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

Coventry Blaze TV Influences

The Coventry Blaze TV channel which I mentioned as one of my earlier ideas as a final year project is in full swing. Working successfully and with a large audience and following. The Coventry Blaze management is very happy with the set up and very excited by the concept and new ideas we may have and get. We are almost in full creative command of the Channel with full support from the club.

Each week is a learning curve in some way, and each week we become more productively sufficient. At the current stage our main elements to the channel involve highlights of each home match, and interviews with the head coach after each game. In the new year of 2009 we plan to take this to new levels following players on their daily lives and showing what happens behind the scenes at Coventry Blaze Ice Hockey team. We also want to get more interactive with the fan as that is what the Channel is for.

My main influences in to how this channel should work and look was based on research of other sport teams personal channels and especially other ice hockey teams. In England the best teams belong to the bmi Baby Elite league. Ice hockey is still fairly small in this country, even at the top level and therefore teams have very little money. When I started my research in the summer, I found no official team channels. Only a few amateur ones set up by fans, with poorly filmed simple uploaded clips. So there was clearly a market for this type of channel. As I already knew that the sport is far bigger in the USA with the NHL (National Hockey League), so this seemed and obvious place to go next. The first team I looked at was the Toronto Maple Leafs and surely enough they had an online channel, all the NHL teams had an online channel. Maple Leafs TV was a channel and part of their own website which clearly had a great deal of funding. Clearly professionally made, with a huge amount of footage, different shows and a team of reporters. It is a very well established team, clearly relative to their success and money.

Now what Maple Leafs TV is something which was not to ridiculous to re-create. Their programming included many simple shows such as, press conference recordings, interviews with celebrity fans, interviews with players and managers. These are all ideas which we can use for our channel, and these are things which are obviously interesting and important to the fans.

Now the maple leafs channel is on their own website. Coventry Blaze do not have the time or money to look into something like this, but they have a page with links to their you tube channel. This is what we have to use. The disadvantages of this compared to the Maple leaf channel are a reduction in quality, and arguably the ease to find. Youtube is considered an amateur “broadcast service” to many cluttered to the brim with video blogs of people opinions and people re-creating “jackass”. So having your channel on a private site especially linked onto the main teams website means people will easily be able to find the channel. Those of an older age especially who do not feel comfortable with the internet and youtube will find it easier to google, Maple Leafs, and click on the homepage link where the channel link will be easily found in the more traditional web styled site.

However there are many advantages to the youtube channel which we feel can benefit us, as a small production team.

• There are the simple things such as the channel which is like a private site which we can style, and the unlimited space to upload videos. Youtube allows us to simply and quickly upload videos after editing, distributed to a wide network immediately.

• We get all the demographics and viewing figures we need, most likely similar to what a private site would have as well but it is easy to use and already set up on youtube.

• There is no webmaster to talk to, just us and our youtube account.

• It is a widely used website, which shows recommendations to their users, we can get accidental audiences rather than just people who know where they are going to watch.

• Audiences can embed the video files in to their own websites quickly spreading the distribution.

• Most important its free.

So the content on Maple leafs TV is something which we felt simple enough to move forward with which is something I feel we have, and which we can expand into.

http://mapleleafs.nhl.com/leafstv/index.htm

From starting the channel though we have seen some interesting developments in the form of Vipers TV and Bisons TV. These are two other British Elite league ice hockey teams, which have also set up their own online channels this 08/09 season

Vipers TV

This channel we discovered when in pos-production of our first Coventry Blaze vs Newcastle Vipers game. It takes on more of a traditional TV channel style play. You turn it on and watch the show. This tends to be based around the highlights of the last recorded match. This system is however not what the advantages of the internet is about. There is now way to view archive footage or look back at the season. This may have something to do with DVD sales or something along those lines. It is a paid contractor who runs this channel so they should have a more professional production than us however this does not seem the case. The only advantage they have over our work and our channel is the commentary over the match (which at the moment we have decided against due to time issues) however the editing and camera work is questionable and turns the game boring. The graphics are simple and similar or worse than ours which seems poor for a paid production team. This was our first example of competition in this ice hockey league which left us feeling confident.

Bisons TV

The Basingstoke Bisons seem to have very recently set up their own online channel as well. Within the last month in October. This may be a response to the success of our channel, or the team has simply realised the market for the channel. It similarly uses Youtube as its base. However it does not seem to be an officially supported channel, there are no links from the team website, and on the channel there are no links back. It seems to be possibly an amateur making the highlights clips. This channel does not have interview with players or managers but purely shows highlights of the games played. It is visible that the creator has not thought about how youtube is watched by its audience, and the graphics are fairly simple. There is commentary on the highlights and it works well for what it is. It is an improvement on the Vipers TV channel, and its use of youtube seems to be important for it.

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

Recently we have noticed some other channels pop up which I felt I should add. Sheffield Steelers TV and Coors Belfast Giants.

These are both you tube channels but are embedded into their clubs own site.

The Coors Belfast Giants giants site does not have match highlights, but is purely a behind the scenes show, with interviews, but it lacks graphics and looks very basic , however it does have a live feel. Sheffield Steelers TV

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=5wl-re85-6E&feature=channel_page

Sheffield Steelers TV is slightly similar to ours, it has some match highlights and interviews with players and managers. However it seems to be more of a money making skeem as the clips mention extras available on the DVD. They are not giving fans the whole package and it needs a lot of development. Generally the footage is bad quality and badly edited. It is clear the fans are not pleased as theire are very few views. I also feel this channel is a response from the success our channel has had as it is only a week old.

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

This was probably the most inspirational day I have had at this university or atlearst from what I can remember.

Ewa had some incredible stories to tell. She was unfortunate to have been told she was talking purely to a journalism class in her lecture as we were all media production students. Ewa said at the end, if she had known her approach to the lecture would have been very different. In her talk she spoke a lot about journalism methods and techniques which were still useful but it would have been better to have a more relevant talk themed towards media production.

After the lecture we split up into smaller groups, this was better for us as she was able to re-think her plan and she had better more relevant advice for us and our course. It was simple, we spoke about what we wanted to do in our lives or what we wanted to achieve and how we could use our media skills to approach this. In terms of a careers day this was probably the most useful we have had in giving us an insight into the professional media industry and how to look at it.

Ewa had a lot of passion for what she did, none of her work seemed like a “Job” to her. Nothing was forced, and it’s the only professional guest member of the media I’ve seen here who’s work had a real purpose and meaning behind what she was doing. This can of course be argued to be only due to the extreme content of the war conflict issues she covers, and her left wing approach, but her talk was still an eye opener into what is possible with media in the real world.

This is my spectacle artefact, which came about from my previous research into Escapism and its relation to the theme of the spectacle.

As my previous spectacle artefact idea looked to be problematic to produce. Time and crew, were an issue. Also having to do these artefacts individually surely would not allow me to use a crew. I also did not have access to the equipment I wanted at the time, and I needed to find actors. My solution to this problem was to use technology I had available to me to create this artefact, and it would involve a video game.

Shaun White Snowboarding is a new video game. The sport of the game obviously seemed relevant, as the areas which I have looked into about escapism all evolved from my escapism with snowboarding and the sports spectacle.

So from there what I wanted to do is create my own snowboarding film, I have studied a few snowboard films and the way which I escape into them, they are designed to be a spectacle. I wanted to use the game to help me do this.

In Shaun White Snowboarding one of the main features of the game is the ability to take 30 second replays and edit them. Changing camera angles, and speeds allows you to create nice short scenes. This would be the starting block. I made multiple sequences which then through the game uploaded them onto the game’s personnel website. From here I then downloaded them from the website using screen recording software and imported the clips into adobe premier pro to edit it all together, with text sound and music, creating the final product.

It was an interesting process as I had never really used these technologies in this way. It was very difficult at time due to the nature of the on-line technology making the footage jerky at times. It did also put me into the mind of a snowboard film director. In terms of shots and ‘filming’ (replays), I needed to think about what tricks my rider would do, locations he would do those tricks in (these were obviously key to create the spectacle), what jumps to use, I also needed non-snowboarding elements to help break up the film and help create the spectacle.

In editing music for scenes it became clear to me how important this was in creating the right feel for its audience. The use of sound to signify certain sequences was key. This is something which I have read in interviews with snowboard film directors comment on.

Transitions with starting and ending the film were also critical and help set the mood of the film. I needed to make sure I did not simply go straight into snowboarding and then end on it as well.

There were many difficulties in using the footage from the game. Quality was reduced, and transferring the short clips from the game, to the internet, to the PC, to editing suite, were tricky at times. Overall I think it shows the possibilities of technology today. I’ve managed to make a snowboard film without going to a mountain, hiring a snowboard team, using a crew, or spending thousands of pounds. Not only does the film aim to show a spectacle, but the methods of creating it show a spectacle, where its audience is now part of it.

Alongside the module I have been helping on some other small projects. The main two involved working with two graphics students who needed assistance with the media production side of their projects. I have also been working on other projects such as the Coventry Blaze Ice Hockey Channel, and CUTV, but I felt these graphics projects important to mention.

On these projects I had no or little creative input, and if any it was only on simple matters, and mainly involving the equipment. The 1^st project involved the making of an advert for a rugby sports clothing company. The student I was working with on this had a clear idea of what he wanted. I was simply the cameraman. What I found interesting was the creative and open approach to the task the student had been set, leading him into an uncomfortable position. He had a lack of experience with video production techniques and equipment, and editing, but the student still completed the task with a well polished advert.

This was the same case for the project with the other student, who was using photography, Digital SLRs which she had never really needed to use before, but felt it was necessary to improve her ideas in her advertising campaign.

What I found helpful from these experiences was not necessary the motivation these two students had in the production of their work, but the way they approached their ideas. From the start they did not restrict themselves with their ideas. They let themselves no think “realistically” about their projects. Something which within media production we do to much. Over the years of the course it is something which had grown. An ideas or concepts for a production rarely move forward into an actual production, ideas tend to stay at that first initial stage. The first thing that happens with an idea now, is criticism. On a basic level we will find every problem possible with the idea, then there will be criticisms about the research behind the idea, then the idea will be overcomplicated and “killed”.

We kill our creativeness on this course, or at least our media production approach to ideas does. These two graphics students had very open creativeness. Something which I realised with these experiences, and something which I realised I need to take away with me, and stop thinking so “realistically” about ideas and concepts.

On the 15^th of December I attended the Kanye West gig at the Birmingham NEC. Now it is very obvious how this could be considered a spectacle. We were and audience of a spectacle, watching a show. This is however the same as any other show or event on a basic level so why did I find this gig important to talk about?

The difference here was that we were made part of the show. We were brought into the “play”. Kanye West, unlike many concerts, did not just play one song after the next, he turned his songs almost into a film, there was a back story to the gig. Kanye West shared memories, stories of his child hood, his mother, he let us, the audience, into his personnel life. He turned his spectacle in to “participatory” spectacle. There was also of course a great deal of power involved with the performance, as he made us feel like we were participating, the master slave relationship grew stronger. At the end he played his last song 3 times. He made mistakes on the first 2 tries and went again from the start. Now in a cinema or a theatre act if this happened there would be outrage, “you can’t start again, you’re a professional and we’ve paid good money to see this”, but by this point we were his “slaves”, under his spell, we were his slaves and in awe of his spectacle. We had formed as a “mob” under his leadership.

The photos I have included with this blog try to depict this. Not the performance, but the effect on the people, the spectacle. The blue light that creates a line below the stage I found something to be a good symbol of this. Created by the light of the lcd screens on the back of digital cameras, and almost perfect straight line can be seen in the darkness, a spectacle in itself, adding to the effect of the performance.

The almost stupid thought of 1000s of people standing in a room jumping n formation to something which would sound better on a cd and could be danced to in the private of our own home, shows a strange side to our human nature. We want to be part of a group, a “mob” and we want to be lead.

There was a great deal of creativeness involved in Kanye’s gig, with the stage and the performance as a whole. He called it an art work, which it certainly was. It was inspiring and certainly left me thinking I should open myself to be more creative with my work, and not let obstacles get in the way. If I want to create something, I will create it.

The Gap Session is a film about a new snowboarding event started in 2006. It involved some of the world’s greatest riders in setting it up. What’s new about this weekend is the use of one big jump, designed from a natural jump 2 of the riders, and the two main organisers, found out on a trip in the mountains for another snowboarding film. It gave them a great deal of air time, making it easier for them to pull crazy tricks with a safe landing even though they were at a great height. The film follows the journey of the creation of the event to the end of the competition, and its a film I constantly find myself going back to.

The opening for the film immediately shows us a use of spectacle in a clever way. We begin the film in a traditional German musical parade, something which most Europeans are some what used to seeing ( Military parades, scout parades and so on). However these parades are designed to be a spectacle to those watching it. The film uses this spectacle to emphasise the spectacle the film is going to be, mixed in with shots of the riders walking through the snowy mountains and making back flips and huge jumps. The introduction prepares the audience for the spectacle of what this films is going to be, big and epic, from the traditional German music, with pro- athletes making big jumps and pulling crazy tricks. We are sat waiting.

The audience is then taken into where the idea came from. Through interviews and archive footage we are taken back into David Benedek’s (rider and organiser) memory, taken back to the mountain side where he and the second organiser discover this natural jump which is then copied for this event.

Not only have we been taken into David Benedek’s memory, but we also the first case of where the film has power. The pro – athletes are teaching us the technical advantages of this jump, through the knowledge they have of their sport. The audience will listen as these are the professionals, they are the masters, we are the slaves, they have the knowledge, they have the power, even though its possible that these pro – riders aren’t the most knowledgeable at their career but they have control over the knowledge in this film.

An important aspect of the film comes after this where we are taken on a snowboarding ride with the pro riders. They have a day off from the construction and organising of the event, ad the man made jump. Here the audience is made to feel part of the group of pro – riders as they are almost stripped of their pro status. They ride around away from this huge event, on a public ski slope, with other non – pro normal people, you or me maybe. The riders make mistakes, crash into members of the public, have to make apologies, the pro – athletes have been bought to our level, the audience can relate to them.

The filming techniques have been cleverly done to do this. In most snowboarding films we tend to only see clean runs, jumps and tricks, everything working and connecting perfectly. Many various shots and wide long distant shots increase the spectacle of the sport and riders, scenes of un-carved white off-piste snow being messed with for the first time. It’s the world we are not meant to be part of, it’s “our” fantasy, where we escape to. This route of escapism is taken away. There is only one camera, with no long distant shops. The audience is part of the action, part of the group, we here their conversations and jokes, and the camera man is snowboarding with the group so you almost feel you are riding with them. There is also a lot of very natural talk to camera. This completes the process of making the audience part of the “mob”, “group” mentality. We now care about the riders and organisers. We want this event to take place, through the difficulties they have had, the time involved, we don’t want to see it fail. We think we are participating in the film.

Now we get to the final stage of the film. All the problems have been rectified, the jump is ready and fixed, but as well as this the snowboarders are now fixed. They no longer make mistakes, they are pro again. They are happy and the audience is happy. They are a spectacle again, but this time we are not just watching, we are participating. The audience is further lead to believe it is part of the “mob” we join the pros in watching their colleagues do huge jumps, they are in awe in an equal manner as we are of the spectacle. The audience is on their level. The pro – riders are again teaching us, using their power of knowledge, screeching out trick names and moves as they watch their colleagues make huge tricks on the jump. However this time it is more subtle, as we now think we are a participating part of the spectacle, and the “mob”.

This is emphasised by the feeling you get, as an audience of the film, when the public join the venue of the event, you are above them. These are the people you should be part of, this should be your group, your “mob” but due to the production at the first parts of the film we are no longer a member of the viewing public. We are an organiser or even a snowboarder.

Many snowboard films make it difficult to take the “watching” part of the spectacle and turn it into “participation” spectacle. Most coverage of events of this manner keeps you in the public audience; you see what the ticket payer for the show sees and feel what the ticket payer feels.

Memory is played upon again at the end of the film, where we are taken back to short clips from the first parts of the film, and mainly the days on the slopes mucking about with the pro – snowboarders.

The way which this film plays with an audiences want for escapism is clear. Using many different techniques the audience is turned into part of the event. The most important element of the film is the power relationship with knowledge and how it is used within the topic of spectacle. Without changing the perspective of the spectacle on the audience, it would be difficult to escape into the film and its story.

Snowboarding Films, why I buy “Whitelines Snowboarding” magazine. The magazine that started me on this investigation into escapism is something which I don’t just buy for the magazine. With almost every issue comes a free DVD with one of the latest Snowboarding films of the year. It tends to be watched before I read the magazine, and I thought this was interesting for this subject of escapism. Why does the DVD come before the text? What power does the “new film” have over me?

These snowboarding films also tend to be heavily influential over me in terms of creativeness, as many of them can be very experimentive and bend rules of traditional formats. So I have decided to look over some of these films seeing where and why I escape into them, and why they influence me.

Escapism – Research

To continue my research on the topic of Escapism and read into the book luckily titled “Escapism”, Written by Yi-Fu Tuan. This book looks at the many aspects of why we as humans find the need to escape, the reasons behind it within our psychology, how it differs us from other animals, and where it is in our lives.

The book talks about how humans try to escape from for a large majority of time have been trying to escape from nature or “the Real”. Importance of what is the real is important in understanding what we are escaping from. Today as the book says, “It is not just nature; it is whatever in nature or in society imposes itself on a human being or group, doing so either suddenly or as a consistently felt pressure.” This talking about our “real” is “the real as impact”, put upon us. Therefore our “Reality” is difficult to control and “is indifferent to the needs and desires of particular individuals and groups.” This is why escapism is part of our daily life Yi- Fu Tuan suggests “Facing reality, then, implies accepting one’s essential powerlessness, yielding or adjusting to circumambient forces, taking solace in some local pattern or order that one has created and to which one has become habituated.”

This essentially sums up the reasons for which we use escapism, especially in today’s society. However as the book points out, years ago we would escape in terms of nature, escaping due to problems with our environment, and our habitat, to find better agricultural land, more fruitful land, looking for “greener pastures”. Even though to us in the modern world, escapism is something we link commonly to literature and media forms, a step away from reality to what we see as fantasy, and moving across land to find better habitats for food seem like a natural movement, This is still a form of escapism. It is still escaping from “the real” which these people were living and unhappy in. A more modern example of this is the European move to the new America. “The United States of America proclaims itself a land of immigrants. It would not want be known as a “land of escapists”, yet many did just that: escape from the intolerable conditions of the Old World for the promises of the New.”

So maybe escapism, something which we may consider as “daydreaming”, a waste of time, is a good thing for humanity. Escapism gives us something to aspire to, to make our “fantasy” “the real” which we do not feel happy or complete in. It could be argued that without our “daydreaming” and “escapism” we would not have the world we have today, the knowledge we have. Would there be protests, exploration, freedom of speech, art? Revolutions that have changed the world would never have been. We need escapism.

1. An inclination to escape from routine or reality into fantasy
2. A genre of book, film etc. that one uses to indulge this tendency

Escapism is an area that seemed important to explore in terms of memory, power and spectacle. Its something that we all do, we all have that “happy” place which we want to go to when we feel stress or dislike about the situations in our life. A fantasy, different reality. Somewhere we can close our eyes and teleport ourselves too instantly.

We use many forms to escape, TV, books, magazines, films, video games, holidays, travelling and so on. How we decide what escapes us links closely to memory, spectacle, and power. We will often escape to a past place we’ve been to, a holiday, your old town, child hood memories, an old film, all old memories. These memories will also hold a lot of power and control over our future life in a subconscious way.

These old memories we escape to can determine where will go for our next holiday. Ask someone if they prefer a holiday in the sun or a holiday in the snow, they will answer based upon a previous memory, somewhere with a better reality. Then ask which they would prefer to go to and the answer will most likely be the same.

What is it that makes the memory or makes the place of escape? Whether the place of escapism is real or fictional the spectacle is what impresses us and takes us back there. We will often be a foreigner, alien to the place. Our reality different from there, otherwise of course we wouldn’t be escaping. Therefore as a foreigner, we are onlookers watching, feeling, in awe of the spectacle in this place of escape. If we escape to a different country, even a story in a film, many of the feelings of happiness we feel towards that place, why we escape there could be due to culture. If we are saying this then as we are not brought up in that culture, as we are not part of that culture, we are merely onlookers watching and admiring it, making it a spectacle.

I as anyone else are an example of this, I find myself daydreaming off into past places, past feelings, on many occasions, and dreaming of places I wish to escape to. Comparing my reality to those I’ve witnessed and to those I wish to be part of.

My realisation of the importance of escapism came to me during one of the many escapism activities. For 6 months surrounding winter, the snowboarding magazine “Whitelines” publishes. In terms of literature this is probably one of the places I can always lose myself in, escaping to the thick snow topped mountains of Alaska in moments. Every year I find myself wanting it more, but realising I want it to escape more, and every year when it first publishes after the Summer, I don’t buy it. If I buy this magazine, it’s a sign more than any other media that my reality is not what I want, so I tell myself my reality is fine. However every year I then give in and buy the 2^nd issue of the year and most of the issues for the rest of the winter. Now this isn’t a bad thing, escapism is part of our reality and keeps us going, keeps our ambitions moving.

But my escapism isn’t why I am realised this subject was important to look at. It’s a subconscious I shouldn’t be thinking about it, or noticing it. In the November issue of “Whitelines” magazine there was an article sent in by a Captain in the British army serving in Afghanistan. Seeing photographs of tanks, soldiers and sandy desserts is a very unusual for a magazine which when you flick through is covered in scenes of snow covered mountains being carved by professional snowboarders. So I was immediately intrigued, the article talks not as expected from an Army Captain in Afghanistan. There is talk about his operations, the dangers he and his men are shrouded in, but the main purpose of the article is for the Captain to talk about his love for the Magazine. How it is what excites him most about receiving his mail, how after very fire fight he will go to his bunk and fall into the pages. Reading about someone else’s escapism made me realise my own and the importance of the subject within the themes of Power, Spectacle, and Memory. The power escapism has over our minds is a great one, clearly evident by this article.