Evaluation of where I am at now and my plan for the last week

This post is to sum up where I am at after the research and development work hand in. I have filmed most of the footage that I think I need, however there may be a couple more opportunities to go out and film some more. I think I would always like to be in the position where I have more footage than I need because it means I have more flexibility and it will be good to keep in my personal collection of work for any future projects. I have started editing and would say that I have roughly edited the first 2 minutes of 5. This obviously could all change when I look at the edit with fresh eyes. I think that this is a problem that I have because I get too involved in the footage I am editing, so I will need to get some outside opinions and hopefully the feedback will be of use. Hopefully by the end of this week I will have a substantial amount of the video edited to a decent standard and I can get some more direct feedback of members of Fixed Gear Leeds. Once I am at this stage I will start drafting ip some designs for the DVD cover etc, so that by the beginning of next week I will have an edit that I will simply be fine tuning and I will have some sort of design that can also be fine tuned with a view to printing it before Wednesday.

Examples of DVD covers for Fixed Gear DVDs - Mash

Mash SF front with wrap around band.



Mash SF front and back



Mash SF inside,

Unfortunately I don't own the Mash SF DVD (although I do own a copy of the DVD) but as you can see this DVD is packaged with a small book. I would say that overall it is a more professional looking set of packaging but I think this is mainly down to the fact thatyou are paying a bit more and it includes a book. This means that it needs to be harder wearing as the consumer will want the book to last and they want it to be more aesthetically pleasing. People are more likely to buy a book because it looks nice rather that a nice looking DVD case. This is down to the fact that the way a book is presented plays a bigger factor than a DVD, due to the main attraction with a DVD is its content, not necessarily its packaging. Back to the packaging itself I really like the simplicity of the design. It just features the Mash logo on what looks like a well bound book. The silver on black is understated and adds to the clean/simple design. I'm guessing they needed to put the band of card around the book so that people who don't know what Mash is can get an idea just by looking at the cover. I think this would be something the consumer would disregard once they have purchased the DVD, I know I would because I would prefer the cleaner looking front cover. I do not think I could produce anything near this standard in the short space of time I have left in the project. I wish I had factored the designing and production of the DVD packaging into my schedule. I think realistically I can produce something that is closer to the look and feel of the Fast Friday. I like the fold out design so you have the 3 panels with the DVD placed in the middle one. Like I said before the Fast Friday DVD had the DIY feel to it and I think it's this style that I am going to go for when I produce my cover/packaging.

Examples of DVD covers for Fixed Gear DVDs - Fast Friday

Fast Friday front cover.



Fast Friday back cover.



Fast Friday fold out middle 1.



Fast Friday fold out middle 2.



Fast Friday fold out reverse.

I have talked about Fast Friday in my research before and it is one of my favorite Fixed gear videos, where by I actually spent £15 of my money on the DVD. I'm glad I did decide to buy it as the DVD packages is extremely nice in my opinion. It's got that nice balance between something that is well made but also has that independently produced feel to it, that I think works really well with the DIY fixed gear mentality. I think the front cover is very well designed and I like the use of the multiple photos split up into different sizes. As far as the typography goes I think the variation in weight works very well on the front but I'm not so keen on the back of the DVD. I think the type on the purple background looks out of place and doesn't work very well with the images around it. It feels a bit too cluttered on the back of the DVD for me I would have liked to see it simplified slightly and maybe followed a similar theme as the rest of the packaging. Printing onto the DVD is another cool touch and will be something I look into when it comes to me making my own.

Producing DVD Cover for Hand In & Examples of Fixed Gear Leeds Existing Logos and Artwork

Above are some examples of the logos and artwork that Sam has produced for Fixed Gear Leeds.

Although the promotional video will mainly feature on the internet, for the hand in I intend to design a cover For the DVD that I am going to hand into college for the project. I am looking forward to knocking this up as it means I get to do a bit of graphic design something that I rarely do anymore but really enjoy. This could be another good opportunity to get some feedback from Sam as he produces all the graphic elements for the group and get his feedback. I could incorporate some form of photography but I think I might try and keep it relatively simple and more graphic based as it might just mean extra work that isn't entirely necessary. I will update the blog when I start working on it.

Story Boards

Above are my written storyboards. I didn't see any point in drawing anything out because I already have most of the footage. These are more of an editing aid because I needed to get the running order straight in my head before I starting chopping up the many hours of footage I have filmed over the last couple of weeks. This method has seemed to work fine for me so far as I will be the first to admit I didn't really direct the group I just let them get on with what they would normally be doing and I moved around getting the shots. I may however had got better shots if I had directed them around but no1. this didn't feel like the right thing to do as I was a new member to the group on some of the rides and for some people this was down time from work etc and they didn't want someone directing them around. No2. I wanted to get to know the group so that I could ride with them in the future and so I wasn't purely treating this as a project that was only important for college.

Slow-Mo

A technique that I want to play around with is using slow-mo as it was used to such great affect in the Texas Toast Video that is on this blog somewhere. I think when it is applied to tricks it can really emphasize the technique and skill required to pull them off, or in the case of my shirt video above not pull them off. I don't think it is something I will use alot in the video but I think if it is slipped in occasionally it can look really good. It is very easy to do in final cut pro as just an effect you apply to footage shot t a normal frame rate. However to get really smooth slow-mo footage you need to use a camera that can shoot at a higher rate of frames per second. This could be worth investigating in future projects.

Skid Videos

One positive that I can take from all the rain is that it makes it easier to skid on your bike. So thought it would be a perfect opportunity to get a bit more footage down that I might be able to include in the video. I like the shots where I placed the camera very close to the ground as I think it's a more dramatic angle and if the skid is performed well and is directed towards the camera it makes for a more exciting angle on the trick.

Now a PROMO not a DOCUMENTARY - changes to brief

I realise that my project has been heading in a slightly different direction since I started filming and working with the group. Below are my original Rationale, Context and Brief:

ORIGINAL

Rationale:
(Why are you doing it? How does it fit with your own sense of development? What is your particular interest in this area?)

I want to produce a documentary film in order to explore my interest in moving image that I developed at the end of last year. Technically it will also help to develop my camera, sound and editing skills. Finally it will be a different genre of moving image that I haven’t tried before that I can try my hand at.

Context:
(Where does the project fit in the real world?)

I will be producing the documentary film for the Sheffield Documentary Film Festival. This means that I have to keep it in mind that most of the people viewing the film won’t know about the existence of a fixed gear community in Leeds or possibly even what a fixed gear bike is.

Brief:
(What exactly are you/is somebody else expecting you to do?)

I will be creating a documentary film looking at the fixed gear bike scene/community in Leeds for the Sheffield Documentary Film Festival.

I need to clarify how my project has changed so that when it comes to my video being marked there isn't any confusion. As you can read above my original intention was to produce a DOCUMENTARY FILM about the fixed gear community in Leeds, that would be shown at the Sheffield Documentary Film Festival. This has now changed and instead I am producing a PROMOTIONAL VIDEO for the Fixed Gear Leeds Group. To Clarify I have rewritten my rational, context and brief below:

NEW

Rationale:
(Why are you doing it? How does it fit with your own sense of development? What is your particular interest in this area?)

I want to produce a promotional Video in order to explore my interest in moving image that I developed at the end of last year. Technically it will also help to develop my camera, sound and editing skills. Finally it will be a different genre of moving image that I haven’t tried before that I can try my hand at.

Context:
(Where does the project fit in the real world?)

I will be producing the promotional video for a group of fixed gear bike riders in Leeds called Fixed Gear Leeds. They will place the video on their website/blog. It will be seen by fellow fixed gear riders so I will be dealing with an audience who are familiar with the content and context of my video.

Brief:
(What exactly are you/is somebody else expecting you to do?)

I will be creating a Promotional Video for the group Fixed Gear Leeds.

Hopefully this has clarified things and not just gone and made things more complicated.

Ride footage - Pros and Cons

Above is a short sample of some of the ride footage (obviously compressed quality as with previous videos) and I am really pleased with the results. The footage was filmed out the back of a car and I wasn't entirely sure whether it was going to work but it was a success. It does have some drawbacks when compared to using a scooter or moped because you don't have that freedom both in terms of driving the vehicle and how you can get around through traffic as well as when it comes to filming and you are restricted by the sides of the car. With that said it was the best I could do and I got some really good shots from it. One of the difficulties was dealing with the quality of the road and this affecting the steadiness of the shots because the camera was being hand held.There were times when this wasn't as noticeable but there were others when it totally ruined the shot. I would have liked to have been able to film when a larger group was out but due to camera and car commitments this was the best I could do. I would like to go out again with a larger group and I've talked to Andy whom said he would drive me around but this will depend on group commitments and of course the weather. Overall I am glad I went to the trouble of filming this way as it will definitely add another dynamic to the finished video when its cut in with the more static trick footage.

Preperation for filming out of the back of the car - Riding footage

It may not look like much but this was the best solution I came to, when thinking about how I could safely film out of the back of a moving car. It probably still wouldn't be classed as safe but this provided a clear view out of the back of the car and it meant that the boot wasn't fully open. The car I was using also didn't have a sun roof or rear windows so the only option to get a good shot would be out the back of the car.

Footage from first time shooting with Fixed Gear Leeds

You will have to excuse the poor quality of the video but I had to compress it in order to be able to upload it onto the blog, so in turn I have lost most of the quality. A way around this would be to upload onto vimeo, however I don't want to use up my limited amount of uploads because I have other things I want to upload onto it. This is a initial rough edit for the first 2 minutes of the Fixed Gear Leeds video and it includes footage of me leaving my house and riding up to HPC. Then it moves onto the square outside the Art Gallery and has some trick footage. I realised that the amount of completed tricks isn't vast but then again this isn't necessarily what the group is into so I am going to have to make what I do have look good. The other problem I have is making the transition into ride footage and trick etc look seamless so story boarding will be crucial.

First time shooting with Fixed Gear Leeds

(stills from HPC)



(stills from Gallery Square)



(stills from Millennium Square)

It's time to talk about my first time filming with Fixed Gear Leeds. I wasn't entirely sure of the route for the ride as most of the time it is pretty much made up as the group go along, so I was basically playing it by ear to see where the group headed. I got some initial footage of the group at Hyde Park Corner where they meet before the ride and then we headed off into town. I decided to not try filming when riding as firstly I think I would have killed myself and secondly I was planning on cutting any footage I got with ride footage from the back of a car from another day riding/shooting. We then arrived in the square outside the gallery and I filmed there for around 20 minutes and it was then a similar amount of time in Millennium square after another ride around town. I'm not 100% sure about the quality of the trick footage and whether there is much in the way of landed tricks but then again through their own admission this isn't one of the groups strong points and not really something the focus on. This means that hopefully the ride footage comes out really well so I don't have to use much of the trick footage. I will post up some actual footage when I start editing the footage.

Charge Bike edits - Fixed 2

Fixed 2 from Charge Bikes on Vimeo.

Thought I would put this up as well as it follows on from the last post and I think it is also a better video. Firstly it's the second video produced by Charge and more specifically is again filmed and edited by Alex Rankin. I think this edit has some nicer shots and overall looks better because it is filmed in HD. The HD really brings out the autumnal colours when they are riding through the park and skidding through the leaves. I also like the fact that at the beginning of the video they included several shots where they failed their tricks and I think this adds to the overall feel that it's about having fun and the video edit doesn't have to simply include perfect trics all the time. It gives the video an added sense of reality. Over all i think think this is a really good video and think that charge shoud carry on the good work.

Charge Bike edits - Fixed

Fixed. from Charge Bikes on Vimeo.

This is the first video from Charge Bikes and I can't believe I haven't posted this as inspiration earlier in the blog. I really like this edit mainly down to the fact that it's filmed in London so When I first saw it ages ago I could relate easier than say watching another American video from California. I also think that it is well shot and packs a lot of different aspects of fixed gear riding into one 4 minute video. It has tricks, bike polo (which I haven't mentioned before, but looks seriously hard to play) and then some ride footage. The Super Ted guy rides for charge and I'm guessing gets paid to ride their bikes around etc, which is pretty cool in my books.

Death Pedal Edit - Staight out of France

DEATH PEDAL PREMIÈRE & ROLLER CONTEST from Julien Rideau on Vimeo.

This is a nice edit showing a side to fixed gear events I haven't spoken about before called roller races, where people race while the backs are stationary on rollers. I really like the use of the soft focus around the edge of the video (not that sure I would have said that before seeing the video) and the soundtrack works well with the French backdrop. Just another example of the magnitude of fixed gear edits/videos on the internet.

Locations - Royal Armouries

I think that the Royal Armouries is another good location as it has a wide open space like the two previous locations. It is also located near wide open roads that will be work well when it comes to filming using the car. It is also located near the canal meaning aesthetically it will look very good on film and could offer a nice backdrop. Finally around the time that the group rides (7:30pm) it is relatively empty meaning there will be plenty of free space and free roads.

Locations - Millennium Square

Millennium Square is another location that is similar to the square outside the gallery. It is a stop gap between rides around the city and riders do similar stuff as they do at the gallery square. It will just act as another location to get more footage and will be a change of location so aesthetically different.

Locations - Headrow/Leeds Art Gallery

This is another key location as it is a stop gap when the group rides from Hyde Park Corner into town and somewhere where they practice tricks so I could get some good trick footage here and then get some footage of the group riding off or riding in. It is a nice location with the gallery in the background and there is also the memorial statue in front of gallery where they poppies will add a nice colour in the background.

Locations - Hyde Park Corner

Hyde Park Corner is the starting point for nearly all of the groups rides so it's a good place to start when looking at locations. I think this is an important location to get some footage of because it is the start of the ride and is where everyone catches up before the ride. It is also a well known location for the student population in Leeds and could be a good location to gather some footage of traffic for a timelaps sequence. It is also quite near my house so I could film some footage of me leaving my house and then arriving at hyde park corner, similar to what i did for my first test edit.

Music/audio

Music is something that was raised in the crit. For the mini edit I showed in the crit I had personally chosen the music. This could be something that I could get some feedback from the fixed gear group as this would create another link between the group and the video. The music will be important because I will not be using much or even any of the audio captured with the footage. This is mainly down to the fact that the audio is mostly background noise and panting/heavy breathing from riding the bike. I may include some audio for things like skids and maybe some traffic noise to create a bit of city/urban atmosphere.

Audience

I realise that I haven't spoken about the audience for this video yet so I think I should address this now. It is a question that Graham has tried at every tutorial to get me to thinking about. Well after a bit of thought it is very straight forward as it will more than likely be posted up on the fixed gear Leeds blog/website so the video will be seen by fellow fixed gear riders who check the site regularly. This means that they will already have a good idea of what makes a good fixed gear video but will also know what is going on in the video because they are linked to the video's subject matter. It also means that the video will be placed in a good environment for the desired audience so I should be able to get a good amount of feedback from the right audience.

More thought on night time shooting.

I have been giving the subject of shooting at night more thought and I think that I won't be required to film much in full darkness like I did in the videos before. This is because mostly the group rides at 7:30pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays and with the clocks how they are at the moment it means that it is quite light until around 9 now so i will be able to get most of my shooting in while there is still a good amount of light around.I think if there is any need to film when it does get darker I will most likely use a tripod and have the camera stationary, this way I will eliminate most of the problems I had when the camera was attached to the bike. I think the time that will look nicest to shoot is actually around dusk time so 8-9pm will be really good because you can get really nice colours in the sky from the setting sun and this could act as a really nice backdrop to the riders.

2nd edit - Night time ride footage

Above are two short clips taken from the footage I gathered when I went for a night time ride with my camera attached to my bikes handle bars. As you can see from the footage it wasn't a massive success. With that said this could be mainly down to the fact that I decided to test this for the first time at night because the camera was secure enough, so from that point of view it worked. The footage is very grainy and the camera found it hard to focus in the low light and suffered from varying degrees of light trails and blurring. The camera would also drop frames when it couldn't focus due to lack of light and moving to fast. When this happened the camera would just cut out and then an error message would appear and I would have to hit record again when it had sorted itself out. This could be down to the lack of sensors my camera has so it generally won't perform as well in low light as other more expensive cameras will. However it was a good test session and I found out that i could attach my camera to my bike so I think I should test this method in the daytime and see how the footage comes out for that.

2nd test edit - Preperation

After looking at the work by Lucas Brunelle i decided to attempt attaching my camera to my bike and then going for a ride. I bodged together some sort of secure attachment that mainly consisted of gaffer tape, electrical tape, tea towels, ties and polystyrene basically whatever came to hand. I was surprised that I managed something so secure although i was paranoid the whole ride that it was suddenly just going to come apart and the camera would tumble down and smash into a thousand piece.

Filming Techniques - Lucas Brunelle

I was researching on the internet for any information i could find regarding filming techniques, when it comes to filming bikes. The first thing i found was an interview with Mike Martin who is the director of the mash video that i have featured previously.

'Is there anything that you did differently with Mash to document biking that hadn’t been done in other videos that you’ve seen?
There had been a few documentaries about messengers prior to the Mash video. There were just a few pure riding videos. Lucas Brenell’s videos were capturing the closest content we were into. His videos are helmet-cam alley cat race videos. They take any viewer willing to watch through the experience of what it feels like to be at the front of the pack in a street race, all the sketchy moments, the speed. Our goal was to develop some filming techniques that were more filmic then helmet camera footage. Another goal was to show the non-messenger side of these bikes. The freeriding, transportation side of these bikes. The video is a good mix of messenger and non-messenger riders, racing, working and freeriding.'

(from http://www.vaporsmagazine.com/2008/08/mike-martin/)

I found this really interesting and started to look into Lucas Brenelle and the alley cat race vids that he has shot. I went onto his personal website (http://www.digave.com/index.html) and realised that i had seen a lot of his videos before without knowing who he was. They are all really high paced race videos documenting the dangerous alley cat races whereby racers have to get to checkpoints whilst weaving through traffic, pedestrians and red lights. I think that his videos are really exciting to watch and in most cases mindblowing at how fast and skillful the riders are. These races throw up a lot of arguments as to the legality of the races and the danger the riders are putting themselves under and could possibly inflict on members of the public.



However I'm not going to get into that as i was more interested with one aspect of his website in particular, which explained how he physically mounts his cameras and films his ride footage (http://www.digave.com/videos/how.htm).



This is an example of the lengths Lucas goes to in order to get good footage. Firstly it must be so heavy having three cameras mounted to your helmet, when this is factored into the speed that he manages to ride, I am truly amazed. The short guide is a good introduction to several different methods you could use to film ride footage. It does look like you need to make a few things such as camera brackets to secure them to your helmet. I don't think this would be something that i will be doing this project as it will take quite a bit of work to make something like Lucas Brunelle has and there would need to be practice time. I think the best way for me to get good quality ride footage would either be to attach the camera to the bike, which i see as being easier than attaching something to a helmet as well as being more secure. The other option would be to do it using a car where i can have someone driving and then i film out the window. This way i can travel a faster speed in order to overtake riders or in many cases keep up with them

America & Filming

I've decided that it is a lot harder to create a good looking bike video in Britain than it is in say the West Coast of America because of one thing, the weather. In all of the videos I've watched from America they always seem to be in beaming sunshine, which seems to produce beautiful vivid and bright footage. I think throughout this project one whole week it rained everyday and i don't think it ever rains in California. Rant over.

Another short vid

Fun Day of Riding! from Thomas on Vimeo.

Found this on a fixed gear blog and i think it is a good example of what you can get with one days worth of footage. It isn't an amazing video but it does show that you can put together a simple edit of about 3 minutes from one days worth of filming. This means that if i get a large amount of footage down from a few days worth of riding i should have more than enough to create a decent 3-5 minute edit for Fixed Gear Leeds.

Empire Edit

Empire from Empire on Vimeo.

Whilst looking through vimeo i found the Empire video. It's a short 4 minute video of a group of new york riders having fun in the city on their bikes. James Rhodes also highlighted the video after the interim crit because it has such great examples of on bike footage. Nearly all of the shots are hand held with only two shot apparently being filmed with the use of a tripod. I also really like the vid because they also use some timelaps footage at the beginning and i think it works really well. It gives a sense of the high pace and sheer amount of people/traffic in a city like new york, withing a short time.

First edit - Test

I was heading to Roundhay park for the day and decided this would be a good opportunity to make a little edit up of the day. I thought I could document the journey as well as the riding at Roundhay in order to give the edit a bit of body and structure. I showed this at the interim crit and the feedback i got was that there wasn't enough ride footage and maybe more emphasis was put on the journey getting to the park than the actual ride. My response to this would be that the i was testing a way of structuring the future edit i will be producing for Fixed Gear Leeds. I also realised that it was hard to film footage while riding along yourself as on a fixed gear bike you have to constantly think about pedaling and then where your going as well as what your filming. I think i will overcome this problem using a car and then filming out the back of it as this can provide more dynamic shots and will mean that i will be able to keep up with the quicker riders whilst filming. It should also produce a smoother shot as a car will feel less of the imperfections in the road. I am still considering using a similar style for the start of the edit by speeding up footage of riders leaving their homes and arriving at the meet before setting off in a big group. I think that the shots on the stationary tripod worked well and this will probably come in handy when filming some of the trick sessions that the group undertake.