P.O.V.-week 2 Recap

2nd Blog Entry
POV Workshop

The 2nd week of the POV workshop went by like a flash. Our teacher, Chris Tsou began the day by explaining a typical real world production schedule. He then broke-down what the
production schedule for the workshop would be. Next, I brought out the boom mics and cameras and demonstrated how to record sound. For 45 minutes, the students worked in groups of two on a sound scavenger hunt. I told them to search for specific sounds
like sound FX, and ambient sounds. Afterwards they shared their sounds with one another and discussed the challenges and surprises of the assignment. George Yeh shared with us one of his "mystery sound FX" and we attempted to guess how it was made. Alex Hong correctly
guessed that the sound was "metallic." Some groups found creative solutions to getting hard to find sounds. For instance, Joanne Mosuela & Grace Yeon recorded a high-pitched ambient sound by asking construction workers to turn on their equipment outside.
We returned to the 3rd floor, where a special guest was waiting fo us. Armando Almanza, President of Ventana Productions, presented the students with an illuminating hour on photography and lighting. Using professional lights and video cameras, Armando showed
how light could be used to create depth and tell a story. He emphasized the importance of collaboration on a movie set, and the ability to make the most of what is available. When, Nam Nguyen asked about how to control focus and exposure, Armando said rehearsing the
focus and fixing the exposure before you hit record is crucial. Prompted by a question from Alex Hong, Armando gave a quick example of how back-lighting can be used to make a scene more dramatic.
All of a sudden, it was lunchtime. I introduced some basic editing terms and showed movie examples, while the students munched on pizza. For homework, Nguyen told the students to come up with ideas for the POV movie based on the theme: Just In Time. Each student would be responsible for writing a paragraph summarizing their idea and complete storyboards for the opening scene. On the board, I wrote a few tips on how to brainstorm. Our facilitator, Mike Song, said that next week the students would pitch to one another their ideas for
the POV movie and then immediately begin pre-production duties: storyboarding and scriptwriting. Students stayed for a few extra minutes to watch an example of a short film created by one of Nguyen's Students at GDS. And then we called it a day!