This week helped me learn a lot more about video storytelling and filmmaking techniques. Before this unit, I mostly just watched movies and videos for entertainment without paying much attention to how they were created. Through the readings, videos, movie analysis, and video assignments, I learned how camera angles, editing, framing, sound, and pacing all work together to tell a story and influence the audience. While video production was a lot more challenging than some of the other DS106 units, it was also one of the most fun because it allowed me to be creative with what I wanted to do and how I wanted to create stories of my own.
Part II: Learning How to Read a Movie
https://pmccausland.com/assignments/learn-how-to-read-a-movie/
In this post, I responded to Roger Ebert’s essay “How to Read a Movie” and watched different videos explaining filmmaking techniques. I learned how directors use camera angles, framing, one point perspective, and editing to guide viewers’ attention and create emotional responses. One of the biggest things I learned was that every shot in a movie is carefully planned and serves a purpose, and after completing this assignment, I started noticing filmmaking techniques that I had never paid attention to before.
Part III: Look, Listen, Analyze
https://pmccausland.com/assignments/look-listen-analyze/
I analyzed the courtroom scene from A Few Good Men by watching it three different ways-visuals only, audio only, and then with both together. Separating the visual and audio helped me notice details that I usually would have missed. I paid attention to camera angles, character placement, editing, dialogue pacing, and how the filmmakers built tension throughout the scene. This assignment helped me better understand how visual and audio elements work together to create powerful moments in film.
Part IV: Video Assignments
https://pmccausland.com/assignments/the-procrastination-project/
For this assignment, I created a short video called The Procrastination Project. The story followed a college student who struggles with distractions while trying to complete an assignment. I used simple shots, music, and editing which showed how procrastination can create unnecessary stress and how time management is important.
Stories Through Games
https://pmccausland.com/assignments/the-last-save-a-goalkeepers-challenge-cool-math-games/
For this assignment, I used a soccer goalie penalty kick game from Cool Math Games. The video followed the goalkeeper as they tried to make important saves and overcome challenges as well as the player who tried to score their penalty kicks. This project showed me that even simple games can create stories through competition, success, and failure.
Top 10 Sports Movies
https://pmccausland.com/assignments/my-top-10-sports-movies/
For my final video assignment, I created a ranking of my top 10 favorite sports movies (this was hard because all of them are so good) . The video included movie posters, rankings, and short explanations for each choice. As a student athlete, sports movies have always been some of my favorite films because they often focus on teamwork, leadership, perseverance, and overcoming obstacles.
Reflection:
What did you learn?
I learned how important visual storytelling is and how filmmakers use camera angles, editing, framing, and sound to influence viewers. I also learned basic video editing skills and gained a greater appreciation for the amount of work that goes into creating videos and movies.
What was harder than you expected? Why?
Video editing was harder than I expected because it took time to organize clips, add music, create titles, and make everything flow smoothly and even short videos required more planning and editing than I originally thought.
What was easier than you expected? Why?
Recording footage was easier than I expected because many of the assignments could be completed using everyday activities and simple video clips. Once I had all the footage, it was easier to build a story around it.
What drove you crazy? Why?
Uploading and embedding videos was probably the most frustrating part of the unit. There were times when files would not upload correctly or videos would not embed properly, which slowed down the process. But I had to adapt and figure out a way so I think there is one video I embeded that I had to post on Youtube for it to be able to get embeded.
What did you enjoy most? Why?
I enjoyed creating my own videos the most because it allowed me to be creative and tell stories in different ways. My favorite project was probably the sports movie ranking because it combined my interest in sports with video editing and storytelling, and all of those video I chose are some of my favorites.
Feedback and Class Engagement
Throughout this unit, the professor regularly sent class wide feedback and reminders about areas that students could improve. Those messages helped me make adjustments to my assignments and avoid common mistakes. I also looked at the examples that were posted on the assignments for the blog posts on canvas to see different approaches to the assignment and try and get some ideas for my own work.
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