Words & Photos from Elayna S. & Steven S.
On February 2nd, a gloomy day here in Victoria, 18 students began their time in the digital storytelling experiential programs. As a student in the AC cohort, we began our day in the library classroom with professional photographer and videographer, Matt Gardiner. After a short PowerPoint about the functions of our DSLRs and types of shots to try out, we were sent to venture around campus to try out what we learnt. The overcast weather brought different shadows and variances in light, giving lots of opportunities to fiddle with the aperture and ISO features, both of which were fairly new to me. For the afternoon of Day 1, our group headed downtown on the school bus with our BD cohort counterparts, masked up and socially distanced of course. We had free reign over all of what downtown Victoria had to offer. Our goal was to gather photos and videos in order to create a music montage to showcase all we had learned.
Day 2 featured friendly peer critiques of our work from the previous day, and time filled with editing. We spent about an hour in sun-filled Brown Hall viewing everyone's favourite photos that they tpok downtown and talking about ways to improve them. Whether that was through the composition and lighting, or what we could change about it in Photoshop, every student left the room with more knowledge than they had before. Two hours were well spent, working quietly to complete our own unique montages before a quick lunch break where many of us shared what we had been working on with our peers from other Experiential Programs. After reconvening, we began working in small groups around campus to compose a series of three album covers for a band that we imagined for our group. Mr. Gardiner spoke to us about how subtle changes in a picture can change the mood and emotion the viewer feels, which is very important when designing a brand for a band. More aspects of the SMUS campus were incorporated into our photography, yet most features became almost unrecognizable after the editing phase. The past few days gave us a solid foundation and understanding of techniques and skills to use when capturing a photo or video, and many of these still apply to our cell phone cameras!
Elayna S.
We started our first meeting in the library classroom, where many pictures were scattered. The ice breaker game was for each person to discover their favorite photo. It was interesting to listen to others' perspectives and analysis on photography. Mr. Gardiner then taught us some basic camera skills, such as compositions(rule of thirds), how different angles affect the storytelling of a picture, and how to set up the aperture, shutter speed, and iso. We spent the rest of the morning venturing the school campus, taking pictures of objects and classmates using the techniques learned earlier. Coming back to the classroom, Mr. Gardiner lectured about digital storytelling's power by showing us a video montage that was composed of rhythmic editings and emotional music.
In the afternoon, we went to Chinatown to seek inspiration and take photos and videos. Chinatown was varnished in vibrant red. By the beautifully carved Gate of Harmonious Interest, the street was occupied by various stores and restaurants. They were embellished with a unique cultural atmosphere and was a perfect place for photography. Wandering through the narrow valleys, I watched the sky shrunk into a dense, gray strand between the red-brick buildings, where lanterns plumped like apples swaying along with the wind. At the end of the day, we were asked to upload a picture from our trip to Chinatown.
The next day began in Brown Hall, as the teachers presented each student's photo from yesterday and offered critiques. There was a wide range of subjects, such as buildings, nature, and people. Mine was a picture of a construction worker, standing beside an opened sewage hole as he looked towards his left at something not shown. It told a story and left the viewers some rooms of imagination. Then we went back to the library classroom and continued to edit the video footage from yesterday, with the aid of Mr. Gardiner. Before lunch, each group had at least one music video montage finished.
In the afternoon, the teacher asked each group to take album cover pictures around the campus. I was the main cameraman and instructed my group members to pose. We tried many places and angles and photoshopped the results into thematic album covers as if we were an actual band. It was a cool experience. Finally, we wrapped up by sharing each others' works and gave advice to the next two experiential days in March.
Steven S.