Final Project

Synopsis: I wanted to do a fun documentary about going to a Pokemon VGC Regional and the different activities that can take place. This ranges from casual events including coloring pages, purchasing merchandise, long-time friends meeting up, and competitive events such as the actual tournament play.

Concerning the tournament play, I took over the shoulder shots of the player's 3DS's as they were playing the game. The game has a lot of dynamic moments within itself which fit in nicely with the video. Normally after the games are over, all the players meet up with each other and discuss their experiences so I thought getting some footage of this after the actual games happened would have been a nice touch.

Research:

So the storyboard stayed the same, but I changed some of the pacing around in the final product. The Champion doesn't start talking until after the shots of the gameplay. I was lucky to get footage of the Champion because I wouldn't have been able to see him unless a buddy of mine grabbed him for me. I knew I wanted some very broad shots of the ballroom to set the atmosphere for how large the event is. While also getting sharp footage of the gameplay themselves to make sure they had good quality.

Product Log:
DSLR Camera from the Cage

The DSLR Camera worked fantastically for getting all the footage. Unfortunately, I didn't think to get a microphone so some of the talking is a bit muffled with the background noise. My Goal was to get a whole bunch of different shots that I could combine together into a flowing compilation. Mixing between fun and serious was the overall theme I wanted to go with.

I used Windows Movie Maker to create this project which worked out a lot better than I thought it would. It allowed me to combine the different shots together fluidly as well as tossing in text, music, and transitions. I would like to work with a more sophisticated video editing program in the future, but this was really nice to get my feet wet with.

Self-Evaluation: I think the final project came out pretty well, but I know that it could have easily been way better. There were some more interviews that I wish I could have been recorded and added which would've helped people learned about it more from an actual player. I also wish I could've got more footage of the actual games, but it was difficult to do the over the shoulder shots with everyone's body motions getting in the way. I did enjoy this assignment a lot and I would definitely consider doing something like this again during a Pokemon Nationals or Worlds to get even better footage.