XBC – Making of…

I was asked by Phil Beards to produce a making of video of the X Bad Company and this is my outcome. I used the track that we were making the music video for to accompany my video. It will be put on vimeo instead of Youtube but i have a 500MB a week limit and i used it putting up my previous cut.

This is my final cut.

The Making Of: Xbad Company – “Empty handed”

I’ve got some problems with the framing of the video and im not quite sure how to sort it out….

And below is a previous cut that i made, but after speaking to Phil Peel we decided on a few clip changes and colour corrections.

Rough Cut-

Xbad Company Music Video

I was asked to be part of creating a music video for a band named XBad Company, a group formed from previous members of rock band Bad Company.

This was by far one of my favorite experiences of the Digital Media Production to date. It really felt like working within the industry. This shoot was on a much larger scale and more professional level than anything i have worked on previously and a absolute joy to be a part of.

We started early by packing the van in the morning then drove to a studio on the industrial estate in Poole.

This studio was massive, and packed full of stuff, loads of props and the biggest green screen I have ever seen in person. We began by setting up lighting and the green screen ready for when the band arrived so that they could bring in their VW camper van into the studio. When we were set up we got a few shots of the band inside and outside of the van with some models they had hired for the video. We wanted to give the van some movement so Jamie, George and myself took it upon ourselves to rock the van side to side which was an absolute mission, rocking a heavy van with 6 people in was a definate back breaker.

Once we got the shots we wanted we removed the van and set up lighting so that the models could perform their dance routine in front of the green screen. Apart from being a little unorganised due to not having previously worked out their dance routine previous to the shoot. After a few tried the girls got the timing right and the outcome was to a good level. We then included the band with the models and filmed them messing around and dancing together.

Meanwhile two guys from the film production course arrived with a crane to use for the video, this was amazing and definately put the production value of the video up a ton. Using the crane we were able to achieve such nice smooth shots of the band, and being able to film at different heights made the video look so good.

Whilst they were setting up we then got separate shots of each band member playing through the whole song on their own. Once this was over we then put away the green screen and began setting up lighting and equipment to shoot the band as a whole and get close shots and use get the shots we wanted with the crane.

We then took a break and were presented with a rediculous amount of tea, sandwiches and donuts. What A Winner!

After refueling it was time to get stuck into the group filming. Jamie, George and myself got hold of a camera each and began getting shots whilst the crane team were filming with that. Phil had brought his smoke machine with him so we filled up the studio with it, i think the use of smoke really made it look so good.

I really really enjoyed this it was a very very hands on shoot and a really good day.

Here is an old TV performance video of Robert Hart the vocalist.

MUKZ Music Video

This is the final video for “MUKZ – She’s Gone Away”

Ron offered me some work with the “MUKZ – She’s Gone Away” music video. He wanted me to be a camera man for it, where i had to film two actors being in an intimate relationship. I was happy to help and we went on our way with filming. We met up and went to a loaction in the student village, we used a friend of Rons house to shoot in.

The shoot was a little unorganised as Ron knew what he wanted to do but wasn’t quite sure how to direct it so i stepped in.

I then took on the role of directer aswell as camera man. I wasn’t extremely comfortable directing two people to be intimate together but i soon got past that and got on with it. I began by setting up shot in the kitchen and living room, and asked them to be close and act comfortable together, it worked well because the actors are already friends so they had quite a laugh together while i was filming, which gave me an opportunity to capture them smiling, laughing and being happy together. Afterward we used a bed, and filmed shots of the cuddling and holding hands, i think these came out quite well but were a little dark due to bad lighting conditions.

When we had finished at this location i suggested they film each other and pass the camera between the two of them as they were walking outside. This gave the video a really nice sort of home video feel towards the end which i personally really like.

I think overall it has turned into a succesful video and was a plesure to work on.

Professional Project Evaluation

Professional Project Evaluation.

At the beginning of the professional project I was excited about the chance to be involved with a lot of video/camera work along with being able to work with musicians to create two music videos. One video directed by Phil Peel and another to be created with a group within the class.
At the start of the project Jamie Milligan suggested a band that he had contact with to make a music video for. They are a local band called Wooden Pigs and were a perfect band to make a good video. We had meetings with the band (Josh the guitarist in particular) to discuss ideas with, he was extremely helpful when it came to the kind of visual perception that the band wanted to achieve.

While this was going on we were offered work on two stage performances at the Lighthouse Theatre in Poole that were being put on by the BA Drama course from the university. The first of which was Lady Windermeres Fan. This was the first time I had ever worked on filming a production and working with a group to set up a multi-cam film rig. We were asked to set up 4 cameras and wiring around the theatre then to record the production in full. The second production we filmed was Dracula, this time we already had experience with setting up so we were able to put everything together far more independently.  There were numerous problems with these shoot as there were some problems when recording. Working on both of these shoots has been a definite favourite part of the course. I feel I have learnt to work well with the camera equipment we have used. Although shooting in a small space at the side of a theatre whilst taking directions from Phil Peel using an ear piece was quite daunting at first, it gradually became easier as my confidence grew. I found it to be a great learning experience and I really look forward to working more in an environment of this kind.

Another project we had been given was to shoot a music video with Phil Peel for Dorset band ‘State Of Undress’ as we are not having an official world cup song this year, they had taken it upon themselves to write an unofficial song. We met the band at a football ground in Matchams near Chistchurch and began shooting that day. We took multiple shots throughout the day including using camera equipment in the back of the AUCB van to get tracking shots of the band walking, singing and playing their instruments. The location was perfect and really suited the bands character. Towards the evening friends of the band, and other people had been invited along to be part of the video. They were sat up in the stands back at the football ground and the group filmed them and the band singing and dancing to the song. I think the video came out really well and I think the group as a whole are really happy with it. The only criticism I would give would be the weather, I think we would all have liked a nice sunny day to shoot but it was out of our control. After the final video was editing it gave it a perfectly British feel and looks really good.

The Wooden Pigs planning was still underway and we required a venue to shoot the music video. For the groups idea we needed somewhere that we would be able to have the camera crew, the band and a crowd. I took lead of this role and began to search for a good venue to film in. I have a friend who works as a promoter so he was very helpful when it came to getting in contact with venue owners. Unfortunately venue owners don’t seem very helpful and are quite reluctant to let you have access to their venues during the day, therefore causing more work for them. I contacted 4 venues/owners over the phone and through email. The venues we wanted to use were The Joiners in Southampton, Ibar & Champions in Bournemouth and also Mr C’s.

Our original idea unfortunately fell through due to nobody letting us use their venue, the band even offered to play a free show after the shoot but I still didn’t receive any particular interest. We also had problems arranging time where the band could all going to be together in one place due to the band members work commitments.
Jamie managed to book out a photography studio and we went ahead with scheduling the shoot. We were going to have to shoot 3 members at this shoot and the other would need to be a separate shoot this was a big problem seeing as we would find it hard to get shots of the whole band together.
On arrival we were extremely disappointed with the space we had to work in and brainstormed ideas between the group. We spoke to Josh who told us that the whole band were going to be practicing at his house near Moors Valley that evening after the scheduled shoot and we were welcome to come and shoot it there.
This was our only real opportunity to get the band together at once in a good location before the deadline, so we took it. We arrived at Josh’s house and realised we had made the right move. It was a perfect location for the shoot and set up right away. We had to improvise completely new ideas and set up the bands equipment in Josh lounge. This gave the video a really good look and we had the band play the song through and through until we got the shots we needed. We got some initial wide shots then moved in for close ups, but this wasn’t enough. We needed something more and took all the equipment outside into the courtyard. We lit the whole band and used a PA system to give us sound for the band to play to. We were shooting until 3am that night for a shoot that we had only planned to do from 5 till 8. For an unplanned shoot I’m really happy with the outcome.

What I have learned from this project is that early planning is essential, I think we were extremely lucky with the opportunity we were given. I want to film more music videos in the future but I am definitely going to plan well in advance. It would have been able to plan a full shot list for the whole video but because we didn’t have a location it was very hit and miss with what kind of environment we would be working in.

Wooden Pigs Music Video

This is the final cut of our music video for “Wooden Pigs – Light Of Day”

I really like it and I think we’ve achieved a strong video to put forward for the professional project.

The Wooden Pigs music video came to a bit of a stand still due to me not being able to sort out a venue which i felt really bad about.

After spending a great deal of time on the phone and sending messages back and forth in emails and on facebook i came to this conclusion:-  It seems that venue owners really arn’t that bothered when it comes to helping people out, one venue owner wouldn’t let us use his venue because he couldn’t be bothered to come in early for ONE day and another basically fobbed us off and obviously didn’t want us using his venue -

Saying that it was fine for us to use the venue with the crew and the band, but then when it came to wanting a crowd inside he replied that nobody would be available to “supervise” – but who was going to be available to supervise the band and the crew with no crowd?? Bulls***!

Leigh the owner of ibar was semi helpful but he only had Saturday available and only for a couple of hours which in reality would have been useless to us as by time we got the band together and set up, we would have only had a short amount of filming time before we’d have to pack up and leave.

I totally got sick of being fobbed off by venue owners and we gave up. Jamie took it upon himself to book out a photography studio as a back up which was a good move.

We arranged the shoot for the 22nd and we arrived at the photography studio with high hopes of a decent space to work in.

This is what it looked like…

As you can probably guess we were pretty disappointed by the space we had to work with! While we were waiting for the band to turn up, me, Steph and Jamie rattled our brains trying to think of ideas that would make this space work, but it really was a dive. Our ideas were good but there was noway a band against a brick wall would look good in a music video.

When Josh arrived at about 7 o’clock we sat and had a chat with him, we suggested that we could film the video in the lounge of my student house, giving the video a “house party” type theme. I thought it would be a really cool idea to have the band play in a lounge, sat on sofas, quite casual.

Josh told us that his parents were away at the moment, and he lives on a really really nice country estate. We decided to give it a shot as we didn’t have much to lose considering the space we currently had to work with.

When we arrived at Josh’s we were in instant releif, i think we can all agree we got extremely lucky with this location. Josh’s house was massive, it had a nice big garden which was perfect for shooting outsid and it didn’t matter about noise due to the fact it was in the middle of loads of feilds and the next houses were about a mile away.

We began shooting indoors, we wanted to give the band a slightly casual look as the song is upbeat but quite subtle all the way through by getting them to set up in the lounge, we had the whole band sat on sofas and got a nice shot of them playing together, we decided it would be a nice touch to set the drum kit up in front of the sofa rather than having him sat on a drum stool. After shooting the whole band together we then took close ups of each member. It was key for us to get as many different shots as possible to give us a lot of material to work with when it came to editing. We got wide shots, close ups of the band members and then close ups of their instruments . There were some problems with timing being out which is a problem i’ve come across before when trying to film drummers, but eventually we got it perfect and it was a great success.

After an extensive amount of shooting indoors we stopped for a break and had a cuppa tea. Afterwards we packed up the bands kit and moved it outside. Thankfully we didn’t have to worry about noise which meant we could set up the PA system outside and play the track really loud. This made filming go a lot quicker and more smoothly. We began with wide shots again, the took more time filming close ups as we were outside in the dark we set up two red heads and moved them around untill we were satisfied that none of the band were blocked out by shadows. It was quite hard to work out what to do with the lighting as we were only using two lights but i think the outcome was well lit and looked very nice in the end. We ended the shoot with a few shots of the band infront of one of the garden walls with the vocalist stood further forward than the rest, this was also to give the video more variety.

I took some videos of the shoot on my iphone and uploaded them to vimeo.

We finished the shoot around 3am extremely tired and stressed out but i definately felt a sense of acheivment once we were done. I really enjoyed doing this shoot and i feel that it has been really good experience for the future. Whilst inbetween shooting a music video with Ron i helped jamie with editing the video helping with timing and what shots to use and where, it felt really good to see the music video coming together and that all of our hard work was a success. I have learnt a great deal about creating a music video and I am looking forward to making more in the future.

State Of Undress Music Video

Here is the video we made for “State Of Undress – This Time”

This is the final cut of the video.

and this is the previous cut.

So the State Of Undress shoot. It was pretty slow going at first but after the band turned up things started to pick up. We drove out from Christchurch football club and found a quiet road to start the shoot on. It was dry until we found it then it really started chucking it down. It would have been really great if we had a nice day, or at least a dry day.

We found a good location and set up the cameras in the back of the van and filmed each member of the band walking with their instuments down a country lane. Using the van gave us a pretty smooth shot which i think came out really nice. We were planning of getting more shots of the band walking through fields alone and together but we couldn’t really keep the cameras outside and out of cover for very long due to the massive amounts of rain.

After finishing filming on the road we then went back to the football ground and had some lunch that the band bought us while we waited for the fans that would be sitting in the stands, singing and dancing around for the video.

Elliot and Jack also came along to create a “making of” video. Its well good!

PPRD 2

PPRD2 Report

My second year of FDA Digital Media Production has been a more productive year than my first. I feel I have progressed further into a more specific field of study. My interests in the course have changed and I have pushed myself towards a different direction.

On completion of the first year I was convinced that I wanted to pursue a career in motion graphics and that I was going to focus on this throughout the course of the second year. This changed over the summer break as I began to think seriously about what I really enjoyed inside and outside of university and what would make and enjoyable future and career path after I finish my degree.

This year I have focused far more on getting experience using cameras and post production, I have always really enjoyed this and have decided it’s the right move for me.
Our first brief was ‘Future Cinema’. We were required to create a video or a series of videos to fit the brief, which was essentially to fine an alternative way in which to view cinema. On completion this would eventually be put into an exhibition space rented by the AUCB. With this project I decided I wanted to create something interactive. I remembered seeing a react-able video on youtube.com where the creators had used a programme called Max Msp to make objects react to sound and video. For example, turning sound up and down with a sphere that had been placed onto the table.
My idea was to create video and images of certain feelings/emotions that would be triggered off when a corresponding object was placed on the table. I really enjoyed going out on location and filming, and this was the first time I had real experience with organising where and when to shoot footage. The outcome was very experimental and abstract which was fun to edit in post-production. Overall this project was a great introduction to the second year, it also gave me more self-discipline and has given me a passion for working with and behind a video camera.

The second brief of this year was ‘Performance Video’ I got my idea for this project last year, as I wanted to create an interactive music gig, it didn’t fit the brief properly in the first year so I decided to use it for this project. This would be also be displayed in the exhibition and projected and triggered using sound with Max Msp again. My role in this project was organise meetings, shoots and edit to create visuals of each member of a band playing their instrument. This was my first experience working with musicians and it was a very good one, I feel that I have a lot more confidence in what I’m doing on a shoot and feel I have achieved more that decent social skill when working with a group of people.  I was unable to accurately achieve my goal with this project, as my personal time keeping was a bit off, and some shoots that were organised didn’t go to plan. I worked alongside another classmate who I feel let me down during this project. I’m taking this project as a learning curve and I have realised that you cannot always rely on other people to do their part towards achieving a goal. In the future I will make sure I always have a plan B.

New Perspective For New Contexts was a hard part of the course for me as I always find myself avoiding essay writing. I’m not a very confident writer and I personally don’t think it’s a strong point of mine. The project started with a series of debates ranging from subjects such as ‘Cinema Is Dead’ to ‘Girls Can’t Play Video Games’ where the class was divided into groups and asked to research into the subject and come up with arguments for and against. This was then used to debate in front of the class at the beginning of each session. I think the whole class found this really helpful when preparing for the essay writing as it gave everyone an insight into collecting research to put forward and argument. I found these debates helpful when it came to writing my essay. We also took part in the analysis of other essays. We were given examples of different kinds of essays people had written and asked to read them and give our own personal feedback on them. This was really helpful as it gave me ideas of how I could structure my essay.
My initial essay idea was to write about urban art and to discuss what is acceptable. My ideas for an argument weren’t very strong and I found myself putting off my essay writing. Also I realised that what I was writing about didn’t have much relevance to the course so I changed my subject.

I changed my essay to Comparing and contrasting nature and human-interest documentaries in terms of visual and narrative presentation of information. I felt this was far more relevant to the course and I found this subject extremely interesting to research into also I feel I learnt a lot more than I would have done had I chosen to carry on with my previous idea. After hand in I spoke to Amanda about my essay, she gave me some really positive feedback about it, and I achieved a good mark for it. This has really boosted my confidence for essay writing and I don’t think I’ll find the task as daunting next time I have to write one. I still have to get the hang of Harvard referencing but I’m sure I will get it exactly right next time.

I’ve really enjoyed the ‘Professional Project’ so far. It’s given me a real insight into what it would be like working on real shoot. We have been invited to take part in various shoots including two productions at the lighthouse theatre in Poole and a music video shoot with the band ‘State Of Undress’.
These multi camera shoots have been my favorite parts of the course so far, its really exciting to take part in and

We are also in the process of shooting our own music video with a band called ‘Wooden Pigs’ organisation of the shoot has been a bit messy at the moment but I am really looking forward to shooting it and eventually the final outcome of it. We have had meetings with the band and currently negotiating a date to shoot.
This year has given me a much greater outlook on what is available to me as a career. I spend a lot of my free time watching documentaries and I would really love to make them myself, or I would like to work as a cameraman.

In my third year it would be interesting to try and create my own documentary, I have talented classmates that could also be involved which gives me the perfect opportunity to assemble a skilled film crew, I also want to try and film music videos, I have a lot of close contacts in the music industry, music has always been a passion of mine but I’ve never been musically talented. I would like to be involved in the music industry on a professional level, as I have always been interested in making music videos. Since starting the professional project we have been given the opportunity to learn how these are put together and been given the chance to work with Phil Peel, a tutor who has an extremely good knowledge of this field of work.

I am going to concentrate on film work next year, and I want to build a portfolio for myself, something that really shows my interests and my strong points from what I have learnt. I have had a lot of fun with my work this year and it has been a lot more experimental than the first, but experimental in subjects that are of main interest to myself. I feel I have progressed further into a specific field and I have a clearer idea of where I want to go with the remainder of the course.

Daily Echo

There’s an article of the Daily Echo website about the video we shot for ‘State Of Undress’

http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/7984457.It_s_our_World_Cup_Anthem___by_Christchurch_band_State_of_Undress/#commentsList

State Of Undress

On the 22nd we are going to be filming a music video for the Dorset Band ‘State Of Undress’

They have written an unofficial world cup song and we have been asked to create a video to go along with it. The songs not really my cup of tea but it should be great to shoot none the less.

HISTORY

Charlie and Alan have been writing and performing as State of Undress, on and off, for longer than they care to remember. However due to family and work commitments it was always more off than on! Then, a few years ago, sitting outside a caravan in Brittany under a starlit sky and with glass of wine in hand, they made the decision to take this whole music thing seriously and so Charlie gave up her day job to work on State of Undress full-time. A couple of years later, Alan jumped off the corporate band-wagon too. Now they spend their days in a State of Undress, broke but happy! As they put it, they didn’t want to end up like the character in their song ‘Ghosts of Wasted Chances’ looking back thinking ‘if only ..’! However, it took more than two years to find the right members. Keith Fletcher on drums and percussion joined in December 2004; Samantha Jane started fiddling with us in December 2005; then Malcolm Windett on bass arrived in September 2006. Since then the band has gone from strength to strength.

taken from – http://www.stateofundress.com/band.php

Here’s a video of the band -

Dracula!

What are the chances?

I think filming dracula has been by far one of my favorite things that i’ve done on this course so far. In the same way we filmed Lady Windermere (multi cam) also at Poole Lighthouse.

It was really cool to be filming a more energetic performace and you really had to work hard to keep up with shots. I was positioned in the right wing of the theatre, and this time filming was far more intence. With Phil Peel directing us again i think its safe to say we did a prety good job.

Sometimes i struggled with keeping up with whoever i was filming as it was a fast paced performance you weren’t always sure where someone was suddenly going to move on the stage.

There was a lot wider use of lighting in this production so sometimes it would go dark and made it hard to keep track of actors. Also sometime a scene would start in the dark which made it quite hard to find someone to begin the scene with.

It was pretty cramped in there. Well good though!

After finishing we had a little watch of the footage that was recorded. It looked pretty sweet to be honest.