Composition Scavenger Hunt

In GT class, we recently did something called a "composition scavenger hunt". The first thing we all did  was form groups of three, each with there own number. Then each group got a laminated paper with examples and descriptions of a bunch of different composition techniques. If a group had the numbers 1 through 10, they had film using certain techniques. If they were 11 through 20, they had to film other techniques. The most important technique, in my opinion, is "high angle". If you couldn't figure out what that is from the name, it an angle in which the camera is higher than the subject and gives the viewer a sense of superiority. I think that it is the most important because it is the main shot used for sports and other large events,to give the audience a good view of what is happening. It can also be used for close-up things like interviews by putting the camera close the speaker but just a little bit above them to give it the high angle perspective.

Now  I will tell you about which technique I think is the most difficult to use, and how I can use more of it. I think that POV, or "point of view", is the most difficult. POV is where you see through the eyes of the subject, or to put it simpler, you see what the subject is seeing. I think that it is the most difficult because of multiple different reasons. First of all, it is an awkward and difficult position to hold a camera in. It is also difficult to make a POV shot look good. POV is also a limited technique, as far as what you can film. For example, if you were to film skateboarding from POV, because the camera can not be placed directly in the skater's eye, (yet), the camera would be a bit in front of the skater's eye, you would not be able to see the board in most instances. The same goes for most sports, excluding, maybe, tennis. I do have an idea about how I can use it more, though. I would like to use it in more basic things, like comedy skits. That way you would be able to see everything you needed to see, and would have an uncommon sense of what the character is feeling, that you normally don't get in videos.

As I mentioned earlier, we all worked in teams of three. I was with two girls named Kacie and Adelina. We didn't really assign one specific job to each person, instead we rotated and switched jobs for each clip. For example, I would film Kacie  or Adelina doing something for one of the techniques, then one of them would film me doing something for another technique. We wanted to make sure our audio was clear, so

what we did is one of us would film very close to someone's mouth while they were describing one of the composition techniques. Then we used iMovie to put the audio over a video showing the technique matching the one in the audio. We used iMovie for all of the editing, and we did so on Kacie's computer.