Final Cut Pro basics 'cheat sheet'

As we're doing most of our work so far on Final Cut Pro, we've created 'cheat sheet' PowerPoint presentations outlining all the basics of editing using Final Cut. I did mine using screen shots to illustrate visually how to do each thing and I'm sure I'll be using this presentation to refer back to in future edits. Click here to see the presentation on Google Docs.

Creative Talk Radio

After handing in all our 5-minute radio show segments, when we came to class on Tuesday we were informed that we now had to split into two teams to put them all into one 45 minute radio programme that would be done as if it were being broadcast live - and we got about half an hour to plan it! All the planning, script writing, jingle and music track finding, everything was done, and then we went downstairs to record it live. It was...interesting at times, such as when the music channel messed up live, only playing the first 15 seconds of a music track before cutting to the next and spazzing back and forth for a bit, and a fire alarm going off during recording among other things. It was really fun though, despite the stress and pressure of getting something done in such a short amount of time. I enjoyed it overall. Here's the finished product:

Finished News Edit - Final Cut Pro

For this timed news edit assignment, we were given raw footage and an unedited voice over to put together a news package using Final Cut Pro. Here is the finished result:



You can download it here.


While there was added pressure in finishing this project due to it being timed, I found it easier to use Final Cut Pro and didn't seem to need to spend as much time trying to figure out the small but essential tricks of editing. It did take a long time trawling through all the material marking the segments, trying to find a good opening and ending (which the reporter didn't seem to think of when providing the voice over) and going through which parts were essential and which didn't need to be put in the finished edit, but using keyboard shortcuts such as j, k and l for rewinding, pausing and fast forwarding definitely helped cut that time shorter. I found that I was able to work my way through it steadily and finish it in time, although there were some problems with exporting it on my machine that caused it to take longer than it should have to put it up.

Overall I learned from it, as it seems Final Cut is a program that is learned from practice - the more you delve in and go for it, the easier it gets. Doing the 'cheat sheet' powerpoint presentation about all the aforementioned tricks of FCP definitely helped too, which I'm finishing at the moment and should be putting up in the next few days. It was an interesting assignment and I learned a lot from it, especially since journalism is a field I'd like to explore in the future.

Interview practice exercise + unused interview for radio show

For this exercise we practiced interviewing for our radio shows by interviewing each other and editing it. The subject was 'likes and loves' and we had Simon as the presenter interviewing me. Here is the finished interview:



I also have the unedited version of an interview of my brother-in-law Adam Rosenfeld, director of indie record label Men of Israel Records, that we were going to use for our radio show. However, as I listened back over it, I realised there wasn't anything in it really that would add to the programme, as our show went in a slightly different direction than we thought it would do in the beginning stages. Shame, but we had everything we needed already. The fact that he was in the middle of playing a game of Risk with his 6 year old son while trying to answer the questions over Skype at the same time [!] also made it a bit harder to get good answers from him (not to mention hearing a little voice come in from time to time asking what to do next...)!

You can download the unedited interview here.

Finished! Radio Show, of music and revolutions

We've finally finished our group project, a radio show discussing the reasons why music doesn't seem to be as revolutionary today as it has been in the past. Here is a summary of the finished product:

"In the programme we looked at the journey of musical revolutions and represented different views and opinions in the forms of interviews and vox pops. We included music from different eras and from today, ending it with the suggestion that perhaps there is revolutionary music today and that it is possible for music to become revolutionary once again."

Here is the finished product, you can also download it here.

Things we would have done differently if we could do it again:

1. Introduce the interviewees and Mandy as another presenter, explain their positions and why they are a legitimate source of knowledge in music history

2. Include more of an outro, probably something said by one of the presenters to tie it all together.

3. Leave more time for post-production! Make sure we leave room for circumstances beyond our control and err on the side of finishing early rather than getting it all done at the last minute.

Overall, this was a really fun project, interesting and enjoyable. Everyone on the team was involved more or less equally and contributed in every area. I enjoyed working in a team as it was easier to brainstorm for ideas, we had fun together and all contributed and played a part, and pulled off a project I think we can all learn from and be proud of the finished result.

Radio show progress - minutes, ideas for script

Minutes of radio show progress meeting on December 1st,
again written very enthusiastically (!) by Simon:

Meeting!!

Present: Mandy, Esther and Simon!!!
Date 1/12/09
Location: Gatehouse

Action point: Meet Friday following class to further post production. Possible meet on Monday if needed!!!

Action point: All members of group to bring their recordings/music to aid with Radio show!!

Mandy says do not check with Rich, Simon and Esther disagree … after much deliberation we find out that Mandy is correct.

Order Coles microphone for voice over.

Mandy and Simon post to blog the voxpops and edits already completed.

Esther to write out ideas for the script

In our meeting, we also created a storyboard-esque idea of the time frame and structure of our radio show using post-its, shown here:

This is so we can have a general idea of how to transition from one section into another, the order and the general duration of each to stay within the time limitations.

First, we will start with an introduction by our presenter, Simon.



Some ideas for the script:

[5 seconds of 'Hound Dog' by Elvis Presley, then lowered volume as Simon's voice comes in:]

Hello and welcome to -----! You're listening to Simon Partington and today we will be discussing music - why does it seem to not be as revolutionary today as it has been in the past?

Over the last century, music had the power to change cultures, overthrow society and define entire generations.

[blues/jazz music comes in, approx. 5 seconds then lowers volume as voice comes in]

Beginning with the jazz and blues movement in the '20s and '30s, music became a reflection of what the culture was going through at the time - liberation! Breaking free of the traditional, classical music, jazz music broke all the rules and was wild, fun, carefree. This is during the time that the liberation of women was taking place, the Allies were still high on victory from the 1st World War and the economy was booming. The music of the time galvanised the young, shocked the older and the more traditional and became the turning point of modern music as we know it.

[rock and roll music, approx. 5 seconds then lowers volume as voice comes in]

Then came the 50's - the beginning of rock and roll.

[part of mandy's interviewee's rant about rock and roll]

[talk about the Beatles, 'free love' revolution - All you need is love by the Beatles in background?]

(for the rest, need to hear the interviews and base script around what is already said in them but have a general idea of what to say.)

Deconstructing a News Package

For our project doing a news edit, to prepare we were told to deconstruct a news package to illustrate the conventions of news editing. I found the following was typical in a news package, taken from a 3:15 minute example shown below:



Intro by news reader, about 20 seconds

Video with voice over by reporter, about 20 seconds
(each clip lasts about 2-5 seconds)

Reporter speaking on location, about 20 seconds

Video with voice over by reporter, intro-ing person in interview, about 15 seconds
(each clip lasts about 2-5 seconds)

Interviewer, personal response: about 25 seconds

More video with reporter voice over, introing next expert interview, about 10 seconds
(each clip lasts about 2-5 seconds)

Interview with expert, about 10 seconds

Video/voice over of reporter: about 15 seconds

Interview with expert, about 10 seconds

Video/voice over of reporter, outro: about 15 - 20 seconds (5 seconds for name of reporter, name of news institution, and location.)