I did the Interview

It was great!

Here is a little snip-it of the conversation...

Josiah "If you could describe Vitamin L in one word what would that be?"
Mrs. Little "Empowering."
Josiah "Why?"
Mrs. Little "Empowering because..." (she talked about it)
Josiah "I'm going to bring the camera closer, don't be nervous, can you just say empowering again?"
...

She was very nice and approachable. I knew that because I had informally met her before last time I was at South Hill, and her emails were very nice as well.

The interview got started late because she was very busy, and the nurse and a teacher and a kid came into her office separately to see her. I really appreciate that she took the time to meet with me in her busy schedule.
One of the hardest things about the interview was not saying "uh huh" and "yeah" whenever she was talking. I accidentally did this during my practice interview a couple weeks ago and it is still a challenge.
One of the things that is out of my comfort zone is telling adults what they need to do. I should have told her how I wanted her to answer the questions. She did an amazing job being expressive and complimenting Vitamin L, but her answers didn't make sense without my question. I should have told her "I need you to answer my questions in complete sentences, with the question in the answer so that my voice asking the question doesn't need to be in the video."

I have a chance to do this tomorrow morning when I interview the teacher at BJM.
Today was a Success! I'm nervous and excited for tomorrow.

Research

I have an important interview tomorrow so I re-read the chapter in my book "Video Nation" about interviews... Here are the most important things I picked up

-Dead on camera angles are too intense for some viewers
-Avoid an embarrassing shot, for example of a toilet
-Keep things moving
           -it is important to keep the topics fresh so that the interviewee doesn't get bored.
-Stay on topic
           -even if the persons life story is interesting try to stay on topic and get the job done
-Wrap it up
           -More is not always better, get what you need and get out
           -If you don't wrap it up you will be wasting both the peoples time

Also I got information from this video on Youtube...

-Prepare for the interview
-Ask open ended Questions
-Use the technique of repeating their last couple words to get them to expand

I'm nervous for my interview! This is pushing my comfort zone, but I CAN DO IT! Woot!

Sample Questions Sent to Interviewees

"I am excited to meet with you Thursday. Here is a list of the questions I plan to ask so you can feel prepared.

The purpose of this interview is to get some positive soundbites and video clips to add to Vitamin L's promotional video. I am doing this quick interview process with many people in the district and in the community. The interview will be a comfortable length, not exceeding 15 minutes. I will ask the following...

How did you learn about Vitamin L?

What was your first impression?

How do the kids of BJM react to Vitamin L?

What is your favorite memory of Vitamin L?

What do you think about living and learning through song?

What can adults learn from the messages in these songs?

What can the world learn from Vitamin L?

How does Vitamin L impact your local community?

Vitamin L promotes many positive messages, which one is your favorite?

Many people have a favorite song, do you?

If you could describe Vitamin L in one word what would it be?

Thank you again. See you Thursday."

Filming a Great Concert

I wasn't in class today because I was filming a concert at the Syracuse Academy of Science. I brought 2 DSLR cameras, and 2 tripods.I found a really cool spot to shoot one of the cameras from.
Here is me discovering the space...

I set up one camera above the gym and I got a really cool shot of all the kids coming into the gym.
Here it is!

I used the other camera to film close-ups. We had a 40 minute sound check (which is a lot longer than usual) so I used that time to film the chorus members and Jan. I got some interesting angles, including one angle that had half the floor in it. I could use the floor to put text in it or something.

During the time that I was filming the kids watching the concert I tried to keep the camera hidden. I wanted completely candid shots. This was challenging so I created an elaborate strategy...

Step 1: Look around the audience for the most enthusiastic kid, don't be afraid to move around.
Step 2: Find a place to position yourself near the subject (the happy kid).
Step 3: Start recording and focus the camera on the subject.
Step 4: The subject had noticed you and your camera and will be focused on you instead of the show for a little bit. Just wait... Ignore the camera and act interested in the concert. After a while the subject will stop feeling that he is being filmed and will fall back into the concert.
BOOM! Your in! Don't blow it! Don't make any sudden movements. Slyly check the display to make sure that you are still focused on the subject. Then... just smile and wave... Don't go out of your way to film candid moments. They will come to you. Patience.
Step 5: Wait for the applause at the end of the song. Your mission isn't over until the subject has clapped with a big smile on their face.
Step 6: The subject may be completely adorable and you may not want to leave them. Understand that this is normal, but you need to do your best to move on and get footage of different kids aswell. Stand up, and go back to Step 1 for the next song.


Upcoming Schedule
Tuesday
Create a list of questions for interviews
Wednesday 12:20 at South Hill Elementary
Interview Principle
Thursday 8:15 AM at BJM
Interviewing a Teacher
Meeting with Mentor
Friday
Plan for the shooting tomorrow
Go through footage 8th period
Saturday 8:15-1:00
Film the "Elmira Walk Concert"
Sunday
Go through footage, organize
Reflect on week and pushing boundaries

Responding to a Prompt

This past week has been very successful. I feel very good about the amount of work that I did, and I feel I am on track to having a great final product.
Last Monday my WISE class listened to an NPR talk about pushing boundaries and expanding the comfort zone. We got two questions as prompts and I decided to not respond to them until after my productive week.

-How has my comfort zone expanded because of this project?

One thing that I did to expand my comfort zone was quit the tennis team. It is not directly related to my project but one of my goals with my project was to prioritize my commitments.
Another thing that I did to expand my comfort zone was I set up two interviews with women I have never met. I was nervous about the impression I was making and my specific word choice in my emails. I have some other contacts for people to interview, but I don't have emails, I have phone numbers, which means I am going to have to make some phone calls.

-How can I expand my comfort zone in the future?

Every Sunday I will reflect on what I did to expand my comfort zone. Next week I am going to conduct an interview with a teacher at BJM, and I am going to make some phone calls to set up future interviews. I will reflect on this next Sunday.

Eleanor Roosevelt - "Do one thing every day that scares you."

Uploading and Organizing

Today I...

Updated my computer to run on Windows 8.1
-----It runs videos faster
I uploaded all the footage from the memory cards onto my external hard drive
-----Hopefully I can open it on the Macs at school
I organized all the footage
-----Into the folders Interviews, Rehearsal, Concerts, Sandwich making
I skimmed all the footage and named each piece
-----Example ( Jan singing Decisions )

This was about 2 hours of on-and-off work.

A Full Day

I had a good day. My day had 5 parts...

Part 1
Going through emails and confirming the interview for Thursday.
Printing out media release forms.
Charging batteries for the cameras.
Clearing the memory on the SD cards (memory cards)
Loading up the car with all the gear.

Part 2
Filming Vitamin L rehearsal
Getting the media release forms out to kids and parents
Getting the tri-fold Vitamin L poster

Part 3
Filming the Sandwich making
I got as much footage as I needed an then I helped out
Those are all snadwiches... We also made Brownies, and bagged apples and oranges.

Part 4
I go to Barnes and Nobel and set up the tri-fold
I spent most of my time in the kids section with the face paint and the play-do

Part 5
Come home around 6:00pm and fall asleep on the couch
Wake up at 10:00pm and eat food
Post on Blogger
Go to bed around 12:30

Interview Secured

"8:15 on Thursday works great. I will email you with all the questions I plan to ask in advance.
Thank you, I'm excited to meet with you.
Josiah Rawlings"

Work in school

Today I met with one of the teachers that is helping me with my project. Lets call him Mentor #2. Mentor #2 helped me update my external hard drive so that it could be used on both Macs and PCs. He also gave me a tutorial on using the DSLR Camera. I picked up some tips and tricks.
I left his room with...
2 Tripods
2 DSLR Cameras
2 SD Cards
4 Batteries
2 Battery chargers

Tomorrow I will be filming Rehearsal, the Sandwich making, and some interviews.
I will also be at the WISE fund raiser tomorrow.

Busy day, but I'm gonna have fun.

*Bonus*
I did some more emails tonight setting up interviews.

Red Flagged

How much time did I spend on my project? (Include class meeting, mentor meeting, journal writing, hands-on, research)
3 hours
What did I do that was Hands-on?
Emailed people and set up interviews. Planning future dates for filming.
What research did I do?
None
Did I meet with my mentor? What did we talk about?
Yes, it is talked about below.
Do I have three journal entries? Do my journal entries include planning, recording activities, and reflecting?
I do have three journal entries for this week, but I still need more to catch up. My journals include everything except for research.
Was I in class this week? Did I have and use my journal?
I was in class, and yes I did use my journal.
Do I think my fulfillment of WISE requirements were: Inadequate? Adequate? Good? Excellent? Explain.
My fulfilment of the WISE requirmetns this week were good. They weren't excellent because I did not do any research.
What are my plans for next week?
My future plans include all of the following:
April 26th Film Vitamin L a lot and interview people and do the B&N fundraiser
April 28th Film a concert at the Syracuse Academy of science
Sometime next week My interview with the principle of South Hill Elementary.
May 3rd Film the Suicide prevention walk

Mentor Meeting

Today with my mentor we discussed...

The best Camera Angles for the interviews
The use of multiple cameras to get a variety of footage
Using the "sandwich making" as a soft intro and the "suicide prevention walk" later
Follow the idea of music bringing us together
We talked about quitting the tennis team and decided that school grades trump the extra-curricular
    -I have been committed for the past 4 years, this year I can't be

We made plans for the future...

Next week look at premier pro.
    -We should also set up my external hard drive to work with Apple
This weekend get some good footage of the kids at rehearsal and at the sandwich making
Stick with the plan in place to film and film for the next month
Set up the interview with the lady at BJM.
I can do this!

Tennis Conflicts

I got another confirmation that someone is willing to be interviewed. A teacher at BJM emailed me back and told me her time frame. She has a busy schedule and it doesn't look like we have any free time in common. I would be able to do it after school but I have tennis. The matches for tennis are very unpredictable. I don't know how much longer I can stay committed to the team. It is taking up my time and effecting my grades. I could handle tennis the past 5 years, but this is the busiest I have been.

Should I just give up on interviewing her? Should I quit the tennis team? Should I interview her in May? Should I try to fit the interview between 7th period and 9th period?
I don't know what to do, this is stressful.

Emails and Calenders

I got a response for an interview from one of the principles of a local elementary school. She seems very nice. I am excited to meet her, and nervous for the interview. I expect I will be less nervous in the moment (cause I'm weird like that). We scheduled the interview for next week, I told her I was not available this week. (I have too much school work to do and I am working on prioritizing my commitments).

Also tonight I went over all my important dates and added them to my calender. The dates are...

April 26th 
I film Vitamin L rehearsal 10:30-12:30
I film the "Sandwich making for the Homeless" From 1:00 to 2:30 and conduct short informal interviews with the people involved.
I go to the WISE fundraiser and bring a tri-fold poster about Vitamin L.

April 28th
I film a concert at the Syracuse Academy of Science from 11:00am to 5:00pm.

May 1st
My interview with a teacher at BJM

May 3rd
I film the Vitamin L kids participating in the "suicide prevention walk" and conduct informal interviews along the way.

Then between May 3rd and May 28th I have some time to finish the edits on the film.
I can then see where I have holes in my video and I can fill those gaps by grabbing footage at these times...

May 29th
Film The Ithaca Parade
Film a Vitamin L concert at Belle Sherman Elementary

May 30th and May 31st
More concerts.

Tomorrow I plan on calling a local alumni of Vitamin L to set up an interview. I have his number and will call him sometime before 2:00 pm.

WISE Class and Emails

Today during class we talked about our fundraiser we are holding at Barnes and Nobel this Saturday.
We also listened to a talk on NPR about a man who pushes his comfort zone to keep growing. It is his way of life. "If you aren't growing, you're dying" he said. This relates to the WISE experience. Later in the week I will respond to the following questions.
-How has my comfort zone expanded because of this project?
-How can I expand my comfort zone in the future?

Tonight I sent out two emails. The emails were to set up interviews to film for the project. One of the emails was to a principle of a local elementary school, and one was to a music teacher who is known for using Vitamin L songs on a daily basis.

I have two other contacts of teachers I want to interview but I don't have their emails, only their phone numbers. I will call them Wednesday during one of my free periods to set up a meeting.
I also have contact information for a lot of kids in Vitamin L who I know are enthusiastic and expressive. They are great candidates to interview.

I am behind on blog posts so for the next couple weeks I will be posting something each day.

Busy schedule

I have been very busy this week. I had to cancel my meeting with my mentor yesterday because i was called down to do the musical in school performances. I rescheduled for today but now i am home sick instead.