Video Assessment Evaluation

At first I found the video assessment a very challenging task when my class was given the brief about what this project consists of. The fact that I had not properly worked with video equipment before or even Final Cup Pro, made it very difficult to start with. Though, I knew right from the start that I wanted to create a news package. As I often intend to do, I was going to pick a sport related topic for my video project, particularly something to do with football.

I set myself a goal to find the right story sometime in the next two weeks after the first video lesson. After that, I would immediately proceed to capture the footage, giving myself plenty of time to edit which I knew would be a challenging part for me at first. Luckily I came across a great story early on. I decided to create a news package based on the next Charlton Athletic home match. Since I have press right to the club, I knew I could get everything filmed in and out of the stadium with special permission from the club.

The evening of the match I managed to get plenty of good footage as well as interviews. I did a piece to camera, a few interviews with different people and I shot several scenes of fans in and out of the stadium. After I got a hold of everything necessary, I began looking more into news packages online, a couple which were very interesting and useful came from BBC News and Sky News. This was very influential for starting my editing.

I feel a created a fairly good sports news package on the Charlton match and on the clubs fans opinions which lasted just under two minutes. As I had gathered plenty of footage and interviews from the stadium that evening, it made it easier to choose the best parts when cutting it down to a smaller time limit. This also made it simpler to work with Final Cut Pro. My editing skills improved rapidly with the help of my video tutor; Reza Moradi.

I managed to edit all the key errors that stood out in my news package. The final video which I created seemed quite similar to the Sky Sports package which I came across in my research. Though, I still feel the editing could have been even better mainly if I had had more practice with Final Cut Pro before. One mistake I made was cutting off a couple of key parts of my interviews which made it more difficult to edit.

Comparing my news package to that of professional ones, I feel I am still quite far from that level of work. Not only did I slightly struggle with my editing at first but my filming skills can still improve. My camera was not often in line or straight with whom or what I was filming. This is where I maybe should have used a tripod to make the filming more accurate. These are a few of the main issues that prevent my work from meeting expectations of professional news packages. Overall though, I feel my first attempt at creating a news package was quite successful. I learnt and developed my new skills with using camera equipment and Final Cut Pro. I am now very keen and very much looking forward to working with video and news packages in the future.

Audio Assessment Evaluation

From the start of this project, my goal was to create two pieces of audio with solid coverage’s of news worthy topics in sport. I expected myself to succeed more in preparing and proceeding with a successful podcast and interview rather than focusing more on making my editing skills brilliant. My original podcast was a total of twenty four minutes which I managed to cut down to exactly three minutes and fourteen seconds. This left only the most relevant parts that summed up the discussion with my colleagues and I on this football related subject. I still managed to fit in three pieces of audio clips that consisted of football fans cheering. These I placed at the start, the middle and the end which helped the podcast sound much more professional; all which was part of the brief.

Though, I do feel I should have balanced out the sound of the football audio clips more with the recorded conversation with my colleagues. The football clips were slightly too loud in comparison to the sound level of our voices. Also, some parts of the podcast had obvious editing errors causing glitches in between the podcast. Despite the minimal errors in the editing, the podcast was fairly clear and understandable and also newsworthy as of what was expected from every student. I also feel my Online Text was clear and well written which covered all the necessary information that was required for this part of the assessment.

I would say my Two Minute Interview was about as successful as my podcast. I had my interview topic like my podcast topic very much sorted out right from the start of my research. To start with, I made it easier for myself by keeping my original interview short with my colleague; Peter Cordwell. This made it quicker and simpler when editing as I had much less to cut off in comparison to my original podcast.

In the end I produced a very solid interview of two minutes and nine seconds, briefly covering my colleague’s opinions and thoughts over the latest incidents of racism in football. Like in my final podcast though, there were a few obvious editing errors in my final interview that also caused glitches. Though in the end, my interview was very clear and newsworthy as well. My Cue was plain and simple, providing listeners with what they need to know beforehand of; who, what, where, when, why and how. I managed to cover all the requirements from the brief in both my cue and final interview.

Overall, I feel I created two fairly successful pieces of audio considering that I had almost no experience in the past with recording equipment and the audacity program. The only issues I would address from my podcast and interview is the editing of course. I feel my editing skills improved significantly since the start of this assessment, but I know there is plenty of room for improvement. In some parts of both my podcast and interview as mentioned before, there were obvious editing errors that any listener could spot which would not be acceptable in professional audio work. I feel this is what stops both my pieces of audio from being rated highly in comparison to professional podcasts and interviews. Though, as this was my first proper experience with audio, I feel that I have learned and improved quite a lot with recording and editing audio work since the start of this assessment.

Final Video Piece – News Package

As I attend Charlton Ahtletic home matches with press box rights, I felt it would be a fantastic opportunity to create a short news package on the next match and about the club’s season so far. In my news package, I covered one of the football matches between Charlton Atheletic and Yeovil Town that took place in South London on Tuesday, March 20th. For this package, I felt it was important to cover the story from the fans perspectives and see how they felt about Charlton this season.

During that evening when I was at The Valley; their stadium, I filmed a lot of footage outside of the stadium where fans were having conversations outside, buying food and souviners and even walking into the stadium. I also managed to film some footage of the match which I included in the final video as well. Apart from the footage in and out of the stadium I interviewed four people, including 2 fans and 2 club members as part of getting different views and opinions about Charlton and their season so far.

In the final video, I included two edited pre-match interviews with fans and an edited post-match interview with a club member. I also included footage from in and out of the stadium with narrations on top to explain my news package topic in as much detail as necessary. The narrations were also part of helping the video move forward in a start to finish sequence and also give more insight of what is going on. The order I placed everything in was to help viewers understand the point of the news package much better. Overall, I felt I created a very successful news package of this particular football match and a basic summary of Charlton Athletic’s season so far from the fans and clubs members perspectives.

Influential News Package (2nd)

This is another news package which has given even greater inspiration for what I will be producing. This video is a Sky Sports news package also about a story in football. It consists of an introduction, several interviews, scenes of the football ground involved; many of which are narrated, all of which is similar to what I am looking to create. I will attempt to put together a video with a similar style covering the Charlton match, before during and after. The fans and their thoughts/opinions will be the focus of my news package which will also consist of scenes in and out of the stadium. The Sky Sports package was more or less the same. The fans perspectives is the most important part of sports news packages, like the one I will be creating now that I have all my footage filmed and ready to be edited.

Influential News Package

I have been going through different news websites for video news packages that may help give me some ideas of how to present my video. One news package in particular that I found helpful was a BBC News package on Neo-Nazis in Germany called; “Germany hunts far-right ‘fugitives’”. Despite the fact that I am working on a sports news package, I felt this video had plenty of ‘tips’ that I could follow.

The way scenes of far-right fugitives are narrated and how interviews are incorporated to present this news headline is very well constructed. It has some similarities to how sports news is sometime presented in packages. The style this BBC News video follows has given me inspriration and ideas on some techniques that I can follow and use to create my sports news package. I will use similar ways to put my interiews and narrated scenes together.

Final Cut Pro Video – Final Project Idea

For my final video project, I have decided to create a news package based on football. The filming will take place in South London, where I will cover a match taking place near Greenwich where Charlton Athletic host Yeovil Town. For this news package, I will do pre-match interviews with Charlton club members and fans at their stadium; The Valley. This is so I can get different opinions and perspectives for my main topic of: “Will Charlton Atheltic be promoted this season?”.

I will film different scenes in and out of the stadium; for example fans walking towards the ground, having discusions with each other in groups outside and even fans buying food or souviners. All the interviews will take place outside the stadium so that I can also get good background footage. From the inside I will attempt to film different clips of the match as well as the fans cheering for their club. I will first have to talk to some of the club members first to be sure that I have permission to do so.

Before the match, I will also do a “piece to camera” outside with the stadium in the background. This will be my introduction to the football match and the topic in general for my news package. The majority of the footage and interviews will take place before the beginning of the match. Though, I will also conduct 1-2 interviews after the match to get post-match reaction from Charlton club members and/or fans.

I will attempt to get as much footage as possible including 3-5 interviews and a solid piece to camera introduction. This will allow me to edit and produce the 1-3 minute news package that I am aiming to complete.

First Final Cut Pro Video – Review

I felt this was a good start for my first Final Cut Pro video. I was quite confident with presenting my “opening” on my video, though I have to get use to having a camera in my face. I also think my interview was a good start as I’m quite confident and fluent with interviewing people since my experience in the Audio module.

At first I found it quite challenging working with the camera and the Final Cut program. This was due to the fact that I have not used a video camera many times before and I have never used the Final Cut program.

Though, after two lessons of using the camera and the program, I feel much more comfortable with the both of them. Now I think I’m almost confident enough to start working on my forthcoming project without having to bother my module leader; Reza, too much. I’m very much looking forward to the forthcoming lessons and working on my assesment in this module. Hoping for the best!

First Final Cut Pro Video

Cue – Final 2 minute Interview

You would expect football to be about the talent, passion, heart and love for the beautiful game. But this universal language is so easily ruined by what we call racism; a negative and disgusting part of the sport. The discrimination players receive over their race and colour breaks the game of football apart. Journalism student, Jens Raitanen speaks to Greenwich Time assistant editor; Peter Cordwell about the issue of racism, asking for his thoughts on the subject and how racism in football will be dealt with in the future?

Online Text – Final 3 minute Podcast

Journalism students of the University of Westminster discuss the issues surrounding the recent resignation of former England Manager; Fabio Capello. Jens Raitanen hosts his colleagues; Alexander Bullock and Thomas J. Owen, as they give their opinions on the subject as well as talk about the future of English football and who the potential candidates are for the England job.