Technical Interference

The camera that I was using to shoot video with had been acting up lately and causing me some minor problems. But I was able to get the footage that I needed despite some annoying setbacks. However, a good portion of my video from the Children's Court seems to be lost. At first, I thought I made a mistake capturing to the computer - that ended up not being the issue. Then I reviewed my tape closely and found out that I had inadvertently shot over about half of my Children's Court footage. Apparently, my camera had some sort of auto-rewind feature in playback mode that I was unaware of. I have never used the feature before but I have a feeling the technical problems that I had been having with the camera had something to do with this. Granted, I did not lose all of my footage; but, of course, the video that I took first (some limited interiors of the Children's Court - only what I was allowed access to), was what got taped over. After I had taken footage inside, then I got exterior shots of the building - I did lose one really good establishing shot of the building. Also, the tripod that I had was broken, so I was forced to shoot hand-held. I ended up sort of using whatever video I had left to create a more abstract/artistic view of the court. I guess the good news would be that the audio that goes along with the video is very good and informative. I asked Ann Benjamin to talk about the Children's Court and the theory behind how it was conceived and constructed, and the differences between it and other courts. I wish that the visual end of the video had turned out better (and with more footage) but I am happy with the audio track.