How to capture the perfect camera angle (and learn all you can about the Bethlehem Blizzard)

We started working on our new project in class today, in which all of our groups are assigned to go around interviewing students in various locations of the Lehigh campus about their feelings on a certain news issue. The assignment seems to be less concerned with what the students have to say, and more concerned about the technique we use to film it, most likely because our lessons this week are all about technique.

I think learning about technique is really important at this point in time, because most of the camera work I've been doing so far has definitely not been stellar. Filming is a lot harder then I thought it would be! It's hard to keep a steady hand, and you have to factor in all sorts of different concepts, such as the rule of three's and how to film away from sunlight and windows.

After class let out, my fellow group members Steph Albano and Alyssa Salem and I went out to start our interviews around the Lehigh campus. We decided to interview people all about the blizzard that happened last Wednesday, and about how poorly Lehigh notified the students about it. We finished the interviews that took place on the Drown terrace, in Grace Hall, a classroom, a small office with no windows, and the UC. We still have to complete the front walkway of Coppee Hall (it was deserted when we went today), the Admissions walkway, and the choice of our own.

So far, I think our camera work has turned out very well. We were very careful to try and film in angles where the sunlight did not affect us, and also worked hard to not have our interviewee's perfectly centered. A lot of people also had really interesting things to say, since the blizzard was something that really affected everyone.

This will definitely be harder to edit then the others, since there is a lot more camera work involved and a lot of different people who are on camera. We made sure to get down everyones names, and had them spell them out for us, so that we would be prepared when it became time to edit.

We'll continue filming/editing over the weekend - look back for more blogs all about it, and for our finished video! In the meantime, follow me on twitter at @alrol.