Blog 10: Project Work Reflection

So it’s the end of our project and I must say, I’ve had a really great time becoming more confident working with audio. The actual recording process was much more organised in our second shoot for A New Place I Call Home.

All of my skill researching has been online and it’s been the case of sharpening my teeth using the simplicity that is Garageband and Audacity before moving back to other programs like Cubase which is a more complex program.

In terms of mastering sound, it’s a case of playing around with the master track’s EQ, frequency, and compressor. It really helped. Here’s the tutorial I used as a guide:

I’ve since been getting reacquainted working with sound in my new job now…I haven’t dealt with audio like this since my last degree…which was last decade!

And mastering was just a thing music producers did as far as I was concerned when I began finally recording my own music tracks. So I’ve learned to move past my own limitations here which is fantastic.

Check out some of the tracks I created for the show below:

 

Working with audio equipment other than my trusty audio interface and mics and home is nerve wrecking! Dealing with channels made me nervous with zoom mics. Boom mics were far easier to contend with during this project which I believe has to do with a mixture of lack of experience, faulty gear, and fluctuating confidence levels. I think if I actively explore sound in my own time and space I will get better at using the equipment efficiently.

In terms of animation, I was so pleased to be able to create simple animations on After Effects. The last program I learned animation on was Flash and again…this happened last decade! It meant a lot to gain confidence and I hope to further my skills in this area in my own personal projects.

Check out the intro I drafted out for our project below:

I have loved working on this project and hope our team does collectively agree to pitch the show as it’s a wonderful concept with so much potential!

Reference

Garageband and beyond, ‘Mastering With Garageband 10 Tips & Tricks’, Garagebandbeyond, viewed 15 August 2018, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLwT72UB1Dg>

Blog 9: Research of a practitioner in my field

I’m not going to lie. My interest in media started in the analog days, so my newly coined position description of ‘content creator’ actually derives from my days chasing the paid title of ‘journalist’.

The problem here is that ‘content creator’ can mean many different things to different organisations and businesses. As far as I’m concerned, I’m a story-teller. I use different media skills to tell stories.

Stories can be used traditionally or to sell/promote a business or body of work. But this is where things become complicated and it’s hard for me to truthfully pin down just one person I respond to…

So, I’m going to cover one practitioner who represents my core skill as a person who loves presenting and showcasing great stories.

Andrew Denton

I began my media-making journey as a kid interested in broadcast journalism. It was at a time where analog began evolving into digital but my influences have always been journalists with certain engaging interviewing styles that draw out great stories. Andrew Denton is one of them. I used to particularly enjoy Enough Rope and is it any wonder he introduced Chasers to TV. Comedy and social commentary are one of my favourite things.  But I digress. Here are some pearls of wisdom from the man himself:

On what makes a great interview:

‘It’s no great secret. If the guest is enjoying him- or herself, they’re going to give a great interview. When the actor Gabriel Byrne was on the show earlier this year, one of my producers, Jon Casimir, came up with a brilliant idea. We found out that one of his earlier jobs was putting eyes on teddy bears in a factory. We got a teddy bear and sewed two eyes together on one of the sides of its head and during the interview, I pulled out this teddy bear and said, “Is this one of yours?” He laughed so much. You knew you were seeing the real Gabriel Byrne. He was gone. That has far more value – and always will – than 15 well-thought-out questions.’ (Steve Dow, 2005, para 4)

Seeing as I’ve enjoyed co-directing videos and now find myself meeting different personalities to film interviews on, this quote means a lot. The last thing we want is someone’s nerves to shadow the story and creating rapport is so important when producing videos! That is why I am currently meeting subjects before filming stories for a web series I am working on at work because the outcome promises to be a lot better.

Reference

Steve Dow, 2005, Interviewers: Andrew Denton, Viewed 18 Sept 2018

Blog 8: Work in Progress Feedback

We were really pleased with the feedback given for our web series A New Place I Call Home.

I think the editing tips were fantastic. Though my role in this project has been around sound production and music, I often longed to edit as it’s my natural inclination to pin stories together. After my initial pitch-in with the process for our EPOC last semester, I solely concentrated on my area except for this idea of starting the show at the door of the person Vivi would interview. It reminded me of a lot of home-maker shows where the TV host would come to ‘makeover’ someone’s home.

E.G 60 Minute Make-Over (forgive the Peter Andre pic)

I can absolutely understand where the feedback came from about the prolonged greeting of Vivi’s friend Jenny coming to the door with the intercom (one of the two webisode rough cuts showcased).

It was a fun idea but the suspense was not needed in this element of the show as it wasn’t really a surprise. It was the dish that was supposed to be the surprise element if anything!

Keeping the scene simple was a great idea.

I also appreciated the mention of the sound element. I am really enjoying ‘branching out’ by using my music skills for media purposes! I also look forward to exploring more animation with the intro piece I want to contribute to the project for our team.

 

Blog 7: How I’ll Present my Portfolio

I’ve been exploring ways I could showcase my work and services from around late last year!

In all the time I’ve been developing my CV, it seems I’ve been confronted by the idea of showcasing my work.

It’s come to my attention that the more I fail to see enough value in the work I create by avoiding the opportunity to showcase them properly, the less likely I would gain regular work.

It was at this confronting realisation that I decided to really make concise decision making around my purpose as a media maker, the skills I’m offering and the way I present myself.

When thinking about how I could showcase my work, I couldn’t help but want to draw upon the classic, simple sophistication of illustrator Megan Hess’s website. Why? Well it has a delightful sense of self-branding which is what I was going for.

Over time, the one all-encompassing ‘compliment’ that remains consistent is usually about my ‘energy’. Given this fact, I thought it might be a good idea to capatilise on my enthusiastic, ‘Missy’ persona when showcasing my work. So it’s not ‘just’ about the work I do, but ultimately about the person they will be working with. The service, the love that goes into work, building good business relationships, etc.

So back to Megan Hess. I have this idea of animating graphics that I’d love to use and look into creating a showreel of some of the videos I’ve worked on, really (hopefully) showcasing my love of storytelling through effective production and editing.

Here’s Megan’s Site home page

:

Also, as someone who calls herself a Content Creator, I thought I’d look to another Content Creator’s website. I want to advertise where I’ve worked, feature recommendations and have even had a photoshoot to assist with the vibe of my brand.

Here’s where I’m at for now…it’s just a landing page but I’ll be mapping out the site soon…