Bloom, IN HA Documentary

So, I'm back to bother you all with talk of my documentary. (For my Fan Studies class. Due mid-April.) And, since I'm horrendously behind on this (go me!), asap responses would be loved.

First off, obviously, in order for me to actually do this documentary, I need to know who would be willing to let me interview them. I don't have to do everyone, unless everyone wants to be interviewed (totally okay with me, more footage the better!), but if only one person is up for it... Don't feel pressured to say yes, though. I can find another project if need be!

In the event that enough people DO say yes... My main idea for this documentary is to do an Anti-Trekkies. If you've seen the documentary, you'll know what I mean -- they show the worst of fans, and I want to enlighten my class that we're not all oddballs who people mock in the supermarket.


Some ideas for questions/topics:

- Memorable experiences with Star Wars (think our January topic, but all of SW)
- What do you think about the bad rep SW has gotten recently? About how people view SW fans?
- Why do you do what you do in fandom? (Ie, collect figures/art, play videogames, attend Celebration...)
- What does the Hoosier Alliance mean to you?
- What other fandoms are you involved in/passionate about?


Just some basic ideas. Would love to get people to share stories, talk about their SW passions or fan club memories, maybe show off some of your collections. Suggestions are more than welcome.

I'd also love to use any photos or videos from our gatherings or Star Wars events, like our holiday parties, barbecues, or when people went to Celebrations. (Was on Facebook the other day and giggles over Cole at Sara's for the Christmas party, when he had the lightsaber -- definitely would love to include that one.)

Anyway, let me know who's up for interviews! And who has photos/videos to share. Still trying to figure out my camera situation, so helpful tips on that would be great too.

Thanks all!

 

I'm In.
And Bryan Vance is with me now and he said he is good to go too.

Eric

 

Count me in. You're more than welcome to use any pics I've got up on facebook and/or take footage/pics of my collection.

 

Not sure I would be the best person to interview, but I could definitely help out on the technical end if you would like. I have a high-powered Mac Pro with 6 GB of RAM and professional-level video and audio editing software.

 

Excuse me a moment while I drool...

Ahem. Help would be lovely. I've got the Adobe Production software offered free by IU, but no idea how to use it, since I don't have my own video camera and haven't really had a reason to play with that sort of software before. Yet for some reason a documentary seemed like the way to go... *facepalm*

 

As Eric said, I am willing to be interviewed. Since I am on campus every day of the week, I can meet up with you for the interview just about any day of the week.

 

The Adobe software is what I mainly use, personally. I've used some other Windows-only production software, as well as some Mac-only software, but I like the Adobe software if just because I can use it on Windows or Mac.

I'm happy to help, so just keep me informed on what you need technically. FYI, some friends of mine recently filmed their own movie and they had to rent their camera equipment. I know it wasn't cheap for them to do it (after all was said and done they could have just bought a camera for the price), however they were filming over the course of a couple months. It could be reasonable rates if you just wanted to rent a camera for a weekend. If you want, I could ask and find out more.

 

I'd be willing to be interviewed as well, if you're at all interested in my take. You may have to keep your finger on the censorship beeper, though. Scheduling may be difficult, but I'll try my best to work with ya.

As far as a camera goes, it might be counterintuitive, but I would strongly suggest somehow getting your hands on a new DSLR still camera. Here's a video my friend John put together with his Canon 7D still cam:

http://www.vimeo.com/7731508

As you can see, you get an amazingly filmic quality. I don't know if it's possible to get your hands on one through a rental place or friend, but they're becoming cheaper and more common these days.

 

RE: Interviews!

If anyone in the interview crowd is willing and has the time, we could meet for a few minutes before the March meeting on the 20th. I'll definitely be there, and the area in the basement of the mall by the fountain has benches and good lighting, if I remember correctly. Might make it easier for scheduling? Just let me know!

Also, found out today that I'll have to have the project finished by April 20th, so I've got six works to gather things up. So no pressure, I can totally work with people on schedule issues.

 

Of course I'm interested in your take! And no worries, I can pull off some fancy editing or make a Wookie-esque beep for you if things get too bad, haha.

Thanks for the suggestion! I think I have the camera angle covered, but I'll look into this before finalizing my plans. Because good lord that quality is gorgeous.

 

Hmm... In the end, I'd probably wind up in the same spot as your friends. Someone I know in the production classes recommended using the same camera for all footage if possible, because of differences in quality. I won't be able to get everything I need in one go, more than likely, so I'd have to have the camera for a longer period, and I don't really have the funds for it.

I appreciate you mentioning the option, though! It was seriously considered while I balanced my checkbook. I have a friend who's willing to let me borrow his HD-capable camera, and I think that's the option I'll take. Doing my best to make it look professional, but it's not for an actual production class, so hopefully I won't lose points if it falls a tiny bit short.

 

If the camera you're borrowing has an input for audio, I'll let you borrow my mic. Camera (especially still cam) microphones are notoriously horrendous.

~~~~~~

Scratch that... I just remembered my mic is USB only. Unless we can get access to a USB mixer, it won't work >_<

 

Im free this weekend anytime.

 

Well, looks like I won't be able to record anything at the March 20th meeting, which is disappointing. IU's main library has cameras that can be borrowed, but they won't be loaning them out over Spring Break. The friend I'm planning to borrow a camera from is taking it with him over the break and he won't be back until the 21st. So I guess I'll have to hope that scheduling of the April meeting works in my favor. Poor planning on my part, sorry guys!

I'm actually leaving for my spring break Friday morning; in desperate need of some time away from school. But I really appreciate you telling me! I'm glad people are enthusiastic about this; it'll be something else that'll hopefully show how awesome the HA is.

I shouldn't have any conflicts after the break is over, so I'll be able to work with everyone else's schedules.

 

Scratch my last post! I broke down and bought a camera. I've been meaning to for a while, and with Comic-Con this summer I figured why not.

If anyone wants to meet a little earlier to be interviewed, I can meet at Fountain Square Mall whenever on Saturday. I'll film some during the meeting and then when people go out to eat. (Yes, I'll be going this time!) I want to get as much of the normal meeting experience on film, so if anyone has anything special they've been thinking about doing, DO IT!

 

Amy,I should be free by 5pm

 

Amy
I want to thank you very much for including me in your documentary. I have full confidence you will do us proud.
I cant wait to see it.

 

The documentary is DONE!

I spent 22 hours over the weekend editing it in the editing labs within the communications department. Yes, 22. I had no weekend. But it's done and DVD-ized now and ready for the April meeting. It's not exactly what I'd hoped it would be, I didn't get all the shots I would have needed to make a 'masterpiece' (my own fault, this is my first personal production), but for what it is, I think it's pretty good. Over the summer, I may go back through and make a cleaner, longer version of this 7.5-minute film, but for now we have a movie.

Let me know if you'd like a copy of the DVD and I'll try to get them made by the April meeting.

 

I would. Can't wait to see it. But it took 22hrs to edit 7 min???

 

That's actually a pretty common time. A video podcast that I've watched before did a behind the scenes video, and for a 5-6 minute podcast it took them somewhere around 10-15 hours to edit it, and they're professionals.

 

Yepyep. Though 4 of those hours was just technical difficulty; my camera has the video in a weird file format that wouldn't work with Final Cut Pro, so we had to convert all the footage while still keeping the HD quality. And then 2 hours just to watch through all the footage once, because that's how much I had roughly.

 

this is good to no,since I might need so help getting my CV video to DVD

 

It'll all depend on how much actual editing you want to do with the videos. The time spent on it probably won't be anywhere near what I put in unless you want to make a really fancy presentation of your time there with the videos and photos and such.

 

Na, Just shot it and burn it ,Is what I want to do.

 

Then it won't take you long at all. When you borrow/rent a camera, see if you can get one that has a "burn to DVD" sort of function; quite a few of them do, and it'll do all the work for you.