Tropos of Digital Photography

Ohh goodness...I definitely have my work cut out for me in terms of learning how to shoot video! I've been messing around with it a bit more this week (trying to shoot lots of b-roll footage) and it is tricky stuff! My camera was stolen earlier in the year so I had to get a new one that unfortunately isn't as good. Now if I could just remember where I put that manual...haha here is some of what I have gotten so far!

As you can see, my camera doesn't have the best zoom. I tried to start with a wide-angle shot to place the action, which takes place in front of the Invalides. Then I zoomed in to the rugby players and tried to follow the ball...however, I kind of failed at the end there. Maybe I'll just cut that part off haha. As for the tropos, my decision to take this shot was kind of in line with the last post I did about how the Parisians live right there among all the grand architecture and history. I don't know why this fascinates me so much, but I still can't get over it. For example, the little boy I look after has soccer practice on the Champs de Mars, which is the park underneath the Eiffel Tower! No big deal...Anyways, I'm not sure I will have the time to say anything about that in my video, so I want to show my viewers through images.

This next shot was taken to show the typical Parisian scene of couples walking along the quai's of the Seine. Sighhh...how romantic. I tried to leave space in front of the walkers for them to walk into and also applied the rule of thirds, showing a bit of the river to put the shot in context. At the end there, I followed the bridge across to the other side of the river, but I'm not sure I'll include that in the film because it's a little shaky. Next time maybe I'll also get a close up of a couple holding hands or something, but I'm thinking I might have to hire actors to get up close shots seeing as my zoom is so bad!

I will definitely explore the digital photography resources further to help improve my video quality but I have two major challenges I will have to overcome. First, I need to figure out how to hold the camera steady. It really does make SUCH a big difference! I'm not really sure how to go about getting a tripod for a tiny digital camera like mine plus I doubt I'll actually have it with me when I need it. I get most of my footage when I'm out and about...on the way to class, lunch, shopping, etc. Maybe I could just find something stationary to place it on? How is everybody else handling this? Secondly, I need to get over my fear of what people think about me filming them! A major part of these videos is just going to be showing people in their natural environment. I'm just always so scared somebody's going to yell at me, haha. I've seen it happen to other people and I get a little flustered when people start shouting in French. Ahh well, c'est la vie, I suppose!