Evaluation for River Thames

Evaluation for River Thames

What Went Well:

• New Skill

This was my first time producing a video, albeit only a 30 second one it was still a new skill for me to learn. I obviously knew planning a video shoot was different from a photo-shoot and this task showed me just how different it is.

Using Adobe Premiere was also a new skill.

• Public Awareness Campaign

This task gave me an insight into public awareness campaigns. However I feel there was still a lot more to learn, I think more research would’ve made my idea generation a lot easier.

• New Sport

Photographed rowing which is a sport I’ve never really been interested in and my lack of understanding did kind of show when speaking to the London Rowing Club but I finished the shoot with a good relationship with them and it could lead to more work in the future. After I shot the video and they were made aware of my sports photography background, they asked me to come and take some pictures at the Head Of the River Race and these shots actually became part of my submission.

• Big Challenge

Shooting for a leaderboard was incredibly challenging. It was a lot more challenging than I anticipated. I think it’s fair to say that I did confuse the leaderboard with the 96 sheet billboard and I forgot about the lack of room. However, I am still pleased with the imagery I’ve used

• Getting Permission

This was the first time where I’ve had to ask permission to shoot somewhere

Even Better If:

• Wider Choice of Photography

I didn’t really have a wide range of images to choose from in the end. Out of the 11 layouts I made from the 3 days of shooting. There were images that simply didn’t work because of how small a leaderboard is, there was also some imagery that was repetitive or not engaging.

I think I would’ve had more imagery if I printed out the leaderboard and had it in my bag. I was considering printing the leaderboard to the size of my cameras LCD screen and putting it up against to act as an in-camera overlay tool but I never got round to making it.

 

• My Video

I’m not overly impressed with the video that I created. It was my first time but I feel I could’ve done a much better job. I’ll be honest, with this task I was just ticking the box, I wasn’t feeling passionate about my work.

In this task, there were two other students that did rowing and seeing their videos made me realise the opportunity that I had just missed.

• More Planning

I think it’s fair to say my preparation could’ve been a lot better. I’d only settled on rowing four days before sign off so this meant that I was rushing around on the final week doing recces and trying to find a location that would be willing to help me with my project and because I shot it very much on the spot, I could only use basic equipment and natural light.

• Grey Cards

I didn’t shoot any grey cards for my images. I didn’t think they were necessary because I wasn’t doing any mixed lighting element

Permission from London Rowing Club

Permission from London Rowing Club

Final Invoice for River Thames

Final Invoice for River Thames

Below is my final invoice for my River Thames Assignment with the AoP Terms & Conditions.

Tutorial with Julian

Tutorial with Julian

Seeing on how I wasn’t able to have a tutorial with Chris Frazer-Smith this week due to me studying for POCP, I decided to have a tutorial with Julian Hawkins. This tutorial was just to run his eyes over my image selection for Images That Persuade.

So, firstly we looked at Music Industry. Julian agreed with my image choice for the CD front and back. They worked together and I extended the background to fit the left side of the frame.

Julian agreed with what I said about the Facebook image I need to give the subjects more breathing room and I need to bring the word No More higher into the frame.

On the left is the Facebook image with the background extended further. The original is in the slideshow below.

Julian also recommended printing out the CD Inlay and actually putting it into a CD. This will let me know if the image works or not.

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Next we looked at the leaderboard images for River Thames. Julian liked two of the images but felt there was one that shouldn’t be used and I agree with him. He wasn’t a fan of the one of the kayak on the celing. It was too abstract for his liking and he had to think about what it was.

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I also have to remember that a leaderboard only appears online in the press and sometimes can only be around 7 cm’s wide so it would be squashed down too much. Whereas the silhouette image is perfect for that. It gives off a nice dynamic shape where you instantly know it’s rowing, Julian said it’s dynamic, it’s backlit nicely and it shows the action. It also shows how rowing can be an individual sport and then the final one shows how it’s also a team sport. Which I was worried that the logo would be too small but in Julian’s opinion it doesn’t matter as it still shows rowing.

So as a replacement, I’m considering using this image instead of the abstract kayak one. I feel it shows the team spirit.

Finally, we discussed my Billboard, which I’m putting most hope into, it is without a doubt my strongest assignment in ITP, but then again there isn’t really much competition from River Thames or Music Industry. After much debate and jumping backward and forewords, I came to a decision for my hero shot. It was different from the one I chose for the AoP awards. Julian liked it, he said that the side angle does the style the most justice. When Luke was shot straight on, the style could be perceived as contemporary. it could be a modern officer at the cenotaph.

However by shooting a profile. It does have that feel of the young British officer in the trenches of 1914 France and I wanted that to be there for the narrative of where the Poppy Legion started as the Haig Fund.

I also asked Julian about a variant of the layout. Following on from POCP, I went back and masked the Poppy and leaf again, this time I used Auto Mask. I then inverted the mask and desaturated everything but the Poppy. It does feel like colour pop but Julian agreed with my thoughts of how this adds to the narrative of remembering those who have died.

However it detracted from the style as the Khaki tones were lost. Also the First World War is a very black and white subject and Julian feels it has to be brought into colour, like Peter Jacksons They Shall Not Grow Old. This makes it feel relatable.

Leaderboards for River Thames

Leaderboards for River Thames

On the left is the leaderboards I have made so far out of three days of shooting.

I decided to ask my peers which ones they would pick.

Chiara said that 7 should definitely be picked, she would’ve picked 4 and 1 alongside it. She also liked 3 but felt it was too abstract, if you weren’t into rowing, you wouldn’t know it was a shell. She also liked 9, but I had to tell her that the London Rowing Club logo is in there.

Nico said he really liked 9.

 

If I had to pick three on the spot, I would pick these three for my submission.

Timeline of my final video

Timeline of my final video

Below is my final video for my River Thames Assignment.

London Rowing Club by Benjamin Peters from Benjamin Peters on Vimeo.

All the clips are put into black & white and have a Brightness & Contrast adjustment.

In hindsight, this could’ve been a tiny bit more simple by just doing an adjustment layer but the brightness & contrast had to be on an individual basis because some clips needed a lower exposure.

 

 

There are even two clips where I’ve had to use keyframes because of a change in exposure.

 

River Thames Campaign Second Draft

River Thames Campaign Second Draft

For my second edit, I decided to make some adjustments to the length of shots and in the selection.

River Thames Public Awareness Campaign Second Edit from Benjamin Peters on Vimeo.

I’m more happy with the pace of this video however I’m still struggling to think of a clip to open the video. I replaced the original pan up to the club with a shot of rowers in the distance but I’m still not 100% sure about that shot. There weren’t any pans towards the club that worked because of the drastic change in shadow and highlight.

River Thames Campaign First Draft

River Thames Campaign First Draft

Below is my first edit for my River Thames Public Awareness Campaign about Rowing.

River Thames Public Awareness Campaign First Edit from Benjamin Peters on Vimeo.

The first thing I can tell from this is that my camera footage is pretty jerky as a result of my cheap tripod [which is seven years old and only cost £20]

Another problem was in shot seven which was a focus pull shot, I’d have to cut that earlier because the focus is pulled further than I wanted it to. I wanted the focus to end on London Rowing Club but instead, it finished on Henly Royal Regatta and the depth of field is so shallow.

I decided to ask my peers for feedback. Tiana liked the video but she felt the 3rd to last shot was too fast compared to the rest of the video. On a whole, it is fairly fast paced but that shot, in particular, does seem too fast.

Lauren felt that the second shot [of the London Rowing Club logo] lasted too long. She also felt I should use some dissolves to show the change in the room.

Elle thought it had a good clear narrative to it.

I mentioned to my peers about an idea for a name. I’m struggling to think of a name, I want something more than London Rowing Club, I’m trying to think of a way to incorporate the boat race in there because of the race between Oxford & Cambridge actually starts outside the London Rowing Club

Recent visit to London Rowing Club

Recent visit to London Rowing Club

On Tuesday I went back to the London Rowing Club in Putney. This was just for me to discuss my idea with the people at the club. I decided to take my Canon 5D Mk.IV with me because I thought I could at least get the photography aspect done however in hindsight, I should’ve taken my tripod with me because I could’ve done my video there.

This is because my idea really underwent a radical change, my idea is now focusing more on the London Rowing Club itself. There are three rooms including a gym inside the club that are full of images and paintings from times gone by, names of winners are all over the walls. It a place rich with history. So thats what my PA campaign is going to be about.

The video is going to start and end on the Thames. This is also where the Boat Race starts so hopefully I can show this when I shoot the video tomorrow.

I managed to shoot the photography aspect yesterday, to which I think I’m going to reshoot the image of the frames but the image of the shell on the ceiling and the one of the rowers on the Thames are set to be used. The latter needs some retouching as the rower has got Dulwich Rowing on her jacket. I might try to remove the boats as they are distracting but this might be too tough.

I might reshoot the image of the frames because the depth of field is too shallow, I had to shoot hand-held and even at F2.8, I had to shoot a 1/60s. I’d really need an aperture of F7.1 to get the coat of arms and the text in focus, so if I use my tripod, I can have a longer shutter speed to let in the ambient light. The shot of the shell on the roof is 3.2-second exposure at F10. This was done to because it was on the ceiling, so it was mostly in shade and I wanted to capture the interior in camera. So what I did was put my camera on the floor with the 24mm prime lens and use the Canon 5D Mk.IV Wi-Fi to pick the focus and control the settings. So I could get the composition right and then shoot some frames and get the settings right, without having to move the camera.

Estimate for River Thames Project

Estimate for River Thames Project

This is the estimate that I will propose for my River Thames Rowing Project tomorrow.

I believe that this is a comission that will take two days to shoot. One day of video and another day of recording. To which when I do the project for real, I’m going to consider asking the staff at the rowing club if they would like portraits, hence why I booked out a 70cm Octabox.

 

 

 

 

Below is the equipment I booked from the Flash Centre:

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