Partners

Skillset|:

"Skillset is the Sector Skills Council (SSC) for Creative Media which comprises TV, film, radio, interactive media, animation, computer games, facilities, photo imaging and publishing.

Our aim is to support the improvements to the productivity of our industry to ensure that it remains globally competitive. We do this by influencing and leading; developing skills, training and education policy; and through opening up the industries to the UK's pool of diverse talent.
We conduct consultation work with industry, publish research and strategic documents, run funding schemes and project work, and provide information about the challenges that face the industry and what we need to do to overcome them."

Skillset supplied our promo with it's budget on terms that it would also be used to promote The Creative and Media Diploma's film producing talents.

Out of College Planning

Working out of college time can often prove majorly important. On our project prior where we made webisodes following forms and conventions found in others, we needed to converse about it as much as possible in order to work at an optimum level. It was email correspondences like the ones we had that helped us all move forward quickly with our promo by involving Simon as well. Unfortunately I don't possess the emails sent to and from but they bared a similar  formal and orderly structure, allowing diplomacy and equality in the discussions. We all traded ideas in spare time to have them nailed for the little bursts we'd have filming and editing.

Facebook was our hub for the conversations as we could easily post an email to multiple friends at once without their individual addresses. Whenever we replied a notification was sent to tell us.

Referring to this Experience

In the future, when I'll be doing work for other clients (in or out of college) I think I'll always look back at this whole task as a reference to how I should work. It's the first time most of us have worked to a brief that absolutely couldn't be altered by us. Unlike previous projects that we've done, we've always been able to squeeze something un-asked for into the product, this time round we came up with a proposal and it was locked - after that there was absolutely no changes unless required by the client (Simon Bates).

The points I'll always remember are:
- Stick to the brief
- Don't do anything unorthodox unless planned and practiced prior
- Don't submit unfinished work or ideas that you know still require adjustments - to somebody with less of an eye for film making, they may not notice and ask for more of what you've submitted (which may be technically/aesthetically flawed, therefor noticed by industry professionals)
- Rough cut always first
- Feedback MUST be taken into account and used
- The final cut MUST meet all expectations, and preferably surpass them (if you have the time to polish).

Health and Safety During Filming

At the Junction the other week, some of the first things that we had to o over were health and safety rules - if anything went wrong without them being discussed, The Junction and/or Long Road could be held responsible. Beneath are the points mentioned:

- Using the cherry picker was strictly a no no. The reasons were simple - falling dangers, setup issues at a gig and booking times when technicians didn't need it.

- Ear plugs were asked to be used a lot too - they stop loud, penetrating noises from damaging the ears, which could therefor be blamed on The Junction. Although, using the ear plugs DID increase our enjoyment of the experience as they removed all the fuzz and distortion from listening to loud noises.

- As well as a similar effect to the ear plugs, the head phones proved useful to monitor the camera volume levels (especially when filming by the stage). This wasn't a health and safety recommendation/rule but it was definitely preferable when it came down to concentrating on camera stats.

- They recommended a break for 5 minutes every hour in order to keep focused and unwind as we'd be on our feet a lot - this seemed pretty unnecessary but did prove useful for when we wanted to interview people in or outside.

- Filming on stage was sometimes a little dangerous due to the drops as well as the lack of space - we'd need to make sure we didn't step back at the wrong time as that could prove dangerous.

- Signing model release forms was unnecessary as in fine-type on the tickets to The Fiver, it said that upon buying the ticket they give permission to be filmed and publicized.

There are a few others that we'd need to worry about when NOT filming too.

- Not staring at the screen too long during editing, sourcing material, typing, atc.
- Being careful with electronic equipment like video cameras, still cameras, laptops, etc.
- No food or drink for reasons above as well as slip hazards.
- 15 minute break every hour to rest the eyes and relax from the work.

And many more trivial issues...

Looking Back: Organisation

Simon was clearly experienced in organizing large scale operations - this came across when he was planning our shifts for filming and meetings. He was on the ball the whole time which was very useful. What was also handy was his willingness to change plans or reschedule, quite a lenient guy.

When we were actually filming he gave us good details on health and safety as well as details on good spots to film and when. He even gave us backstage access to interview bands and staff before, during and after the performances, giving us fantastic input for both our blogs and promos that really paid off.

Hopefully in the future our clients are just as organized and "happy-go-lucky" (in some sense). Simon really did give us the ability to max out our promo with great footage both in our rough cut and final cut. His enthusiasm in our plans that we presented was very optimistic and boosted our team morale a lot, making us all perform a lot more effectively rather than when we're subdued by a "spanner in the works" or countless amounts of paper work.

Looking Back: Equipment

It's been great having our own equipment throughout the project. It's helpful as we hav'nt needed to purchase it through our budget given to us by Simon - well done CRaM! If we needed to buy all of our equiptment we wouldnt have been able to reserve time at The Junction or the Fiver or at Bournemouth. Our equipment has definitely helped us out a lot too, especially with audio recording - if we were using the in-built mics on the cameras, our trailers would sound awful and tinny. Using a boom mic with a muffler in a gig helps remove feedback and distortion which adds to a proffesional feel in our promo.

Having lenses attached to our camera is nice too - they have glare reducers too which stops sudden over-exposure from using auto-exposure (not that I let anybody use that setting). The added lenses allowed great wide angle shots that took in loads of the audience, making them look really packed when zoomed in - this added a lot to the energy.

Tripods came in handy very often. We used them a lot to keep steady shots of the band throughout setup and performance, allowing yet again  proffesional edge alonside handheld action and speed. This combination of hand held and steady shots really looks nice when used correctly e.g. using handhed when wading through the audience for chaotic footage and using steady when by the stage to capture smoothly the musicians actions.

Criteria 5

LO5: relating your work to historical and contemporary practice (10 marks): discuss similarities and differences between what you find and your work. This will involve looking for similar kinds of project- such as short documentaries about arts providers and education, promo videos for local events. 
According to Simon Bates (our client), the technique we've borrowed from the Navy advert (above posts) is often reffered to as "audio compression" often used in jazz/funk music where the speed of the drumming and overall tempo increaes as well as it's volume, creating a dramatic effect of energy and power - this was what enticed him to go ahead and give us the green light (he's a big fan of jazz, samba and funk music... Luckily). I also think the energy of that advert interested him to. The voice used in it is very powerful and could easily bring across youth energy and attitude - a cool way of enticing our target demographic of male and female, teenage, music lovers. Other projects I looked at for inspiration where often music documentary trailers/teasers:

Bloody Beetroots - CORNELIUS


&

PART OF THE WEEKEND NEVER DIES

Both of these clips had the exact feel we all wanted to evoke in our audience - a sense of nostalgia and relationship, making the audience remember how it feels to be in such a high octane environment, presumably like The Junction Fiver event.

Criteria 4

LO4: Fulfilling intentions (15 marks): this includes your plans, drafts, experiments and records thereof; modifications as needed

We've had many plans for this project, almost all have been completed just as visualized. Some, however have not met our expectations due to lack of particular software or software skills e.g. not knowing how to edit/splice on After Effects. We did'nt make any experiments as at the time we were also working on a separate syllabus, meaning we could'nt have spare time to work on promo stuff. Most of our experimentation happened when we actually started making the project rough cut - as we went along with the intro, we each had individual input and made varying versions which we all agreed eventually agreed upon. Sometimes we wouldnt have time to experiment in sections as we needed to chug through other sections and just get them finished - spare time was unavailable towards the deadline.

Criteria 3

LO3: Efficient work within constraints (10 marks): this includes financial, legal, health and safety, practical. You need evidence of all relevant material

We paid full attention to Simon's health and safety criteria. What he said was expected - mainly just avoiding electrical equiptment and fire hazards when on or near the stage, not to use the Junction's cherry picker, to take breaks every hour and to wear headphones to avoid damage to our ears. I was'nt there to film the Fiver but my friends all told me that they followed these rules. The other, more minor rules where just simply not to look at the computer screen for too long while editing and not to drop heavy tripods/lighting due to falling hazards, etc, etc.
Our budget is a few posts above, it was pretty big for the project giving us little onstraints considering all the tripod and camera erquiptment we already had. Initially we were going to be staying overnight at bournemouth. In the end we didnt but that allowed us more money to spend on production which is actually really helpful as we'll end up with an extra polished product.

Criteria 2

LO2: Work in partnership (15 marks): the evidence you have gathered so far of all the meetings, the plans, the progress of them. This must include your initial proposal for Simon.

We collected a lot of evidence together as we went a long, each individually finding out forms and conventions we'd all like to utilize. We took all of these things and convered about which apects we found effective or ineffective for the themes we'd eventually be using and assembled them into various storyboards and timelines to show off our plans for our promo - what we agreed on is shown above (Navy advert reference) but we still had many other versions we wanted to go for... This was the only one Simon gave us the full green light for rather than just an "amber". We definitely had a target to make a proposal that he'd be 100% percent up for and willing to fund. The awkward aspects of collecting evidence was the limitations of the internet where a video may not have been on Youtube or Vimeo, or we could'nt find any other online example other than a physical DVD/VHS that would be tough to show exactly what we meant. We also had trouble with being inspired WHILE making the promo, swaying us into liking other conventions that conflicted wwith what we already had - for example, when we'd already finished the Navy referring intro, we began having thoughts of elongating the clips and having them in time with a drum beat rather than speeding up./ This was a tough decision for us to make but we realised the initial idea was the easiest, fastes and best looking of the two.

Criteria

LO1: Background Research (10 marks): Identification of a range of partners

Who could you work with locally and what could you produce? Make a list of possibilities. You might consider arts organisations, charities, public bodies. What could you do for them?

Recently, we tried working with the Cambridge Arts Picturehouse (our local arts cinema) by working with them through the 2009 film festival - we advertised them via flyering and handing out brochures. We also helped out with the technical things including the website updates and interview recordings. We even did a few podcasts and editing jobs. HOWEVER, the Picturehouse manager Bill Thompson decided it was too tough to keep us all working at the same time as, really, when we were there the place was probably overstaffed, with more people there than what was needed.

Later on however, Simon Bates from the Junction (Cambridge's number 1 hub for youth-aimed gigs and performance). We'd met him prior to the Picturehouse work, where he was very interested in our course and what we do, hoping we could team up. When he did eventually get in touch we began going to meetings at the Junction, talking about shooting music videos there (documented here).

After shooting the music videos we then moved on to a project aimed at publicising the Junction "Fiver", an even that allows kids to get their band a high level of recognition allowing them to perform live to an audience. They're sourced off myspace or apply via email and the next thing they know they have a huge fanbase - it's a great way of bringing kids in and giving them something different to do...

Simon started us off with a few meetings discussing a promotional video to advertise the fiver even more. We were divided into groups, actually making the promo, making the making of the promo and an interview team. So far we've done our rough cuts and it's looking good - ours takes on the styles and conventions of a royal marines advert:

hopefully our final promos will be a major step up, really dragging in youtube hits and giving the fiver a bigger audience. I'd be very proud if we succeed, as this is our first proper proffesional brief.

Final Edit - 12:00, Wednesday

The final cut will be completed by 12:00 on Wednesday. It is only to be edited by students who attend Bournemouth which may be tough for us as only Alex can make it. I am unnavailable, as is James. I'll make sure me and the rest of the group all converse together online to nail exactly what needs to be changed, this way when Alex goes, he'll have a list of objectives he needs to fulfill editing wise - hopefully he'll be able to complete all of them well. I know he is a good editor with an artful eye and attention to detail. It may even turn out a lot better this way as we wont all be squabbling over where to put clips and audio - sometimes 2 heads is'nt better than 1.

Action Plan

Sourced from Jame's blog - http://jamesinteractionblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/action-plan.html

"What we intend to do now is write down a storyboard of shots that we can include and try and think of a way to stretch the videos length somehow. we realised that if we did it the same way as the navy advert, it would pretty much be the same length. i'm going to the junction soon to film the fiver night. i'll make sure to get all the nessesary shots for our video. i won't be the only one filming so they'll be plenty to go through in the editing room."

I agree with Jame's plans, I think we definitely need to storyboard what we need to change - it'll be very quick and easy to do this with our new and rich feedback from both Simon, Bournemouth and other groups in the class. It'll help a lot collecting extra footage too now we have a broader brief - we'll be able to target certain aspects more precisely (like not filming extra setup shots and capturing more shots of band warm-ups and rehearsals). I'm looking forward to any possible changes we can make to our film to neaten it up completely - right now, metaphorically, I'd describe our promo as The Mona Lisa before it'd been coloured in - when we get this finished our project'll no longer be a rough sketch.

Analysis of Overall Feedback

I'd say the collective messages we've got from all our feedback was for us to change our audio by making the narration louder and credits music quieter in order to even out the aural experience throughout the film, therefor not distressing the audience with unequal levels of volume. Rhythm was talked about a lot too, regarding both audio and visual aspects - they all said that our footage wasnt as powerful as the audio was created an experience that is constantly on it's way up but never peaking. Footage usage was an issue too - we needed to use the correct footage to illustrate the processes of getting into the fiver, instead it came across more as a film advertising jobs in stage coordination.

I think overall we can meet all of these goals extremely easily. Now we know exactly what Simon is after and what Bournemouth has advised, we can definitely create a nicely finished product with both intellectual value and wow-factor.

Bournemouth Feedback

I was unable to attend the Bournemouth trip as I was occupied in London. However he did give me information and intel regarding their feedback.

(This is sourced from the blog of my group parner, Alex - http://ineractionalexander.blogspot.com/)

Today we travelled down to Bournemouth to discuss our promotional videos/documentaries with some post graduate editing students. James and Hayden didn't attend the trip so I was able to talk to my advisor alone and was able to get a very detailed account of what needed to be changed in our video.

Alex's views are sound to me. I understand how he feels - it can be really tough when you need to get something nailed in a group with people that have conflicting ideas. In our previous projects this has been a major issue - we found ourselves all talking over each-other and really stressed out, often leading to arguments.

The main points he made about our video are that the voice-over was too quiet meaning that the effect it made had less impact. This affected the overall atmosphere of the video and needs to be fixed so that the narration can have the impact we wanted it to.

I agree - we can change this easily, I noticed this early on but we didn't have time to edit it. It's great Bournemouth gave s the time to complete it to a nice level. It was often disorientating trying to decipher the speech from the vocals during the voiceover. 

He also stated that the sound levels in our video differ. The voiceover was relatively quiet, especially in relation to the music we used for the 'How to Apply' section of our video, which was much louder and possibly distressing to our audience.

This is true too - it seemed very "studenty" without the Bournemouth polish.

The last twenty seconds of the video is all about applying, and subsequently doesn't have any footage of live bands. Since this is the end of the video the audience might realise there is no more 'exciting' footage and get bored of the video, turning it off and forgetting about it.


The first fifteen seconds has the same problem. It may put people off at is gives across the appearance of a promotional video for a job as a lighting/tech expert etc. We have to rearrange the footage so the intro keeps the attention of the potential market.


Some of the soundcheck footage looks live, so we may have to rearrange the clips if more people think this.


We placed text over a background of text. This is a big problem as the audience gets confused about which layer to look at and it draws attention away from the important text on the screen. We will need to move the text or get rid of it completely.


He also mentioned that we should make sure that the email address we used in the video should be a fake email so as to not allow people to misuse it.
I agree with all of this feedback, even though it was a shock to come back to and I have yet to see the new product, the points raised are all fair and professional - we were rushing a lot towards the completion of our rough cut which took away a lot of time that we could have invested in aesthetic and audio/visual properties such as the sound cutting and synching, especially the instyructions section's music.

General Feedback

Don't use the junction/fiver.myspace address, it is no longer live!
All promos need to use our logo and NOT stetch it in any way.
Please use Helvetica as the font with no additional formating (ie bold, shadow etc)
The following logos MUST appear in the promo: The Junctions, The Arts Council, CRaM, Long Road, CRC, Parkside Federation, QB Learning Outside the Classroom, Skillset
All promos should include some advice on getting noticed, for example 'good photos' of them gigging, consider testomonials, 'action' photos

Our Personal Feedback

Live footage of The Fiver
What the requirements are for getting in
What you get if your band is accepted
How to apply
It must look contemporary

Appealing to the 14 – 17 age group
Supply all the relevant information

Well edited, exciting imagary
Doesn't show that there needs to be some experience first
Sets out idea that you work with technician but comes across more as a process than a learning experience
Provides info
Contemporary feel, using references to adverts and films
Great build up and speed, like the drop to slower temp. Build this up more if you can
yes- appropriate for age group

Budget:

Skillset Budget for the project, as bid for by Simon:


Travel £ 1000 Hire coach
Accommodation £20 per head for o/night at bournemouth, based on staying in a hostel £400
Food £20 per head £400
Uni fees £500 pay for student mentors from Bournemouth
Samba tuition £260
Total £2560

equipment costs at LR/Coleridge Nothing

Actual costs likely to come in lower.

Plans

Three groups will produce three cuts of the promo, the rough versions of which will be on Vimeo by 12.00 on Wednesday 10th Feb. The promo should be between 2 and 3 minutes in length. The documentary group will produce a rough cut of between 5-6 minutes by the same deadline.

Following feedback and advice from the Bournemouth mentors, a revised final promo will be produced as will a revised final documentary. the audience for the promo is local bands and it's aim is getting them to appear at the Fiver.

Footage will be shot by the documentary group at Bournemouth which will be used for the end part of the documentary. The group should be careful to log what is shot so that it does not take too long to edit!

The revised videos will be completed on Wed 24 February by editors selected from the class as a whole.