Lessons Learned

I have learned several crucial lessons about video making this week. Allow me to share them with you:
1. Oven mitts are a great (and necessary) investment when working with lighting.
2. No-name polysporin does not facilitate healing as quickly as the real thing.
3. When you tell your star actor that it will only take an hour to record, make sure it will actually only take an hour.
4. Being a good baker is a guarantee for good bribery of video talent.
5. 9" chocolate chip cookies take almost two-thirds longer to cook than regular-sized cookies.
6. Kids are terrible secret keepers.
7. If you decide it would be a good idea to stand on a homemade trolley and race down the hallway in the dark with a video camera attached to your arm, wear a helmet. And consider providing wrapping your camera in bubble wrap.
8. When trying to get a great high angle shot, thoroughly consider the stability of the item you are standing on to get above the video subject. Four milk crates stacked one on top of the other is not recommended. Removing ceiling tiles and hooking your arm through the open grid while standing on said milk crates is also ill-advised.
9. Stroyboarding is way harder than you'd think. How do you account for spur of the moment inspiration?
10. It is really difficult to separate some of the 33 production shots. How is a medium shot that different from a head-on or a flat angle? How do you create a shot specifically showcasing balance or the rule of thirds. Shouldn't those be included in every shot?
11. Jane Fonda has got nothing on 875. Between the running, climbing, and excessive laughter, we could make a killing on a fitness video. 50 sit-ups? No thanks. Laughing so hard you FEEL like you did 50 sit-ups? Yes indeed!

I definitely feel like I have gotten my tuition worth of educational moments this week  and we are only a month into the class!