Video StudentGuy

This episode is the second in a series about the current state of

filmmaking education, specifically certain concepts which are already a

part of the filmmaking landscape, but which are not on the map of most

schools.

I'm using Mike Jones' Filmmaking Manifesto

as the model for measuring how well schools are keeping current with

evolving trends in the real world. Specifically, I'm using the school

I'm attending, Center for Digital Imagining Arts at Boson University as a stand in for every school.

Check out Mike's blog, Digital Basin,

for lots information about a wide range of topics regarding the

production filmmaking world. You should check out the Manifesto on his

site, since I'm not going through it in as much detail as him. He also

has a number of mp3 files of presentations he's made on subjects covered in the Manifesto.

Finally, check out the comment he left following the previous podcast.

Production

note: I'm aware that there is a distinct difference between my

introductory section commenting on the last episode and the remainder

of the podcast covering the three points below.
4-Multi-platform scalable delivery
5-Ownership of end to end process
6-Software Agnosticism and independent skills

Obviously

I recorded them at different times using different devices, different

locations. A professional, or even someone relatively knowledge about

in audio post production would be able to reconcile the tool and hide,

or at least equalize the different sounds. That's not me, not right

now. I don't even have the time to rerecord this and post it in time,

so I'm settling for the fact that you can at least hear what I'm saying.

I make a few passing comments regarding Danny Kaye, Kahlil Gibran and The Prophet in order to make a point or two, Doesn't that combination make you even a little curious?

Production audio, hands on, boot camp like. Lots of opportunity to run and trip, and learn.

Frank DeAngelis is

the instructor. Providing us with real world experience with a run and

gun edge. Just another example of the variety of resources the school

provides for our benefit.

So relieved, I'm really tapped, energy wise. Not afraid to work at

learning, but between stress and tight deadlines I needed to use a

different part of my brain. It was like someone knew we needed a

breather.

In this module we get practical information about handling equipment,

bringing to the set what you need to get the job done and working with

what you got (not always the same) to get the job done. Often during

class we came up short when we went through the kits. Something was

missing, batteries, clips, connectors were bad. The motto of the class

was "pack your own parachute" because if you only find out on set that

something is missing, it's too late and no one gets the blame but you.

The focus was on using a boom and wireless mics (Sennheiser eW100 G2 wireless) and a mixer (Sound Devices 320) to control the audio from 3 sources going into the camera.

Another mantra was"treat the equipment with respect". As students it's easy to treat any of the equipment as casually as Stretch Armstrong,

but you have to remember to develop good habits now, because there’s

more important things to do when preparing for a paying gig than

cursing yourself for breaking a wire connection or dropping a wireless

transmitter, for the fifth time. How often do you expect you'll get

rehired.

I don’t mean to sound like your mom, but you know, students are the

worst and it gets old faster than finding your roommate's underwear in

the freezer, again.

For those of you interested or with enough patience I've added a little

detail about how a mixer fits in the production workflow, what it's

used for, how it operates. I've tried my best to simplify things, it's

still a very involved process.

I recently discovered a blog about filmmaking and filmmaking education called Digital Basin.

The author, Mike Jones has written a number of posts about 13 issues

that he feels are critical to the success of a film student in today's

world, but which aren't getting the attention they deserve in the

curriculum at most film schools. He calls it his Filmmaking Manifesto.

Read the posts, he makes a lot of valid points. I've always felt that

CDIA was quite progressive and I thought it would be interesting to

measure my school using his ruler.

I'm not interested in bashing the school, or promoting anyone’s agenda,

but I feel his blogs have given me an external perspective on how well

CDIA is preparing me for my future.

I'll continue my weekly journal shows, these will run alongside as a special topic.

I hope your find the ideas interesting and more importantly, it gives you your own ideas.

Submit a comment or drop me a line at [email protected]

This week it all ends, at least for the current film project. I'm

talking about last minute deadlines and the mixed feelings that result.

There's always some vague unsatisfied feeling when you finish an all

consuming project, as this one was. For me, I'm so glad to get this off

my back, but also I realize that even though my mind an nerves are

refilling with a sense of ease, there's still a sense of lack. Just putting a

name to it is difficult, I still can't articulate it.

I know that I'm looking for a response, feedback, realization,

something that I wasn't looking for when I started. Not affirmation,

not the satisfaction of a job well done. All those things are welcome,

for sure. I think it has something to do with purpose. Either the

purpose of this project wasn't realized in the finished project, or it

was too small a goal.

I'm just going to sound stupid trying to figure this out in a blog, so

just leave it at this, that gnawing unfulfilled feeling you get when

you're full, but you're still hungry.

So this episode is about meeting the deadline, the client meeting and

review of the finished project. I add a little commentary at the end

about gleaning meaning out of the experience.

Lastly I add a brief how to regarding multi-track audio editing between FCP and Soundtrack.

Below are the steps I go through in the podcast:

Select the File menu

Select Send To

Soundtrack Pro Multitrack  Project

Make sure both options, Open in Sountrack Pro Multitrack Editor and Include Background Video are checked and click Save.

When you work with the audio in Soundtrack you’re going to be shuffling

files between the two programs quite often, so I like to name my files

to indicate what program they were saved from and what program they’re

to be editing in. So when I export it from FCP I might call it FilmName, then add from Final Cut Pro to Soundtrack Pro. I usually abbreviate it, like FCP-SP, or simply F-S. Exporting it from Soundtrack Pro to FCP would be the reverse, FilmName S-F.

Following the export, Soundtrack Pro launches and opens the file in the

Multitrack view. The stereo track from Final Cut displays as a single

track in Soundtrack Pro. In Soundtrack Pro you can add additional

tracks, such as sound effects, loops and other dialog.

By default there’s only one track for audio. You can add more tracks by right clicking in an audio track and selecting Insert Track Before, or After.

Add your audio and then Export the file, it’s an audio file, it has a .aif extension. Choose File/Export/Export Mix.

Import the audio file into Final cut. It appears as a single track.

Place in the video sequence. If you want to edit it, right click on the audio track and choose Open in Editor.

Soundtrack Pro comes to the front and tells you that the aif file is

linked to a .stmp file, a Soundtrack project and asks you if you want

to open the audio file or the project file.

Choose the project file to edit the individual tracks

The file opens with each audio element in independent tracks.

Make further changes to the different tracks, or add new tracks, then, as before, Choose File/Export/Export Mix and save it with the name you saved it as in the previous export, it supplies the same name by default.

When you go back to FCP you’ll see the changes are updated.

In this manner you can work between the two programs to keep you audio

modifications in sync and still be able to work with each track

separately. Without having to deal with a large number of separate

tracks in FCP.

I've played around with a different recording device, the Mbox 2 plus a Sennheiser

mic. I think the quality is vastly improved, but now I have to deal

with keeping my head in one position so that you don't get dizzy

listening to my voice move  back and forth. Isn't learning fun?

This week is the middle of the module on creating a non-fiction 2

minute film. I've tried to describe how we organized ourselves,

developed the story and set up the shots. I think the biggest issue

during our shoot was the pressure of trying to get the shooting done in

time. Also still a big concern is the confidence of knowing how much

coverage was necessary. Our footage ratio was 1:25, which is 25 minutes

of footage for every minute of the final cut. I think that's acceptable.

The best part is how well we all worked together. It was a real

pleasure to be part of a focused, dynamic team. Considering how little

time we had, it was a necessity.

I'm back after a week on the road and on vacation.

In the musing

department I reflect briefly on the differences between the highways in

the US and Canada and the filmic charms of upstate New York.

It's

the beginning of a new module, this time I'm working with some guys on

a 2 minute film that would be used as a warm up for a live presenter.

The client is a film distribution company called Enterprise Media. You can see more examples of what we're trying to accomplish at John Cleese's video training site. There's 3 weeks to complete this, so there's lots to cover in a short amount of time.

Not

in this episode, but coming soon, I'm going to talk about a site that

has sparked my imagination and prompted me to create a series podcasts

about the future of filmmaking education. Mike J0nes at Digital Basin

created a manifesto for filmmaking educators a few weeks ago. I thought

he was on target regarding the changes that dynamic media schools will

have to make in order to adequately prepare their students for the

rapidly evolving media production marketplace. I've always considered

CDIA to be in the lead of adopting new technology, with a healthy sense

of pragmatism, so I was interested in how my school measured up to

Mike's idea's. Take a look at his manifesto and stay tuned, the series begins in a few weeks.

I'm on vacation, talk to you in a week.

Still fuzzy sounding in the background, I gotta get a new mic.

condita , succurro , eruditio

Lots of last minute editing to reach Thursday's deadline. In the end, as is always the case, I had to stop before I was satisfied. I will continue to edit and incorporate the comments gleaned from the critique.

I've definitely learned to give myself more time for editing, video doesn't edit itself. And don't put it off, things come up that steal your time, use every spare minute you can. Do I sound spastic? Editing, I've learned, can do that to you.

But the critique was great. We saw everything everyone had to show. Not everyone delivered both the profile and the how to. I just squeezed by with a rough cut of the profile. I'll talk about a bunch about things I've learned form editing and the critique.

Finally, following a listener's email I've decided to tear the veil and give up a little information about myself.

Crunch Time

I've been really busy editing stories to meet a deadline so I've got a short episode this time.

Just an update on the editing process - things that can go wrong and ways to cope with stress, or not, you can decide if I'm coping well.

We're going to use iDVD for final output so I've listed all the steps for exporting from FCP and creating a finished DVD in iDVD.

Next week I'll give you the highlights from the final critique.

Episode 28 begins with comments from episode 27 regarding the idea of context

I offer my Ballpark view philosophy and consider some ideas for adding variety to the podcast thru

• Interviews
• Editorials

Audio Mixer

We get a quick introduction to the audio mixer in FCP including how to
organize the tracks in the mixer environment without changing the order of the audio tracks in the timeline
recording on the fly mixing changes using keyframes
adding Audio Mixer buttons to the timeline
axporting audio to Pro Tools and Soundtrack Pro

Firewire Firewire Firewire

I note a couple pitfalls to avoid when dealing with external drives
No USB capture in FCP
Reformat your drive when you get it out of the box

• Use the Disk Utility in Applications/Utilities
• It's simple and fast

Finally, I mention visiting the Bison and Alpaca ranches of New England for some B-roll