On Saturday, I spent 4 hours at the Connecticut School of Broadcasting with the intent of spending most of that time in the radio studio. While it didn't quite work out that way, I still feel that it was time well spent. Instead of spending all of that time in the studio, I worked on editing the almost 30 minutes of audio files that I obtained conducting the interview with Steve Dunn and Steve Sylvia from The Steve Dunn Band. I wanted to end up with about 5 minutes of footage for our one hour show.
Our studio time did not go unused, though. Four members of our group were there for at least part of the time and we all got some time in there recording various bits. Part of my time was spent recording another commercial. Our show needs to incorporate at least three original commercials, so each of us is working on making one to potentially be included. Because they range in time from 30 seconds to 1 minute, we potentially have room for up to 20 spots.
On a different note, I am looking forward to today! Our class is Sports News 2 with WFSB's Joe Zone. During our last class with him, he gave us all four stories off the then-current AP wire. Our assignment was to take those stories and re-write them into a 90 second news broadcast giving an average of 20-25 seconds for each story. We will put our stories into the teleprompter and read them on camera. Our 'performance' will be taped so that we can see it and critique it.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Our Mock PSA
Similar to our creation of our first commercial, we also recorded a mock public service announcement. Really, this is very similar to a commercial but tends to be longer and uses fewer - if any - effects. For a real radio station, the revenue is also considerably different. PSAs are played for free while commercials are paid for by the advertiser. Paul and I again paired off for the recording and editing of this mock PSA.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
My First Commercial
In a previous post, Commercial Break, I talked about the class when Paul and I created a radio commercial. I wanted to post that commercial here. Not bad for our first attempt!
Studio Work
In a few moments, I am headed out to meet some of my fellow students in the studio to continue working on our radio final. I have some ideas to record some commercials for the 'broadcast' in addition to some work editing the interview that I conducted on Thursday with Steve Dunn and Steve Sylvia from The Steve Dunn Band
.
We have four hours of studio time signed out as a group so that we can really get in there and bang out some material for the show.
One of the show segments - the reason that I did the interview - is going to discuss drunk dialing. Steve Dunn released a song by that name, Drunk Dial, and it inspired the segment. We are going to have our hosts discuss drunk dialing, play the song, and run the interview.
.We have four hours of studio time signed out as a group so that we can really get in there and bang out some material for the show.
One of the show segments - the reason that I did the interview - is going to discuss drunk dialing. Steve Dunn released a song by that name, Drunk Dial, and it inspired the segment. We are going to have our hosts discuss drunk dialing, play the song, and run the interview.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Busy days ahead!
This week has been pretty amazing already and it is only going to get better! On Monday, our class schedule at the Connecticut School of Broadcasting included spending some time working on our radio final production. This was probably the most relaxed of our days - even though it was probably also one of our most crucial. We have a very limited amount of class time to put together our one hour radio show. This particular class was a little less than productive, but I think it also produced some positive results. If nothing else, it got us moving in the right direction. Several of us have scheduled some studio time to get together outside of class time to get some work done on the production. The second half of our day was spent on a fourth session with Final Cut Pro. A number of us also stayed after class and worked on various projects.
Tuesday's class was spent doing some more recording and editing with Adobe Audition for the first half. The second half was our day consisted of first class of TV news. Our instructor for this class was WFSB's Hallie Jackson.
Today was our midterm. While it was far from being an eventful day, any time you have a test to take can be stressful. After we took our midterm we spent some time talking about what the second half of our semester is going to be like.
Tomorrow is going to be a real test of my endurance, however... Classes from 9:30 - 1 followed by some computer time with Final Cut Pro until 4 PM to work on some video editing from the footage I shot last Thursday for Tainted Cherry. From 4 - 6 I will be in the studio doing an interview with a couple of members of the Steve Dunn Band. The interview is going to be a part of our radio final. Finally from 6:30-8:30, there is a News Writing Workshop given by Hallie Jackson and Chris Collibee - the news assignment editor for WFSB.
Tuesday's class was spent doing some more recording and editing with Adobe Audition for the first half. The second half was our day consisted of first class of TV news. Our instructor for this class was WFSB's Hallie Jackson.
Today was our midterm. While it was far from being an eventful day, any time you have a test to take can be stressful. After we took our midterm we spent some time talking about what the second half of our semester is going to be like.
Tomorrow is going to be a real test of my endurance, however... Classes from 9:30 - 1 followed by some computer time with Final Cut Pro until 4 PM to work on some video editing from the footage I shot last Thursday for Tainted Cherry. From 4 - 6 I will be in the studio doing an interview with a couple of members of the Steve Dunn Band. The interview is going to be a part of our radio final. Finally from 6:30-8:30, there is a News Writing Workshop given by Hallie Jackson and Chris Collibee - the news assignment editor for WFSB.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
A Little Less Than Great.
Well, I got into the edit suite today and got a really good look at the video footage. While the live mix of the band sounded really good, the feed from the sound board was really light on the bass. Unfortunately, the because the camera's headphone jack is broken, I couldn't really monitor the feed during the shoot. The resulting videos will be less than ideal, but that's why we call it learning from experience. The next time that I do this, I will be ready to take precautions to avoid a similar problem.
On a slightly better note, I now have an eight gigabyte flash drive for the purpose of easily archiving and transporting my mp3 and video files. This will come in handy when using studio B as it isn't connected to the server at CSB. Recording anything in that studio is otherwise stuck in studio B without a way to transport it to another computer. Likewise, anything recorded in studio A cannot be retrieved in studio B.
On a slightly better note, I now have an eight gigabyte flash drive for the purpose of easily archiving and transporting my mp3 and video files. This will come in handy when using studio B as it isn't connected to the server at CSB. Recording anything in that studio is otherwise stuck in studio B without a way to transport it to another computer. Likewise, anything recorded in studio A cannot be retrieved in studio B.
Live Band Video Shoot
The other night, I had the opportunity to bring a camera to Murphy & Scarletti's to shoot some footage of my friend's new band - clarification: the band isn't new, but Vando only recently joined it. Tainted Cherry is a cover band based out of Meriden, CT. According to the band, Jamie, Jarod, Vando, and Damon make up "Connecticut's newest modern rock party band! We are the fresh alternative, playing your favorite modern rock, radio rock, and classic cover tunes."
I have known Vando for several years, now, having worked as the sound engineer for one of his former bands. Wanting to get some varied experience with the camera, I had asked him if it would be alright if I came to the gig. He, along with the rest of the band, was happy to have me record the event. It was a really good performance by the band and I was able to get some great footage - even though there were some issues with the camera.
Today, I am going to go into the studio to capture the footage into the editing program. I don't really care if I use AVID or Final Cut for the job but I had previously reserved some time to use Final Cut today, so that is what I will be using. Besides, the way CSB has things set up, once I get all the video footage captured into the computer, it is more convenient to use Final Cut.
Once I have captured and reviewed the footage for content and quality, I plan to edit it down to at least 3 or 4 videos. For most of the performance, I had the camera mounted on a tripod with the audio feed coming straight from the sound board. As a result, most of the footage is a wide shot of the band - though I did occasionally pan the crowd and zoom in on the individual band members. While the audio is constant, there will be some transitions when I had to re-focus and such that I will want to edit out of the video segment. For the purpose of filling in those spots, I took the camera off the tripod (and switched to the shotgun mic) to get some close-ups of both band and crowd from different angles during the last few songs of the night. Because I can maintain the integrity of the audio track but splice in the various video clips, I should be able to produce some really nice videos for several of the songs. My goal is to at least do a video for their performance of Guns N' Roses' Sweet Child o' Mine and RUSH's Tom Sawyer. I have to admit, Jamie did justice to both Slash and Alex Lifeson. And while no one can match Neil Peart on drums, Damon was impressive on Tom Sawyer. After I review what I have captured, I will make the judgment as to what other songs will be edited and posted to YouTube. Hopefully, the stuff that I produce will be good enough for Tainted Cherry to use to promote themselves as "Connecticut's newest modern rock party band!"
I have known Vando for several years, now, having worked as the sound engineer for one of his former bands. Wanting to get some varied experience with the camera, I had asked him if it would be alright if I came to the gig. He, along with the rest of the band, was happy to have me record the event. It was a really good performance by the band and I was able to get some great footage - even though there were some issues with the camera.
Today, I am going to go into the studio to capture the footage into the editing program. I don't really care if I use AVID or Final Cut for the job but I had previously reserved some time to use Final Cut today, so that is what I will be using. Besides, the way CSB has things set up, once I get all the video footage captured into the computer, it is more convenient to use Final Cut.
Once I have captured and reviewed the footage for content and quality, I plan to edit it down to at least 3 or 4 videos. For most of the performance, I had the camera mounted on a tripod with the audio feed coming straight from the sound board. As a result, most of the footage is a wide shot of the band - though I did occasionally pan the crowd and zoom in on the individual band members. While the audio is constant, there will be some transitions when I had to re-focus and such that I will want to edit out of the video segment. For the purpose of filling in those spots, I took the camera off the tripod (and switched to the shotgun mic) to get some close-ups of both band and crowd from different angles during the last few songs of the night. Because I can maintain the integrity of the audio track but splice in the various video clips, I should be able to produce some really nice videos for several of the songs. My goal is to at least do a video for their performance of Guns N' Roses' Sweet Child o' Mine and RUSH's Tom Sawyer. I have to admit, Jamie did justice to both Slash and Alex Lifeson. And while no one can match Neil Peart on drums, Damon was impressive on Tom Sawyer. After I review what I have captured, I will make the judgment as to what other songs will be edited and posted to YouTube. Hopefully, the stuff that I produce will be good enough for Tainted Cherry to use to promote themselves as "Connecticut's newest modern rock party band!"
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Another Great Day of Classes
Today was our 4th and final class for AVID. Today's topic was using AVID to edit the audio - setting levels, balancing multiple tracks of audio, and trimming the clips to achieve the best, overall effect. I am really looking forward to applying what I have learned to the footage that I shot last week!
In addition to our class on AVID, we went back into the radio studio to learn more about NexGen. Specifically, we learned how to load things like the commercials and sweepers that we recorded using Adobe Audition into NexGen so that we can use them in our show.
While this may not sound like a very productive 4 hours, that is because there are a lot of little details that were covered during the classes. Both video editing - whether with AVID or Final Cut - and NexGen are loaded with important details that need to be addressed properly. With regards to NexGen, it is pretty simple to add spots, songs, etc. to the program. However, if the details are glossed over it will make things much harder for everyone in the future. Losing an advertising client because the wrong spot played because you failed to enter the right information while loading the spot into NexGen would not go well for your career. With AVID, proper attention to the details is important. Adding cross-fades between clips or peppering in too many effects could make or break your presentation.
In addition to our class on AVID, we went back into the radio studio to learn more about NexGen. Specifically, we learned how to load things like the commercials and sweepers that we recorded using Adobe Audition into NexGen so that we can use them in our show.
While this may not sound like a very productive 4 hours, that is because there are a lot of little details that were covered during the classes. Both video editing - whether with AVID or Final Cut - and NexGen are loaded with important details that need to be addressed properly. With regards to NexGen, it is pretty simple to add spots, songs, etc. to the program. However, if the details are glossed over it will make things much harder for everyone in the future. Losing an advertising client because the wrong spot played because you failed to enter the right information while loading the spot into NexGen would not go well for your career. With AVID, proper attention to the details is important. Adding cross-fades between clips or peppering in too many effects could make or break your presentation.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Commercial Break
Half of our class time today was spent 'building' a radio commercial and half was spent delving further into AVID editing software. My half of the class - the same group that is working on our radio final - started with the commercial while the other half worked on AVID.
Because one of our number was absent, we had 8 in our group. We were further paired off and presented with sample scripts to use for our commercial. Because we had four pairs and only two studios, we had to take turns in the studio. While we waited our turn, we searched the files for sound effects and music beds to play behind the dialog. Once in the studio, my partner and I took turns at the mic reading our parts of the script. I had the 1st and 3rd line and my partner had the 2nd and 4th. I went first at the mic and simply read both of my lines over and over until I was comfortable that we had at least one good reading of both lines to work with. My partner then did the same. When we loaded our tracks into Adobe Audition, we set to editing them down and applying effects. Our target was to end up with a 30 second spot. Our script called for part of it to be read in a 'monster truck voice' so we added an echo effect to that part. To all the dialog - including the 'monster truck' spot - we added a filter that gave kind of a tinny sound quality to our voices - Audition calls it 'Supermarket Speaker.' Once we were done adding the music bed and the effects, we had what I thought was a very professional sounding commercial - especially for our first attempt!
After a short break, we switched to the AVID class and learned quite a bit about editing effects into our video packages. It is pretty amazing what we can do with one or two clicks of a mouse! While this portion of our day was not hands-on, it was great to see AVID in action.
Because one of our number was absent, we had 8 in our group. We were further paired off and presented with sample scripts to use for our commercial. Because we had four pairs and only two studios, we had to take turns in the studio. While we waited our turn, we searched the files for sound effects and music beds to play behind the dialog. Once in the studio, my partner and I took turns at the mic reading our parts of the script. I had the 1st and 3rd line and my partner had the 2nd and 4th. I went first at the mic and simply read both of my lines over and over until I was comfortable that we had at least one good reading of both lines to work with. My partner then did the same. When we loaded our tracks into Adobe Audition, we set to editing them down and applying effects. Our target was to end up with a 30 second spot. Our script called for part of it to be read in a 'monster truck voice' so we added an echo effect to that part. To all the dialog - including the 'monster truck' spot - we added a filter that gave kind of a tinny sound quality to our voices - Audition calls it 'Supermarket Speaker.' Once we were done adding the music bed and the effects, we had what I thought was a very professional sounding commercial - especially for our first attempt!
After a short break, we switched to the AVID class and learned quite a bit about editing effects into our video packages. It is pretty amazing what we can do with one or two clicks of a mouse! While this portion of our day was not hands-on, it was great to see AVID in action.
Finals already?
Even though we have 6 weeks to go, we spent Monday's class working on our radio final. It sounded crazy, at first, but once we realized that we only have 4 talk radio classes (including yesterday's class), to put together our final project it all of a sudden made sense.
Our class was divided in half so that we would have two, smaller groups. Each group will produce a one hour long radio broadcast. The format is to be that of a morning talk radio show with a maximum of 12 minutes of music for the hour (this restriction is in place because it would be too easy to just do an hour full of music). Our group has nine students - each with their individual roles to play in the broadcast. Mine is that of the board operator. I will be responsible for making sure every one has a live mic when needed, prerecorded spots and commercials are heard as programmed, and more. In addition to my duties during the live performance, I will be doing some prerecorded voice overs for commercials and sweepers and I am planning to conduct an interview for one of the spots.
We need to include commercials for a couple of reasons: one, we need to work them into the program using NexGen so that they are nicely spaced throughout the hour and two, we need to actually create a minimum of three original commercials as a team using Adobe Audition.
This is going to be fun!
Our class was divided in half so that we would have two, smaller groups. Each group will produce a one hour long radio broadcast. The format is to be that of a morning talk radio show with a maximum of 12 minutes of music for the hour (this restriction is in place because it would be too easy to just do an hour full of music). Our group has nine students - each with their individual roles to play in the broadcast. Mine is that of the board operator. I will be responsible for making sure every one has a live mic when needed, prerecorded spots and commercials are heard as programmed, and more. In addition to my duties during the live performance, I will be doing some prerecorded voice overs for commercials and sweepers and I am planning to conduct an interview for one of the spots.
We need to include commercials for a couple of reasons: one, we need to work them into the program using NexGen so that they are nicely spaced throughout the hour and two, we need to actually create a minimum of three original commercials as a team using Adobe Audition.
This is going to be fun!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
A Great Finale to a Great Week!
Yes, I am aware that today is only Thursday, so it might seem a bit odd that I am claiming this week to be over. However, my classes at the CT School of Broadcasting run from Monday through Thursday. So my second full week of classes is now in the books.
This week started off with us continuing our on-hands learning of Adobe Audition. Next, we moved on to working with both AVID and Final Cut Pro for editing video footage. I have done some editing of some videos that I shot with my personal camcorder, but the software I have is nothing compared to what AVID and Final Cut Pro can do! I am really looking forward to getting in and really working with these two programs.
In addition to our exploration of AVID and Final Cut Pro, we were introduced to NexGen - the software used by radio stations for programing their daily play lists.
Today was the icing on the cake! Today we spent time in one of the radio studios doing some work with NexGen and doing some talk-over work. Our instructor, Kevin Johnson (no relation) from Mix 93.1, had us head into the studio one at a time and take a turn performing a 'talk break' on mic. We can't actually broadcast over the air from this studio, but the others in the class can hear what we do. Most of us in the class (we number only 19, total) were pretty excited about getting into the studio.
Following our foray into the studio, we switched gears. Our instructor for the second half of our class was Joe Zone, the sports director for WFSB in Hartford. Joe threw a lot of great information our way - though I didn't have to take a lot of notes. The next time that we meet with Joe Zone we will be getting on camera and doing our own sports broadcast.
This week started off with us continuing our on-hands learning of Adobe Audition. Next, we moved on to working with both AVID and Final Cut Pro for editing video footage. I have done some editing of some videos that I shot with my personal camcorder, but the software I have is nothing compared to what AVID and Final Cut Pro can do! I am really looking forward to getting in and really working with these two programs.
In addition to our exploration of AVID and Final Cut Pro, we were introduced to NexGen - the software used by radio stations for programing their daily play lists.
Today was the icing on the cake! Today we spent time in one of the radio studios doing some work with NexGen and doing some talk-over work. Our instructor, Kevin Johnson (no relation) from Mix 93.1, had us head into the studio one at a time and take a turn performing a 'talk break' on mic. We can't actually broadcast over the air from this studio, but the others in the class can hear what we do. Most of us in the class (we number only 19, total) were pretty excited about getting into the studio.
Following our foray into the studio, we switched gears. Our instructor for the second half of our class was Joe Zone, the sports director for WFSB in Hartford. Joe threw a lot of great information our way - though I didn't have to take a lot of notes. The next time that we meet with Joe Zone we will be getting on camera and doing our own sports broadcast.
Friday, March 18, 2011
First Day of Shooting
During class on Tuesday we were introduced to the cameras that we would be using in the field. Our class was ENG 1 (Electronic News Gathering). If you watch the local news, you are all familiar with the results of ENG. A reporter and camera operator - though sometimes it will just be one person filling both roles - will go to a location to record an event or interview on tape. Then they will edit the footage down to a suitable length for the news broadcast.
We were given an assignment to take one of the cameras and shoot some footage. There was no particular recommendation as to what we should shoot...just that we get something on tape. My kids are involved in a play and had a rehearsal today, so I decided to bring the camera and get some footage of that. I was also able to shoot about 10 interviews with some of the kids. All totaled, I got about 40 minutes worth of footage to work with once we start editing. I'll be recording again at next week's rehearsal. The director of the show would like to have a video chronicle of their rehearsal process and I am all too happy to have the practice!
After class on Monday, I have signed up for some time in one of the radio studios. I am really looking forward to getting in there and recording some demos and mock-promos for practice. I have the studio signed out for 2 hours, so I have a lot of time to play!
We were given an assignment to take one of the cameras and shoot some footage. There was no particular recommendation as to what we should shoot...just that we get something on tape. My kids are involved in a play and had a rehearsal today, so I decided to bring the camera and get some footage of that. I was also able to shoot about 10 interviews with some of the kids. All totaled, I got about 40 minutes worth of footage to work with once we start editing. I'll be recording again at next week's rehearsal. The director of the show would like to have a video chronicle of their rehearsal process and I am all too happy to have the practice!
After class on Monday, I have signed up for some time in one of the radio studios. I am really looking forward to getting in there and recording some demos and mock-promos for practice. I have the studio signed out for 2 hours, so I have a lot of time to play!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
As of this writing, I am 42 years old (though, that will be changing in 4 days as my birthday is March 20) and I am going back to school. Classes actually began on Monday, March 14. I am back in school in hopes that I can break into the radio and television industry. As such, I am attending classes at the Connecticut School of Broadcasting.
The classes thus far have mostly been introductory classes - Monday was Intro to TV and today was Intro to Radio - I have enjoyed the experience.
My decision to go back to school - and to this one in particular - was based on the fact that I have always wanted to be involved in radio and/or television.
I'll keep you posted!
The classes thus far have mostly been introductory classes - Monday was Intro to TV and today was Intro to Radio - I have enjoyed the experience.
My decision to go back to school - and to this one in particular - was based on the fact that I have always wanted to be involved in radio and/or television.
I'll keep you posted!
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