From 7th-11th February we had 3 work experience students join us from Cromwell Community College. They had requested an immersive experience in filmmaking and media. Here’s Sam’s blog captured through the week regarding his experience:

Day 1

On day one we started the day by sitting around the table where we all introduced ourselves so then we knew who everyone was and what project they were doing. Then after that, we were given MacBooks where we then went on Adobe Premiere Pro and did basic editing, which was just cutting out parts of videos that weren’t needed. We then had a zoom call where we spoke about the Robot Wars event for Wednesday. After that, we storyboarded for a video called paths and doorways. We then went to school for a media session with year 10 pupils. Day 1 was a very chilled day and a very good day as we got to know everyone and got to know how to use some of the software that people use. It was great that we were getting to grips with Adobe Premiere Pro as it would come helpful on day 4 where we make our own videos using clips we would take ourselves.

Day 2

Started the day by learning how the cameras work and the key things about the camera, ready for Wednesday Robot Wars. We used an aftershave bottle to take pictures and a promotional video, this was helpful as we learned key things like iso, shutter speed, and frame rate. Knowing this then allowed us on day 3 to take the best quality photos and also videos. After that, we then had training on how to use an app called Illustrator where firstly we made a Coca-Cola poster with the logo on it, then after that, we made a neon sign and lastly we made a logo. In-between all of that we used our phones to take some pictures which then we put onto Lightroom and edited some pictures in terms of lighting and contrast etc. It was a good day as it was very relaxed and there wasn’t any pressure on us this made the day very good and also the training we got taught wasn’t really challenging and we also got our own freedom, which meant that when we finished the tasks it was personalised to us which gave it that extra bit of satisfaction when we completed it.

Day 3

On day 3 we started the day by going to the town hall where the Robot Wars was held we started by setting up tape and lego rocks for Robot Wars. Then after that, the children came in and sat at their teams. We then went and interviewed one kid and a teacher after that Robot Wars started. It started with the gem challenge where Fiji won and the media team recorded parts and took photos of the challenge. After that, it was the flag challenge and this is where the teams tried to knock the other teams’ flag down whilst keeping theirs up, during this, we took more photos and videos. Then it was lunch and everyone ate. After lunch, it was the final challenge called the potter challenge, in this challenge the teams had to code the robots to get around the rocks and the person who gets the furthest wins. Vietnam won this challenge and this challenge was worth the most points meaning they won the whole thing and the prize of a trip to Harry Potter world. Throughout the whole event and challenges, we took pictures and recorded some of the teams creating robots and the robots doing the challenges. Day 3 was a really fun day altogether. I enjoyed doing the camera work and taking videos of the activities that the kids were doing. It also showed how difficult the lego robots were to actually make as when we weren’t doing anything we got to have a go creating our own lego robots and I couldn’t work out how to do it. So overall it was a fun day and I had fun working with the team and had fun being in control of what videos I wanted to take which I would say personally overall came out pretty well for my first time doing something like this.

Day 4

On day 4 l started the day by going over the videos I recorded on day 3 in Adobe Premiere Pro and I deleted the clips I wasn’t going to use. After that, I went onto Bensound where I found audio that I wanted to use for my video and it fits well as it had the tempo I wanted and kept the intensity of the Robot Wars which I wanted to do. After that, I put all clips in that I wanted. And made sure the clips went well with the audio in terms of cuts where the beats went I did this throughout. When the audio dipped in volume I chose to put in the interviews we did with some children and the teacher I did this so that people watching can understand the benefits of the Robot Wars and how good for skill-building it really is. After this, I started doing all the transitions so that the video actually looked good some of the clips didn’t have any transitions this is because the music made it work better without any. After I did all of that I realised my volume was really low so I changed it to the middle of the volume bar and then had to redo all the audio levels so that it matched and didn’t then destroy anyone’s eardrums. Then after that, I changed some clips around as some of the clips weren’t focused and I need them all to look as good as possible. The video that I was in charge of editing was a video for the website as a way to almost promoting the Robot Wars activity. I enjoyed doing this as I am very interested in doing things like this even following day 3 as taking videos and then going on editing them, this activity gave me so much freedom in deciding what I wanted to do as I was in control of music the clips I used and everything so this activity was really enjoyable to me. And I am very thankful to 20Twenty for giving me the chance to take part in this and letting me do work experience for them. However, I then had to edit some more clips as I want to create a more dramatic feel to the video so I changed the timer from 48 seconds to the 3-second timer this then gave it a real dramatic feel. 

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