A Day at Pier 17 (Seaport)
"A Day at Pier 17 (Seaport)" is a travel film I created with the intention of exploring the areas of Seaport through a range of mid shots and long shots. My target audience would be any tourist in their 20's who is visiting for the first time, looking for scenic views in New York City. My film is simple and pretty straight-forward. It starts off with an opening wave, leading into a selfie at the Seaport sign, moving on to the Tin building, scenic views around the pier, and ending with a closing wave.
Shooting:
I used a Nikon DSLR camera, my iPhone 12 mini, and an extendable tripod throughout the process of shooting this film. To keep the consistency in this video I had to make sure that I shot my film between the times of 12pm and 5pm. I also had to make sure I wore the same outfit on the days that I filmed. I did not film anything for longer than 1 minute. On the first day that I arrived at the Seaport with my equipment, I spent more time analyzing different angles on how to shoot the buildings, the East River, and the highway. Although I only recorded every shot for 1 minute, it took me more time to set up my shot. My first draft only consisted of long range shots, which wasn't as captivating for my intended target audience. So, I went back the following week and took more mid range shots that also include myself basking in the sunlight, sitting near a burger shop poster, and running down some steps near the tin building. To diversify my shots, I included a whip pan, zooming in, zooming out, and left to right shots.
Editing:
I used iMovie to create my first travel film draft. Using this software limited my ability to diversify the transitions used in my project. For my final version, I used Adobe Premiere Pro to edit my video. My, oh, my. What a difference it made! In my editing process, I used a match cut to line up the man standing near the butcher shop with the woman sitting at the bar, reading a book. I also used light leaks and different dissolve effects in my transitions to make them look more natural and seamless. My biggest challenge was that the software kept freezing on me and I had to redo a lot of the time I put in do to not saving my work frequently (rookie mistake). My favorite stylized transition for this video is where I run towards the camera and cover it with my hand, transitioning into a shot of me backing away from the camera lens.
Overall Design:
I chose to keep type only for the title and the end credits of the film. I made this creative decision because adding type throughout the video would have been too distracting. The chroma leak and VR light leaks in my film added the extra visual emphasis I needed to spice up my film. To maintain visual coherence, I made sure to make each of my shots make sense by staying consistent with the area of the Seaport that I shot in. All of the Tin building shots are in the beginning of the video. When you step out of the tin building you see the boats docked or docking at the pier. Then, you're led onto the rooftop where you see the same Wavetree boat. The video continues on to the main building, where you see the burger shop poster and you're led to the rooftop of the main building. The video ends with the a view of the Pink Pier that turns up to the sky, fading into the closing wave.
