Kill It Kid Evaluation

Today we completed the Kill It Kid edit.

The video opens with reviews on the band in white text on a black background. The track is already playing whilst just the reviews are on screen. I think this is good as it creates a sense of expectation at the quality of the band because they're are positive reviews from high class magazines such as NME. I also like the fact that you hear the track before you see the band, this is in the style of many live music sessions such as Abbey Road and MTV Live.

The video acts as an introduction to the band and in order to put this across there are freeze frames on each band member and then a title appears which gives their name and job in the group. This is an interesting way of doing it and keeps the video interesting instead of just listing names before or after the feature.

There's a wide variety of shots in the video which was made possible through the 4 different camera angles that we were able to get. Certianly some of the close up shots work really well and we were able to cut back to wide shots of the band whenever it was deemed neccessary.

There are a lot of slow motion shots throughout the video and I think some of them work stronger than others. I like the way that the opening shot of the band is in slow motion and it is used to good effect when it comes on the smash of a cymbal or a change in the dynamics of the songs but I do think it is a feature which is overused towards the end of the video. however I can see why it has been done, because it was difficult to sync up the live gig video with the track and without the slow motion it makes it feel strange to see the video in real time but set to a different song.

I think the shots of the handheld cameras or once again a little bit overused at times as there were some good shots got from the 2 cameras on the tripod a little further back. I think some longer shots would have hid the fact that the video and the audio wasn't matching aswell.

Kill It Kid Post Production

I took more of a backseat with the post production on this project because this is Tom and Harry's strong point.

I came in to do some logging and capturing on one of the days and labeled to the clips to make the editing process quicker and easier.

I also evaluated the footage that had been logged and captured and made some notes on difficulties that might occur within the editing process. The sound mix which we got from the engineer wasn't particularly great and it was a real effort to hear the basslines especially.

This influenced our decision to change the idea from a live gig video to a music video. We got in contact with the band manager and he sent us an mp3 of a song the band would like a video completed for so we went with this idea. This allowed us to experiment with the shots a bit more as it didn't have to document a gig in real time.

We also had issues as one of the cameras missed a changeover meaning that we had to re find the sync points for all cameras.

Kill It Kid - Production

On the day of the filming Keiran and I were in charge of logistics in terms of how we would get the kit there as we had 4 Z1's it wasn't just a case of taking on the bus. Keiran luckily had all the equipment so it was case of picking him up in Oldfield Road and driving to Komeida for around about 3pm which gave us around 4 hours to set up before the gig began.

After we had dropped all the equipment off at Komedia we had a look around the venue to see where would be the best place to have the cameras situated. We decided we would go with 2 cameras on tripods and 2 handheld. The 2 which we would put on tripods were placed with one behind the sound desk, which we would also use to get the feed for the music and we had one up in the second tier to get some really good sweeping shots and slow zooms of the band. We then had one handheld in the pit to get some atmosphere shots and finally one on stage with the band for some good close ups.

We took the decision not to film the other bands that we're performing on the night, mainly because of tape space and battery life for the cameras.

I was operating the camera in the second tier. It was my job to get shots mainly of the front man and keyboard player. These were the 2 lead singers of the group so they were my focus when getting close ups. I was also there to get shots of the band as a whole from a good vantage point. My camera would also act as a back up for if something went wrong with the others. This is because I had a good angle of the whole band and we could always use it as a fall back when cutting between the cameras in the pit and on stage.

After the gig we then waited in the lobby were we got some good vox pops from people about if they enjoyed the gig. We thought this would be a nice touch to round off the video as it is getting peoples opinions on the band and what the atmosphere was like and most of all their opinions of the set as a whole. There was strong positive feedback from the audience which would make it nice to add to a promo video for the band.

We had 2 tapes each and all agreed to change tapes after the 5th track. This was so all the tapes would have the same start and end point. In a 9 song set we were worried that we may run out of time on one single tape. The tape change overs were really the only stressful thing as we only had a short time in between songs to do them.

Overall I felt the production process went well. We all had a clear idea of what we were supposed to be focusing on so we wouldn't all be filming the same band member or drum solo for example. The tape changeover for myself went smoothly and I felt confident about the number of different shots that I got.

Kill It Kid - Pre Production

For our module re-take we decided to produce a gig video on a band called Kill It Kid.

We deliberated on many ideas for a while. The one we seemed most likely to run with was a music video. We were going to use Harry's contacts and look to create a drum and bass video based around the idea of a chase. For this I looked into different music videos which already existed for this genre and researched common features within them.

We scrapped the music video idea because with our other work from our second year we wouldn't have much time to cast, get locations, permissions and possibily film over a number of days.

We then were presented the opportunity of filming Kill It Kid at the Komedia in Bath.

In order to prepare for this I checked out Kill It Kid's music on MySpace so we could familiarise ourselves with their music. This was important as having a prior knowledge of the songs allowed us to plan our shots a lot better. For example if we knew a guitar solo was coming up at a certain point we could focus in on the key element of that section of the song.

Media Event blog 3

Today all the speakers had a run through of their introductions and recieved feedback from Lesley and the other group members.

In general my opening speech was fine. I was comfortable with welcoming the students however I just needed to work on my description of the game and really do it in basic terms.

Media Event blog 2

We came up with the activities for the media event these will be.

1.) Big Draw

This will be an animation excercise using stop motion. it involves a lrge sheet of paper and a stills camera. All participants rush in and have 5 seconds to draw as much as possible of an object like a tree for example. When the 5 seconds are up they have to rush back out and a picture is taken. Then all the pictures will be put together and the students will get to see how it all developed.

2.) Green Screen

This activity aims to give the students an insight into the medium of green screen. It will begin with the process of green screen which is called chromakeying and brief talk about how it all works. Then a game will be played based along the same lines as 'Whose Line Is It Anyway'. an image or video will be placed behind someone infront of the screen and using a similar format to '20 questioms' they have to guess what's behind them.

3.) Cowboy Shootout

This will be an activity based around shotting a short scene. They have to create and make a showdown scene which includes filming and directing it. The film will then be editied and shown to the students at the end of the day.

I've been placed in charge of the green screen room which means working with Ant and introducing the students to the activity.

Media Event blog 1

we were given the task of putting on a media event for BTEC students the City of Bath College. The event has to be a full day and we are in charge of everything that happens. This means coming up with the activities, attempting to get press coverage and ensuring all the legalities are in check.

To help us to this we have divided oursleves into 3 groups -

1.) Marketing

2.) Ideas organising

3.) Technical

It will be the job of the marketing team to get the press coverage, meet the students participating and in genereal be the main source of contact for all outside parties.

The ideas team will be entrusted with structuring the activities and the day in general. They will also work closely with the marketing team in sorting out logistics.

The techinical team are in charge of all tech specifications. This means making sure the activities chosen are do-able and ensuring all booking is taken care of.