More time on software

So its all over now, well apart from the crits which i have just done. They are to be handed in this friday. I know this doesnt count towards my final grade (the blogging i mean) but its quite fun and i think i may keep it going. So this is my first proper blog. The wokr load this year was fine, i have no qualms about that, but i thought that maybe we should have had more time working on how to use the specific programs. i know that there are only a certain amount of hours that we are taught but its an integral part of the course and not knowing some of the software can kill us in some of the work we have had to do this semester, so if ur reading this mr big shots at the uni, more time working on software please, even if we have another day of doing that. Listen to me asking for more work, what an ass.

Changes?

I have finished all the projects now and have only the critical commentaries to do now. So would I have changed anything about my group project? Well yes. I would have started the editing process earlier as I think I left it a tad late, a couple of all nighters were not the nicest thing i have ever done but it certainly was an experience.
I would have also changed the dates of the contributors. I think that we left it too late into the Easter break before starting filming. Although nothing could have been done about Elena's appointment with ultra lase, as it was her three month appointment. Apart from that I think that the project went well. There was no one that did not pull their weight in our team. When work needed to be done there was always three out of the four of us available to do the work, if not all of us available.
As i said in an earlier post the portfolio was up to date all the time so there was nothing that could have been improved on that front. I am very happy with the portfolio.
So this is my last blog for this year, not sure if we have to do any more for next year. So if not then good bye to you all thanks for reading.

Portfolio

So the portfolio has been assesed by Holly and everything looks good in terms of feedback. We have literally kept every scrap of paper we ever used in our project so our portfolio is quite buulky. Holly seemed happy about our content. Although she said that there were a couple of things we needed to include. She said we needed the emails that were sent from us to Donnie (our graphics man) to show that this is actually a real person. We also need to include all of the music copyright information. As we only have the copyright info for one of like seven songs that we have used. Jessie was not present but the rest of the group were there to hear about what was needed for the small but important part of the portfolio. The hand in date for the portfolio is a week today so we have plenty of time in which to get the emails and do the copyright info.
The end is near and there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Handed in the group project

We have finally handed in the group project and i think i speak for the whole group when i say we are happy to see the back of it. There were a couple of all nighters towards the close of the project. Now im not saying that all nighters arnt fun, but i think ill leave them to next year and maybe the third year for the next one. The editing process went without a hitch. Jess and I worked really well together and im so happy with the final piece. Jess was a real life saver in the last few days. She helped me so much with the edit and I have to credit her with much of the workload. Laura was also indispensable to the team. Her voice overs were really good and I wouldn't want another person to do them. In terms of the final edit, the only problem with the project that we had was right at the end of the project when we tried to put our edit onto a DVD. I am a huge fan of Macs but their DVD burning capabilities have much to be desired. It took us four or five discs before it would work on my laptop and others. Needless to say, we were more than a bit worried. But in the end it all worked out fine, we finally put it onto a DVD, did the PASC, went up to the uni and handed it in. Im a very happy man right now. but the work does ont stop there. As i have been working so hard on the group project I have neglected my individual project, so Mike will probably kill me but sorry Mike, the group project deadline was first, so now I have my work cut out for me to get the individual project in on time. Go go gadget Arrowsmith

The Group Project coming to a head

The group project hand in date is only days away and there is still huge amounts to do. Jessie keeps telling me not to panic but im pretty close to it now. Our first all nighter is on the cards for tonight. I have never worked all the way through the night before so a little bit excited. Seems something that i may have already done before. I have no doubt that the work will be done on time. And with the footage we shot I also think it will be as good as we can possibly make it. I hope that the rest of the group like it aswell. I don't mind the examiners seeing it, but there is something about people you know well watching it and judging it. I hope they all like it anyway. I know I have had a blast doing it and look forward to working with any of my group again in future projects. Whether they feel the same way about me is another story. Im sure i have annoyed them in some way with my Berbatovesk way of working (very non chalont). Sorry if your not a follower of football, you won't understand that quote. So only two days left a lot of work to do so ill keep you updated on how it all goes and hopefully I will be able to finish the edit before the deadline.

The editing process has actually been really fun to do on the group prokect, i have found some neat things to do and am quite proud of myself. our cut away shots have made it quite easy to cover up any problems that occurred on the day of filming. Donnie has been helping the group by doing some drawings for us to cover over the fact that the bad contributor was not willing to talk to us on camera. But all is well, we have some awesome archive footage so things are going smoothly. The individual project is finally all filmed and is in the process of being edited, but as we have a little bit longer before we have to hand that in i will be consentration mainly on the group project until that is finally finished, which should be by Friday. My portfolio for Susan is nearly complete, I did another three or so pages on my script and all is going well. I have used the script of Doctor Who as a base plate of what to keep in and what to keep out in terms of descriptive content. As always i will keep you all updated on my goings on.

After the fimling

So for the past two days Jess, Nathan and myself have been in Wales filming our contributor and doing some vox pops. On the whole it has gone very well. Our contributor was fantastic and the vox pops were very smooth. Nathan was the camera man, I was in charge of sound and Jess was in charge of the questions, although we all pitched in as and when we could. We are now putting it onto the computer, logging and batch capturing it all so we can go ahead with the editing process. Although the batch capturing process does take a while, Jess and are muscling through it as i type. The individual project is also going well, all of the gym equipment is now in the SU so i can now finish my filming on the Monday and start editing that day. Susan's module is the one that i have done the most work so far, i have already set up my portfolio which includes my treatment, character synopsis, my practice script and my final script. My script is not yet complete but it will be by then end of the weekend i presume. Lets hope all goes well over the next couple of days

Right so iv been chilling at home for just under a week now and im still ill, so not happy about that. But in terms of the work front i think everything is going well. My individual project is coming along nicely, things will be picked back up when i get back from tour, as does the group project. Im reli stoked about the group project. Im looking forward to going to wales and doing some feeling. so stay poste and after tour let the postings begin

Right so the team and I met in the Velo lounge to discuss who was going to do what role in the project. Everyone was adamant about our roles. SO it was lucky that no one wanted to do the same role. I wanted to be editor, Jess wanted to be project manager, Nathan cameraman and Laura wanted to be runner / secreatary / whatever else we could think of.

We all set ourselves specific things that we had to practice before the next meeting the following week. I had to watch short documentaries and comment on their style and how sharp the edits were. Nathan had to rent out a Z1 and shoot some footage so he could get used to working with it. As it happened he had already booked a Z1 demo for that week so that worked out well. Jess was going to research as was Laura. but Laura also said that she would strat getting the call sheets set up and recce sheets. Will keep you updated

Sorry didn't make the video very clear, this is a clip that i made whilst i was on my gap year to Tremblant. it is of red bull crystal competition

The start of the projects

The group project has been going very well since we started. We are doing it on laser eye surgery. we were a little bit worried at the start as we had no contributors but now we do so all is gravy. We have two, one good experiance and one bad. so we will have an equal and hopefully non impartial view. The individual project is also running smoothly now that i have found the questions i want to ask our student union president joey. Filming will be commencing on friday. He is a very busy man so I will have to be prepared and have all the camera and my gear set up before he arrives. The only place that I can film is the meeting room in the SU, which is not the best in terms of light but i think it will be ok. Susans project of making a script is also going well. i feel i have a strong treatment and log lines and am in the process of puting it into a script. although this is a lot tougher than i first realised. it snot not easy thinking about the camera angle, the music being played in the background, how much detail to leave in and how much to leave out. but this is all part of the learning curve.

Hey guys,
right, so we are back at uni now and have had a lil excursion to London for the video expo. This is basically where the new broadcast kit is shown, from hardware to software to camera booms for cars and cranes etc. im sure if you read this it will be the same as others as all of us were in love with this particular product. The Tricaster. this peice of software and hardware is basically avirtual news studio. It uses the cameras u already have to shoot a blue screen room which u can move around in. The guy who was selling it basically told the croud our lives are not complete without the Tricaster. And after the talk i genuinely believed him. If money was not an issue i would ave bought one. Not really sure what i would have done with it but i would have worried about that after i had it.

One of the last things we did with Susan was to make a presentation on a role within the media and read it to the camera using the auto cue. Mine went very well but i have to admit the computer that i was using that day broke the same day I went to put it up on this blog, needless to say the video was salvageable. so although I got a new computer (third one in 4 weeks) the hard disk was not able to be salvaged. So i am hoping that maybe when I get back to uni, there will still be a file with lil old me on there speaking to the camera so i can put it up on here and you can make fun of me. So will keep you up to date on whether this bit of comic genius can be found

So the deadline for our 5 min radio project is looming, and im not going to lie, lil bit nervous. It is not that I havnt done the work, I have. But I am having real trouble shrinking all of the sound that James and I have recorded into five minutes. I have had to take out all the vox pops to accomodate more of the interview. I feel as though the interview is more important as it has my actual fats rather than people answering my questions. Only time will tell tho. I have also just completed my critical evaluation for my soundscape of the Forest. I am happy with it as I think that my soundscape was very good, I thought that there was a quite range of diversity in it which gave it a very real feel.

The critical commentary is also due in for tomorrow so am nervous about that. I have tried to use as many references as i can but I am not too sure how good it will be. I have not much experience in being critical of my own work so only time will tell if my views are supportes by my lecturers and the marking peeps.

Camera man

We had a cameraman come in today whos name was Eric Hoyton. He explained to us that being a cameraman is not for the feint of heart. Some days you will have to work more than 100 hours a day. You also have to be able to improvise. You need to know which shots will work and which wont quickly. He also emphasised the fact that you must be able to learn quickly. He was given a Sony HDV Z1 which he said he had never used before. He quickly got his head around the camera and showed us some of the simple features. This was an interesting lecture although I am not too keen on being a cameraman, i was interested to know what details come with the job.