Professional Practice: Uploading my Video to Youtube & Vimeo

Using the new Final Cut Pro X, I was able to simply export my video straight to Youtube and Vimeo. This is a really easy tool to use and very useful, rather than export the video as a large file, then having to compress it, loosing quality of the film. Here are screenshots showing how the video is presented on both sites.

My client now has a copy of the video and this will be encoded into his website within the next few days.

Professional Practice: Presenting the Video to my Client

I have talking all week with Adam about the video and now it is finished, we decided that it should be uploaded onto an online platform so that it was able to be viewed by other people within the company with ease.

I have had some great feedback about the video, which is always good to hear! Both Adam and Jed are really pleased with the overall look of the video, telling me it was just as 'slick' as they wanted it. Adam agreed not to use the GoPro clips if they didn't match the overall tone of the piece, and after showing him the footage, we both agreed that some of the background in the shot were unsightly. Adam also commented on the text and headings, noting that they match perfectly with his website.

I am really pleased to get some positive feedback, and am pleased that I have managed to make a good quality film, even after leaving such little time to have it shot and edited. I have learnt from this project that I should enable myself to use the full time I have to push my projects that step further, knowing that if I had more time, the video may have been even better and I could improve things like the saturation and colour correction could be enhance a little more. Overall, I am pleased with the finished product, especially having edited it using software which I am completely unfamiliar with.

Professional Practice: The Finished Product

Here is the finished version of my Professional Practice Commission Video which I was commissioned to make by Adam Chandler at '28 Events'.

Professional Practice: Finishing the edit & Exporting

Now the video is finally edited and finished, I was able to export the video. Using Final Cut Pro X meant exporting differently from what I am used to with Final Cut Pro 7. The export menus are easy to use on the newer version and made things really easy. The video didn't take long to export as a quick time file, but took longer to share to my youtube channel straight from Final Cut, which is a new feature which I thought I would try out. This worked well, and once I had logged into my account, my video uploaded straight onto it! I was then able to use the video manager on youtube through my account page to edit the video, titles and description. Im really pleased with the final outcome of the video, especially as I have had such a quick turnaround from my shoot to the finished edit. 

Professional Practice: Transitions between tracks

I spoke to my client and about the transitions between each track and we decided to opt for a dissolve from one shot into another. I made sure that two of the same shots didn't dissolve into one another and didn't look like a jump cut. I used a cross dissolve between each track, adjusting the length to what look best. I also faded out the previous track and brought the knew track in. I kept the fade out quite slow, and the fade in for the new tracker is a bit quicker. This gives a really nice effect within the video. I have showed my client what the transition between each track will look like, and he agreed that it looked good.  These images show the first shot, during transition, and the out shot.

Professional Practice: My client's typeface and style

Once I had finished the general cutting, syncing and correction of my image and audio, I then started to look at Font and Typeface for my opening titles and astons. I had agreed with my client that I would use the same font which matched with the font used on the website where the video would be displayed. Adam was very useful, as he had built the website himself and knew exactly what the font was called, I was then able to download and install the font on my Mac so that I could use it for my text.

We had agreed the the opening title would read - "Acoustic Band - featuring Adam Chandler & Jed Sharpe". We had also decided that we would have an aston for the start of each song which would display the title and artist of each track. Using Final Cut Pro X, gave me great options as to how i could display my text and I am really pleased with the outcome. I put drop shadows and glows on each of my text clips so that they were easy to read when displayed on a white background, as the text itself was kept white.  I like the look of the text and think it looks very slick and professional, which matches well with the brand image. Here are some stills which show the titles and also a screen shot from the website where the video will be encoded, showing the matching typeface.

Professional Practice: Colour Correcting the Edit

Although, I am really pleased with my shots for the video, I was a bit worried about the colour of some of the clips. The white balance was very hard to set in the studio as the lighting kept changing, knocking the WB out of place, and also the movement within the studio meant that the WB sometimes looked blue. This is hard to see on the viewer on the camera and I was only really able to see how blue some of the clips looked once they were uploaded onto the iMac.

These two shots show the difference in colour when compared to one another. I was struggling to find a quick way to correct each shot, and sat down with our 'man in the know' (Fergus) to try and sort the colour. He showed me such a simple way to change the colour of the clips using the software 'Colour'. This blew my mind at how these clips could be enhanced within seconds (albeit by someone who knows the software incredibly well), but in the long run, would take far too long to export all of my clips as XML files, colour correct them, render them back through and import them back into Final Cut. This process would work out way too long and just wouldn't be viable for the turnaround in which I need to have my edit finished.

So...I found a colour match tool in Final Cut Pro X which would allow me to match my colour to another shot. This didn't work very well and I ended up with really dark shots and shadows. After this failing on me, I decided to try and have a play around with the colour tools on Final Cut Pro X, which I hadn't used before, and to my surprise, I was able to alter the levels I needed to correct the colour. From the software Fergus showed me, I knew that I needed to increase the red within my shot, just to add a bit of warmth and take away from the harshness of the blue. I also needed to bring the saturation up a tiny bit, just to bring the colours in their clothes out a bit brighter. I was able to do this after about an hour playing around with different tools and waveforms which I wasn't sure how to use! Now i know my way around the colour correction pallet which will definitely help me in future projects. Below is a screen shot in which you can see how I have altered the colour. I am pleased with the final colour of the clips and relieved that I was able to modify them within the short time I had left myself.

Professional Practice: Go Pro Shots

During our shoot, we used a GoPro camera which we attached to the bottom of Jed's guitar to get some close up clips of him playing. After reviewing the clips, I wasn't really happy with how they looked, and thought that they looked messy at time and also gave a strange angled shot which almost made you feel a bit sea-sick if you looked at it for too long! I originally planned to use these clips in the transition of each track, but decided to leave them out as it didn't fit with the style of the video and just wash't to the same standard as the other clips we shot. These clips also caught some ugly things in shot such as the light rig, a window, and sometimes even me filming! Also, they fought a nasty reflection from the lighting we used which also took away from the initial shot which was another reason why I chose to leave them out. Heres a still from one of the clips so that you can see what the angle looked like and why I decide not to use these shots.

Professional Practice: Syncing Audio

Once all of the my clips were imported into Final Cut Pro X, I started to sync my audio to my sound. After many failed attempts at using the 'multi cam' tool and also the 'automatic sync' tool, I decided to sync the sound the old school way and do it manually for each clip. It took me a full day to match up the audio just to my wide shot clips which I filmed on the Sony EX Cam, and I then had to find shorter clips which I could then cut down and match the audio with them too. 

Having a 'Clapper' at the start of each track helped me so much and enabled drop my videos clips in at where they roughly should have been, meaning I only needed to tweak them a little to get the sound on the mark. Final Cut Pro X is a software which I am not very familiar with, however, I was able to get to grips with it quite easily. This version was easier for me to use in relation to sound, as the viewer allows you to see the wave formats much more clearly then Final Cut Pro 7. I also used markers during my edit which were a great help, and something which I have not really used before. I fell like I have learnt a lot from using the newer version and I can't wait to get editing again!

Professional Practice: Editing the footage

This morning I have started to edit the footage which I managed to shoot yesterday at the studio. Im very happy with the outcome of the clips and also the sound quality. I think that the edit will be tricky syncing up all of the clips from each camera but I have found a tool on 'Final Cut 10' which enables me to almost vision mix my clips as if I was editing live in a studio.

Using this tool means that Ill have to sync the sound from the clips from each of the cameras before i start to mix them. I made sure on our shoot that we had somebody to introduce each scene and clap before we started each track as we didn't have a clapper board on hand. By using this 'clap', we can sync the clips from the exact point, ensuring that they all match up to the sound.

Professional Practice: Shooting the Video

Toady we finished the shoot in the studio. We spent around 4 hours recording different songs. We shot short sections from around 10 songs. Our sound was recorded straight from the sound deck through an iMac. I am really pleased with the quality of the sound.

I used a Sony EX Cam to shoot most of our wide shots, and had two Canon DSLRs to shoot close ups and GVs from different angles. We decided to shoot with a studio feel and made the most of the surroundings available. We hired studio lighting which looked really effective in our shots. I also used a small Go-Pro camera which we attached to the end of our client's guitar. This has given us some really cool angled shots looking along the strings of the guitar.

Our clients were really easy to work with today and provided us with all of the footage we needed. The clips from the shoot look great and I'm really excited to start editing them! Here are some still which I have taken behind the scenes at todays shoot.

Professional Practice: Booking the Studio

Today we have managed to book a local Photography Studio for our shoot next week. We have booked it from 12-5 which should give us plenty of time to shoot the tracks which we need. We have decided to choose the white backdrop for our shoot and we can do much more with it. Speaking to Adam about how he wants the videos to look has helped me decide on how I want to utilise my cameras.

We have also book huge studio lighting which is on a moveable ceiling rig. Using this rig instead of using the smaller tungsten lights means we should get a more even spread of lighting, plus, if we shoot with a studio-style, these lights will look great on camera.

Lux Studios - Maidstone - Check out the studio which we are going to use next Wednesday!

Professional Practice: Working with my client & managing my time

Due to the nature of the work which my client does, he is often really busy, making it difficult for us arrange times which are suitable for both of us to shoot. This is something which I have struggled with throughout my Professional Practice Unit and Has made things harder for me to plan. I have also found it difficult to manage my time correctly throughout this semester of my course. This has taught me to give equal amounts of time to both of the Units which I am doing at that time.

Professional practice: Formulating Ideas for my Shots

I have been looking at some different styles to shoot our video. I have been looking at several styles of music video and discussing this with my clients to meet his needs for the video.

Here is a previous video which was made for my client. We liked the style of this, but thought it could be a lot sharper. The image quality could be better and although I wasn't too keen, my client liked the idea of a plain white backdrop. I agree that it definitely focuses on the artists more and doesn't distract the viewers eyes from anything else. Once we have booked our studio space and have looked at our options, we will decide what will be the most suitable backdrop.

This is a still shot from Jessie J's video for the song 'Wild'. The use of a plain white background is really effective within the video, although we also see a studio setting which surrounds the white space, also with cameras and equipment in shot.

Another advantage of using a plain white backdrop is that graphics and effects can be added in easily and are much clearer than if the are over any other image. This is something that we would like to think about, especially if we are going to shoot a medley of different tracks which may need astons. Here is an example of a white backdrop shoot with graphics that have been overlaid in edit.

Professional practice: Changing our plans

Due to the enormity of the production of a multi-cam shoot, my commissioner and I have decided to change the shoot. I will still produce a promotional video for him and his partner for their website http://www.acoustic-duos.co.uk

We are looking to book a professional studio to film which can offer us a nice backdrop for our shoot. this will add more to the video we produce and give the film an overall more professional finish.

Major Project: Writing the Voice Over

As we have had people auditioning for the part of Narrator/ Voice Over, I decided to write some samples for them to read to us during their audition. I looked at voiceovers for other mockumentary style programs such as 'Twenty twelve' and 'The Office'. I found that the narrator nearly always takes on a serious role and is used as if they were talking about a real documentary which is focusing on serious issues. I quite liked the idea of the narrator contradicting every visual we see, up-selling the situation for something it really isn't.

I also like the idea of using a lot of statistics and figures within our VO's. This makes it very factual in reference to the visuals we are seeing. I did some research for some facts and figures about tea and coffee which i thought would be suitable for Margo's. I found some useful numbers which I was able to put into my VO samples, and also came across a great find - 'Warburtons Great British Breakfast Report'. This had some great statistics that we can use for our VO's and also some funny and unusual facts about british breakfast habits. This is perfect for the feel we want to get across from our narrator.

Here are some of the VO samples which I wrote for our applicants to read at their auditions...

"In 2012 us brits spent £730 million on coffee. This morning, Guy is about to serve just one of the 400 billion cups consumed on the planet each year."

"Guy has known Mandy for over 5 years. He moved from London last year and has been working in Margo’s ever since. His dream is to become a West End Superstar and graduated from Drama school with a degree in the Creative arts and specialized in Theatrical dance."

"Mandy has owned Margo’s for the last 7 years. She has two children, Charlie who’s 23 and Jessica who is 21. She lives at home in Kent with her husband Ian and their two cats, Winston and Boyce."

"Sophie started work in Margo’s back in May. She is currently studying for her degree in social economics and is predicted a first. Her favorite food is macaroni cheese and has been a grade 6 piano player since the age of 14."

"Statistically, Liverpudlians are the biggest toast eaters in the UK, people from Leeds are more likely to eat porridge for breakfast, and Londoners eat more fresh fruit in the morning than anywhere else. It’s 9.43 at Margo’s and Mandy is already onto her fourth loaf of bread, her 9^th bottle of milk and has already finished off a whole jar of apricot jam."

After hearing the many different styles and accents these could be read in at the auditions, we have found someone suitable for Margo's who has a great voice. Both Melissa and I agreed that we had found our VO artist as soon as they left their audition. 

Major Project: Margo's Casting & Contracts

This week, Melissa and I have been casting for our characters for 'Margo's. We have held auditions at the Studios for two days and seen people for for each role, including the VO.

We found all of our applicants through Casting Call Pro which a great way to find actors for films. From our advert, we received lots of applications, and it was left for us to decide who we invited to audition for us.

Mel and I made mutual decisions on each role, and we knew exactly the people we wanted after the auditions had finished. We have now been in contact with each applicant to inform them that they have been given their role. We are now in the process of sending out their contracts to them.

Here is one of the contracts which has been drafted to be sent to our actors. We decided to do this to ensure that we are not let down at the last minute, both parties know exactly what we are doing and what they are signing up for and what we should expect from each other as being part of the shoot.

Profesional Practise: Meeting my Clients Needs

I have met with my client for lunch today to discuss our ideas about our shoot. So.. heres the idea. We have a full 8-piece band, available to hire for events and functions, who are dressed in full 'Star Wars' costume. each member will be a different character and the will perform well known songs.

This idea came about by the director of 28 Events, adam, and is something that he has hoped to do for a long time. We have discussed that I will produce a video to promote and advertise the band online. The video will be about 5 minutes long and will consist of a montage of different performances within the band. Adam has asked for a comical yet serious video which I'm sure I will be able to produce for him.

I am going to shoot this with three cameras, and record just visuals, not sound. This will be recorder in a sound studio and synced during the edit. This will be quite a complicated shoot but I feel comfortable that we can fulfil the client's needs.

The venue and date are still to be decided as my client is extremely busy with other projects, however, I have reminded him that this is key so that the planning process can begin and that I can ensure that the equipment I need will be available on that day.

Major project: casting for 'Margo's'

Melissa and I have called ourselves "Salt&Pepper Productions". We are using a production company name to work under as we believe that it is more professional when casting.

So we have now started our casting process for our show 'Margo's'. We have done this via casting call Pro and our advertisement was published online last week. Since being published, we have had over 50 applicants across the three roles advertised and also for our voice over.

We are well and truly chuffed to bits with the amount of applications we've had and have already contacted all hopeful applicants. We are now in the process of organising an audition date and inviting them to an interview for the roles. We will provide them with a short section of the script which we would like them to perform for us, but will ask them to do this in small groups so that we can establish who will be best suited for which role.

Here is the screenshot of the email which we sent to our applicants...

The Shine Marathon!

Tonight I'm walking a full marathon (26miles) in aid of Cancer Research around central London through the night! Please help me reach my target and sponsor me as much as you can! You can do so here on my just giving page! All donation are gratefully received! Thanks Guys!

http://www.justgiving.com/AshleyKay

Working for the BBC: Later... with Jools Holland

I think it's about time I write an entry about my time working on 'Later... with Jools Holland' at Maidstone TV Studios. Before the start of series 42, I was told that there was a chance for me to work on the show through the contacts at Maidstone Studios and my Uni course. I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to be a runner on the show for the duration of the series. This was an amazing opportunity for me, not only to be working on a live BBC show, but also a chance for me to meet some real experts in the industry and get to become part of the team who create such an amazing show.

I would work every tuesday for 8 weeks, as a runner during the live show and the record for the friday night show. I would provide drinks to the VIP guests, work with the audience team and also run for the production team and the gallery. Getting the chance to stand in a television gallery during a live performance being aired on BBC was the most incredible and surreal experience. Having interaction with series directors and producers gave me the chance to ask any questions I had about how things are done and why they are done that way.

This picture shows Director, Janet Fraser Crook and Executive Prodcucer, Mark Cooper discussing ideas about the new home for the show at Maidstone Studios.

Working on the show meant I received call sheets and schedules for each weeks shows, plus access to scripts, running order and risk assessments for each week. This was great for me as I could get a better understanding of how things were meant to look, what needed to be included and what the purpose was for each bit of paperwork (and there was lots!). It also meant that I was part of the crew, so I had the opportunity to talk with members from each area, whether it be camera, lighting, sound, or even other important people like make-up and wardrobe and the warm up guys! I had such an amazing time working on the show and was able to meet so many talented people. I now understand what goes into making such a large scale production and also how each sub-section of the crew comes together to make the show.

My first night on the show was amazing! I came home buzzing with excitement, and believe it or not, the first person I met on set was the man himself, Mr Jools Holland. As I walked in the production office, there was a large group of people singing Happy Birthday to the production manager. Jools turned around, saw me at the door, walked over and shook my hand and introduced himself. We had a brief chat about the show and what I would be doing, had a piece of birthday cake, and he thanked me in advance for the work I was about to do and it was quickly onto getting me used to the studio, having a look at what was around and getting my bearings before the audience arrived.

As a runner, I was paid for each shift. I had a BBC Contract, which was very exciting as this was the first paid role I have had within the television industry. I also got to meet a lot of the talent on the show, the likes of Dido, Liam Gallagher, Cerys Matthews, The Eagles and Jamie Cullum, to name a few. The was a great experience which I will never forget! As well as being paid to work on such an amazing show, I also got to see performances from such amazingly talented artists!

This was an experience that I will cherish, although may seem silly to some people, but for me, I had the most incredible time and feel truly grateful for such an amazing opportunity that the UCA Broadcast Media course provided for me.

Professional Practise: Location

So, I have spoken with my client for my commission piece and we are currently looking for a location to film our shoot. My client is looking to hire a space/venue for the shoot and I have been looking for suitable places! I have found the most amazing venue and would LOVE to shoot here. We are now in contact with the venue to enquire about prices of hire. This would be an amazing experience to shoot in this type of venue and would look stunning on screen.

So here's the venue.... it's called Wilton's Music Hall and it's in Whitechapel, East London. This is handy too as I know the area so well, having been born in Whitechapel!

This venue is stunning and would be amazing for a shoot, especially a music piece. I'm really excited to hear back from them to see if it is available to us within our clients budget.