As Live Unit: Project Update

We had a workshop in the studio with Hans last Thursday with a band called The Jacs. We were due to have The Soundcasters playing for us, but as they couldn't make it, I asked someone I know involved in bands to ask around for us and she managed to organise the band and bring her own sound equipment, which we were really grateful for. The band are brand new and surprised everyone with their talent, so I'm glad we can offer them the footage of them playing and some photos taken by the promotion team. 

We were a bit delayed due to some studio issues. The aim of the day was to set up cameras and practice shooting music as live in the gallery. Jane and Alex are the main camera operators, so they were responsible for the cameras and making sure they were set-up the same. Jane was on the track at the front of the stage and Alex was hand-held. We'll need some production assistants to help set-up the bands and the set on the day.

From looking at the space of the studio with the 1st years and one band, and imagining a set in as well, it has been decided that we are likely to reduce the amount of audience members we'll be having in the studio on the day. 

At the end of the day, our sound department (Paul, Rory and Jo) managed to meet and talk about the plans for the day. 


Looking at other parts of the production... 

VT teams for the 'Gig Guide' and 'A Day in the Life..' are cutting it fine filming the VTs. I've given them filming opportunities but unfortunately they've not been able to make them. For the 'Gig Guide' VT the last resort is filming The Maidstone Fringe Festival and pieces with Jess. I've handed over the programme for the festival to Hennie. This doesn't give them the ideal amount of time to edit the VT.

For the 'Day in the Life...' VT, we've been in contact with Daryl (the drummer for Standing On Giants), who has been able to arrange one rehearsal which the team weren't able to film. So he is trying to arrange another rehearsal early this week. They will also be filming sequences with him at William Hill to show where he works. They also wanted to arrange filming with Simon, the singer. They've also been in contact with Jess, our presenter, who now has a busier schedule, but was able to make the other filming days that the crew couldn't make. 

Promotion-wise. Dan has been adding lots of content to the website, filming interviews and coming to a CAFT meeting, as well as making the most of other opportunities. I have created a new poster which I've finished with the aid of Dean which is ready to print, it seems likely that now I'll have to create my own budget to pay for the printing of these.. I assume the graphics are being worked on, as well as a possible trailer and title sequence. 

Dean and I have been updating the script and we'll be asking Adam to come in and share his thoughts and brief him on what the plan is for the day and decide on what we'd like him to wear. I need to finalise the call sheets, running order and start the health and safety and risk assessment forms, and have these ready to print and distribute. 

I've almost got all the bands tracks and trying to get hold of lyrics for the show so Lauren can get going on her thoughts for the band's performances. I expect that she's already started her camera script for the pieces around this. She'll also be making camera cards and a plan for the camera positions. 

As Live Unit: Research

I'm just looking back at some old music shows that are very similar to the show we will be making May 17th to see how they're put together.

One to look at is "The Old Grey Whistle Test" (BBC2 1971 - 1987)

In this clip, the presenter is on stage with the band interviewing them with a handheld mic before they play. This is similar to parts of our script, where Adam can jump onto the stages and chat to the bands, I had planned this technique for The Charlie Rivers Band interview, but instead we may have them move to the interview area.

The reason I look at older programmes is that they're very similar to what we can achieve, camera techniques alter over time, but I like the "edge" of these programmes compared to the polished TV programmes of our time on BBC1 and ITV, especially in terms of lighting. One interesting shot which we could use, is a CU of the mixing desk, to give a more 'live' atmospheric feel. A lot of the music performances feature a lot of dissolves, and zooms out.

On another note, Jo and Fran filmed their VT on Thursday at Pizza Express which went well I hope! I'm going to edit together the first two songs we recorded as a thank you to the band and to put on the website. 

Tuesday afternoon, Dan is coming to see CAFT to take a look at their progress and get some behind-the-scenes stuff of them artexing the walls. 

Other than that, I'm scripting, promoting, and making sure the VT's go ahead. 

Fiction Adaptation Unit: Update

Here is the finished video from this unit.

The Burning Of The Leaves from Lauren Woodfall on Vimeo.

Fiction Adaptation Unit: Post-Production

Almost finished my fiction adaptation. All the text is in, transitions, grading and colour correction done. Just final tweaking to be made. I've experimented with the text, to become parts of some of my video, and with various movements and effects added to bring some words to life. Overall, I think all the pieces work together now. I'm glad I didn't overshoot for this unit, as I storyboarded and filmed what I needed in a variety of takes for me to choose. I feel like there's a lot of variety as I used many different techniques to create this piece. 


In the end, I could of made it really simple and focused on one thing, but each part of the video I have treated as a separate piece, and brought them all together through the poem, and I hope it has created a mood. The soundtrack was also very important, I'm lucky enough to know some talented people who can create this kind of music, and I gave them a lot of direction in what I needed, what mood, style, instruments. I have a recording of the poem being read out load also, but I've used this only to match the pacing of the on-screen text. 


I'm not usually keen on using text on screen in Final Cut Pro, but after a while I felt more experimental so I just did what I felt was needed, movements and fiddling with the fades using the pen tool. Colour grading is always more difficult in this program, I used some simple effects like invert, threshold, vignette, colour corrector 3-way, desaturate, lens flare. 

Screenshot of FCP

As Live Unit: Project Update

I drew up a list of requirements we need in terms of sound, whether the studio has them or not, which I'm not sure if they do. But, I asked Lauren to contact a sound guy I know well and who she happens to know from the past. Sound guys will have all the equipment, but as he's a professional he won't do it for free, but as we know him, he will discount us. We need him to mix the sound in the studio for the PA and to send the feeds to Paul's desk for the record. This is the easiest and only solution to our sound problems. 


What we need:

5 X MONITORS 

4 X SM57’S (AMPS +1 FOR SNARE)

6 X SM58’S (VOCALS)

1 X PAIR NT5’S (DRUM OVERHEADS)

4 X DI BOXES (3 FOR ACOUSTIC STAGE, 1 SPARE)

2 X BASS DRUM MICS (CAJON AND KICK)

Fiction Adaptation Unit: Post-Production

I'm in the process of editing. The soundtrack is finished. And I have a recording of the poem as spoken so I can match the pacing to the text. I love the artistic freedom with this project, I'm now trying to bring all my ideas together. I've started to add some text in, refine the cut, and add effects. Here's some stills, some still unfinished: