Slug & Lede

The video entitled Sin City Shooters was a short video piece about a group of people who love spending their time at a Las Vegas shooting range, including bimonthly shooting contests at Desert Sportsman’s Rifle and Pistol Club in Summerlin. The piece is designed to demonstrate the passion the people have for going to the shooting range and how exhilarating target shooting is for them. The people also explain the freindships and bonds amongst each other they they form from participating in the events.

In terms of actual video footage, I think it does a very good job of incorporating multiple shots. The extremely close shots do a wonderful job of portraying the intensity of target shooting. They not only focus on the power of the gun itself but also the force of the bullet hitting the target. In my opinion the interview portions are the strength of this piece. The camera was held very still and follow the 2/3 rule quite consistently. The interviews allow the viewer to gain insight into the people at hand, while still capturing the scene in the background.  The one shot that I thoroughly enjoyed in particular was when they were talking about it’s like a family and the camera is pointed upward into the faces of three people that were standing in a semi-circle. I thought that was a very effective shot and was inserted at the perfect spot in the video. The last strength of the video that I noticed was in the last scene when the video panned from right to left as it followed the girl shooting at the targets.The timing of the pan was consistent and well executed.

The main weakness I noticed was there were a few instances where the shot was taken at too close of a distance and as a result the subject’s head was cut off at the top of the screen. Although the close shot is intended to focus in on the facial characteristics of the person, I found shot itself to be poorly executed. It either needs to be re-shot so the subject’s face and head are fully on screen, or it needs to be taken from a slightly further distance.

Overall the piece was done very well. Static shots weren’t used quite as often as in other video pieces I’ve watched, but considering the circumstance of being at a shooting range, moving shots seem to be more appropriate. After a few minor editing adjustments, the piece will be near perfect. Job well done!