[Compass Classroom]

Lesson 01: Documenting Life

Upload your video to the video hosting site of your choice and then enter the link in the comments with a brief descriptive title.

Feel free to take a look at what some of the other students in the class are doing. After watching their film, I would encourage you to write constructive thoughts on what you saw.
Always use a variation on the Golden Rule: “Say unto others what you’d like people to say unto you.” That is, don’t say snarky, critical, mean, ugly, unpleasant things. You wouldn’t want people saying those things to you, right?

Here are few helpful guidelines for critiquing films:

1. Avoid simply saying “I like it!” or “Great” or “Neat!” Instead, find something specific that you can praise. For instance, “I like how you framed the action to the left side and left the large building on the right to create an ominous feel.” Be specific in your praise.
2. Avoid saying “I don’t like it” or “This doesn’t work.” Instead, be specific. For instance, “I think you could have used medium shots to show the conversation instead of an extreme long shot.”
3. If you are going to say something critical, always say something honestly positive first. For instance, “I really appreciated how you accelerated the montage in that chase sequence, but perhaps you might want to consider using a wider shot instead of just closeups since all the fast camera motion made me a bit nauseous.”

Finally, a word to you, the filmmaker: you will need to have tough skin if you want to be in this business. Everyone has an opinion, and that’s just life. Ultimately, you are going to have to go with your gut. And you’re always going to have people say that what you do isn’t great. Ignore them. ?

All said, my hope is that we will create a nice little community discussion around the films that are shot, providing helpful and honest feedback for everyone.

[David]

For my first assignment on a single action, I made a video of my younger brother eating a cracker. The link is below.

https://vimeo.com/588007034

Thanks!

David

• This reply was modified 1 year, 9 months ago by  David.

[Parker]

Here is my video

[Darius]

Here’s my finished video for Assignment 1 🙂

https://vimeo.com/592611187

[Darius]

Whoops, I forgot to do different perspectives, my bad

[Merrick]

Interesting. I like the leading lines coming towards the camera. Was it raining when this was filmed?

[Darius]

Yes it was, I really liked the look it gave.

[Maura]

awesome job to all of you! Keep up the great work. It is really fun to see your progress. David, Give that boy a glass of water. 🙂

• This reply was modified 1 year, 9 months ago by  Maura.

[Merrick]

This is my first assignment, and since I had the opportunity and motive, I decided to film some of the puppies that we have. They’re Aussie Doodles, in case anyone asks.

Also, I found that Vimeo actually costs money, and seeing how much I have invested into the camera and editing software, I’ve decided to just use Youtube. Is that okay?

https://youtu.be/IyPkXVmNFfE

• This reply was modified 1 year, 9 months ago by  Merrick.

[Jill K. Johnson]

https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/596667149

here is mine.

[[email protected]]

Hello this is my (Zach) simple action assignment. This one is of me hitting a golf ball in my backyard. hope you enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVPGXIwTc_w

[[email protected]]

My (Tora) first Simple Action Film of my brother jumping out of the tree.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEWgvISn4Ic

[[email protected] Lamb]

Here is my first film. It’s a single action, my brother feeding some pigs.

https://vimeo.com/609971767

[Corban]

I like the angle you had with the little pigs in the feeder; it was cute.

[Weston]

It was raining outside, so that’s why there’s fog on the lenses in some of the shots. This is simply me running up and down my driveway.🙃

Here’s the link: https://vimeo.com/611868497

[Lee]

Here is my video of my sister raking leaves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0O5bp5siV8

[[email protected]]

Here is a video of people coming in and out of the auditorium at our church. I edited it in iMovie and just thought some music would be fun. 🙂 if it doesn’t show up let me know and ill try to figure it out the computer is going nuts.

Change Thumbnail

• Generating thumbnail…
• Generating thumbnail…

Change

0:28

0:28

• This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by  [email protected].
• This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by  [email protected].

[Corban]

https://vimeo.com/646062718 here is the link. The animals in it are sheep, not goats. They are American Black Belly sheep. If you want to know more about them, I will be glad to enlighten you.

[Susan]

Playing with the dog, by Peter and Emma.
https://vimeo.com/680512446

• This reply was modified 1 year, 3 months ago by  Susan.