Cart-a-thon Final

Taking A Look

Cart-a-thon

Huge Chickens?

Capturing Strategies

I plan to visit Kern Park on Humboldt again because it is a wide open place that has many possibilities. There is also a lot of wildlife there and I wouldn’t mind capturing some of them. There are many possibilities there which include: basketball court, playground, river, trees, small building, tables, and signs. I like this place because it is a natural park in the middle of a man made city. I enjoy how ironic it seems.

I plan to limit my image capturing by precisely gathering footage that I can use to create motion. I will think about fast editing during the shooting. I will allow myself to shoot stagnant shots if I assume I can edit them together to create motion.

I will carefully choose my audio to go along with the video I collect. My strategy is to collect it in sequence. First I will collect background sounds, then middle ground, then I’ll have time to practice and make my foreground sounds perfect, therefore I will not have to worry about running out of time to collect the first two.

Questions I’ve Been Considering

Where can I find remote places, where I can be totally alone?

Is it possible to find a place quiet enough to record excellent audio?

Can I use my time wisely to focus on only collecting related media?

Is there any place where I can find a lot of animals?

What are ways I can develop narrative?

How can I use items in the area as props?

Is there a way to capture images of people without them knowing?

What does the city really sound like?

Do I have to create my audio and video realistically?

How do I tell a story without dialog?

My Favorite Experience

I was climbing over some rocks during my audio trek. I slipped and fell into the water below. My feet were wet and at first I felt like an idiot. I took my shoes off and sat for a moment wringing out my socks. I felt like giving up. At that moment I realized what I was actually doing in my life. A lot of people I know from my hometown never pursued their dreams. I couldn’t imagine not pursuing my dreams even though there was a time in my life where I almost gave up. I realize I’ve gone too far to give up now.

Surprises

I am surprised at the amount of garbage there is around Milwaukee. I cannot believe people would just throw their trash around the city without thinking of the global consequences. I found beer bottles, clothes, tires, a mattress, many plastic bags, and a broken stereo system. Also, I couldn’t believe how warm it stays late into fall in Milwaukee. It was great to hike through the woods and collect media so late in the season. I was coming out of the woods and to my surprise a lady was standing there. I asked her for directions and she sent me over a hill. Once I reached half way to the top I could hear sounds of people. Unexpectedly, I came across a group of children playing at their daycare.

Peaceful Situations

During my audio excursion I felt oddly but happily at peace with myself. It might have been the sound of running water at the river, or the birds chirping their songs, but whatever it was about being in nature made me sit and think about what I was hearing. I don’t often take the time and listen to these things. I had never noticed how loud the world is, but when I sat a let myself listen I was able to hear so much more than I thought was out there. Another peaceful moment during my video trek happened when I was sitting on a bench shooting shadows made by the trees. If I hadn’t been there I would have never sat and watched leaves fall off the tree. I am thankful for autumn; it’s wonderful.

Stressful Situations

During my last video trek I discovered some difficulty controlling the amount of light I received from the sun into the camera. There was a point where I had to give up on a shot because the sun was directly facing me in the direction I wanted to shoot. I had hardly any control over how much light I was putting into my camera. I changed my shot by moving around the bridge, but it was worthless and uninteresting footage. I know I can control the atmosphere of the situation a lot better by deciding on a better time to shoot video.

Another difficulty I had happened during my audio trek. I found myself collecting random audio. I collected mostly traffic and nature sounds. I encountered the most stress when I was recording birds chirping audio. I knew it was problematic during the recording due to the traffic noise. When I got to it in the editing process I ended up trashing it because the traffic drone was ridiculously overbearing. I should concentrate on placing my microphone close to objects, rather than collecting ambient sounds.