Ooooh we need a Montage!!!!

So...Montage assignment done and dusted thanks to the help of my wonderful friend Asha Gill and her driving skills. I had a sort of epiphany during this project. (Like the moment in the Hollywood action flick where the hero realises he can save the world using the Moon's gravitational pull and a paperclip!)

There was a point when I was deciding the style I wanted to edit the piece in when it hit me exactly what montage was. I had been confusing it with simple time compression. Montage is similar to collage in the sense that it involves different shots interlaced in a way that changes the meaning of the imagery, the pace and even makes the mundane interesting. In many respects it lies very close to editing.

I wanted to turn someone parking their car into a fun little sequence. To achieve this I used several different techniques. The first was to edit my imagery to the beat of the music I was using. the piece I chose eventually was 'Thick Ear' by my favorite artist 'bent'. The piece is light hearted and consist mainly of tinkling piano and crisp snare drums so it was ideal for the mood I wanted to create. In regards to the style of the edit, there are lots of edits on the beat in which the car suddenly changes position. There are also points in which the footage is flipped upside down to add a quirky aspect to the montage.

One of my cats added a fun unexpected break to the shots of the car as he playfully roles on the pavement next to the car. I decided to intersect the montage with clips of him and it seems to add a strange tranquility to the piece. However, he also manages to change the mood as in one section it looks like he is being run over.

Below is the montage in question. What do you think?



I'm happy with my montage. It reflects the sort of projects I enjoy making, quirky, good music and full of interest. I have also enjoyed experimenting with the idea of montage. I had difficulty grasping the concept of montage, but rather than let this put me off, I expect I will experiment with montage in future projects to try and improve my understanding of it and it's place in film media.

Incidently, montage was parodied in the 2004 puppet action flick 'Team America: World Police' 'Montage' song .

I spoke too soon...

Hey everyone, so me thinking that this was the end of my Uni blogging experience was way off the mark as it turns out we'll be blogging in this semester as well! So to start this semester's blogging, I'll just brief ya'll on my up and coming projects.

Firstly, a montage. We have to create a montage based on a chosen theme between 60 and 90 seconds. I've so far thought of a couple of ideas. I'm thinking maybe youth and beauty, young love or my life. I'll use a mixture of moving image and stills and choose a piece of music or soundscape to create tempo and help me develop an interesting editing technique.

"A montage sequence is a technique in film editing in which a series of short shots is edited into a sequence to condense narrative. It is usually used to advance the story as a whole (often to suggest the passage of time), rather than to create symbolic meaning as it does in Soviet montage theory.

From the 1930s to the 1950s, montage sequences often combined numerous short shots with special optical effects (fades, dissolves, split screens, double and triple exposures) and music. They were usually assembled by someone other than the director and editor of the specific movie."
(Wikipedia)

So below to demonstrate montage is a clip from the visually rich Russian revolutionary masterpiece 'Battleship Potemkin'. The film experimented with time manipulation and imagery to emphasise and create meaning in relation to the subject matter.





Next on the list is another individual project in the form of either an instructional video or a documentary. It needs to be between 3 and 5 minutes and ideally worked from some sort of script. I have had one idea for this assignment but will keep it under wraps for now.

Another assignment due in before summer will be a group video project. This project will be provided to us in the form of a brief from a client which we have to achieve and deliver to a professional standard. It looks like our client is going to be the Bath Theatre Royal so hopefully it should be an exciting opportunity to mix video and theatre.

Finally, the manipulation of provided material into a suitable edit which demonstrates our ability to make sense of the material using editing.

So yeah, that's about it for our first year. Updates will follow regarding how each project is going.

We'll meet again. Don't know where? Dont kno - ERROR FORMATTING PAGE!!!!!

Well ladies and gents this is (I believe) my last post detailing my course at Bath Spa University. I've found this blog difficult to maintain at times to the point where I'd sell my soul to put my posts into a nice format or be able to upload a picture where I want it to go...But, I've also quite enjoyed it. It's nice to see work I've done up on the internet; it's nice to see a structure forming in my posts and it's nice to know how to Hyper link.

I will probably keep posting, not necessarily media related topics, maybe something a bit more personal, about me and my life for example...just a thought.

Powerpoint Presentations From Past Lectures

Below is an example some Powerpoint presentations I presented during our lectures, there is one regarding the role of a Production manager, outlining the role and what it involves. One regarding the creative future of the BBC, an example of an age demographic and one outlining UK copyrighting laws.

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I'm now crying because I practically had to sell a vital organ to get them up here...now the font won't stay the same...Has anyone killed themselves because of a website? I f**king give up!

Michael Gets A Mac

I am now a Mac user...That will be all!

Media Consumption

Below is a brief example of some of my media consumption since I began the course.

18th December 2007
iPod - 2 hours
Video Games - 2 hours
Stereo - 1 1/2 hours
Film (The tell-tale heart) 1 1/4 hours

19th December 2007
Television - 2 hours
Film (One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest) - 1 3/4 hours

20th December 2007
Internet - 1/2 hours
iPod - 1/4 hours
Video Games - 2 hours

21st December 2007
Empire Magazine - 1 hours
iPod - 1/2 hours

22nd December 2007
Film (James Bond Casino Royal) - 1 3/4 hours
Film (Dune) - 2 hours

23rd December 2007
Empire Magazing - 1/2 Hours
FHM Magazing - 1/2 Hours
Video Games - 2 hours
Television - 3 hours

24thDecember 2007
Film (Simpsons Movie) - 1 1/2 Hours
Television - 3 hours
Internet - 1/2 hours

25th December 2007
Film (Shrek...thing) 1/4 hours
iPod - 1/2 hours
Stereo - 6 - hours
Film (Finding Nemo) 1 3/4 hours

26th December 2007
Television - 3 hours
iPod - 1/2 hours
Video Games - 2 hours

27th December 2007
Video Games - 4 hours

28thDecember 2007
Internet - 1 Hours
Television - 3 hours
Film (An American Tale) - 1 1/2 hours

29th December 2007
Film (Bonnie and Clyde Amazing ending!!!) 2 hours
Television - 2 hours
Video Games - 2 hours

30th December 2007
Film (Ghost In The Shell) 1 1/2 hours
Film (Betel Geuse) 1 1/2 hours
Television - 3 hours

31st December 2007
iPod - 3/4 hours
Gig (The Smyths) - 3 hours
Television - 2 hours
Video Games - 2 hours

Some Roles I Undertook In Producing The 'PULT Podcast'

Over the last three weeks or so I have immersed myself into the world of sound production, podcasting and radio while I worked on my sound production project. Due to circumstances which I could not prevent, I was left to complete the project by myself. I was given the opportunity to join another group in the class, sharing my workload and sacrificing my initial idea or, continue the project as planned…on my own. I chose to stick to my own ideas and carry the weight of the entire project by myself. This was a great decision as not only did I have full creative and editorial control over the project, but I also had no-one else to rely on to get work done. I’m briefly going to explain my thoughts and processes during the production process and elaborate on a couple of the roles I undertook.

To launch straight in, I am going to begin with the role of Editor. I really enjoy editing, I believe I have a knack for it and can envisage it as a future career. There are a couple of reasons why I like this process. Editing is not simply the ability to fit pieces of information together like a puzzle. There is an art to it. Editing (especially in sound) requires an ability to execute good timing, a sense of vision in regards to the final product and I believe good concentration. Editing should be an ability to help shape narrative, dictate changes in atmosphere and express creative license. I just really enjoy editing and I don’t think I could ever get bored of. It seems to be a perfect mix of technical and creative work.

I chose to do a podcast for my audio project as I felt that they are a better media to bring across my subject matter. The material I recorded for my podcast was over forty-five minutes in length and I wanted to make a show that lasted between fifteen minutes and half an hour. With this in mind I set about the editing process with a view to pick out the best bits and be brutal with the material that I did not think was appropriate. I faced difficulties during the editing process, for example, once I had chosen the material I wanted to use out of the forty-five minutes, I had to then arrange it into an order which enabled it to flow freely and above all, make sense. Making sure the piece had a suitable sound level running through it was also difficult to achieve. Although we recorded all the dialogue in the same place and surroundings and at the same time, I still had to include various jingles and idents into the piece to give it the more authentic radio sound. As a result of this, the levels had to be mixed coming up and down at various points to equalize the sound.

I had to bear in mind the format of a podcast in relation to my editing. I realized at some point during the process that the nature of a podcast dictates it’s editing. With this in mind I listened to several different podcasts and really thought about straight discussion compared to a show like ‘The Chris Moyles Show’ on BBC Radio 1. My podcast could afford to take a much more laid back style compared to the Radio 1 show which incorporates manic idents, jingles, music and ‘news beats’. (‘Beats’ because they’re so quick) I had the luxury of choosing a style, and pace for my podcast purely through my editing technique. I think I have kept the podcast interesting but laid back.

I edited my material on Soundtrack Pro which I find has a simple interface and navigation system. I find knowing how to use Soundtrack is beneficial not only for the reason that I can now edit sound material but also because I am now beginning to grasp an industry standard program.

Another role I undertook during the project was that of Producer. Obviously being the only person on the project forced me to be the sole producer of the piece. A producer needs an all-round knowledge of the medium that they are working in and various styles of pieces they are producing. The production aspects I undertook were that of researching, assembling equipment and artists, recording material, editing that material and in a way, advertising that material in the form of a logo I designed for the podcast.

Overall I really enjoyed all aspects of making this project, I think one reason I took up this course is because I genuinely enjoy these sorts of projects and can only hope to work on real versions in my future career.