Wednesday 29th July

Wednesday was compromised of 2 workshops that was alternated between the group-split-in-two: portrait photography led by our instructor Simon Tay and video interview technique by our other instructor Amanda.

 

After some instruction from Tay we were encouraged to put some of the theory on lighting, camera  technique (aperture, shutter, iso) framing, teamwork, and the kinds of communication involved in photoshoots.

We all swapped roles and by the end of the session everyone had their portraits taken and and had taken portraits. 

The session went well and I feel like a lot of the previous knowledge clicked now that we were able to see it in a practical setting and highlighted some of the difficulties we might have in the field. Definitely highlighted the importance of teamwork, communication and preparation in a good shoot. With those things down you can start to have the real fun!

With Amanda we first watched some interviews from The David Lynch Interview Series Absurda.

We were asked by Amanda to imagine what questions were asked and thus what interview techniques were used. The video interview is a lot like a photo portrait in that less-can-be-more and with minimal intrusion a person can tell a very interesting story basically by themselves. As it's the job of the interviewer/portraitist to be receptive and record!

These are some of the questions:

• How would you describe yourself?
• What were your dreams as a child?
• What is the most important thing to me?
• How did you meet your wife?
• Do you have any regrets?
• What are your plans for the future?
• What is this town like?
• When did you first experience death?
• What are you most proud of?
• How would you like to be remembered?

We deconstructed the interviews to understand why they were so engaging:

• The interview project is very subjective so the interviewees can give no right or wrong answer
• There was a mix of question which were personal and impersonal
• The interviewer appeared to not be present, so the focus was definitely on the interviewee
• The interviews were like living portraits and we had been invited in to the inner thoughts and emotion of that character
• The subject looked relaxed because they were in their own environment and talking about themselves.
• The questions must have been constructed well to receive such great responses.
• The crew must have spent some time, even if just for a cup of tea before the interview so that they could create such a relaxed environment.
• There is a two-camera set-up, so we could cut in closer to feel more intimate with the characters at certain points of the interview.
• They didn’t edit out the natural pauses, which helped us understand more about the emotional aspect of the character. Some of the things the interviewees said suddenly made them stop and think for a moment and it was during this time we caught a glimpse of their deeper emotion for a second.
• The interviews all finished at a poignant moment.
• The soundtrack’s were all quirky and helped lift the more serious interviews at the end
• It was all very David Lynch!

A practical session followed where we instructed to set up an interview set with 2 cameras a xoom voice recorder, a snapper and interviewer/director armed with questions. Again we all took turns in all the roles.It was interesting to see how many interesting questions we could come up with in a limited amount of time!

We finished off the day by having a discussion about what we learnt and also managed to take group portraits! It was great to see how the experience of film and photography affected each one of us individually... The whole day helped us build stronger bonds and make everyone feel comfortable with each other and the kit..

Amanda showing video settings on the Canon 600D

by Karis & Sophia