Update: Cinematography And Plans For Future Projects

Along with photography, cinematography is another new hobby that I've decided to try out. I'd like to start making my own short films and possibly learn more about filming during University. Devising and directing my own performances is something that I've found that has interested me in my two years of partaking in the IB Theatre course. I'd like to use what I've learned in Theatre class to create my own performances in real life as well as to capture moments, much like photography but not in a still form, but in a dynamic aspect.

An upcoming event at Brent International School Baguio is the Girl's Football and Boy's Basketball ISAC (International Schools Activities Conference). I, as well as two other students, are planning to create the highlights reel for the tournament. Creating a highlights reel for the tournament will be a challenge for me as it is something I have no done in the past. In a highlights reel, I need to go through hours of footage and try to find the most important clips of the tournament in order to create an enjoyable remembrance video for the athletes that they could watch over and over again.

I have already sent a plan of what I'll be doing in order to create the video to the athletics director at Brent International School Baguio, Ryan MacKinnon,
"Good evening sir,

Just sending you an email so you know what my plan is for the ISAC highlights video and perhaps other sports videos.

Don Eblahan and Joseph Prado will be helping me out on the video.

My vision for the basketball side of the video is to have GoPro's mounted on top of the basketball backboards as well as cameras on tripods around the gym. Don and Joseph will be in charge of the basketball cinematography/photography. I'll be in charge of the football side. I'll have GoPro's mounted on the crossbars of the goals and cameras mounted on tripods around the field. 

The introduction of the video will be done using my drone. I could do flyovers over the field when we have the grand opening for ISAC. The video would start with the drone on the ground and then lifting off into the sky and going over the players.

The ending of the video will be images/videos of the finals of both the basketball and football games." (E-mail sent to Ryan MacKinnon).

It's going to be exciting and nerve-wracking to make a video that people would enjoy instead of get bored to whilst they're having fun. Hopefully I'll be able to create a successful video for the athletes to share to their friends and family.

Update: How My Photography Is Going

Recently, photography has been a hobby that I've taken upon myself. I want to capture moments in my life that I think are significant that I could share with other people. Due to that reason, I decided to make a tumblr blog where I'm able to share some of the photos that I have taken. As of now, I mainly focus on black and white photography. I don't necessarily do black and white photography in order to capture a deeper meaning; I've just found that it suits me better.

I have also invested in a proper printer so that I could print my photographs off and post it on my wall in my bedroom. I'm still planning on getting lights to go above the photos. The wall isn't completed yet but will be in due time after I've taken enough photos.

Photography is definitely a hobby that I will be continuing to do. I'd still like to learn how to do portrait photos and maybe in the future I could delve into doing some colour photos too.

Here is a link to my tumblr blog: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/charlescooperphotography

Reflection on playing sports at BISB

Playing sports at BISB has been an enormous part of my student life. I have played football since I was six years old but BISB has given me the opportunity to try out new sports such as basketball and volleyball. At first, I never had any intention of joining new sports such as basketball or volleyball because they didn't necessarily attract me. I decided to try out for volleyball in Grade 10 because I felt like I needed to do another challenge and train myself to get fitter.

Joining volleyball was definitely a decision that I don't regret. The only thing I regret was not joining volleyball earlier. Volleyball was a whole new sport to me as it wasn't a contact sport unlike football. Volleyball was able improved my communication skills and mentality when it comes to sports.

Basketball was another sport that was new to me. I tried out for the team in Grade 11 because I wanted to be a part of all three sports that year. Basketball wasn't really a sport I particularly enjoyed but I'm glad that I tried out for it anyways. I was able to reach the ISAC team but I didn't really play well. I didn't really understand basketball when it came to positioning and strategies unlike volleyball.

Overall, I'm glad I tried out for both sports. Both sports taught me how to play better with a team and it's helped me become fitter.

Photography and Cinematography + Hiking

One of my New Years' Resolutions was to start a new hobby that is creative and something I could do to keep my mind off of school. I started hiking with a few friends in December before the semester as a way to start adventuring more and become more active. I didn't want to spend my weekends at home playing video games or doing something not creative. While hiking, I realized that I'd like to document the hikes and do something creative with it. Therefore, it led me to the idea of recording our trips using a GoPro and my Sony camera in order to share to other people what we did.

We've gone on a few hikes now and using my GoPro, I've managed to record each time we've went. Bringing photography into our hikes has allowed me to learn new skills such as post-production work using Adobe Premiere Pro or Adobe Photoshop to improve the videos/photos that I take. Photography and cinematography are really interesting to learn about because I've never thought of myself as an artist. I have never been able to paint or draw well so I have always believed that I have no creative skills. Hiking has given me the opportunity to learn how to create interesting videos and photographs that I could share with others.

I am continuously trying to learn new techniques on how I could improve my work and it is something that I'm going to be continuing doing for a long time. I have also recently started using my GoPro to record some of my football matches.

Photography and cinematography is a hobby I'm definitely going to continue researching and learning about. Hopefully in the future I'd be able to share my work to a wider audience.