(MP3002) individual Project Log 20 30/12/08

I have an update on the location shoot at Stanton Drew. After the events of the last few weeks and some careful consideration I have decided upon a two camera shoot for stanton drew. There are three stone circles at the site and I have decided to use the smallest of these, the south west circle for the ceremony. This will give me more control and enable me to capture more of the action. As you can see from the map if you zoom in a little it is enclosed by hedgerow, which will give us more privacy.


View Larger Map

I have enlisted the help of freelance camera man Exley Que. He has agreed to operate the second camera and function as a consultant for the shoot. He has his many years experience and owns his own equipment, A Z1 and a Manfrotto tripod. I had hoped to get Sacha Aitkinson, a professional sound man involved in the project but unfortunately he's out of the country at the moment. I need to research the sound set up as I'm still unsure which route to go down with it. I need to get it right.



Brian will choreograph the event, which will feature him, his apprentice Nick, his wife Mary and possible two or three more. That is still undecided but there is a possibility that Nick's wife Linda may be in the ceremony. Brian and his friends tell me Stanton Drew has dark energy which needs to be cleared before they can have ceremony at the circle. I'm not sure what dark energy is but its a question I will pose to them when we reach the location. As far as the sound setup goes there are a few questions i need answers for. How many people will take part? Who speaks? Do they chant/sing? Do they dance? How will they be positioned in relation to each other? I spoke with someone who suggested a possible set up of a lapel mic for brian and a boom for the other participants but i will need to investigate it further.

(MP3002) individual Project Log 19 29/12/08

I spent some time going through the rushes and reflecting on the project so far. I have been shooting for a month now and I'm still not getting it right! I may be being a little hard on myself and it feels like really hard work but i guess thats because it is. I have had lots of challenges so far, from my own indecision on the form the film should take to locations falling through, illness and technical problems with both equipment and technique. I guess a steep learning curve is to be expected as I have had no training of such in how to make a documentary. I have learnt things that sound like common sense when you think about it but when your shooting you don't realize, for example making sure I'm stood next to the camera man when I ask a question so that the contributor looks toward the camera when he replies and testing all the equipment before I leave for the shoot. These things although small or mundane can make all the difference. Had I have done these things yesterday maybe more of the footage would be usable! In an effort to eradicate these kind of mistakes i decided that i needed to get to know the equipment I'm using better. I downloaded manuals for the Z1 and the Sennheiser Evolution Wireless Mic, which had caused me problems yesterday. I quickly discovered the problem with the lapel mic, the frequency or the transmitter was different to that on the receiver! I'm not sure how that happened as Danny set it up for me when I hired it, perhaps it just drifted out over time. Anyhow I calibrated the devices to the same frequency and tested them. They work fine now. As for the boom mic I have decided only to use this in situations where my subjects will be some distance from the camera because I have found it inhibits spontaneity as far as filming is concerned. Also using a shotgun mic attached to the Z1 spatially, gives the audio a natural sound. It seems that not only have we become more comfortable with Brian and his friends but they have also become more comfortable with us. I have noticed Brian becoming more open as the weeks pass. He shows off in front of his friends at times and when i ask him certain questions he can look quite vulnerable and sad.My feeling is without the boom mic, which is cumbersome and quite intrusive that he will open up more and more as time goes on. the rushes from yesterday arent as bad as i first thought. There is some footage that is unusable but a lot can actually be saved with some clever manipulation of audio and a three way colour corrector.

(MP3002) individual Project Log 18 29/12/08 - Shoot Journal

I thought I was well organized for todays shoot. I had budgets, shot plans and even maps of locations!


View Larger Map

But today has just been one thing after another!! I arrived late for the shoot due to circumstances beyond my control. When I got there I realized I'd left the bracket for the boom mic at home. We improvised with electric tape which, as i found out later was a mistake! Most of the sound from the boom wasn't usable due to sound conduction from the pole. In hindsight I ought to have attached it to the camera instead. To make matters worse there was intermittent crackle on the clip mic that I didn't know how to sort out. I changed batteries and moved its position but to no avail. I came to the conclusion that it must be a frequency band issue but i didn't know what to do to remedy that.



Those were the issues with the sound, now on to the video! Paul had been complaining of bad light all day and that he was having to use a lot of gain. In the pub at the end of the day I was looking back through the footage when I discovered that the LCD backlight was set to low thus causing the viewfinder to appear dark. Its so disappointing. We worked so hard all day in the freezing cold and maybe only a few minutes of what we shot is usable, maybe not even that! This is a set back I certainly can't afford both in a financial sense and from a time scale point of view. Below is the budget for todays shoot.



On the positive side though we got to meet Brian's apprentice Nick who has agreed to contribute along with Mary Brian's wife to the film. I have signed contributer forms from them. Also we have learnt more about the camera including how to assign the white balance gain to one of the shortcuts making it easy to adjust white balance on the fly. Paul and I will return to glastonbury on wednesday to film Brian doing some normal stuff like shopping and visiting friends. I think this may help show the juxtaposition of his two personas. Brain Conquer, Arch Druid and Del-Boy, Husband and Local Chappie!

(MP3002) individal project - sunset/sunrise calculator

Iv'e found a really handy website where you can caluclate the amount of sunlight at any given location. Handy if like me your planning to shoot on location. Click here to try it out
If like me though you are lucky enough to be the owner of an iphone then there are several solar calculators available. I have tested two of these apps, sunrise and darkness. Both work well and can be obtained from the app store via your iPhone.

(MP3002) Individual Project - Photo Bucket

Having read Mike J's post on the merits of photo bucket I've been inspired to try my hand at creating some slide shows from still images taken on the shoot for beyond the weird. Have a look.

you can create your own slide shows here

(MP3002) individual Project Log 18 23/12/08 - Shoot Journal

Filming went well today! I think both myself and Paul are learning very quickly. Last weeks shoot provided us with many lessons to learn and many questions to ask! This week we were much better organized and I felt we communicated really well. We have began to get over our initial trepidation around working with Brian, he was more than happy to pause whilst we framed a shot or changed angles - and boy can he talk! I had with me all the notes from the previous weeks filming and was able to pick up things that I'd either missed or needed to shoot again like wild track and noddy shots. Also in the notebook were plans for this weeks shoot, which i'd planned for winter solstice. Unfortunately due to illness the schedule has been pushed back by three weeks and the solstice ritual will be mocked up and not on the 21st as i'd hoped previously. This week we went to Compton Dundon on an expedition to collect material to make esoteric tools for the solstice ritual.


This week we made a change to the set up. Instead of using the boom mic we went for a clip mic on Brian and a shotgun mic on the front of the Z1. This allowed me to be in the film and direct Paul as to what shots and angles i required. It worked really well especially in the car where the engine noise was so loud.


Even though the shot gun mic volume had peaked the clip mic due to its proximity to brian, captured sound perfectly. We wrapped up the shoot with a drink in the local pub, a beautiful 17th century inn.


Whilst we were there I asked Paul to take some exterior shots because we could cut them together with the skittles scene i'd shot the week before. This way of working i think, is the advantage of a film maker who is editing as well as filming as he can shoot to edit. I recently had a 121 with Nic Jeune, who suggested I could include myself in the documentary as an interviewer and participant. I have been wrestling with this idea for a couple of weeks now as part of me can see the benefit of it. Having me in the documentary would certainly fill up time. But then, i'm not making this documentary to fill up time. I'm making this film to tell a story and after watching the rushes back with my brother who came home over xmas i have decided to keep my onscreen involvement down to a minimum. Most of my presents in the film will come from off screen. I will ask questions off camera. I wont be onscreen as an interviewer. This decision will mean I need to go back and re-shoot some stuff and spend much more time filming Brian. It will also free me up to operate the boom mic. I need to get under his skin and into his life! I am planning to spend the first two weeks of January following him around. I have also been planning the mock ceremony of which brian has enlisted the help of his druidic apprentice. Add him and Brian's wife Mary to the project and I now have a possible two more characters! That reminds me, I must print out two more contributer forms for them... I will post plans for the solstice ceremony as they develop.

(MP3002) individual Project Log 18 21/12/08 - Shoot Journal

After being ill and receiving word that Brian would be out of town for a few days on "druid business" I felt pretty frustrated. I decided to view some of the rushes from last weeks shoot. I took notes and as I watched it became obvious to me that I would need to get more cutaways and some wild track for the sound. So with that in mind i'm off to stanton drew to do some filming and I feel slightly better knowing that i'm being pro-active, not wasting time!

(MP3001) enterprise project log 21/12/08 - midsummer nights dream

I Have been trying to get hold of Phil Purves for the last week to discuss the project but I couldn't get contact details for him.
In frustration I logged on to the bathspa portal to see if I could get in touch with him and found that I had several emails from him regarding the project. I'd set up webmail so that it forwarded all mail to my apple mail but it appears that this hasn't been working. I sent Phil this email earlier today to try and arrange a meeting.

Dear Phil

I apologize for the delay in making contact with you.I have taken a lead role on the EGG project and I have some rough edits for you to view. I understand that you may be available on tuesdays or thursdays and I was hoping to meet with Kate and yourself on one of these days to discuss the project. I would like to propose a meeting on thursday 8th Jan at 1pm. Please could you let me know if this date is not appropriate and we can re-arrange. Kirsty and I look forward to meeting with you. I hope you have a merry Xmas and a happy new year.

Yours sincerely,

Mike Huck

I will wait for his reply before continuing with the project. It just occured to me that I could upload rough edits to youtube for Phil Purves and Kate Cross to view but I will need to check it out with Nic first.

(MP3004) creative Writing Log 17/12/08

I was pretty fed up about having to cancel the shoot today but i'm determined to do something useful whilst i'm off sick so I got on the phone and spoke to the members of my group. As a group we decided to each chose a script that we like then decide on one from those. Kirsty has chosen Kat Davis's Script and I know Lloyd has a script he'd like to produce. Im not sure about Adam. I've been going through the scripts that I received and have chosen one which I like. Its by Mark Errett and its called 'Suicidal Tendencies'. When Chris finds a book about the best places to commit suicide in his friends car, his life changes forever. This is a story of angst, comedy, obsession and suicide. From a writers point of view this script has all the ingredients of a great story. It has conflict, drama, resolution and character arcs. From a Production point of view this script is challenging. It has many locations including sea side resorts, airports, taxis and san Francisco! I believe this script is doable but would stretch our talents as producers. I think it will make a great radio play.

(MP3002) individual Project Log 17 017/11/08 - Shoot Journal

Ive come down with Gastric Flu and had to cancel todays shoot. Its so frustrating but I guess it cant be helped.

(MP3004) Creative Writing Log 16/12/08

Time is starting to tick by and I was starting to worry that no one was going to send in their scripts to us. After receiving this email from Steve May I thought that an update on the Facebook group may speed things up

Kirsty, Adam, Mike and Lloyd
I have now made contact with Paul Dodgson, radio drama mentor, and he is happy to work with you at the beginning of January. I have yet to fix exact dates and times, but I will try for 6th January 10-1 for first session, then a later session for editing. I'll reserve 8th 9th and 15th Jan as fall back dates for recording.
Please let me know if you have difficulties with this.
Steve

I sent out an email to members of the group asking them to email their scripts to us by the 8th of january and so far three people have sent me a script today, thats three more than before!

(MP3002) Individual Project Log 15 07/11/08 - Shoot Journal

On thursday afternoon after rushing around picking up the extra kit we needed Paul and I set out to Brian's house, which was the location for the days shoot. We arrived a little after two and before we got out of the car we went through the shot plans in my journal and primed the equipment ready to record as soon as we left the vehicle. Quite early on in the shoot I realized how difficult it was for the two of us to operate the boom, camera and present at the same time. It would have been impossible for me alone to operate all the equipment and I think on the next shoot day we wont use the boom mike. We will just use the shot gun mic and the lapel mike. I felt quite stressed out about the shoot and didn't give Paul the opportunity to set up properly - i felt I may miss some nugget of entertainment if we stopped rolling! I was also worried that Brian may get bored or annoyed but it seemed that he was more than happy to talk! This led to problems firstly because it led to Paul feeling as though he wasn't doing good work and secondly it was leaving him feeling as stressed as me. As a result we came away with footage some of which was out of focus, some under exposed and some where the white balance hadn't been set correctly. That being said there was some good footage and we will get the opportunity to re shoot what we missed. Its been a learning experience. Its important we take the time to set up properly otherwise the footage may be unusable, its also important that I take my time and get everything i need regardless of pressure from contributers because I may not get a second chance to shoot in certain locations.

(MP3002) individual project Video Diary Log 07/12/08

here is a video of me updating the group on what I plan to do for my individual project.

(MP3001) enterprise project - group meeting 07/12/08

what a mad morning! I woke up late and couldn't find my keys...I ended up being late for my presentation! Luckily enough they hadn't started when I arrived so I quickly set up the Z7 to record our presentations. We took it in turns to explain our projects to the group after which we then discussed the group projects. I gave an update on progress for the egg project. I have yet to arrange a meeting with Phil Pervis and need to liaise with Kirsty to find out when she is available to accompany me on the appointment. I also spoke to the group about the editing required for the project, of which there is still much left to do. I need to go through it and divide it up amongst the group members who wish to be involved. Kat Davis also updated us on the video project for the science department and gave us a rough outline for a schedule. She's asked me to act as a second camera man, and - there's money involved too! so I will get paid for filming! Happy days, money in the bank and something for the C.V!!

(MP3002) individual Project Log 14 04/11/08

Arggh nightmare! I spent last night cleaning the Z1 and priming DV tapes, then this morning I get a text from brian saying that he was i'll with a chest infection and wouldn't be able to film today. Its really frustrating! I will call him monday hopfully he'll be better by then and we can carry on filming.

(MP3004) Creative Writing Log 03/12/08

even though I'm not writing a script i thought it would still be useful to have a tutorial with Rachel Bentham. My concern at the moment is how and when us techies will produce this radio play. We have decided to choose the best of the bunch, the most interesting to produce and turn into a play. The difficulty is being able to communicate our plans as there are no more lessons until the new year. I came up with the idea of starting a face-book group. You can access it here.

(MP3001) Enterprise Project - Group meeting 01/12/08

There seems to be a flu epidemic about at the moment - there were only five of us in today! everyone else was off sick. We sat down to coffee and cake and began to discuss the weekly agenda.
Projects Group and Individual partic Egg
Web and Blogs
D&AD awards
Filming dates
AOB
We talked about the egg project, Kat, Jonna and Dan offered to help edit and Nic gave me the contact details to arrange a meeting with Phil Pervis from Bath Theatre. We went on to discuss other group and individual projects before moving on to a final cut workshop with Ollie. And excitingly the holding page for our website is online, check it out here

(MP3001) Enterprise Project - Group meeting 24th November

Every week we meet up to discuss various topics for the coming week at artswork media

(MP3001) Enterprise Project - group meeting 24th November

Every week we meet up to discuss various topics for the coming week at artswork media

(MP3001) Enterprise Project - group project log 28/11/08

Following mondays group meeting I was asked to take a lead roll on the midsummer nights dream project and liaise with other group members in order to complete the job. I have decided that I will split editing of the second tape between Lloyd and Kirsty and that I as project co-ordinator will be responsible for bringing the rough edit together, colour correcting and grading the film. I will also be the first point of contact for the clients, Phil Pervis and the Egg. I have drawn up a brief list of the items to next weeks meeting...

midsummer nights dream 2nd tape remaining...

lloyd or Kirsty

rough cut by xmas...

kirsty and mike to meet with phil pervis

(MP3002) Individual Project Log 13- Feedback 27/11/08

Email from Nic Jeune

Had a look at your file and a lot of good things there.

Thoughts
If a bit Louis Theroux and as I think you are good on camera are you planning to film you as in on drives down to Glastonbury and or maybe an introductory bit about being brought up round there. Also had a quick look at Bath Spa site but other Unis may be better, there is a pagan scholar there in The School of History and Cultural Studies religions section a Dr Paul Reid Bowen and it might be fun to get the academic take on Druids.

Best

Nic

(MP3002) individual Project Log 12- Location Reccy 27/11/08

I’ve had some problems recently in obtaining permission to film at certain locations around Glastonbury and I must admit this has left feeling really angry at the powers that be in the town. I mean why is it that I’m having so much bloody difficulty in finding locations to film at! To this end I decided to look further afield for places to film. I did some research on the internet in to pagan sites in the south west and discovered a stone circle only 10 miles away from Newton park in a village called Stanton drew!

The Great Circle, a henge monument is the second largest stone circle in Britain (after Avebury). The stone circle is 113 m in diameter and probably consisted of 30 stones, of which 27 survive today.

On Wednesday afternoon armed with my trusty Tomtom Elana and I set out on a Reccie to see if Stanton Drew would be suitable as a location. On arriving in the village we decided to park a little distance from the monument and walk so we might get a feel for the place. It paid off because we stumbled upon a pub called the Druid Arms! Unfortunately though it was shut so we couldn’t go in…

The stone circle was tucked away behind a housing estate and felt barren and bleak. There were bare tree’s that appeared to have been hit by lightening and many of the stones were on their sides or completely eroded. There were sheep grazing in the field one of which was using a stone as a shelter from the wind! I think Stanton Drew has potential and would make a good location for my film even if just for some cutaways and artistic shots.

information on stanton drew at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanton_Drew

(MP3002) individual Project Log 11- Revised Treatment 21/11/08

Beyond the weird is an affectionate human interest film based on the life of arch druid Brian Conquer and how we can often perceive things as weird or strange simply because we don’t understand them. This film will deal with the stereotypes society labels people like Brian with and get beyond the weird to show ordinary people living extraordinary lives.
The film follows Brian a Glastonbury resident in his daily life and documents the juxtaposition of his two lives that of a druid, and that of a husband and pensioner. We will see him shopping, drinking in the pub talking with friends about his beliefs, in his workshop fashioning esoteric tools and see him performing druidic rituals at the winter solstice.
The demographic for this film are 25-55 year olds who watch programs like Body shock, Louis Theroux and other observational documentaries. It targets channels like BBC2, Channel 4, Sky 3 and Discovery. It would also have appeal as an educational program on the subjects of psychology, Sociology and Religion. It would also have a broad appeal to the southwest, people who live in and around the Glastonbury area.

(MP3001) Enterprise Project - group project log 14/11/08 - midsummer nights dream

I decided to spend the day editing midsummer nights dream as I felt with my individual project and creative writing I had been neglecting it a bit. I must confess that having watched it over and over again I was becoming a little bored and tried to combat this by taking regular breaks! I continued with the approach i'd adopted previously to cut to the angle which had the best shot composition. This is in keeping with the style of the play. I discovered some reaction shots of the crowd laughing so i cut them in at various points. I now have a rough cut from the first set of tapes. The next point of call is to bring the other tapes into the project and begin to form them into a rough cut.

(MP3004) Creative Writing Log 17/11/08 - Producer Survey

It wasn't possible to find two plays produced by the same person.I Chose two plays from radio 4 that were based around musicians. That though was the only real similarity as these plays were quite different. I believe that part of the reason that the production techniques vary between the two so greatly is down to the fact that they are different genres. "Quartet" is a comedy whilst the "Singer" is a drama and a love story. Different approaches have been taken to produce the best work possible, and they are both great plays.I have endeavored to pick out the parallels where i can find them in this producer survey.

Quartet TX Thursday 21st November

By Donna Franceschild A musician loses everything and accidentally gains a jazz quartet.

Robbie ...... Gerry Mulgrew
Stuart ...... Callum Cuthbertson
Iain ...... Stephen McCole
Delilah ...... Katy Murphy

Piano by Eoin Millar; director Kirsty Williams.

There is no monologue in the introduction for this play and it begins with the two main characters. The scene is quite lengthly, I believe this was to enable the writer to set up the characters properly as there were 4 in total in this play. As a listener the initial length of the first scene led me to think that I would need to really listen and that this play would be a slower pace than "the singer", which had more and shorter scenes. The play was set in the lounge of main characters house. The producer used lot's of mic positioning techniques to give the illusion that the characters were moving around the room. Similar to "the singer", "quartet" used ambient weather sound effects which I felt helped to give the scene a lonely oppressive feel which mirrored the main character's mood. As with "the singer" music was used to great effect in the quartet only rather than being used to break up scenes it was used for comedy effect by the actors themselves( comedy drum roll etc...). All the music is diagetic in the play. The script for "quartet" is fantastic and it is this rather than the production( which is rather simple) that carries this play and as with "the Singer" in "the Quartet" Robbie's character arc is central to the story. His journey from his isolation and loneliness to happiness.

The Singer TX Tuesday 18th November

By Lizzie Nunnery

Frustrated musician Martin is infatuated by the sound of Kirsten singing from the flat downstairs and embarks on an affair with the singer and her voice that threatens everything he has.

Martin ...... Mark Womack
Claire ...... Emma Cunniffe
Kirsten ...... Liz Carter

All songs written by Lizzie Nunnery. Music performed by Lizzie Nunnery with Vidar Norheim.

Director Pauline Harris.

The play begins with a monologue from the main character although this is fairly short and characteristic of most of the scenes in this play, which are sharp, snappy and short. The play has several different locations including a flat, college corridor, cafe and train station. The producer has made clever use of mic positioning and eq'ing, rolling off the high frequencies to give the impression of music drifting up from the flat below. The music in this play is both diagetic and non diagetic. It is used to break up scenes and is also used in the scenes played by the characters themselves. There is on scene in which the music used to separate a scene then appears to come out of a radio in the next one. There are three characters in this play but only two appear at any one time, that coupled with the length of the scenes keeps things interesting and easy to follow. The singer also uses interesting ambient effects and like in "the quartet" the noise of rain seems to be used in a scene which is meant to be sad. I don't believe this to be coincidence rather a clever trick to provoke emotion from the listener. This scene made use of the proximity effect during the characters monolges to give the impression that they were talking directly to the listener. In summation of the two my favorite has to be quartet I found the dialogue and humor in the play are witty and sharp and the story line very original. Although the singer was a good play I felt the script weaker than quartet but the production values to be a higher standard and more complex

(MP3002) Individual Project Log 10- Revised Treatment 14/11/08

Beyond the weird is an affectionate human interest story based around Arch Druid Brian Conquer. We will see Brian at work making esoteric tools in his workshop, at play playing skittles for his local team and in his role for winter solstice as an Arch Druid. By following Brian in his daily life we will see that beneath the secrecy and mysticism is an ordinary man with an extraordinary life.

(MP3002) individual Project Log 9 - filming journal 12/11/08

I drove to glastonbury to begin filming on beyond the weird. Brian and I had agreed that I would film him at work making tools in his workshop. Just before I arrived in glastonbury I received a text message from brian saying he'd been called in to Chalice Well to do a cover shift. I felt quite frustrated by this partly due to my expectations on Brian that he'd already made arrangements to film with me and also in part because I had been refused permission to use the Well as a location so I couldn't film there. This is an unfortunate reality of making a documentary, even meticulous planning cannot prevent some things. I used the time that I had spare to go up Glastonbury Tor, practice with the camera and film some cutaways. I felt quite low after finding out I couldn't use the Well as a location and my first days filming going pear shaped! I called Nic who gave me some helpful feedback and suggestions on how I might proceed with the Chalice Well. He felt that they were perhaps fearful of being negatively represented or exposed in some way and that I might need to gain their trust before they'd allow me to film. I went to the Office to speak to Natasha (the manager), she was unavailable so I spoke to Ruth. I asked her if as a compromise it would be possible to take still shots for my project. My hope is that getting permission to take still shots could be a foot in the door with them. I also shot some film of Brian playing skittles in the evening at the Globe on Madeleine street. The Pub was small and badly light, some areas with fluorescent strip lights and others not light at all. This meant continually adjusting the f-stop settings on the Z1. I did manage to get some good footage, which i was quite happy about.

(MP3002) Individual Project Video Diary Log 10/11/08

(MP3002) Individual Project Log 07/11/08

This morning I contacted Glastonbury abbey to obtain permission to use it as a location. I spoke to the deputy trustee Francis Tyre. I briefly outlined my idea and what I wanted from the abbey. I spoke about Brian Conquer, his background and how important the abbey is to him. I happened to mention Brian's faith as a druid after which Francis became very guarded and defensive - refusing me permission to film at the abbey. He said that the trustee's had a strict policy against anything which wasn't Christian based. I attempted to alley his fears and try to change his mind but it appeared as though his mind was made up.
It seems as though tourist attractions in Glastonbury are reticent in allowing filming at their venues. It seems odd that in a place famous for it's mysticism, religious and occult beliefs would make it so hard for me to find locations to shoot at. I have learnt from this morning's failure and will try to calm Natasha's fears as i suspect she to may have concerns that I could paint them in a bad light or get in their way. I also have a list of points in case i get lost in the conversation.

(MP3001) Enterprise Project -Group meeting agenda 04/11/08

Here is the agenda for yesterdays weekly meeting

Weston Visit
Nic asked that we attend for their visit if possible
Competitions
Nic mentioned several competitions which he felt we might like to enter
Project bookings
We talked about project bookings mainly the wells cathedral project and the editing project for the egg.
Business Plan
We discussed the development of a questionnaire which we could give to clients to enable us to work more efficiently. Jonna volunteered to type up the agreed document.
Web
We discussed which direction to take the website. It was felt by some group members that we weren't getting anywhere with this so I suggested we arrange a meeting with the website developers which Nic Jeune wil set up.
Launch
Nic gave us the dates for the bath spa launch but also suggested we have our own commercial lauch and invite industry professionals.

(MP3004) creative Writing Log 05/11/08

Today we got into groups to workshop some scripts. I found the experience really helpful in developing analytical thinking and critique. It is something that i need to work on if i am to take a directorial role in the production of a radio drama, which according to Rachel can often happen with radio producers. We were also asked to do a producer survey to find out which techniques producers employ that are similar to others and if they use techniques with which one can define there work.

(MP3001) Enterprise Project - Group project log 05/11/08

Editing Midsummer nights dream for the EGG is our first group project as Artwork media. We have been commissioned by Phil Pervis to edit footage of the play into a finished film. After setting up a new project in final cut my first task was to import the footage which had been captured across three tapes. Upon watching the footage it was clear that it had been shot in three angles left, right and centre. We decided to use a multi camera edit technique for this project but after checking the footage we discovered that there were time code breaks on the 2nd part of tape 2. We decided to adopt the approach whereby we would worry about the 2nd part of the tape after we'd edited the first. Ollie suggested when we did come to edit that part that we exclude the tape 2 from the multi cam edit and add cuts from it separately.
I began the multi cam edit by first selecting each clip in the viewer and finding some audio I could use to sync the clips. When i'd done that I made a multi clip to begin the edit. The first problem I found was that the camera kept moving and zooming in and out. The second problem was that some of the shots were under exposed leaving the picture looking dark and grainy (with noise).
After discussing the problem with Ollie and the group we decided the best and most pragmatic approach would be to edit the film so that we minimized the amount of camera movement and zoom and also to include the best shots with a view that we could color correct the film after it had been edited. I have decided to use the audio from the 2nd camera as that is central but to use the left and right angles as the 2nd camera is under exposed. At this point i have got the first scene into a rough cut.

(MP3002) individual Project Log 8 - Treatment for Beyond the Weird

The film will tell the story of the staff at Chalice Well and their preparations for Winter solstice We will see Brian at work interacting with people in meetings and 1 to 1 discussing the plans for Solstice. The film will culminate with winter solstice celebrations at Chalice Well people eating dancing and singing - a community celebrating together. It aims to get underneath preconceptions and stereotypes people have of the locals.

http://www.chalicewell.org.uk

(MP3002) Individual Project Log 7

According to 'cultural film making' by Barrabash and Taylor it's important when writing a treatment for a documentary to consider one's own personal stance on the subject. Having Grown up in and around Glastonbury. I have many fond memories of the town and the people in it. I remember a strong sense of community and shared experience, that some people beleive have been lost. Through my documentary showing one of Glastonburys best loved attractions, the staff and the patrons working together I aim to show that the heart of glastonbury is still beating strongly. I would like to work with the staff at chalice well and members of the public at the winter solstice. I'm particularly interested in working with Brian Conquer who seems like a very interesting character.

(MP3002) Individual Project Log 6 - Agenda Example

(MP3002) Individual Project Planning

I want to see the characters in my film going about their daily lives performing normal everyday tasks so I’m going to film in many different locations. I will shoot in brains home and around the town in various shops. I also plan to shoot on the Tor, in the abbey and also in the countryside accompanying Brian on excursions. For example on fishing trips, to the doctors or on walks in the woods or druid duties.

(MP3002) Individual project log 5 - Risk Assessments

(MP3001) enterprise project - multicam music video

This is the edit from the final cut tutorial book that I created last week...

(MP3004) creative Writing Log 30/10/08

Hey bloggers - Mike here!
I found myself feeling quite frustrated when I saw the equipment that we had to use. The Edirol wasn't suitable for recording a radio play as it's just a hand help dictaphone. One of the scenes required that the actor turn and walk away as they were speaking and due to the size of the recording space (mens changing rooms) and the constraints of the recording equipment I was unable to get a faithful representation. During the editing process I was able to effect the signal with a reverb effect to mimic a larger space.

(MP3002) individual project log 4

Here is my mission statement for the documentary:

Beyond the weird. We can often perceive things as weird simply because we don’t know and understand them. This documentary aims to get beneath the weird to show the people of Glastonbury, their celebrations, rituals and beliefs.

I will post the revised treatment soon...

(MP3002) individual project log 3

I’ve just come from my initial meeting with Brian Conquer. He signed a release form for the documentary and read the treatment I had written. Going through the treatment with Brian it became apparent I’d made some mistakes that made him angry. I had gotten the name of his druid grove wrong and named other so-called druid as a member of the same grove when in fact they were not. I was able to placate him and I learnt from it. If I do present a prospective interviewee or contributor with my ideas I need to ensure I have all my facts straight and research the subject properly – that said Brian seemed to take it in his stride and put me straight on the mistakes I’d made. He also gave me feedback on my treatment and felt that it would be a nightmare to film at Stonehenge. It would be very busy there and its very unlikely I would get anywhere near, also Brian felt it wouldn’t be very authentic – that it is often quite staged and further more he wouldn’t be attending. The reasons for that are Brian’s failing health and the fact that his Grove do not attend the ceremony at Stonehenge. My idea has always been an observational style documentary on winter solstice and what I want to do is capture the real solstice I don’t want some plastic American solstice where everyone is dressed up for the camera. The angle I wanted to take was real people and real lives, pagan Britain in modern times. Now, where I went to meet Brian was the chalice well and it became apparent to me after reading their what’s on brochure that they have their own solstice celebrations so the idea I have forming in my mind is to base the film at and around the chalice well grounds and Solstice Celebrations they have instead of at Stonehenge. There are several reasons I feel this would work. Firstly Brian works there and spends a lot of time there. Secondly there would be interplay between him and his colleges. Third after talking to staff members it came out that the people who attend celebrations at the well are local characters who know each other so there is a sense of community. Fourth and finally my gut feeling is that this idea is more substantial and revolves around community and relationships whilst still keeping the winter solstice central. It seems as though there could be more of a story here!
Now the snag…there is a blanket no filming policy in place at the well, which seems excessive. I spoke to the trustee’s who have asked me to put my ideas in writing and email them so that they can make a decision on whether to give me the go ahead to shoot there.

(MP3002) individual Project Log 20 30/12/08

The idea for my individual project came about after a radio documentary that we did as a group on the subject of Ley lines last year (you can read more about that in my Blog). My research led me to an occult shop in Glastonbury called witchcraft. I spoke at length with the owner who's name was Trevor Jones. I needed to focus in on my project; the subject of Ley lines was far to big an area for a 10-minute documentary. Trevor told me about a Ley line, which ran through Glastonbury, called the Michael line and suggested I talk to Brian Conquer. Brian Conquer is Druid from Glastonbury, he was invaluable as a source of information and even appeared in the documentary. I hoped to be able to work with him again at some point. When I got the brief for my individual project I jumped at the chance to work with Brian. He is very enigmatic, opinionated and eccentric and interesting and I feel would be good as a main character in a documentary.

(MP3002) Individual Project - initial treatment 23/10/08

After some thought, conversations with Danny and a one to one with Nic Jeune I have decided to do an observational documentary on the winter solstice for my individual project. Here is the initial treatment:

The film follows Brian Conquer, Arch druid of the Glastonbury druid grove, in his preparations for the winter solstice although should for any reason Brian be unavailable I have an alternative druid contact who’s name is Rollo a member of the same grove. We will see Brian at home during the run up to the solstice and at the event itself at Stonehenge on December 23rd. We will hear the story of Brains life as a druid and how he came to be one. It’s shot in an observational style, I will be an off camera presence interviewing Brian and offering commentary in a narrative style.

The film poses these questions…

Does Paganism have a place in modern day Britain?

Is it something we should keep alive through celebrations and rituals like winter solstice?

The connection between winter solstice and Christmas, is there one?

We see an interview with Brian Talking about the winter solstice. He gives us an outline of the festival and tells us some of the history surrounding it. We then observe Brian as he organizes the various rituals, interactions with others and the difficulties and challenges he faces before culminating in the festival itself at stone henge.

The sub plot for the film is my spiritual beliefs or search for them and how/if they fit with Paganism, my initial skepticism and my possible conversion.

This is of course an initial treatment and more for myself to sketch out my ideas than for anyone else. I have however noted the feedback Nic Jeune gave me

If I was a commissioner and you were trying to sell it to me my two questions would be who is it for and why would you chosen audience choose to watch this. A treatment is a factual report married to a energetic sell

I will post updated treatments as I anticipate this treatment will grow and evolve as the project picks up pace.

(MP3004) Creative Writing Log 23/10/08

This morning we (the techies as we've become known in creative writing!!) went to visit Richard Wood, Technical demonstrator at the Gate House, to find out what equipment would be available to use in our project. It became apparent after some conversation that we don't have access to the kit we require or the space we'd need for recording a radio drama. I felt we found in richard a sympathetic ear, and we told him our concerns about this module. We feel that to be expected to record a radio drama each at a professional level,which is the only level worth us doing is too much to expect from us - considering we've not had any specific training on the subject! It also seems that we are not expected to produce a recording of any significant quality as the function of the recording is just for the creative wring students to hear their scripts out loud. This doesn't appear to have any value to us as creative media students looking to create quality work that could possibly end up as part of our showreel. There seems to be a gap between creative writing who want to write scripts, PLAR who want to act for radio and us, the Creative media students who seem to be in Limbo. I mentioned some of my concerns to Steve May who said he'd look into them and Richard Wood also said he would speak to the relevant people. I feel slightly better after that rant!!

(MP3001) Enterprise Project - Group meeting 22/10/08

Today we had our first meeting as a group, these were the items on the agenda:

1. Meet new team members
2. Apologies from Nic
3. Plan demonstrations
4. Dani and Ollie offer the systems re booking etc
5. Discuss Web site. E-journal, launch and brand.
6. Share contacts
7. Discuss plans and timetables for individual projects
8. Discuss plans and timetables for group projects
9. Know the industry - Web sites podcasts and journals
10. AOB

The main topic of discussion was Artswork Media branding and how we as a group feel about the website designs. I felt the initial mock ups didn't really show what Artswork Media is really about as a company i.e young, creative, vibrant, imaginative. The homepage was very boxy and the colours homogenized and banal. One group member commented that it reminded them of "more than" insurance! That is not the image we want to get across with our website. I voiced several ideas for the website, one of which was to animate the artswork logo so that the blobs shot paint splodges out of them, which then could be used as buttons.
We also talked about the e-journal and how that would fit into the website - the group seemed to think this would work best in the form of company news. The other aspect Nic asked us to think about was the links page and how the sites we link to say a lot about us, Artswork Media as a company. I also suggested we set up our own youtube channel to showcase our work. We could include this as a link and attach it to company emails so prospective clients can view our work. The idea's was well received and Nic agreed to contact the website builders to find out just how much creative input we do have in to the site.

(MP3004) Creative Writing Log 15/10/08

This morning Lloyd, Adam, Kirsty and I were to Tech op for Drama and Creative writing students - recording their scripts. I have to be honest I groaned inwardly when I arrived, There were loads of people and the equipment I felt wasn't really adequate for recording radio drama. I had bought my lap top and MBox and had planned to use that to record with. However I didn't have a mic so I went on a wild goose chase to find one! It took ages what with getting lost (still don't know my way around) and paperwork! When I finally got back the session was almost over. I hurriedly plugged in all the gear and to my horror I couldn't get it to work. I later found out the mic needed phantom power! I usually would have spotted this but I'd worked myself up into a bit of a state! Lesson learnt!
The script I was recording was set in a pub so the fact that it was quite noisy actually worked to my advantage as in a busy pub there would be a lot of noise. I did however have to ask some of the members in my group to be quiet as they were in close proximity of the recording. I felt at times some of the group members weren't taking the exercise seriously. The two actors seemed very professional and needed little direction - they also got the opportunity for quite a few read through's whilst I was off mic hunting!

(MP3001) Enterprise Project - Group Meeting 14/10/08

So here we are then, our first time at Paintworks in bristol - and what a place it is! The paint was still drying on the brand new Artswork media premises, my new home for the next 9 months. I have to say, I was impressed. Not just at the facilities and equipment (all top quality) but also with director Nic Jeune and technical staff Danni and Ollie. They showed us around and gave us a rough outline of what to expect over the coming months. Steve May was also on hand to help clear up some of the confusion around assessment criteria and although he did help I still wasn't crystal clear on things. I need to contact him for more information. I also had an initial 121 with Nic Jeune to introduce myself and outline my thoughts for my individual project (I will outline in another post). My feeling is that it's a good team and i believe I will work well here.

(MP3004) Creative writing Log 08/10/08

So here we are in week two of the semester! It has felt as though we've been thrown in at the deep end as far as creative writing goes, and I know that I at least have had some experience at script writing and still have a sense of inadequacy around third year creative writing students. That said, I'm beginning to feel more comfortable with the exercises that we've been doing. I have found that although my writing may not be to as high a standard as the third year students when we workshop radio plays and analyse them I have a good insight into emotion and plot.
We were asked to eavesdrop on someone's conversation as homework, which we'd then transcribe and read in class. I have to admit that I didn't do this homework and it wasn't out of laziness. I found it extemely uncomfortable being asked to eavesdrop on people, almost as if there is something really bad about doing this - or perhaps it's the thought of being caught by some angry member of the public! Maybe its some moralistic view point i have gotten from society that people have a right to privicy. If i'm honest it's probably a mixture of all the above. I will and must, find a way to override these feelings, this is an important exercise for me and has uncovered some areas that i need to work on.
I have decided that although I will be taking the second assessment option, that is my role as a producer within the creative writing class rather than the script writing assessment option. I will for my own personal development write and develop a script based on an eaves dropped conversation. After all option one involves a 7000 word eassay! who wants to do that if they have a choice.

Advanced Project Planning Log 02/10/08

We began today's lecture with the time honoured tradition of reading through the course handbook! We were asked to introduce ourselves to the group and talk about our idea's for a project.I have to admit to finding myself a little on the spot as I'm still unsure what I want to do for my project's. I would like to do a documentary and possibly a drama, I'll keep you posted on that one! One of the other students had an interesting idea around the healing properties of crocodile blood (I kid you not). I felt I might like to work with her on it. As a student coming to the course from Weston College I found it interesting meeting the other students in the class and glad to get it out of the way!
With project management in mind we were asked to consider our where our strengths and weaknesses lie. We split into groups to discuss the topic. I found this exercise helpful in get rid of some of the anxieties I have around whether or not I can cope with university workload. I have all the skills needed to manage a project successfully!

(MP3004) Creative writing Log 01/10/08

We began by the lesson by discussing radio scripts. We looked at format and structure, and how we might exploit their boundaries. Here a general description:
Opening
Set the scene and hook the audience during the First 2 minutes. This is widely acknowledged as the amount of time a writer has before the listener could lose interest.
Development
In this phase you need to present your characters or at least the first 2. Look to establish a sense of conflict, relationships, character arcs, emotional connections, and tension. Tease; make the listener want to listen. This art of the script should outline the engine of the plot.
Argument/apex
First the Initial apex then 20 minutes in a further apex then main crisis then resolution. Arguments are often used to create tension in Radio Plays. You can also use quiet held down arguments.
Resolution
Plot thread gets tied up. Relationships resolved. What they’ve learnt.
Ending
Endings can be about a State of rest, new state of balance. Think about the ending you would like. Satisfy the listener emotionally.
We were also put into pairs and listened to a story then we told that story to the class with an emphasis on the person’s vocabulary, accent and intonation. I felt I did well at imitating my partner’s persona and his blushes confirmed it!

Group project

Group project log

Hey Bloggers, it's finally finished! Lloyd and I completed the editing on the tennis club film today...
We faced many challenges making this film and although I was heavily involved in editing I wish I had of been present during filming as it would have made things much easier for me when editing as there were areas in the rushes that didn't meet my needs although Lloyd and I did overcome this with some clever editing. Im very happy with the sound mix as we got around copyright laws by creating our own music, which we did within pro-tools using reason. Im also happy we got the documentary tight and the cuts working well. I feel the film flows well with the addition of a sound mix.

Annotated Contact List

Colin McGunnessGroup head of production. Tel 07xxx 56xxxx
Very knowledgeable on production techniques, has lots of experience and contacts in the industry
Scott ElliottProduction manager at Star radio in North somerset. Tel 078xxx 674xxx
My mentor for work experience, will give me good references if I need them
Susan OsmanPresenter/Media Consultant. Tel 0117 xxx xxxx
Has some great contacts and is well established in the media industry
Tim MiddletonMedia lecturer. Tel 01225 xxxxxx
Has great contacts in the media industry and lots of knowlege

updated C.V

search for a star

group project meeting

Group project log

Hi Bloggers, Mike here...
This morning Lloyd came over to my place ( above is the view from my bedroom window) to help edit the interviews for the group project as I mentioned to him I was finding it difficult to structure them. So at 10 am we began going through the rushes deciding on what we did and didn't want to use in the film.
I noticed when editing one of he interviews that although there were some over the shoulder shots, opposing ones seemed to be lacking. We found a way around this by using footage know as "nodding" very simply shots taken of the subject nodding and also in the interview with the tennis coach we used cutaways of his racket as a bridge to shorten the interview as we felt it was too long. One thing we did find is we felt fatigued quite quickly, editing can be tiresome and laborious so to combat this we took a break halfway through the day and did something completely different. This helped us to come back to the task with fresh eyes. We edited in shifts with one at the controls and the other overseeing. This, we found, was a good way to work although at point we had conflicting ideas. We worked around this by creating duplicate sequences so we could try out our ideas without affecting the overall piece.

work experience week 14

Hey Bloggers - Mike here!

As part of my work experience at star radio over the last few weeks I have been attending TEAM 45 meetings with the rest of the staff. TEAM 45 stands for Together Everyone Achieves More. The meetings last for 45 minutes and are held once a week. The reason for TEAM 45 is to help the staff at star radio perform more effectively develop star radio as a brand and encourage team bonding. In the meetings the team discussed different objectives and how to achieve them. The aim is to present the work done in these meetings to the group MD William rogers in a powerpoint presentation in two weeks time. I was asked to record the staff in groups of two talking about their objectives for use in the presentation.
It proved to be an interesting project to undertake and challenged my skills as a producer as none of the staff had any on air experience and required vocal coaching. Some others in the team were also quite nervous and needed some encouragement. However, overall the recording sessions went very well. Once I had recorded the audio into cool edit pro I split it into segments to be used in the powerpoint presentation, which I emailed to Andi Parsons who was responsible for collating the presentation.

Group project log

Hi Bloggers - Mike here!
I've been busy today editing material for the group project in final cut. Lloyd, Adam and I divided the edit between ourselves. I chose to edit the interviews. The first thing I did using a firewire cable was to take the rushes from the computer in the edit suite, which is where Lloyd captured the footage; that's the term used for transferring the footage from the camera into final cut pro. Then created a project in final cut and called it WSM Tennis Club Interviews. I skimmed through the footage separating each interview turning them into sub clips (option + U) to organize the project. Using this method I find I am able to work much quicker. The first interview I began editing was with Bob, one of the club trustees. It became obvious that I couldn't include all the material from bobs interview as it would have run for 6 minutes or so and it would have been really boring! This presented me with a problem though because I was unsure as to what information was essential and what I could exclude. I met with Lloyd and played him what I had managed to edit so far. Using a pen and paper I wrote down his suggestions and comments. One of the problems highlighted from our conversation was how uninteresting the piece was. We decided to jazz it up using on screen graphics and picture in picture sequences. I implemented the changes and have a rough cut ready to show Lloyd on friday.

You can learn more about final cut here

Individual project storyboard

Hey bloggers - Mike here!
This is the story board for the monage section of my individual project. A pop video featuring Katey Brooks. The idea of this monage is to show Katey in her normal life. Portaying that even though she is a fantastic talent she is just a normal down to earth girl. To view the JPEGS separately just double click an image!

work experience week 13

Hey Bloggers - Mike here...
So I finally finished the sound of station promo that I was asked to create. I acted on the feedback given by scott (producer) and made changes to the script which I then re-voiced. I also went back through the promo bit by bit painstakingly tightening the production and trimming where I was able.
I played the finished piece to Scott, we discussed which might be the best way to get this out to clients and decided to create an emailable MP3 version. I used the MP3 setting for broadband quality in cool edit and tweaked it a bit. I used variable bit rate which means rather than a constant bit rate for the entire file, in the parts where the signal is less complex the bit rate reduces leading to a smaller file. I found out this morning I one a prize for my work , A box of chocs, yum!
Im order to publish the sound of station on youtube I mixed it with a visual filler ( the star logo) before uploading. Have a listen and tell me what you think. Dont forget to checkout the star radio website here

Work experience week 11 - Scheduling in RCS

Check out their website for more info

Work Experience week 9 - how to voicetrack

Group project minutes 2

Hi blogger's. It fell to Adam to take the minutes for this weeks meeting. Filming has more or less finished so we discussed a possible running order and shooting script, We talked about the material collected and what we may use or discard from the eight tapes of film Lloyd and Adam had shot!! Lloyd pays extreme attention to detail and this showed in the meticulous nature of the footage he had shot. However there was far to much footage for an eight minute film so much of our dialogue then and I suspect in the editing process will be around what to focus most on in the film to use the time effectively.

Group Project – Weston Tennis Club
Shooting Script

1. Mens singles match – shots to edit for split screen idea, with copyright free music. Mike to see if he can get music from work. Also shots of tennis balls hitting net, and rolling towards camera, to be used for graphics sequence.

2. Clean up day – needs to be sped up. Camera positioned up high in corner.

3. Interviews – over the shoulder shot/ mid shot/ close up of approx 8 interviewees. Each asked 3 questions, lots of fat to be trimmed here.
- coach
- new member
- existing members – young and old
- Bob Wilson


4. Focus pulling shots

Basically run through all the footage and strip out the best bits……..

Individual project video log

Work Experience - Sound of Station Script

Sound of station VO
MVO:
WE REALLY ARE NORTH SOMERSETS MOST LISTENED TO COMMERCIAL RADIO STATION – AND HERE’S WHY
MVO:
FIRST LETS TREAT THE LISTENER TO SOME CASH
MVO:
WAKE UP WITH THE STAR BREAKFAST
MVO:
TAKING YOU THROUGH YOUR WORKDAY – LENGENDARY MUSIC, FROM LEGENDARY ARTIST’S – STAR RADIO LEGENDS
MVO:
STAR RADIO HAS THE LATEST COMMUNITY AND LOCAL CONTENT
MVO:
WE’RE WITH YOU ON YOUR WAY HOME – STAR RADIO DRIVE
MVO:
AND AT THE WEEKENDS WE REALLY PUSH THE BOAT OUT
MVO:
STAR RADIO – FIRST WITH LOCAL NEWS AND TRAVEL
MVO:
WITH ALL THAT IT’S NO WONDER WE’RE NORTH SOMERSETS MOST LISTENED TO COMMERCIAL RADIO STATION – CAN YOU AFFORD NOT TO BE PART OF IT?

ASDA Multicam Edit

Video Diary of Work Experience Week 7

Individual project log

Hey bloggers - Mike here. Having settled on the ideas for my project I have begun to plan the filming. I booked the TV studio for Thursday the 22nd of May, thursdays being the only day it's free. Unfortunately I cannot make it any sooner, which is causing me some anxiety, but I am having to juggle work with university and this is proving to be a challenge. I spoke to Katey Brooks this morning to give her the date for filming. She will speak to work to try and rearrange her work schedule if she is unable to make that date she will call me back to reschedule. I feel as long as I plan the filming and editing properly I will be able to make the deadline set by the university.

Work experience week 6

Hi Bloggers - Mike here! Work experience at Star Radio was quite hectic last week as the assistant producer was on holiday and I was asked to fill in for him for the day. The first job I had to do was create the breakfast promo's, short clips from the show mixed with station idents that are played out at various times of the day to promote awareness of the show. I needed to find parts from that mornings show that were suitable and to do this I had to have a meeting with the presenters. It was fairly informal just a case of listening through some of the material from the show and deciding which bits were funniest. Then I had to take the audio from the logger. The logger records all output from the station as required by ofcom. This task was fairly laborious as logger records in hour segments which I had to go through to find the parts I needed. The next difficulty was editing the links using cool edit in such a way as to be as short as possible but still retain enough information to make the promo funny and interesting to listen to. I was able to cut out repeated sentences and a lot of the "um's and Ah's" from the conversation. These are words or sounds that the presenters use for thinking time. The magnification tool comes in handy for these edits!! I had to work to a deadline the show finished at 10am and the first promo was scheduled for 11.20am. It was quite tight but I managed in the end.

Individual project treatment

STAR RADIO’S SEARCH FOR A STAR
FORMAT: TALENT SHOW
PLATFORM: VIDEO PODCAST & RADIO BROADCAST
LEGNTH: EIGHT MINUTES
PRODUCER: MICHAEL HUCK
DIRECTOR: MICHAEL HUCK
WRITER: MIKE HUCK
TALENT: KATEY BROOKS




CONCEPT
The UK’s Indy music scene is thriving, growing from strength to strength popular amongst today’s youth and dominating the charts. Search for a Star is an exciting alternative to Pop Idol and exploits today’s 360 degree media world by utilizing Video Pod cast, mobile phone platforms, FM radio and the internet via social networking sites like Myspace, Youtube and Facebook. Search for a star exploits the use of these sites by using them to find the acts, for example on Facebook the acts with the most fan members take part in the program, in this way the public are the true judges.
With artists like the Arctic Monkeys, The Hoosiers and The Horrors who’s rise to fame was in no small part due to internet downloads and networking sites the potential with this genre for audience participation is huge. Voting for an artist can be done either via phone, email or text and to give you some idea for potential profit margins; in 2004 Pop Idol generated £2.5 million from text messages alone.
Live performances from Search for a Star will be will be broadcast on network radio and streamed from the website as video Podcast. Extra content will be available at a nominal fee for download directly to PC or mobile Phones.
RADIO
Radio stations broadcast search for a star on shows like Star Radio’s “Sunday Music Live” in a twenty-minute segment. The artist performs two songs and is interviewed by the presenter. Trails play between songs encouraging listeners to vote and the various ways that they can do this including via the website as the whole segment is being simulcast live.
VIDEO PODCAST
The Podcast features interview excerpts and the song being voted on by the public.
The opening credits show a time-lapse sequence of the stage crew setting up for the performance. As we fade to black the Logo “search for a star” appears on the screen along with the artists name, cut to the artist sat in a chair (think big brother) answering questions about herself (musical inspirations etc…) to a presenter off camera (This part of the film uses jump cuts giving the interview an edgy contemporary feel). Finally the artist introduces her song as we cut to the performance using TV static.
We fade up from black to see the artist sat at the front of the stage with soft lighting giving it an intimate feel. Graphics run across the screen giving voting details, which fade away leaving the viewer to watch the performance. As the song finishes graphics once again appears on the screen showing voting details before fading to black. (See attached storyboard for visual representation of video)
BUDGET & PROFIT OPPORTUNITIES
The radio show is syndicated and as such paid for by stations taking part that will also host content and voting details on their websites. We will however provide promo and trail kits for their use. The only outlay for the video Podcast is the equipment and location (TV studio) for the shoot. Broadcast Media students will be used as members for the production. In this way we save money and help the community.
This multi platform format has the potential not only to be a success on the Star Radio network but also could be franchised and rolled out to radio stations across the UK commercial radio network. Similar ideas such as GCAP’s “Music Week” have achieved great results in this way.

work experience week 3

This week I attended a team meeting with programming to discuss how to increase listening figures ( rajar) and how to keep the listeners we have already. Sue brooks brought up locality and it's importance within our role in the wider community. The group discussed ways in which we could achieve this aim. We came up with these ideas:- a) To attend more outside broadcasts and community events b) Use information gathered from Star Cards such as birthdays and announce them on air c) to support charities with a new initiative called charity of the month. Check out www.rajar.co.uk for more information on RAJAR.
My job in production was to come up with ways to support these ideas, we decided to refresh and update production for the notice board, an on air and online facility for the community to promote non profit and charity events. I was asked to make a promo for this. After some thought I decided to to a spoof of the A team and using the theme tune from the show i set about the task of creating the piece of production. I decided to use an American style voice over on top of the theme tune to mimic the style of the opening credits of the A team. After I had voiced the script in an american accent i had to pitch it down to sound more authentic. I used the pitch plugin in Adobe audition and pitched it down a semitone. Then I overlaid it on the A team bed. I had difficulties in getting the first half of the promo to flow into the second half which, contained the information needed to use the notice board and was more serious. After some time using fades and not getting the result I was after I decided to make the change more obvious and used the pitch plugin to emulate the sound of a turn table losing power on the A team theme tune. I felt this worked really well accentuating the fact that the promo was fun as well as factual. Then I used the voice overs voiced by our artists in bristol I completed the second half using a bed from a music CD. As a tag line I used the initiative we came up with in the meeting "Star radio, at the heart of and in partnership with the local community". I felt this piece of production followed company values of being fun and unconventional.

SCRIPT
AMERICAN VO
IF YOU HAVE A CHARITY OR NON PROFIT EVENT YOU'D LIKE ADVERTISED ON STAR RADIO, THEN MAYBE, JUST MAYBE. WE CAN HELP. THE STAR RADIO NOTICE BOARD.

FVO
ADVERTISING ON THE NOTICEBOARD COULD'NT BE EASIER. JUST CLICK ON STAR 1077.CO.UK AND FOLLOW THE LINK. WHO KNOWS YOUR AD MAY EVEN GET ON THE AIR

MVO
THE STAR RADIO NOTICE BOARD. AT THE HEART OF AND IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE LOCAL COMMUNITY STAR RADIO