As someone who has no experience working a camera or editing videos, this project was kind of stressful for me. Now that I have finished the whole process there are a couple of things I wish I had done differently. I realize how helpful story boarding can be if you really put the time and effort into it. While I had many ideas of what I wanted to shoot and include in my video, I didn't give much thought to framing or camera angles and while I was out shooting I felt really unsure of what to do with the camera. I wasn't too happy when I played back the clips I recorded as I noticed how shaky the camera was, how I cut some of the clips too short when I should have kept recording a bit longer, and how I zoomed in during shots when I didn't know what else to shoot.
Before this project I hadn't ever used Final Cut before so I was totally confused by all of the different buttons and while trying to figure out the program I made a lot of mistakes that thankfully, I was able to undo. One of the hardest parts of the project for me was editing the images and video clips in a way that flowed smoothly. While I initially wanted to stay away from the amateur default transitions, I think they did help keep the video from looking too choppy.
I liked that I was able to include Aaron's personal family photos that I think really connected with the audio and I only wish that I had had the time to film Aaron cooking or handling food which probably would have brought the piece together.
While it was interesting to discover how many different aspects actually go into making a video, I'm not sure that making and editing videos is something I want to pursue. However, I definitely have a greater appreciation and respect for the filmmaking process after working on this project.
