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Cov Blaze TV Research and Development

http://www.coventryblaze.co.uk/blaze_tv.php

http://uk.youtube.com/user/CovBlazeTV

How the project first came about

Scott and me were involved with the RICOH Arena Coventry City Football project run by CEMAP for Media Production students in our second year. Here we got to practise our skills in live sport coverage, from camera work, to vision mixing, to replay composing. This project was run by Pete Woodbridge who was looking at how the project could be expanded and developed, not only in the C.City football club project but maybe looking into other local sports and arenas. Pete went to the local ice hockey team, Coventry Blaze, to try to arrange talks and try to arrange a contract of some sort for CEMAP to do what they do at the football. It seemed like a good step to go as they were local and arguably the best at their sport, with a big local fan base. As a fan of the sport it was also something I encouraged.

The initial meetings were going well, and the Coventry Blaze were keen and interested in the ideas and prospects involved. However when it came down to organising some sort of payment and contract the Blaze team shied away. The team did not have the sort of money football teams have to spend on “non essential” expenditures. They were also concerned it would take fans away from coming to the matches. However Pete Woodbridge realised that there was a great deal of potential here for an online personal channel for the team, something which I had agreed with him, as we both had noticed there were no other ice hockey teams in the country with their own TV channel a part from one (Newcastle Vipers, who had a very poorly developed channel), but something the NHL teams in the US had managed to use successfully. Pete discussed the possible project with me a great deal as he knew my interest with it, Scott got involved at this stage and we agreed that there was a great potential for us to take this on as a final year project for our degree. Pete knew we had the skills to move forward with it and wanted to help us make it ours. With the equipment available to us in our final year, and from our skills and experiences there was no reason for us not to be able to create a small team of 4 to 5 people and go ahead with the project. The way Pete saw it there was even potential to make a business out of it. If we could successfully complete a season with the blaze, creating a good channel, and keeping the team happy, there was no reason not to extend the project to other clubs. As long as we have evidence by this point of what we can do and what we can offer the other clubs we could talk about getting a salary or sponsorship money to make it into liveable job. Either way it’s something which would look great on a CV and create a great final project.

First 2 meetings and what was discussed

Both these meetings looked over the same topics. The first was to get things started and to make some solid ideas of the plan ahead. The second finalised these ideas, made agreements and starting dates for the project.

We discussed a great deal within these meetings, covering a wide range of issues. One of the main concerns for the club was that of pay, as they would not be ale to give each of us any good pay. The only pay we could get would be from the camera system they already had in place. This was a small handy cam style device which records straight to DVDs which they have to give to the referees, manager and away manager. This job they pay £30 a game for and were happy to have us doing that along with the channel. We agreed to do this as we would have been using our camera in the same position anyway, and they were buying a new HD handy cam. We did talk about the possibilities of using more cameras, which was fine but there would be no pay. The only reason why we would be allowed to do this project would be as long as it did not interfere with the current running of the club.

For us this was not a huge issue as we did not intend on getting any major pay, we were aware of that from the start. As students a big project such as this would be very suitable for us and if we were not spending time on this it would be something else on a similar time consumption basis. We also had no worries about cost of equipment as we obviously have full advantage of the media loan shop. The club were very pleased with our ideas and impressed by what we said we could achieve. They were pleased with the creative aspects we wanted to bring to the channel, making it more than just a highlights channel. We all agreed that the aim of the channel would also be to give fans something which they can’t get from the games. Behind the scenes footage, interviews with the players and managers, a “day in the life of” following a player on his day off. They were happy for us to start at the beginning of the season, but they knew that no real progress would start until we were all back for the start of the university academic year. With half the decided team away for the summer, the initial matches would only be done on one camera, and editing of these would be unlikely to start till we were all back.

The most important thing for me was that the club was happy with us having full creative control, and seemed supportive of ideas we might have. The club was also ok with working around our time schedule, understanding we are at university. They were also ok with us looking for sponsors for the channel, and to take a cut from final year DVD sales.

Production

Cameras and initial post production.

The club originally had only one of their own cameras, aware that we wanted to use two the ended up buying us another. It was good of them, even though we had always said we were going to use university equipment. The club decided obviously it would be easier to use theirs

These cameras were ok near the start of the project which was during the summer, as there was not a full crew as two of us were away until the start of term. They were quick simple to set up and very user friendly. For the reason of lack of crew we never used the second camera. . However the problem with this was that we were unhappy with the quality we were getting from these cameras even though they were HD. It was ok for what they needed with their DVDs but for us to use in pot production it was not feasible to continue using them.

Once we were all back for the start of the academic year we began looking into editing the footage from the HD cameras. They recorded to a hard drive, which at first seemed like a good idea as it meant it would be quick to transfer the footage to editing, compared to the “real time” of capturing tape, but this was not the case. After some internet research we found out Sony used a certain file format in these cameras, which meant the footage could only be uploaded in Sony Vegas editing software which none of us had, and from experience we did not want to edit in Sony Vegas even if we could get hold of it.

We then did some more research into how could convert the files. We used various different recommended free software and some trail software which worked better. We spoke to our technician in university who tried converting it with some of her software, however all of these made a huge difference to the quality, making the footage even worse than before. Once we had found the best conversion software out of the bunch we began converting games for editing, it was our only real option to get these speedily onto the channel. It had been about a month since the start of the season so we wanted to get things rolling. It was taking us a minimum of 3 hours to convert all the footage after a match. Far to long for what we wanted, it was not a productive way of doing it. It was also another reason for never using both cameras, it would take to long to digitise.

We edited the already filmed matches in this method as we of course had to get this up but decided to use DV tapes from their on. We looked into how we could still use the club cameras, even though the ideal solution was to use our own camera equipment. We tried to see if we could wire the Sony HD handy cam into a DV camera and record on to DV tape through the Sony HD handy cam. After some research into this we realised it was possible, but it added to the bulk and would have to be done for two of these HD handy cams, but this method would loose the HD quality. However HD was something else which we were not interested in, we knew our footage was going online so there was no reason to record in HD.

The more and more we looked into this issue we realised more and more that there was really no point using these HD handy cams for what we wanted to get out of the project and what we wanted to give the channel. In terms of filming they were to small and flimsy, you could not do smooth zooms, and the only real manual setting was the focus. We wanted to create professional work, and that was not going to be possible with the Sony HD handy cam camcorders. They were holiday cameras.

So we inevitably decided to go ahead and use our own equipment. This way we could capture straight into Adobe Premier Pro and start editing. We would use 2 x Z1s and 3x Tripods. We would still use the ice hockey teams camera to capture straight to the DVDs they need straight away after the match (this is what the third tripod is for, the tripod they gave us to use with the Handy cam was fairly poor, had no level meter and was very jerky, it was an amateur photography tripod).

The “Next Generation” of production

With the initial problems solved we were now into the production set up which we are essentially in now.

On match day we set up a Z1 at the top of the middle stand behind the audio desk (Next to where we have the Handycam – DVD set up) for this Z1 camera (CAM1) we use a camera operator and an assistant camera operator/ time coder.

We then have a second Z1 down on the side of the ice to get close ups (CAM2). We use this only at the attacking end, so it swaps sides in between periods. This camera generally only uses one camera operator and no assistant.

Our last member of the team is used on the Handycam – DVD set up as its something we have to do. It is not ideal as it would be better to have a second assistant camera operator/ time coder with CAM2, but nonetheless it is the best we can do with our four man team.

CAM2 originally did not have any time coding done with it, this was because we thought it would be to difficult to without an assistant, and it did not matter to much as there was normally only half an hour of footage taken from CAM2 from the whole game, but we realised after the first few matches that because we only filmed the attacking end, as soon as the Blaze where out of the attacking third we could stop filming and write down the time code. So now CAM2 does the time coding as well. This has worked very well since we started using this method, which is fortunate as getting an extra member of crew was not something we needed to do at this stage. In the editing room having the time codes for CAM2 probably saves half an hour or so depending on the game, a useful development.

After recording the game 2 members of the crew rush down to the manager office to grab a few minutes with him to record an interview. Geoff Foster a BBC reporter who covers the ice hockey games and many other events in the local area has given us permission to film the interview between him and the manager (Paul Thompson) meant for local radio and the internet.

This was a big advantage for us as we were unsure as to what questions to prompt Paul Thompson if it was only going to be us there, and this was the first area of behind the scenes footage we wanted to cover and we wanted it to look good. Before we knew about the Geoff Foster doing these interviews we had contemplated getting in another student possibly, a journalism student interested in the sport, or who would be willing to read up on the sport. This would be a good opportunity for a journalism student to get real world practice, and would also have bee good for us as it would have shown our ability to adapt to working with an outside source and collaborating with other expertise. However this is still visible to certain degree with the current set up with recording the interview with Geoff Foster, as he is no longer individual he has to wait for us and we wait for him, we are still collaborating with a professional, and he adds a great deal to the channel.

The only problem we have encountered with the camera set up is with the settings on the Z1s. We knew how to use the Z1s and all the settings but after the first came we realised that how the image looked on the screen was not necessarily how it would look in post production and due to time constraints matches would be the only time to practise. After this first error however we rectified the problem and improve the image greatly playing around with the iris and shutter speed.

The “Next Generation” of post-production

This is probably the area where the most important research and development have taken place.

The quickest developments came with capturing the software, at the start we would use generally one computer to capture all the tapes, because there was only two computers with the software and the second was being used for something else, but then we soon realised that if we could get a third computer involved it speed up the production time a great deal. When we were using the HD Handy cam system there was only one computer doing conversion at a time. It was a lengthy procedure. So now to keep digitising short and help speed up post-production to help meet our own personnel deadlines we used 3 computers.

As soon as we return from the ice hockey match we will set up two computers and cameras to capture the DV tapes. The third will start work on the graphics straight away.

The first computer will edit together the manager interview straight away, normally getting it onto the youtube channel within the first hour of being back. We want people to be coming home from the game that night to be able to watch the interview. The first computer will then capture tap 2 of CAM1 and edit that footage together. The second computer captures the first tape from CAM1 of periods 1 and 2 and start work editing that. Once both computers have edited the tapes from CAM1 they take their relevant periods from CAM2s tape. The use of time coding in this editing procedure is very useful and saves a great deal of time. The third computer starts work creating the graphics for the game highlights and then makes them ready to export to the other computers for them to put into their editing projects. The graphics do not need to be re-edited in anyway once imported into another project, the simply get slotted into their correct places and then everything is complete.

Using this 3 computer system allows us now to get the interview and the highlights of the game up online on the youtube channel before people have left for work on Monday morning. This was something which we had wanted to do all along but something we only achieved in for the last 3 games. Before we would get the highlights up by Monday night but we made the decision to get the highlights up for the Monday morning after a test to see if it would get more viewing figures, which it did. Now we get around a1000 views on the Monday, the highest nearly 1500, compared to between 500 – 700 per week we were getting before. People were expecting to be able to check the channel in the morning of the next day. Subsequently this has lead us to win youtube awards for the channel. From Monday to Tuesday at the start of every week the channel gets between place 70 to as high as 45^th most viewed director channel in the world. Not only is this good for our moral, giving us the extra motivation to stay up late till the early mornings, but it further shows that since we have started on this next generation of production that the channel is more appreciated and people a liking what they are seeing and the content we are putting up.

Youtube

YouTube has to be considered the greatest 21st Century broadcaster since it was set up. Its outward cost to production companies (the users) is 0 yet its audience viewing time is through the roof. In 2006, 9,305 years of YouTube videos had been viewed. It has set the bar for a wave of similar sites all offering a similar service. However as the first of its level it is still the strong leader.

With today’s fast paced lives, people have less time for TV. YouTube will offer people minutes of entertainment, to fit their schedule.

YouTube has been recently offering a service to mobile phones, allowing its audience to view its wanted video clips on the move. It is a great way for YouTube to extend its audience. As nearly everyone in the Western world has a mobile phone, YouTube can now reach people eveywhere, getting people on the move, on their commute to work, on their holiday, or simply on their trip to the supermarket.

Reasons for using youtube

When originally talked to the ice hockey club about starting the channel we quickly agreed that it would be best to use youtube as a base for the channel, and having links to the videos on the official Coventry blaze website. http://www.coventryblaze.co.uk/blaze_tv.php

There were many good reasons for using youtube for the camera and not simply because it was free, even though this was of course a big one. Below is a list.

• Audience demographics
• High number of users
• Free
• Most famous video website
• New high quality viewing option.
• Interactive, can comment on videos rate, and email channel
• Can be imbedded onto club website and other websites, possibility for a wide distribution.
• We want our videos to be shareable.
• Audiences can subscribe to the channel and receive updates.
• Can see where viewers stop watching our videos, areas to improve.
• Youtube has a huge surfing community looking through random videos not purely searching for one specific thing.
• Related videos can draw in audiences from other videos. The same with random videos.
• Professionally made footage sticks out well on youtube.
• Youtube is all about pleasing its audience. Its competitive.
• Addresses niche audiences.
• It is accessible anywhere with an internet connection, viewable on wifi devices such as the ARCHOS 05 series or the Apple iPhone or Touch.

Compression

One of the first area we had to look into with youtube was obviously that of uploading videos. Our edited videos would be of to large a file size to load straight from the exported movie file done to best quality. We needed to compress our videos, but did not want to loose quality. We had good compression software but what were the specs.

So here were the first specs we found for youtube we needed to comply to:

• Screen size 320 x 270
• 1gb video limit

These came from the youtube website. However from more research we found that even though having a higher movie file size would mean better quality it would take to long to upload, and it was advised to keep it under 100mb and still keeping it good quality.

We then also found many recommendations on websites and forums suggesting to make the size of the video 640 X 480. This would make the video better quality on the small screen and was the average 4:3 setting on my most computer monitors, so would be of a good standard quality in full screen on youtube.

So the new spec we complied to:

• Screen size 640 x 480
• Approx 100mb file size limit.

We also would make the bit rate as high as possible to increase the video quality, this we vary to fit in that 100mb mark.

Film in 4:3 not 16:9

When we started filming the ice hockey matches and interviews around it, we filmed in 4:3. The main reason for this was because of the aspect ratio on youtube, 4:3. However youtube after roughly 2 months of the channel was in progress turned its aspect ration to 16:9. This was obviously then something we had to think about for future filming. The advantages for filming in 16:9 were simple we would be able to zoom in more and simply get more of the action. It also gives more of a professional aesthetic appeal. When coming to DVDs most people have widescreen tvs now, laptops and pcs tend to be widescreen, having the DVDs in 16:9 would look far more professional on today’s screens. We decided however to keep the filming in 4:3 to keep a continuity in the films. Changing to 16:9 half way through would probably look more unprofessional.

Graphics

Along with the editing this was another huge area which we developed upon which can be seen very clearly from our videos.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=KvKhU4Z0LYM

Here you can see our original graphics set up, all of this was done using Adobe Premier Pro which are done in the Title maker. This is why the graphics are of such bad quality and only use simple text and colouring .

As you can see the first shot opens on a black background with the Coventry blaze logo shrinking into the corner. Then simple Arial text appears with the away team name and the date of the match. All very basic and gives a bad starting impression to the video. We then go into the game, with a simple scoreboard and period number box, colour boxes represent the teams. Again this is very basic. It does its job but looks pretty terrible.

So the graphics needed a big improvement and as none of us on the blazetv crew were graphically technically talented we went for outside help.

A friend of mine who studies graphics at 3^rd year level offered to help to re-do the scoreboard and create a headline box for goals and other news , and I looked at how to us these new graphics with certain effects and how to create a much better introduction and outro. In the video below it is very clear to see the development from the old video.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=J1paoUyKgwA

So the main developments:

• Having a clean impressive look to the introduction, with both team logos, and an ice image to remove the amateur feel a blank coloured background gives.
• An outro which displays some useful interesting facts from the match, such as man of the match and the final score, in again a stylish and suitable set up, making use of effects available in Adobe Premier Pro. And getting rid of the black background.
• Headline box, giving names of players scoring goals.
• New scoreboard made slightly larger for better viewing on the small screen on youtube. Uses different colour text to represent away team, otherwise designed in home colours.

These developments make a vast improvement on the channel and we are very happy with it. Having the scoreboard and headline bar a larger size is useful for viewing on youtubes small screen. When we researching score boards, we found footage taken from TV broadcasts and uploaded onto youtube obviously had their TV screen graphics. These were difficult to read o the small youtube screen so it seemed clear to make the scoreboard bigger for online viewing.

Software

For this project we have used an extensive range of software but narrowed it down to the list below.

• Adobe Premier Pro (7.0 and CS2)
• Photoshop
• SUPER (compression software)

For music we also use an online provider which Pete Woodbridge has a license for and given us permission to use. Music Audio networks plc.

Next term we are looking at expanding or graphics into after effects to create some more impressive work and add to the projects portfolio.

An Unhappy Partner

There are two owners of the club, Mike and Andy. Originally Andy was very sceptical about the video channel. He was mainly worried that it would get in the way to much, and that it would stop fans turning up to the matches. However Mike persuaded him to let it happen.

Once we had our equipment and the new graphics involved in the videos Andy became more and more supportive of the channel and its ideas. As the rest of the staff at the ice hockey they were very impressed with the videos we were producing. We had won them over and they were obviously impresses with our professional attitude and talent. They were very keen for us to start on ideas we had spoken about before with them. Such as the “day in the life of” a player show. They were happy with us to continue with our creative role, they were disappointed though that we wouldn’t be able to start anything until the New Year due to other university commitments. An example of where this has been a problem was towards the stat of October when we ere asked to film the players in the community in schools giving talks and being dinner ladies. We filmed it, but we did not have time to edit it due to university commitments.

Since we have had the channel up and running on a weekly basis the club has made announcements at their games every week, and spoke about the channel on forums to help market the channel. At the moment the main advertising is from word of mouth which has clearly worked to some degree.

For us we asked for hoodies which we could get the youtube channel printed on the back. This was for a personnel memento to some degree but also to advertise the channel when at the matches and waking round town. When filming on the sideline often people would ask what we were filming for. Having these crew hoodies would make it easier for anyone wondering the same question to figure it out. It was also a place for us to print sponsors. This is something which had spoken about before to the club, gaining sponsorship for the channel, this would be a way to get a age of some sort out of the project. We are in the stage of approaching companies to have their log on the videos and the hoodies as advertising space.

Originally we were not going to ask or think abut looking for sponsorship until we had hit a 1000 views per month, but we have obviously exceeded this with over this amount per week.

Having work around sky

Sky have been a problem or us as well. On occasion (when they need a slot to fill on their sports channel) they will film the game, it has happened twice this side of Christmas. Now of course the club gives them priority over us, and the annoyance of having our camera spot taken is frustrating, but something which we have to deal with, and have done so successfully.

Recently on the 07.12.08 match we had to film next to sky. This was ok but as our usual system works we then edited the game up for Monday morning. Sky were not pleased with this as they were not showing the match till Friday. We were only allowed to show 2 minutes of highlights or wait till after Friday. So we had to take the video off youtube with already a 1000hits. This is another piece of evidence showing how scared TV broadcasters are of 21^st centaury broadcast especially on the internet, worried of course that our highlights would effect their ratings and therefore advertising.

It is an interesting experience working next to the sky camera crew, seeing how they work, there equipment and seeing what the skill and professional level is. On the same note therefore I have to say it is fairly reassuring. The sky crew will no doubt have a better technical mind, but all of what they were doing seemed very familiar and roles which we could take up easily. The sky crew never felt intimidating to me.

Reflection on the Coventry Blaze Ice Hockey Project

This project has been the most challenging, interesting and developing project I have done in my years at Coventry University. It puts to practise all my skills I have developed. It has many of the pressure that the Coventry City FC CEMAP project had with the added fact that we are running this project. As one of the initial people involved in getting this project rolling it feels like my baby. It has shown all of us the level of skill we are at. This project requires a great deal of commitment, talent, quick thinking, and professionalism. There are many people on our course who would not be able to walk into this project comfortably.

So far on this project I have worked with a BBC radio reporter in the industry, next to sky crew, ITV crew, and owners of arguably the most successful ice hockey team in the country and its managers, coach’s and players. It is a hugely professional environment. Working around so many production crews makes us think in a more professional level. It is not a student level project. It is a project which is part of the media industry.

For me the biggest development has been my skills in editing, which is also seems to be a continual development. I have learnt more about Photoshop and creating graphics within it. My main area of improvement has been with Adobe Premier Pro and its effects controls, in particular in creating movement on the screen. This is visible in the way in which graphics swivel, rotate and grow in certain shots. It has been a fun an experimentive experience. It is an area in which I have allowed myself to be creative and explore the “everyday” sports footage that we use. Its something which I feel is important for my portfolio which at the moment seems to purely consist of camera work.

I am looking forward to the first term in 09 where we are getting skills instructions on Adobe after affects which is something which I want to expand my skills into.

Something I have realised from this project is that my old artistic side has come back out. Something I feel has been missing for a very long time in Media Production. I have realised that I am more interested in the graphics side of the production and its relation to video production. I’ve noticed this when creating the intros and outros to the ice hockey matches. Maybe this is an area in which I should have specialised in earlier. Maybe I should have done a graphics course. Design was something which had always interested me, and I studied it up to a-level.

The creative support we get from the club is very promising, and makes it a lot easier or us I find. It’s a good motivational boost when we are up all night editing. And even though I feel exhausted a lot of the time and sometimes seem to have little enthusiasm for the project, I do care a lot about it and want to make it the best.

The research we have done into the other ice hockey team channels is comforting. There is not much competition; we are producing better work than professionals. Those that are better in areas are a healthy competition, who I want to out shine. It makes think more creatively about what I want to do with the project and really push it forwards. I want to make it Maple Leafs TV. That’s my bench mark.

At one point in this project I was worried that there would be little creative scope available past some of the already mentioned behind the scenes footage, such as the day in the life of a player. But there is so much surrounding this sport, its family and community. There as so many aspects to approach the spectacle and to be creative with it. I have always wanted to be a film maker and I think it was this that I was worried about losing in this project, but there are so many films that can be made around the sport if I just think about it properly.

I want and see this project with the ice hockey team as a great base to expand from to create a great portfolio and impressive CV. The skills from here will be invaluable whether I go into sport broadcasting or not.

http://uk.youtube.com/user/CovBlazeTV

http://www.coventryblaze.co.uk/blaze_tv.php

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