Professional Review #1 - Michaela

1. What was the summary/scope of the project? 

This video was produced to detail the life of Michaela, a power lifter. The video relies on discussion about her parents and siblings to outline the story.


2. Using the principles of the e-Comm Video strand, analyze the professional work.

The six-shot sequence is obvious in this video. Some shots were quick, others were displayed longer to show action or establish the setting. Every shot included action all the way through, something that I just recently learned in Video. 


3. What story was told and how was it told?

This video is about Michaela, a teenager who is a power lifter, definitely something out of the ordinary. The narrator went to great lengths in an effort to detail what Michaela's life is like as a power lifter. He gave us information about her family, and explained that Michaela is actually the third sibling in the family to power lift; her oldest sister was a three-time state champion and a national champion when she competed in high school.



4. What is one element from this work you would apply to your own work?

In one shot, when Michaela is walking into the gym, the camera is focused on a nearby weight rather than our subject, Michaela. It's tough to determine whether this shot would be a close-up or an extra-wide shot. You could really make an valid argument for either: The camera is focused on the weight, creating a close-up shot; however, you could also argue that our subject is Michaela, and even though the camera isn't focused on her profile, the subject has priority over the camera focus, thus creating an extra-wide shot. Either way, it was an interesting shot, something that caught my attention, and I think it could be used creatively in my future projects.


5. What is one element you have already learned that is applied to this project?

The six-shot sequence. This has been drilled into our brains so much that it's almost impossible not to see it in a professional video like this.


6. Based on best practice, what did the creator do well? Why?

I think the creator did a good job using all six shots at sensible intervals from one another. For example, there wasn't suddenly six extra-wide shots and then a mix of the other five. They also used shots that were appropriate for what they were trying to tell us as the audience member. If they were trying to define a scene, they'd used an extra-wide shot, not a close-up or an extra close-up. It made sense to me as the viewer and I never got 'lost' and didn't understand what was going on in the shot.



7. Based on best practice, how could this work improve? Why? 

What exactly are the producers going for here?

At the very beginning of the video, Michaela's mom was shown making grilled cheese sandwiches. Although I think they were going for an over the shoulder shot, it was tough to tell, since they failed to include what would be the subject in the shot, the sandwiches. Then I thought it could be an attempt at a close-up shot. If this was the case, Michaela's mom would be the subject. However, it's not what we'd expect from your average close-up: These shots are usually used for expression; therefore shot so the majority of the subject's face is visible. In this shot, we can only see half of her face, since the camera is placed at such a strange angle. I think with just a little more planning the producer could have easily turned this into a close-up or an over the shoulder shot.



8. My general conclusions and other thoughts.

Overall, I was very impressed by this video. It was obvious that this was professionally-made; every aspect of both the video and audio proved that to me. I also learned that not every shot in a video, not even a professionally-made video, will fit perfectly into one of the six shots. Although the six-shot sequence is an absolute necessity in Video, there's some wiggle room. Each scene and situation will be different, and sometimes you'll need to be creative and construct a shot that doesn't completely fit into one of the six types of shots.