Thursday, June 4, 2009

Finished!

I made the finishing touches to my portion of the final project today, and I'm pretty pleased with what turned out. I think there is a nice balance between the 4 interviews I got from Jacobs Porch at first, and then I really focus on just Jay and Lorne because they spend more time on the oval than the other two I interviewed, so they had more to say.

I was out on the oval before class on Monday and noticed that Tom the preacher wasn't really doing anything at the moment, and since he had yet to respond to Katie's email about an interview, I went up to him and asked him if I could interview. He was very open to an interview and he did it right on the spot. Tom was very friendly and I hope that people will separate him from the other preachers that we discuss in the video. I know some of Katie's interviews shed Tom in a nice light, so I think that will be achieved.

Katie and I's footage, from what I've seen of hers, really tie in together nicely. I was editing part of the introduction, where we just have establishing shots of the oval, and I needed a shot of one of the oval preachers kind of disturbing the peace and tranquility of the oval. Katie had one that fit the bill perfectly. We discussed yesterday in class how we wanted to transition our separate parts of the video, and I think it will work out well.

Eventful weekend

This blog is a couple days after the fact from when I wanted to post this, but I never had the opportunity. Please read this as if I posted it last weekend.

So I almost lost all my footage this weekend, all due to stupid mistakes by yours truly. I accidentally put my tape through the washing machine, rendering my tape unwatchable (and almost ruining the camera itself seeing if the tape was watchable). After baking the tape in the sun for several hours and placing a fan up to the opened camera, I was able to save both with no problems. Talk about countering stupidity with ingenuity. It's what I do best.

So besides that, the project has been going well. The interviews I got were really spot on with what I was looking for, with Jay and Lorne's especially being informative. Both are also very comfortable speaking in front of the camera, which makes for more enjoyable footage to watch. They go beyond the rhetoric answers and really delve into why spiritually they do the things they do on the oval and why they believe what they do. It's been really enjoyable editing their portions of the video. Not that the other interviews weren't good, but Jay and Lorne's really hit home.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

5/26/09

As of today, I have three of four planned interviews completed, with the fourth scheduled for tomorrow. Katie and I still need to contact the oval preachers and interview them, but with these other interviews out of the way, I'm confident that we'll find time to do that.

The interviews have gone really well so far, with some interesting quotes from all three people I've interviewed. What I'm most worried about is B-roll footage. I don't have as much as I would like at this point. The worship at Jacobs Porch last weekend was not a typical worship service, and so didn't really portray what I am trying to get across as far as what Jacobs Porch is like.

I'm ready to start capturing and editing what I do have.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

5/13/09

Today Katie and I ironed out some questions to ask students, preachers, and staff members of Campus Crusade and Jacob's Porch. Questions concerned the role they play on the oval, general feelings about their role and if they achieve their goals, and their views on the other people on the oval, whether it's the preachers, students, or staff members.

My main focus will be Jacobs Porch, and I already have some people in mind to interview. The pastor would be more than willing to give an interview, and I know a student who took it upon himself to preach on the oval.

My main concern is getting an interview with the oval preachers themselves. We would like to interview them off the oval, possibly even Hebron, OH where they are from. We have a limited scope of time and I'm not sure how to go about contacting them.

Digressing, Hebron was the most religiously tense city I visited in the Holy Land, and I think it's weird that religious controversy in this part of the world is occurring from a town of the same name.