Paying Respects to the Orangeburg Massacre Victims

 

On the eve of the 55th annual Orangeburg Massacre memorial event at SC State, my students and I visited this sacred site on campus: the Smith Hammond Middleton Legacy Plaza. 

This is named for the three young men who perished on that tragic day, Feb. 8, 1968. 

These three young men were shot to death by highway patrol officers when hundreds of SC State and Claflin students gathered around a bonfire. Two days prior the students protested a segregated bowling alley. 

Killed, from right to left, were Henry E. Smith, 18, Samuel Hammond Jr. (both SC State students) and Delano Middleton, 17, a Wilkinson High School student. 

The three bronze busts were sculpted by one of SC State's own: Dr. Toulupe Filani, chair of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts. 

He is pictured here shaking the hand of school President Alexander Conyers. This was at last year's Feb. 8 commemoration when Filani's creations were unveiled. 

Filani, who goes by Tolu, signed each bust that he crafted from clay. Curiously, he completed them in 2014. So why did it take eight years for them to be bronzed and displayed like this? 

In an interview I conducted with Filani at last February's event, he admitted to having trouble getting the backing of SC State's leadership to fund the bronzing, which he says cost $30,000. 

Listen to his comment here.

Fortunately, Filani didn't give up! 

In this next soundbite, he modestly responds to my question about how pleased me must be that his creations are finally on public display.

Listen here.

In this third comment, Filani says how his vision of creating art for the SC State campus dates back to when he came here for his job interview back in 2006.      Listen here.

Butterfly, Rembrandt and Other Creative Lighting Techniques

Here at SC State we are stepping up our lighting game after our previous two lessons with a reflector disc and three-point lighting. Using this video as guidance along with some handout material, we captured images using the following lighting techniques: flat frontal, side, butterfly and Rembrandt. And then we had a little fun with the students giving their best scary face!  Here the results: 

FLAT FRONTAL LIGHTING

Communications students Sharlene Luke and Lawson Danley pose for our "flat frontal" example. Here only one light is used, the key light that is placed at eye level next to the camera. It's not a bad look on these two good-looking young people. I think this one is first on our tutorial list because, as explained in this photography link, "Basically, flat lighting is lighting that produces very little contrast in your scene. Flat means there's very little difference (contrast) between the highlights and shadows in flat light." 

Delighting with Three-Point Lighting!

In my television production class at SC State University, we are spending a few weeks on lighting. We covered the use of reflector discs, now we are looking at a mainstay of photography, videography, film, and television: three-point lighting. See this YouTube video for details and tips. 

Essence Adams (right) is at the center of this popular, widely-used lighting concept. You see the video camera's position in front of Essence and the three lights surrounding her. 

Here is another perspective of the lights from behind Delano Whitfield (left). The light in the center, under the clock on the wall, is called the key light.

On the left side of this photograph is the fill light. And the light behind Delano, along the right side of the photo, is the backlight. 

I will explain and show how the lights work in tandem to create a high-quality image of the subject, whether for a yearbook or LinkedIn picture, a TV interview, model shoots, and other scenarios. 

Lighting it Up with a Reflector Disc

 

This handy production device can, in a flash, rescue a low or poor-lighting situation. 

Reflector discs, like the one held by Sylvester Brown, folds down to the size of frisbee and fits in a carry bag. It's a vital tool to have among a video producer's cameras, microphones and lights. 

This short video from YouTube shows a disc reflector in action.

Last week, after explaining the how and why of reflector discs, my television production students and I went outside for a demonstration. 

Sometimes you cannot avoid taking photographs or shooting video into the sunlight. This can shut down the camera's iris and make a person's face look darker than is desirable. 

Here is Sharlene Luke's "before" photo. 

Now we see her after the reflector disc is deployed. Note the improvement. 

(For Sharlene's blog post for this assignment, click here.)

Here we see the choreography of where the video camera and disc are positioned. 

New "Action Sequence" Starring Amauri Allen

I fun project that I like to have students do in my television production classes is one I call "Action Sequence." In it, a student videotapes a classmate leaving or entering the classroom. There needs to be at least 10 shots of the subject entering and leaving the camera frame. I feel the project is instructive in terms of videography, directing and editing. I ask that music be included in the finished product along with an opening and closing slate or title and credits. 

As a demonstration, I shot this piece with communications major Amauri Allen.

The music is catchy right? I found "Surf Shimmy" under the "bouncy' genre in the royalty-free music site Incompetech. Check it out! I've been using this site for years. 

In editing this piece I sought assistance with a couple things: changing the background color of my title and closing slates and creating a fade-to-black effect. Click for the awesome "Adobe in a Minute" tutorials on YouTube. 

Here is a link to a few other "action sequences" from several years ago. 

Adobe Premiere Pro: Scale to Frame Size and Cropping Clips

 In Adobe Premiere Pro if your video clip doesn't look right when you put it in the storyboard, then right click on the clip and scroll down to "Scale to Frame Size." 

If a clip will look better if it is cropped, do the steps shown in this brief tutorial to crop the top, bottom and sides as you see fit.

Here is my brief demo video showing how these tools are used. Thank you to Delano Whitfield for use of his back-to-school clip! 

Here is a screenshot showing show the process to do this. 

Interview Shots- Good and Not So Good

 

On Sunday, Sept. 11, Patrick McEnroe on ESPN interviews the runners-up after the 2022 U.S. Open women's doubles final. Americans Caty McNally (center) and Taylor Townsend lost to the Czech Republic team of Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova.

When McEnroe first speaks with Tayor Townsend he, in my opinion, awkwardly steps in front of Caty McNally and he is holding the microphone with his outside hand when it would look better if he held it with his inside or left hand. 

The camera person soon zooms in on her from the awkward wide shot. So the tip is that if the wide shot looks off then quickly zoom in on the person speaking. This close-up of Taylor looks good and we see the top of the microphone, which is fine. 

Here is the shot when McEnroe interviewed McNally. The composition looks OK, though it looks a bit off or odd to see part of McEnroe's arm in the shot. He should be holding the mic with his inside hand. It is good that we also see her smiling partner in the two-shot. 

Patrick McEnroe, in my opinion, did better when he next interviewed the winning doubles team from Czech Republic. This time, after interviewing (right) Katarina Siniakova, he asked her if he could step by her so he could speak with her partner Barbora Krejcikova. This looked much better than his previous interview with the Americans. 

This is a live interview conducted by Fox News meteorologist Janice Dean on Monday, Sept. 12. Notice that she is holding the microphone, appropriately for the setting, with her inside or right hand. The three-shot composition is comfortable. We see everyone from the waist up and we also see the background environment, which is good. 

When Janice Dean goes to speak with the woman, the shot stays wide and remains very comfortable to the viewer in terms of not being distracting in some way.