Production

This is the moment in which you will produce audio-visual material to be edited. It is the “writing-up” of the draft of your video essay. Creativity is highly valued, as you are applying a creative recursive methodology in order to reflect about film and screen media (although video essays can also be used across a wide range of disciplines). Ensure you have backups of the produced material, and that this is safely stored. Because you are using a digital and audiovisual language, the production may include the following:

1. Filming your own footage: nowadays, mobile phones have made this as easy as ever, with high definition cameras. Please note the concept of technical quality is rather vague. You should focus on the way in which your cinematography is coherent with your overall argument in the video essay, or the theme you are discussing. You should have planned well the range of shots you need in your pre-production. Ensure you have not missed any, particularly if you are in locations of difficult access.

2. Taking photographs: like for videos, mobile phones can be excellent devices to take high definition still images to be included in your video essays.

3. Recording sound: take at least one minute of sound in the different locations you shoot. This can be very useful for the intellectual editing of shots in diverse locations. You may own or get hold of a high definition recorder or omnidirectional microphone for this.

4. Recording voice-over: it is advisable to use an external audio recorder for the voice-over (and in general to record any sound) as this would produce a better quality audio than a phone’s mic for example. Good quality sound is very important in order not to lose your viewer.

5. Recording interviews: take 30 seconds or more of 'room tone' (that is, the ‘silence’ of the room) when interviewing people indoors. This can be very useful when editing dialogue, for example to plug gaps of absolute silence or as a sound bed to accompany any new sound you may add in postproduction. Have a friendly chat with the interviewee before the interview in order to build trust, and open up with warm-up questions such as “Could you please introduce yourself?” 5 to 10 questions should be enough. Make them open-ended and be flexible and responsive to what the interviewee is telling you.

6. Creating animation: via dedicated software; or “analogically”, drawing or writing on a paper, and taking photographs or filming it to trigger an animation effect.

Draft of the Supporting Statement:

Continue it on a daily basis. Keep track of what you produce per day, to ensure you have not missed anything.