Imperial War Museum and Chocolate Films work experience 2 of 2
I had a week of work experience with the Imperial War Museum in a group of ten students from UTC. We were asked to produce two films about the holocaust .We split into two teams of five. I was in the group that a man named Arek an 83 yearold who survived Auschwitz. It was very moving to hear their personal accounts on their experiences in World War 2.
The first few days was spent gathering information about the survivors. We learnt the skills needed to record the interview – such as how to operate the microphones and cameras. When we had gathered enough information to write around 20 questions that will be asked on the day.
On the day of filming we setup all of our equipment which was interesting. It highlights the amount of time and planning is needed before actually recording takes place. We then met Arek and his wife and had a short conversation before we began interviews. After the interview was finished, we had over 40 minutes of footage. The footage would have to be condensed into just over 3 minutes.
The last remaining days were spent planning our story line as well as what footage we should use. We learnt how to use final cut pro x on the mac, to enable us to place and create the timeline of footage. We also spent time planning our animation ideas for each piece of information. We did this by using a row of sticky notes and placing them in order. This was an interesting method as it allows the stages and ideas to be clearly viewed and moved about freely.
On the final two days and after planning a clear path of what was going to be animated. We decided what type of animation was going to be used. For this we learnt how to use Dragonframe software, to animate stop motion of different types. We finally managed to animated and fit it with the clips of the interview and had a finished video ready to show.
Overall this whole experience is something I would do again as it was fun and interesting. I feel I have learnt a lot over the course of the week. Such things as how to use professional editing software and how to set up a proper camera and mic setup. All of these amazing skills I have learnt over the course of a week as well as being able to meet a holocaust survivors.