WORK MISSED

I have not been able to blog for awhile due to the open days and amount of homework I've been doing for my other subjects; leaving me exhausted, however I have managed to complete a plan and have managed to edit it and change different things as different problems have come up.
I have started the documentary research to see what kind of scenes that can be captured in urban Philippines which I can maybe show the difference in rural and urban life and culture, though I don't expect much difference.I have also started watching tutorials from a man called Mic Bergsma, a GoPro enthusiast. He seems to have many tips and tricks on how to capture different angles of films, and how to soften or dampen the jittery movement of shooting a POV camera. Additionally, watching other videos such as video maker (a youtube channel with around 90,000 subscribers and averaging 40,000 to 300,000 views per video) show that a scene where high angles offer a great perspective over crowds whereas lower angles "are the opposite, imparting feelings of dynamic engagement" with the scene being shot.
Different camera movements:
The dolly, where the camera is zooming out while the track with the camera on it is simultaneously moving in, creating a "woozy" effect; the handheld shot, where the camera is handheld without accessory to provide a jerky film to the scene. One I will be able to take advantage of as my GoPro is a handheld device anyway. High angle and low angle shots, aforementioned above, to depict the scenic views of the whole environment as well as showing a much more personal view of the characters to make the audience more involved.
http://revision4gcses.wordpress.com/media-studies/camera-anglesmovementshots/

I have not been able to buy a GoPro as of late, due to the lack of pay my job has provided, nevertheless I will hope to acquire a loan from my dad in the means to pay him back after the trip to Philippines.
Additionally, I've researched different terms that I may use in editing but never actually knew the names of e.g. "Splice - put a piece of video/audio in between two other pieces of video.
Overwrite - put a piece of video/audio over the top of an existing piece of video.
B roll – a video/audio insert which will help fill out your article/story.e.g., in a story about McDonalds, B roll would be a few seconds of footage, sound, etc, of the McD sign, chips frying, someone ordering a meal...basically everything around the main story and the main quotes.
Flash frame – a single frame from another clip accidentally left behind during editing. May not be visible, as it lasts a spilt second, but you might think something strange was up.
Jump cut - when a subject in your report suddenly switches locations with no explanation"http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribers/downloads/archive_mm/mmagpast/Vjing_MM18.html

Post 2nd Lesson

The title seemed far too vague again and Ann and I had a foundation for my title as "Day in the life of a farmer" to which my dad had developed to "A day in the life of a farmer's son". Nevertheless it still is a work in progress. Though I was wondering if I could incorporate the title as a question e.g. "How do farmers in the Philippines survive when they live way below the poverty threshold?" "To better understand the hardship of a farmer in poverty, I've decided to live like a farmer in poverty".

Ann also had mentioned questions I would ask the locals on how they survive with just being farmers for example "what are your aspirations for your kids? Would you want them to go to school, would you want them to live out of poverty and escape the trials you yourself had to endure? If you had to work harder than you are now to let your child(ren) go to school, would you? If you had enough money what would your aspiration for yourself be? How much do you earn, at best, per month? How would you go about spending what minimum income you have for your family? At what age did you learn the skills you need to be a farmer? What happens if you don't have enough income in the month?" etc..

I hope to interview my dad, as he himself was living a life of poverty until he was in his mid to late twenties so that information would prove most valuable as primary research.

I've began a plan for the duration of the EPQ in tom's planner and it was set out as a Gantt chart, but since it was quite new to me it was quite difficult to use. My main focus today would probably be to fill in that plan as much as possible as well as fill in the PPR which is required of me. 

Additionally, I've began watching  video tutorials on how to edit films from a GoPro camera using iMovie for Ipad: "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odZPLxd8-go",  "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APQhVuQXiuM" and "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZcfLjecyCc". The way iMovie works is quite simple but editing two weeks of video into a twenty minute clip may be harder than it looks. I also hope to gain some knowledge on how to film from a friend who takes media and film studies so I would like to hope he can give me some tips and tricks on filming with a GoPro.

For my documentary idea to portray my life as a farmer's son, I need to develop a screenplay as a foundation of what I will be filming in the farm from: harvesting crops to chopping wood to fetching water and to even preparing what meals are available. I've started to research on how documentaries and films are made and a few websites seem to have a lot in common; a screenplay or script. This is to show all the possible filmable scenes I will or might encounter during my time at the farm.

First EPQ Lesson

The first EPQ lesson was a real eye-opener. To put it bluntly; great ideas, but extremely vague. I need to focus on what part of poverty I am showing in the Philippines and somehow extract an appealing title/question from it. Harder than it seems. Nevertheless, I have received the main template of the course from which I need to complete in the next 24 hours. Though the lesson provided a brief insight on how the overall course runs which gave a scary yet exciting feeling of independence.

The skills I need are still far from average and therefore will need research e.g angles at which I need to shoot, how to capture a video that is equal in light and dark and make sure any background noises are muffled or better, erased.
However I am still quite unsure how good of a video a GoPro Hero 3 camera will be able to take but the different reviews and Youtube clips have showed its capabilities as above average. Additionally, as it is also a hand held device I would need to take into account how I can make the video smooth and not "shaky". Apparently some sort of tape or rubber from an inner tube can "dampen the vibrations" which affect the camera's smoothness said "http://gopro.com/support/articles/how-to-prevent-waves-distortions-videos".
I plan to learn few tips on how to record videos from a friend who takes media and film studies and hope that his expertise would prove useful if not beneficial in my learning of shooting videos.

Starting off.

Having been to two EPQ talks, the amount of work I've put in to plan or make my actual product has been less than substantial. Disappointing. However, I have been researching the statistical facts and figures needed to validate the information I will be using for my 2000 word accompanying report and the artifact. The online LRC gateway has proved most useful as I now have access to different academic journals which provide information as well as direction on how I am to show 'Poverty in the Philippines'.