal I have for this quarter is to improve on the technical side of a video. I enjoy writing the scripts and finding the real story behind things, I'm not saying it's easy or that it takes minimum effort, but that it's a really fun process. However, as I mentioned earlier in my reflection, Kirra and I had audio issues with our second quarter project. For this third quarter, I'm setting a goal to improve technically. That means having better audio, focused shots, better lighting, etc. I want to make sure I have a great technical side to the PSA I'm shooting. That means I need to plan everything out precisely, and test all of the equipment I'm using. Then in editing, I have to carefully review all of the shots to see if I may need to reshoot. A second goal I have for the quarter is to improve technically.
A third goal I had for the third quarter is to show Mr. M drafts of my PSA before submitting it in for grading. Last quarter, Kirra and I cut it close to the deadline, not planning out ahead enough to show Mr. M our rough cut. So instead, we had to submit the first draft of the video. It is well known that you can never have a perfect video on your first cut. Therefore, my goal is to show Mr. M multiple drafts of my PSA instead of just submitting the first cut. I want to take his constructive criticism, and refine the video to make my PSA the best it can be. A third goal I have for the quarter is to show Mr. M multiple drafts of my PSA.
Overall, setting goals are a necessity in becoming better at something. You need to know what you're working towards and what your purpose is before you can be improve the most. I've only met one of my three goals I set for the second quarter, to get better at the Inside Scoops. The two the goals that I did not accomplish, have a higher production value and avoid procrastination, are similar to my new goals for this quarter. This quarter I will work towards procrastinating less, having a better technical side to the videos I create, and show Mr. M drafts of my PSA before turning it in. What goals have you set for yourself? I wish you the best of luck in fulfilling them! Well, that is it for this week's constructed response! Thank you for reading, Bye!
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