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A Sense of Space: Joes Garage

February 28, 2009 by Dave

I just complete my first short film called A Sense of Space: Joes Garage using the Sony PD170 DV camcorder and Apple Final Cut Pro. I embarked on this adventure with the notion that I would be spending many late evenings reading the user manual for both the camcorder and Final Cut to produce a 3 minute film. To my surprise, the process was not as daunting as I expected but did come with the usual quirks and hiccups. After only 20 minutes of shooting and an evening banging through the user manual, I had a finished product

The idea of Joes Garage came to me while chatting with my friends and family around the dinner table Friday evening. While explaining the guidelines of the project, I decided that I should give an example of what I was talking about. I asked, “what defines this room as the dining room and the garage as the garage?” Everyone stared out me for enlightenment. “So what happens when I move all the tools into the dining room and start fixing things in here? Couldn’t you call this space a garage now that you have both the objects, the tools, and the action, fixing stuff, in one place?” And that is exactly how we define space around us. We outline a space by the objects that are stored in them and the actions that take place in them.

With that in mind, I set out to illustrate how those 2 things communicate spacial organization. Luckily, the garage is used almost daily for one thing or another so I wasn’t short of material to film. I initially walked around the garage while it was empty and took notes of anything that struck my fancy. I used the camcorder during this walk-thru to explore angles and access to positions that intrigued me. I took footage of the more detailed shots during this walk-thru also.

When the garage got busy, I focused on the ways I would connect the different areas of the garage through each frame. I also shot multiple ideas for entrance and exit frames. Shooting the action may have been the easiest part of filming. Set the frame and let the action move within the frame. I used the tripod for 99% of the filming because it allowed me to produce very steady footage. After I was done filming, I realized that I may need extra audio during post-production. I left the lens cap on to record a black frame and then captured different tools and sounds from the garage. This proved to be extremely beneficial when I needed filler or the original audio needed to be dubbed over.

Logging and capturing my footage was a chore but I worked through it. I was recording directly from the camcorder via a firewire cable and setting up the preferences took a few google searches and many pages through the Final Cut Pro manual. Exporting my project was also a chore but was hashed out with more google searches and reading of the manual.

Overall, it was a fun experience and I am happy with the end product. I could tweek it some more, record a few things again and who knows what but they say you’re never happy with your own work, so I’ll quit while ahead!

Comments

Chris

Chris
March 01, 2009

Yeah man, I can relate to your statement that rooms are defined by the tangible objects inside of them. For example, I sometimes check my apartment to make sure everything is in order. I’ll walk from one end to the other and say aloud, “Relaxation, organization, nourishment, cleanliness and entertainment.” I know, it’s a little crazy, but we have to do what works right? Can you guys guess which rooms are what?

Tyler

Tyler
March 02, 2009

Bathroom, closet, kitchen, sink cabinet, and… bathroom again.

Dave

Dave
March 02, 2009

Sink cabinet isn’t a room… wink

Chris

Chris
March 02, 2009

Bedroom, office, kitchen, bathroom, and living room. Sink cabinet is so interesting I may have to begin including it…

Dave

Dave
March 03, 2009

The people in Panera Bread are looking at me funny for laughing so loudly.

Dave

Dave
March 11, 2009

ps. I know the ending says Sense of Place. I goofed but I don’t want to re-render and upload again, so just ignore it and insert Space in for Place.

James

James
March 30, 2009

Nice job. I liked how you began and ended with the same shot to bring closure. The music choice didn’t really work for me, but I’m sure there’s a good reason why you chose it. The pan left on the screw drivers was a little choppy. Did you use a tripod or handheld for that shot? Overall good work.

Lens
October 31, 2009

Thank you for the explanation

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