I was pleased with being able to construct a concept and create it onscreen and know that having a general visual outline before I shot the video gave me a sense of purpose with the camera. Scripting as much as possible is a good thing, because if I don't know what I'm doing, how can I expect my audience to know? This doesn't mean I can or should plan everything, it just means the more concrete I am with my concept and plan, the more opportunities for video 'magic' to happen.
The chaotic element of not knowing what the dog would or wouldn't do also allowed an 'in the moment' type atmosphere while I was shooting. The risk/reward of that chaos is this: since I wanted the dog to be just a part of what I was shooting, I think I could have mapped other targets of interest so that when the camera was away from the dog, the composition of the subject and the target would be just as captivating as the dog. So, I sort of allowed myself to be at the mercy of the dog, so to speak. :-)
Other than that, I feel good about the project and it made me realize that I don't tend to rely on long takes very much, as I choose to cut a lot and use shorter takes. I look forward to trying to incorporate some longer takes in my future projects - where appropriate!
I think that part of the video's strength indeed was in its intense planning, but I think that using long takes kinda necessitates that approach to shooting (unless you're really really lucky). Now that your videos can incorporate montage, I think you can start shooting off the cuff a bit more and then shape the material in post. But of course, if you have a plan before shooting, that always helps too.
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