Beauty of a Second - Shedd Aquarium - ID# 456
Richards High School
Cinematography
Entry Description
This video shows the beauty that 1 second can bring and explores a unique, aesthetic view, of the Shedd Aquarium downtown Chicago.
Copyright Info
Recent Teacher Comments
- 4/25 1:14 pm - PROS - Very solid compositional skills on display here. Lots of good framing and reflections were limited, which is tough when shooting through the thick tank of the aquariums. CONS - Limiting your reel to one environment also limits your ability to demonstrate your skill beyond the pointing and shooting of pre-designed, professional lighting environments. This would be a good part of a longer, more diverse reel that demonstrated the wide range of skills a cinematographer must learn to use in visual storytelling. Some of the shots would have benefitted from the use of a tripod. Keep pushing yourself!
- 4/25 12:03 pm - The Shedd is a great subject, but can be limiting unless you push beyond its promising opportunities and move beyond the boundaries. In some cases, you did, but in many cases, you didn't. For example, the constraints of filming aquariums limit focal length - and that is certainly reflected in this piece. A key part of cinematography is lighting, and you are obviously limited in terms of what you can bring into the museum.
- 4/17 4:55 pm - Great idea to shoot at the Shed, but some of the shots are stronger than others. Going forward keep adding more to your reels so you can showcase an even larger variety of work. Shooting through the glass at an aquarium always brings in glare and you did a nice job for the most part avoiding it. I love the silhouetted parent pointing something out to the kid, that was well-composed and dynamic.
Judge 1
Positives: Good source of vibrant color
Improvements: A couple distracting reflections. Some clips were not up to the overall qualities of the piece. Did not provide a medium for a wide variety of compositions, angles, and movements
Judge 2
Positives: 1. Great consistency by using only one second clips to showcase the aquatic animals and their beauty 2. There were a variety of animals shown and all of them were captured at great moments. The dolphin shot with the two people standing by really grabbed my attention due to the contrast of the colors and the people following the movements of the dolphin with their eyes and fingers.
Improvements: 1. There seems to be a clip that is much shorter than others followed by a shot of stingrays that carries on for more than a second. This shot also starts in focus, goes out of focus, then comes back in. It would be better to either eliminate that focus issue or start out of focus to make it seem like an intentional rack focus. 2. The reflections from lights drew me away from the main focus of the clips sometimes. Shifting the camera to avoid these reflections would've solidified this piece and made it rank higher.
Judge 3
Positives: Overall I thought you did really well. I was a fan of the reflection on the reef. It adds rhythm to the frame and makes it more engaging. Your exposure looked really nice. I did not loose anything in the shadows and none of the highlights were blown out. Good job.
Improvements: A lot of this lighting is designed light within the Aquarium. Were you able to make it work? Yes. Did I want to see more lighting effects from you? Yes. The shot of the dolphin and the people looking up is really cool. I wish it was a long shot rather than a medium. it feels confined. Once the animal passes it leaves a lot of dead space in the frame and the subject feels backed into a corner.
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Judge 5
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