Improved Interviewer Voiceover

I caught up with the band at the famous Maple Studios, the home of numerous hits for the band. My plan was to speak to the band about life in the limelight, they lifestyles they led and the music

I then found Simon Casken, the bands producer at the very studios where three of the bands albums were recorded. Once a small unknown studio in Leeds it is now one of the UK's top recording venues. I asked Simon how it was recording with the band.

Here we can see the Lucorum pub, the place where the band started out playin gigs, they often joke that they played to crowds of fifty or less, most of whom were family, a huge difference to the massive following they have today.

Jacob Gill Improvements on first attempt

Improvements on first attempt

During our second attempt of filming we changed a great deal of things to film to the best of our ability. Firstly we changed our script around to create a loose relaxed feel to proceedings and giving the illusion of a true to life interview with a areal band. We also used interchanging angles and a bevy of shots to highlight the tone of the interviews as being formally like an interview but not a serious interview.

We also used more shots during filming so the film would not become stale and boring; we also used previous already filmed parts of the film as breakers in the interviews. Also the use of voiceovers to set the scene and to dictate the tone was used widely as the character of the interviewer was attempting to bring the viewer into the story of the band.

The second shoot also contained more rehearsal and therefore was a lot neater as a film, for instance people knew what to say, where to stand and how to act on camera to bring an authentic feel to the picture. The most valuable improvement though was the ability to pick up sound and music that the band where playing without distortion.

After the problems with the first attempt we learnt that the way to get this effect was to turn the mic pick up volume to low therefore louder sounds came in as normal, by doing this instead of dubbing over the music of a different already established band it gave the feel that the interview was again more authentic and more like it would be if a real band was being questioned on there roots etc.

Jacob Gill Problems with first attempt

Problems with first attempt of media film


On our first attempt of filming our media project we encountered various problems that needed addressing for our film to be a successful project. The first problem we encountered was that the script we had written was to rigid an inflexible for the film to have an authentic feel to it. After studying various interviews with bands and interviews in general we, as a group decided, that the best solution to this problem was to have a script for the interviewer (myself) to follow yet the answers that the band gave should be, to a degree, ad libbed yet containing key words from the script. For instance, the interviewer asks (from the script) “How has the band evolved since you started out?” the responding answer should have contained key phrases such as “we started out really raw” and also “we’ve really changed our sound” by using this method of dialogue we gave the illusion that the interview was relaxed and ‘off the cuff’ yet to a degree a script was stuck to for the most part of the interview.

The second problem we encountered during our shoot was the functions of the camera and the use of equipment. Before filming the white balance on the camera was not adjusted, which in turn gave a yellow hew through filming, this caused problems when it came to editing our film later. Another problem with the camera and equipment was that during scene’s where the band was playing instruments the boom we where using was picking up the sound on too high of a level meaning that the sound was too loud to use and distorted which could not be fixed in editing.

Another problem we faced during filming was that the camera we where using had not been set to a high definition setting which caused massive problems during editing and gave a bad quality of picture for the part of the film we had shot.

Jacob Gill Prop list and information

Prop List

· 2 Electric Guitars

· 1 Bass guitar

· 1 Full drum kit

· Assorted alcoholic drinks

· Cigarettes

· Assorted percussion instruments


From the above prop list it is obvious that we were trying to attain an authentic look of a band relaxing between gigs and attempting to write and play more music. We tried to create a relaxed casual atmosphere by leaving cans of alcohol discarded around the on screen set as well as still lit cigarettes. The actual use of such props such as the guitars, drums and percussion instruments where invaluable in creating an genuine feel of a band in its down time ‘jamming’ and thus indicating an actual band in session.

Jacob Gill Camera Information

Camera Information

The new HVR-HD1000U model is targeted toward wedding videographers, freelancers and educational video creators, offering them more versatility and more opportunities for generating business with a moderately priced camera.

“Our professional HDV camcorders are designed to offer customers high-definition shooting capability, along with maximum revenue-generating opportunities at a modest investment,” said Bob Ott, vice president of marketing for professional video products at Sony Electronics. “With its shoulder-mount design, this new camera brings affordable HD capabilities to a broader range of pro shooters.”

The HVR-HD1000U model supports both the HDV and the standard-definition DV formats. In DV mode, the unit can work exclusively as a DV camcorder, allowing users to maintain their current DV workflow without any disruptions. When needed, the camcorder can be instantly switched to high-definition mode.

The HDV format allows users to shoot approximately 60 minutes of HD video on a 6mm cassette tape. Sony’s highest-quality 6mm videotape, DigitalMaster™, is the recommended professional media for HDV applications. These 63-minute cassettes (model PHDVM63DM) use Sony’s AME (Advanced Metal Evaporated) II technology and features dual-active magnetic layers.

The new camcorder also has several down-conversion modes that output converted standard-definition signals to users’ current SD production systems, including displays and DV non-linear editing systems, while retaining an HD master tape for future use.

The camcorder adapts to a wide range of shooting situations and features a high-end Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonner T* 10x optical zoom lens to help reduce reflection. The Super SteadyShot™ (optical) feature of the unit is an image stabilizer using an active optical lens method that helps avoid any deterioration in image quality. The lens itself shifts vertically and horizontally to compensate for the polarized light axis in real-time.

The HVR-HD1000U camcorder uses Sony’s 1/2.9-inch ClearVid™ CMOS sensor system with its unique pixel layout rotated 45 degrees to provide higher resolution and sensitivity.

The camcorder’s photo creation functions can produce photo data for DVD jacket designs, website content, news, photo albums and other applications.

Users can capture up to 6.1 mega-pixel still images in Photo mode. In addition, it can capture up to 4.6 mega-pixel still images even while HD video is being recorded. For added flexibility, the new camera can capture still images from any moment of HDV recording in print-ready quality of up to 1.2 mega-pixels.

The camcorder also has a new configuration with an LCD monitor and an electronic view finder (EVF). The LCD monitor is in front of the camera operator when the camcorder is shoulder-mounted, and it is attached to the EVF level. This unique layout enables traditional EVF monitoring, as well as LCD monitoring for the operator even while the camcorder is held on the shoulder.

“The 180-degree tilt mechanism allows for LCD monitoring when the camcorder is held in a high- or low-angle position,” Ott said. “The 360-degree swivel mechanism will allow LCD monitoring from the front, right or even left of the camcorder so that a reporter or a director can monitor what is being captured by the camcorder.”

The "Smooth Slow Rec" function of the HVR-HD1000U camcorder allows users to perform slow-motion playback by capturing images at four times faster than the normal field rate (240 fields/s). In this mode, quad-speed images are captured for three seconds, stored in the camcorder's built-in buffer memory, and then recorded to tape (in either the HDV or DV formats) as slow-motion pictures lasting 12 seconds. When using this function, Ott said the resolution of the camera image is decreased.

The Super NightShot™ function of the new model uses a built-in infrared light emitter to record objects in zero lux light levels and to allow night-time monitoring and surveillance.

A multi-function assignable lens ring is located on the lens unit, and any one of the following functions can be assigned to the ring for easy adjustment: focus (default), zoom, brightness, shutter, auto exposure shift and white balance shift.

Other features include up to 10 hours operation using an optional NP-F970 battery, a range of digital I/O (HDMI, i.LINK®, USB, Memory Stick Duo™ slot), supplied external stereo microphone (ECM-PS1), and a multi-language menu.

Jacob Gill 5 minute analysis of a film

Analysis of a film

I have chosen to analysis the interview: Living with Michael Jackson the Martin Bashir, the infamous film documents the period of life where Bashir lives with Michael Jackson. I found on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFfeI3OCrP4.

The film begins with some hand held MCU of Bashir and Jackson having a conversation which pans from left to right between, this then fades to black. The next shot is a long shot of the gates of Jacksons’ home which are zoomed in on whilst a Jackson song is dubbed over the top, from this shot the opening titles fade in which consist of mainly long shot of Jackson dancing, walking or conversing with various people whilst a song is dubbed over the top and various names appear on the screen.

The next shot is a MCU of a merry-go-round spinning around whilst Bashir provides commentary over the top of this footage explaining the film and what it is about. The next shot is LS of a Ferris wheel slowly spinning while Bashir continues speaking, this fades out to reveal a shot of a fairground illuminated in the darkness.

The next shot is a hand held MCU of Jackson and Bashir conversing, this shot fades to a shot of a spinning carousel while the conversation between Bashir and Jackson is dubbed over the top, from this shot the camera pans left to reveal Jackson and Bashir, again in MCU still speaking.
The next shot is a long shot of a Ferris wheel and carousel again illuminated in the darkness with Bashir and Jackson talking over the shot. From this shot we fade to a MLS of Bashir and Jackson on the Ferris wheel talking, whilst Bashir provides a commentary over the top. From that shot we fade out to a LS of the fairground in the darkness whilst Bashir continues his commentary. From this we cut to a LS of Bashir and Jackson racing go-karts whilst Bashir provides commentary over the top, in this shot the incorporation of long pan shots are used to follow the karts through Bashir’s commentary. Then fade to black.

Conclusion
Overall the use of establishing shots of the fairground and some of the more childish aspects of Jacksons life help giver an snap shot of Jacksons psyche, I think Bashir used those shot for exactly that reason. Also the continued use of voiceover commentary helped give Bashir the chance to put across what the point of the documentary was about. I think that the extensive use of hand held camera shots was rather over indulgent and took away from the gravity of the interview where sometimes Jackson or Bashir were cut off camera due to it being hand held yet overall a good start for the interview.