1. Be prepared - I can't stress this enough. Be prepared when you're on location, especially if you are far away from any resources you may need. Double check everything you plan on using before you leave the equipment room to make sure it works, bring extra batteries, plan to spend more time in the field than you think.
2. Experiment with every possibility to tweak your images when recording outside. - I filmed everything for my doc project in the Buhl woods and surrounding swamp. I have filmed outside before but I wasn't prepared for the light to change as much as it did that day. It started off overcast, would clear up, then more clouds would roll over where we were shooting. I think if I film outside anymore I am going to get multiple shots at different exposure levels as well as white balances, just to really have coverage I can use in case one turns out faded or dull when looking at it on a monitor. I guess this goes back to being prepared, you should do everything you can to ensure you get the coverage you want while you still are able to work.
3. Good crew members are worth their weight in gold. - I worked with Connor on my doc project and he was an excellent DP/camera operator and I could not have done it without his assistance. I have had to do some projects with really shitty team members and lazy people who seem to not even care about what they're working on and it's a nightmare. Working with an exceptionally disciplined and talented person like Connor really cemented the value of good teamwork in my mind. He never complained once during the six plus hours we spent in the Buhl wilderness on a cold and wet day, even when we were hopping fences and climbing up a very narrow 30 ft ladder to a hunting stand carrying all that equipment, thanks go out to him for helping me and putting up with all that adventure. I think I could extend this lesson to say that if you are working with a crew you can do yourself and your team a great service by performing your role and duties as well as you can while keeping the teams goal in mind. A good crew makes a colossal difference when producing a film project and I encourage all of you to do the best you can to work as an effective team member and functioning part of a larger unit.
The documentary project was a fun and enlightening experience. It was great being able to walk out in the world with a camera and film whatever I pleased, having that kind of freedom was awesome and really made me take a genuine interest in what I was doing which of course meant I was deeply engrossed in playing the role of the cinematographer/director, which was great. I hope everyone else had as much fun as I did and learned a lot from this.
Here's just another shout out to Connor for being my DP on the project and doing such a good job. Thanks for walking around all of Buhl carrying all that equipment with me, that's asking a lot for a class assignment but you were down for it, which is cool.
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