Professional Practice- Researching The Friday People

I thought it would be a great idea to do some more in-depth investigation into the history of the Friday People so that I may better understand the charities purpose and past successes. This would allow me to have a deeper understanding of what they're about, and would make later tasks (such as formulating stories for the promotional videos I plan to make) a lot easier.
I began my search by checking out a website that we were provided with my Nick Ward. The website was http://www.fridaypeople.org.uk/ and as soon as I visited the site, I was greeted by a promotional video advertising the charity. The video in question is here:


This video appears immediately when visiting the Friday people's website, and though being a quite attractive, enjoyable piece of film- it doesn't (in my opinion) do a particularly fantastic job of showcasing what the charity does.I also noticed that the video seems to be very heavy on the use of music, with little to no dialogue. Therefore, it does come across as a little bit of a music video, as opposed to a video promoting the work of The Friday People.
Therefore, when creating our promotional videos for the website, I feel it may be better if we are slightly heavier on the information side of the video, with more emphasis on what exactly the Friday People do, and how they go about it.
This should give viewers a lot more info on the charity, and will potentially attract unemployed youth into wanting to attend the charities events.

Studio Production Unit- Trying out other roles.

At todays studio production workshop, I focussed on undertaking other roles, to see how they relate to my main role as a sound technician. A couple of the roles I had involved; camera operator and Production Assistant.
I have some experience with P.A work previously to this workshop, and so I found that this was much more of a refresher than anything. I really enjoy everytime I work as a P.A as I am quite intelligent when it comes to using timing and such in order to keep the pace of the show.

When I was suggested as having the role of camera operator, I was quite hesitant, because I haven't used a camera in an office environment before, and I haven't really had the interest to do so. However, Hans was adamant that I at least give being a camera operator a try, and so I begrudgingly agreed to do so.
I am happy to say that I am very glad that I did give it try though, because I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and found that it was actually very easy to be a cameraman once I understood the ins and outs and had mastered how to refocus the camera etc.
I feel as though today was an exercise in understanding the importance each role of the studio production team has in relation to the other roles, and as a result it has reaffirmed the fact that each member of the team is essential to this project.

Studio Production Unit- Researching Sound etiquette

I have recently been doing a lot of research into my role as a Sound Operator and have been using several different books and online resources to expand my existing knowledge of sound.
An important book I came across was a book called Sound-on-Film: Interviews With Creators of Film Sound, which features many extensive interviews with Sound Operators that have worked on large scale productions.
A particular subject I learnt using this resource was basic etiquette when it comes to fulfilling my job as a sound op. For example, one interviewee; Jack Solomon is asked; "should a production assistant call "cut" if there is a problem with sound during a take?" and responds "I feel the director has the same pair of ears I have. I won't cut."
I thought this was an appropriate and respectful approach to sound recording, and as such I think I may adopt this process when I am recording sound out and about.
Overall, while not contributing much to my technical sound learning, I felt that this book helped give me a greater understanding about how

ADDED 24/4/2015-
Also, as mentioned in a previous blog, I had the opportunity to speak with Paul Brice, who has had years of experience working as a professional Sound Engineer. A lot of what was mentioned in the Sound-on-Film book was mirroring certain things Paul spoke to me about during my time working with him, and so I believe these pieces of work etiquette that were described to me may be an overall consensus felt by sound operators in general. As such, I felt that picking Paul's brain and researching the contents of the Sound-on-film book gave me a fantastic idea about how I should act and operate as a Sound Mixer, and I would therefore have been able to operate in a similar professional manner to actual industry workers, and therefore be able to help produce the best sound work I possibly could.

Domestic Violence- Day of the Shoot and some problems

Today we completed the shoot for the domestic violence VT. This was a particularly tricky VT to shoot, as it required the use of covert film-making. As a result, we couldn't get the greatest shots we wanted, as we had to hide the cameras behind objects discreetly and capture the reaction of several unsuspecting people.
I had no part in the decision of where the cameras were placed really, and as such this gave me more time to focus on the placement of various sound capture devices. Sound would be an exceptionally important aspect to capture for this VT so I decided to be particularly careful with the placement of the equipment, and also who was mic'd up with radio mics.
Myself and Mike both agreed that we definitely needed the two contributing actors (that would be playing the abusive couple for this particular VT) to be wearing the radio mics to collect the best possible recordings of their conversation.
I also decided to incorporate a ZOOM recorder into the sound set-up. The ZOOM has surprisingly good sound capture capabilities, and as such I felt that this would be a perfect way for us to capture atmospheric sound from the room, and also potentially the reaction of the unsuspecting contributors that would be waiting for a fake "interview."

Before the shoot, myself and Mike actually found a small problem with the radio mics, where they were producing strange high-pitched sounds. At the start we didn't really understand why the microphones were making this noise, and blamed it on some faulty wiring. However, after some more investigation, we discovered that the sound was actually interference from the other microphone, which was caused by the fact that the microphones were on a very similar frequency.

After changing the frequency however, we managed to eliminate the strange sound completely and the sound recording went fine. Obviously there are some issues with the microphones making contact with the contributors clothing, causing strange sound artefacts, but this is something myself and Mike can work with in post-production programs like Audacity and Audition. The sound won't be perfect, but it should at least be very useable.

The problems we encountered with this shoot aren't too unusual to experience, as covert film making, while incorporated with using the radio mics in ways I have never done before caused some problems. However, all in all I feel that myself and Mike handled the situation and problems incredibly well and as such we know what works in covert film-making and what doesn't.
I have no idea if I will be involved with covert film-making ever again, but at least I have some idea of how this kind of recordings work and how they can be shot- which may or may not be useful in my future plans.

Studio Production Unit- Body Image VT Shoot

Today I attended a shoot for the Body Image VT which will be shown as part of the studio production unit. My job on this particular shoot would involve me mostly operating the sound equipment, which I had booked yesterday. The kit I took included.

• Sound Kit- Rode Mic, XLR Cable, Gun handle, boom pole
• Zoom Recorder
• Radio Mics.

These pieces of equipment were hired out specifically due to the fact that we would be filming indoors and we wanted to get as many different sources of sound as possible so that we could provide our editors with lots of alternatives to choose from.

Some problems I came across which I really had no control over involved background sound from other people in the UCA building (where we were recording) and the sound of an elevator which made the pipes in the building's ceilings vibrate whenever it was in use.

We wouldn't have usually had a problem with this, but the sound was really loud at certain points, especially when the contributor was trying to speak in an interview with the radio mics.

I am hoping that this is something myself and mike can work on in editing.

Another problem I came across which I did my best to rectify was the fact that the Zoom I had hired out seemed to be producing some strange sounds whenever the XLR inputs were in use. However, I fixed this problem by strapping the Zoom recorder to the boom pole with a lot of duct-tape and recording sound directly to the Zoom itself. This seemed to eliminate the problem, but wasn't too easy to use.

Another problem was that I got arm ache after a while, but this is pretty much part of the territory.

Dissertation Proposal- Research into Stereotypes

I have begun my extensive research into the working of stereotypical characters, not just in soap operas, but in storytelling in general. I began my search on the internet, where I hoped I would come across something that would give me a basis for my discussion about whether or not stereotyping characters can be beneficial or a draw-back in soap opera.
I ideally wanted to find something that would allow me to somehow confirm that the idea of stereotypes are planted in ones head growing up by some influential source, and as a result I came across an essay written by Tazeen Erum here.
A lot of the essay I didn't have much use for as it was on a different subject, but in the essay's introduction, Erum mentions that stereotypes could become somewhat of a norm as they are presented in fairytales, and told to children growing up. The author suggests that this could be a means to influence childrens minds into accepting the fairytale ideology of male-female relationships, which will ultimately affect the way those same children perceive the world around them growing up.
Although this doesn't have a lot to do with me discussing the overall audience reaction to character stereotypes, it does suggest that the idea of a stereotypes, and accepting said stereotypes is something that is implanted into societies head early in life, through fairytales.
I plan on relating this to soap operas, which present male and female characters in a different way, more often than not with the female characters being quite powerful, as opposed to their fairytale presentations.

Studio Production Unit- Domestic Violence Test Shoot.

Today I have been called into the studios on an off-day for a test-shoot for the Domestic Violence VT we will be creating for the studio production unit. I have absolutely no problem with coming in, as I didn't have anything else planned for today, and I feel that this will be an ideal opportunity for me to gain some valuable experience in covert sound recording.
I plan on using a Zoom recorder to capture sound in the board room (where we will be recording the VT) and as it IS covert filming, I will have to consider where I will be hiding the Zoom in order to capture the most optimum sound possible. Therefore today should be a very useful experience for me, and I will spend most of my time putting what I have learnt so far about covert sound recording to practice.