Progress Report #5 - Jeff Warlick

We have a busy set of weeks ahead of us. Friday we went to the housing in oceanside again to just get some needed b-roll of the facilities. Also, during our interviews, both of the veterans commented on how nice the accommodations are, so we wanted to get some shots from inside the actual units. We met up with one of the resident managers who gave us a tour and let us have virtually unlimited access to two of their floor plans. We shot a standard unit as well as a one for the disabled. The veterans were right; flat screen tv's, leather furniture, and a spacious interior made for a very nice home. Honestly, those veterans are living with a better setup than my apartment!

This morning, Jermain Carlos and I went over to the Escondido soup kitchen to cover some of interfaith's other activities. Again brought up by a comment made during an interview, we wanted to get b-roll of the facility that brought one of the veterans to the housing. We took shots of the kitchen prep and then were very discrete filming from the back of the room to get the backs of all the people in line. Christine was right about how jumpy people are once a camera shows up. We heard many comments about how we didn't belong there from the patrons. However, I feel we were very respectful and managed to get 30 mins of solid b-roll without getting any faces on camera. 

The project has been a great learning experience so far. I've edited in the past but always imported from a digital recorder like fraps or pldx. I've learned how to import from a tape and have a much better general understanding as to the operation of a camera and sound equipment. I've also learned that you sometimes really have to push and go out of your comfort zone to get the good shots. The first interviews we did, we tried to just be happy with everything because we were just happy enough having a veteran to talk to. However, after none of it being usable, I know for the future that we really need to think about how we present our questions and go to great lengths to draw out the solid shots that we need to do the story justice. Also, for instance, today in the soup kitchen, I had to ask a man (who I would normally never approach on the street) if we could follow his tray, not him, on camera. He was very nice and we got a great shot. Going out of your comfort zone for the sake of the shot really pays off.