First video Assignment

 For the video, I decided to make a Documentary/Mockumentary style segment. It was based mostly on nature documentaries such as Planet Earth and The Blue Planet. All the decisions and choices made for the clip are written below. 

Technical Codes

Camera: The camera work was based on documentaries, in documentaries, It is meant to be shot in ways to focus on what an animal is seeing or doing. Some clips were meant to replicate hidden cameras which are sometimes used to record footage of wild animals. I tried to replicate this in multiple shots across the clip, the introduction of the "animal", the "shoddy craftsmanship segment" are examples. Before the "animal actually appears there are also usually establishment shots of the environment as well. 

Editing: The editing isn't really anything special, to replicate old documentaries I initially only showed close-ups of the "animal", obscuring it before it is fully revealed. The pace was meant to start off a little slow as the "animal" is introduced, and was meant to be faster in the second half as it starts to do something its species is known for. This is used a lot with nature documentaries, specifically ones that are focused on non-predatory animals.

Lighting: I tried to keep it consistent, but there really wasn't much I could do to make it special. The consistent lighting is meant to replicate the feel of a segment in a nature documentary, which is meant to be a singular activity by an animal done in a short period of time, they have few chances to film after all. Here I had multiple days to shoot but I tried to keep it consistent. 

Sound: The music used was from documentaries, but the overall tone of the music is meant to be more ridiculous due to the overall tone of the video. It was meant to have the documentary feel while also being a little goofy. The narration was similar, I was going for a more old/British-sounding voice, but again it's still meant to be dumb. I did not remove the audio in the recorded clips because it just sounded unnatural without them, sounded more like an essay than a documentary.

Special Effects: There weren't really any special effects, the closest thing to that were props, of which there were many but this section feels sorta empty.

Symbolic Codes

Acting: I was aiming for behavior similar to primates and other intelligent animals such as crows to sell the documentary feel, it was meant to bit more animalistic and exaggerated compared to normal humans. Of course, a lot of this was also for comedic effect, I hope this is funny somehow. The emotions weren't focused on in the face that much with the exception of strong emotions as most emotions can't be told very well from animals facially. 

Setting: I had nowhere else to go, so my home. That being said I specifically choose the living room, simply because it has the most space and also because the lighting was a lot better. I was likely going to do this anyway as it is the habitat where the "animal" lives in which sells the documentary feel better than patches of grass.  

Mise En Scene: A lot of the props present in the background have mostly consistent positions, but the focus is either on the "animal" or the object it is focused on or distracted by. Sometimes these objects take up the majority of the frame to show their importance. This is what was utilized the most and it is also used in some documentaries.

Colour: The lighting and color were meant to be more bright, this was to give off a more nature-like feeling as most documentaries are dominated by daytime segments and very few nighttime ones.

Visual Composition: Some shots had the "animal" move into the frame or focused on the top half of its body. The first was to make it move more and feel more alive, the second was to have the viewer focus on the subject of the documentary. The overall area was meant to feel crowded, with props pilled everywhere.