After an all day shoot, we finally completed the shooting portion of the very first episode of the documentary web series iLeaped. It will be entitled Basic Instinct (I may give it a different name prior to completion). The final shoot was probably not the most grueling, but it afforded me an opportunity to see how much of a nuisance I might be as a documentarian in the future. That concept doesn’t detour me, but it does make me want to develop my ability to make my subjects feel comfortable in the midst of trying to be natural under such unnatural circumstances. Great day!

Today I got a better understanding of Final Cut Pro when I attended an FCP workshop provided by GSU’s Digital Aquarium. For any Adobe Premiere/non-Final Cut Pro users, you’ll find that the two applications are very similar. I think however, that once I get used to FCP it will be a lot easier to maneuver through. Tomorrow I will do more brainstorming about what my projects will be for my Producing Emerging Media class. Moving from a know-nothing to a beginner in Premiere and getting a crash course in Final Cut Pro has created a frenzy of film ideas. I finally finished setting up my YouTube channel (Untreated Films). Subscribe and become a friend if you like at http://www.youtube.com/UntreatedFilms.

Tonight with the help of my better half, I was able to practice on shooting close-ups. In addition to getting some hands on experience using the zoom function and doing a reveal, I also learned some things about fair game policies when it comes to commercial clips (which I may have interpreted wrong). Despite some of the silly, things that Johnny says in this piece to get a rise out of me, it was really fun to work with him and the camera. I edited this video in Adobe Premiere 6.5 and after recording Mapp’s monologue, I created a makeshift soft box, by taping a small plant light to the inside of an aluminum foil-lined box to see how it might affect the heavy shadow that showed up in this one. I still have a lot of work to do to improve. The Rumor

Today, yesterday and all last week, I have been trying to nail down the subject matter for three webisodes that we will be required to submit for a class project in my Producing Emerging Media class. Since I’m still toggling between a couple or three ideas, I won’t mention anything just yet. Whatever I select will be my first film production and I am so excited and a little nervous about it. I see lots of great work out there. As someone who has barely put her big toe in the waters of the film industry, it’s inspiring and intimidating at the same time, to see all the great work out here. I have so many questions about pertinent aspects of videography, like lighting, backdrops, camera techniques and voiceovers. The information is coming, but I know that my level of anxiousness about learning and being capable of creating documentaries with confidence, makes the process seem that much slower. I’m grateful that I have good professors this semester who seem very patient and poised to help their pupils grow.

On Friday I visited Georgia State University’s Digital Aquarium (DA). The Digital Aquarium is an open-access multimedia computer lab, providing high-end workstations for all Georgia State University students, regardless of their academic major (http://www.gsu.edu/aquarium/). Once I decide on my subject matter and create narrative text for my webisodes, I’ll be able to schedule some time in the recording studio in the DA to record a good quality voiceover.