This interview was conducted with Paul Jung, a sophomore in the Benton Scholars Program intending to major intending to major Mathematical Economics and minor in Film and Media Studies. This past summer, Paul made a video documenting the Benton Scholars’ trip to France, Belgium, Germany, and Russia.
What drove you to make a video documenting the Benton trip?
I’ve always been interested in film, but I never had any experience. Before the trip, I got a job at the Digital Learning and Media Center as a media mentor, and I talked with my boss to see if i could possibly borrow a video camera, tripods and equipment. I haven’t really travelled before and I was excited. I wanted to make something for the Bentons so that there’s always something for us to look back on and remember. I also wanted to get some experience in video editing and I thought this would be a great opportunity. This was the first time I’d done something like this, so I felt a little awkward. But I’m glad I did it and I’m pretty proud of it.
What did you learn about videography as a result of this project?
I learned that audio is such an important part- if the sound is bad on a video, you automatically don’t want to watch it. During the interview portion of the video, I had to figure out how to properly place the mic on people so that the audio quality was good. I also learned that video editing was a lot more time intensive than I expected. I probably ended up spending about 50 hours in total on editing the video because I was learning how to use Final Cut Pro as I was editing. The biggest thing I got away from it is how fun it is and I realized that’s something I want to do more of in the future.
At the end of the video, you interview each of the Bentons, asking them about their favorite part of the trip. What was your favorite part of the trip?
Experiencing different cultures, talking with local people, making connections from random conversations- I’ve never been to Europe so this was a new experience. And I just liked spending time with everyone.