The Junction as a community based organisation

The Junction is very much a community based organisation and works together with the community and projects in the community such as the projects I have worked with the Junction. My partner in the project was Simon Bates who has a high managerial role at the Junction.

One way to highlight the Junction's community role towards projects and also Long Road and our Diploma in general is the Junction's role in our extended project newspaper MediaMe, designed to promote education and students working towards the media A2 exam.

The Junction had a very clear role in this community based project, and even sponsored a page in the newspaper which went towards the profits we made. (see below)



The Junction was also featured heavily on the front page of the newspaper we made, and in the below pictures you can see their logo on the front page.





Therefore, the Junction's work in the community is very clear and is highlighted due to their role in our extended project and Long Road as an educational institution.

List of client constraint logos

Simon Bates had also asked us to put a number of logos on our work to show who we worked with in the interaction project. Screenshots from our final promo video are shown below and the logos are shown to show who we worked with.

Here is the clear junction logo, showing the venue I worked with for this project. This was the branding that our partner for the project, Simon Bates, wanted and featured throughout, which myself and the group had in the top left hand corner throughout our promotional video. This was one of our main logos we worked with for the video for the project.

Here is the arts council england, which helped fund our project with skillset. Brief information about the arts council explains that 'Arts Council England is the national development agency for the arts in England, distributing public money from the Government and the National Lottery.'

This learning outside the classroom logo shows one of our main subjects we hope to advertise and show in our interaction project. The idea of 'learning outside the classroom' links to work related learning and the fact that schools and colleges nationwide are no longer simply staying in class. There are more trips out, and new courses which are more practical based as opposed to theory, such as the new diplomas, e.g the Creative and Media Diploma, or the Health and Social Care Diploma.

The parkside federation logo and the CRC logo also shows who we worked with during the promo and what other schools and colleges were involved. This logos were simply mentioned briefly at the end of our promo to show the other consortiums involved.

The skillset logo was one of the most important logos in the project, aswell as the junction logo. Skillset funded the interaction project, along with the promotional videos which show the work related learning and learning outside the classroom, and the documentary which showed the same prospects as well as incentives to promote work related learning etc and professionals point of view on the ideas.

From the skillset website, I can learn that 'Skillset is the industry body which supports skills and training for people and businesses to ensure the UK creative media industries maintain their world class position.'

These two logos also show our involvement in the project, our personal logo for the creative and media diploma along with Long Road's logo show I was involved in the project and help to give the audience some idea of my involvement.

Revised budget

Skillset Budget for the project, as bid for by Simon:

Travel £ 1000 Hire coach

Accommodation £20 per head for o/night at bournemouth, based on staying in a hostel £400

Food £20 per head £400

Uni fees £500 pay for student mentors from Bournemouth

Samba tuition £260

equipment costs at LR/Coleridge Nothing.

Total £2560

Above is our original budget for the skillset interaction project, but after a few changes the budget has now been changed and is now less than we originally thought.

The fact that we didn't stay overnight in Bournemouth means we can take away £400 from our budget.

Also, the coach £1000 was our total budget for the coach, an estimate of £750 was thought to be an overall estimate, and in the end we only payed £675 for the coach which means we can take £325 away from the total also.

Food at Bournemouth University had also been cut from £400 to £120 in the end, which cuts a £280 price from our original estimate total cost.

Therefore, our new revised total costs would be £1645

meaning we are well below budget, this is an obvious plus as it means we could spend the money on other things incase something costs more than it would previously, or simply spend the money elsewhere or put it towards a different project or consortium.

Health and Safety precautions - risk assessment

Throughout the interaction project, I have had to consider many health and safety precautions while filming at the junction. Below are some of the aspects I personally had to consider while filming the finer footage at the junction.

Filming at the Fiver

Filming in the dark - this could potentially be dangerous after a while and to allow eyes time to adjust and rest regular breaks should be made between filming. Lighting should also be not too dark to allow eyes minimal strain.

Sound levels - There is also a risk of very high sound levels while filming at the junction. The sound levels for the bands playing are often loud and after a while could be damaging to hearing. therefore, while filming short breaks should be made in a quieter area.

Risk of objects falling - There is also a risk of objects falling on students while filming, such as pylons, lights etc. To avoid this, students should only film where considered safe, and do not film anywhere uncertain that it is safe.

Accidental tripping, falling or damage while filming - There is a risk of students falling over wires, amps or any technical equipment which means there is a danger of injury, if only a minimal one. Students can avoid this by taking extra care when filming and for the junction to remove any hazards which could cause injury.

Equipment being damaged or stolen - Equipment could also be damaged or stolen, which means students should take extra care when filming and extra care with the equipment to ensure that no damage or equipment is not stolen.

Cherry picker ban - We were also banned from using the cherry picker because it was against health and safety and no unauthorised staff or persons could use it. this may have got us some good shots, but it was dangerous and therefore not using it would be the best idea.

The difference of Interaction opposed to Commission

The difference to the Interaction project as opposed to other projects is highlighted in the partnership I held with the Junction and Simon Bates himself.

As opposed to the Commission project for example, I had a very clear set of client constraints and was limited in the choices I made and the decisions I had. Our client for the project (Tony Jones) simply gave me instructions for the project, especially what to put in the second show reel, and therefore the work I produced was very limited as opposed to the Interaction project.

Also during the Commission project, I was very much working for a client as opposed to with a partner, and this in the main way the Interaction and Commission projects differ.

Working with Simon Bates as a partner for the project meant that I had much more of a wider and diverse way of working, and could communicate with Simon on a much higher scale, including more meetings, personal feedback on videos and ideas and long meetings where I discussed with him what to do, including general ideas, his personal feedback, any questions and his general advice.

Promotional video Final

Promotional Trailer Final - Matt, Tara & Tim from cmdiploma on Vimeo.

Here is our finished and final promotional video for the Junction, to advertise both the venue and the Fiver event, but the latter primarily. I think the video works better than previous rough cuts, is a lot faster in terms of cutting which therefore keep it exciting.

I think it shows i have listened to both the Bournemouth feedback and Simon's feedback especially, who is my partner in the interaction project of working to advertise community based projects. I have added a little more information which I think helps further to advertise and promote the Fiver event, and sets some boundaries to exactly who can apply without being too limiting.


I also think now I have a clear structure, it is easier to see the idea of the video and understand the concept myself and the group are trying to put across. A better variety of the shots at the start help to raise tension and excitement, and make the video a little more visually interesting.


Overall I think I did a good video which matched clearly to the brief and stuck to what Simon Bates wanted and the core product, which was the main point. I am pleased with the video after the information and footage I got and think I worked to the best of our ability to suit the brief.

comparison promotional video three - 2003

This promotional video is also from a university, but the main difference between the other promos I have analysed is the date. This video was uploaded 7 years ago in 2003, and therefore I hope to see some differences in the video as opposed to videos uploaded recently in 2010. I hope to see some editorial and promotional differences when analysing the video.

One of the first shots we see is of students getting on the Gloucestershire university bus, it is a clear establishing shot. This signifies the business and atmosphere of the university and links to our junction promotional video by building up tension for the video, this is similar to the crowd shot in our junction video.

Yet again, these next two shots are also establishing shots which signify the business, atmosphere and feel of the university. Yet again, this links to our junction promotional video by building up tension and a busy atmosphere.

These two shots show interviews with various students at the University. These interviews give an idea what the university would be like and what students can expect if they were to study there, this shows the gains of studying at the university from personal points of view, and this is very similar to our junction promo video in the fact that it has interviews which show a personal experience and views on the venue advertised.

These two shots clearly show the educational gain from working at the university with professional cameras, lighting etc, and this is designed to attract students watching the video, obviously the target audience is students ready to go to university. These shots are similar to our junction promotional video because our video promotes the financial, professional and personal gain through playing a gig at the junction, and is designed clearly for our target audience also.

Overall, there are some very clear similarities between this 2003 promo video for Gloucestershire university and my promo video for the junction.

There are clear establishing shots, clear interview shots and clear shots showing the gain of going to the place advertised, and these are both evident in this video and my own promotional video. Despite the time difference of 7 years, the concept of the video is very similar and I am surprised to find so many similarities between the two promo videos.

Here is the promotional video from 2003 in which I analysed:

Simon's feedback

Here are some photos which show our progress meeting with Simon on Tuesday the 22nd in the afternoon session. We showed him our second rough cut and he said he understood the Bournemouth feedback, and with his feedback too we should have a good outcome for our video. He said the one thing he really liked about our group was that we stuck to the brief really clearly, and he thought this was excellent as it meant we didn't have to make too many changes in terms of the brief, and we could simply focus on the feedback for the actual video.

Simon also said that his feedback was quite general, and with the feedback from the editing professionals at bournemouth we should be all set, as the bournemouth editors knew more about editing and such and Simon knew more about the brief, they match together to give some good feedback.

Promo video rough cut 2

Here is my second rough cut of myself and the group's promotional video,

this rough cut is to show Simon this afternoon and get his feedback.

This rough cut is after the Bournemouth feedback from Masters editing

students at Bournemouth, who said that the main two points were structure

and pace which we needed to add. We will show this to Simon and get his

feedback this afternoon.

I have also started to act on the feedback shown by this rough cut,

and have started to make a few changes on the video, If you compare

this video to the first rough cut you can see a few shot changes aswell

as some shots faster paced and more of a story to this rough cut.

Hopefully with Simon's feedback too I should be on the way to editing

to the best of my ability based on the feedback.

Learning objective progress

LO1: Background Research (10 marks): Identification of a range of partners

Who could you work with locally and what could you produce? Make a list of possibilities. You might consider arts organisations, charities, public bodies. What could you do for them?


LO2: Work in partnership (15 marks): the evidence you have gathered so far of all the meetings, the plans, the progress of them. This must include your initial proposal for Simon.


LO3: Efficient work within constraints (10 marks): this includes financial, legal, health and safety, practical. You need evidence of all relevant material


LO4: Fulfilling intentions (15 marks): this includes your plans, drafts, experiments and records thereof; modifications as needed


LO5: relating your work to historical and contemporary practice (10 marks): discuss similarities and differences between what you find and your work. This will involve looking for similar kinds of project- such as short documentaries about arts providers and education, promo videos for local events.

My progress

LO1: Overall, I think for this objective I have made a substantial and detailed list of who we could work with and why, and what we would do for them. I just need to add pictures to illustrate my examples and perhaps add a few more examples to ensure I do as best I can.


LO2: My evidence for this part is quite fair, and I have showed hand written notes on what we have had to do in terms of planning etc. I think to ensure I do as best I can, I should continue with pictures, examples of plans etc for further work.


LO3: This is my weakest learning objective I think personally, I have not completed much work towards this and therefore this is the area I should concentrate on majorly, as well as the others obviously. I think a clear risk assessment would benefit my work and also financial areas etc,I have done some budgetting analysis but more work could benefit me in this objective.


LO4: I think in this learning objective I am doing reasonably well, but could add some more examples of work eg pictures etc to benefit my marks.


LO5: I think this is one of my strongest areas due to the comparison videos I have analysed. Perhaps after my final promo video I can see similar videos and analyse these too.

action Plan 22nd Feb

Here is today's action plan for the second rough cut. Hopefully I should make some good progress wit hediting and should make some clear changes which Simon and Bournemouth students had suggested to me, so this should show a process in working with my partner for the Interaction, Simon Bates, and working with the Junction community organisation as a whole.

Bournemouth Feedback - rising tension

During our time at Bournemouth, our MA editing student who gave us feedback mentioned a point about rising tension to create excitement in a promo, and used the example of the 02 priority advert from the TV, advertising o2 as a phone network and you would get priority tickets to shows at the 02 arena if you moved to 02 as a network. Below are some screenshots of the video.

Shots like these showing behind the scenes and backstage footage I think, really help to raise tension at the start of the video. This is similar to our promotional video in the sense of raising tension, showing dressing rooms and backstage before the event starts.

Shots like these with famous music stars help the audience to keep interested and involved in the promotional video. Obviously the Fiver bands are not as famous as stars in this promo but we would like to think that there involvement and liveliness kept bands and the audience interested in our promo.

Shots such as the ones above show the lively and excitement of the venue, and show the stars going out to the stage which shows the venues popularity. Overall I think some shots like this would benefit our video, but we do have a lot of the bands on stage playing etc which clearly helps to advertise the venue.

I think the main point about the advertisement video is that it builds up tension, which helps to keep the audience interested in the advertisement, and the promotional video too. I think some of the shots used are really effective and help to keep the audience interested.

This idea at the start of our video would really benefit it and ensure the audience stays interested, perhaps we could add more variety of shots too for the same effect.

The advert is below:

Bournemouth Feedback

Before we went to Bournemouth, our videos were shown to a group of MA editing students at Bournemouth University who would give us feedback when we went there after watching our video through and making notes. Here is our MA editing student's general feedback:

At the opening, you can hear the crowd over the music without ever being shown a crowd. Why? Drop the audio of the crowd.

At 7 seconds, the shot cuts before you are shown the bands on the door. Why did you do this? Is the shot too long?

The crowd footage at the beginning is far too dark, almost silhouetted. Do you have anything better? - Try showing and empty room, fade out. Fade in to a room filling up, fade out. Fade in to a room full of people.

15 - 26 seconds, like cutting to the beat, does it need to cut to black? Slows down the pace and excitement, still cut to beat, but w/o black.

After showing the singer walking offstage, you don't need to cut back to him onstage. Keep cutting to backstage area.

When first singer comes off the stage, you don't need the bit about the heat. Just cut to the audio of him saying "Quality. One of the best nights i've ever had"

You also don't need the shot of the bassist coming off stage, he doesn't say anything interesting or anything that will draw the crowd in.

Get rid of boiling point. Might not be nice but it's a cut throat world.

Guitar shot at 1m 41 is far too long with nothing happening. Work in frames, not seconds. Nothing should lag or become static.

Last section is far too slow. Promos should always be fast because you want the audience to feel something towards it. The shots chosen are all wrong.

The whole thing lacks structure. Why start with the bands coming offstage?

£2 per ticket text isn't held long enough.

Some shots are far too long. People should be excited and want to watch more at the end of it.

Response

Overall, I agree with the majority of the feedback, and think that he was fair in what points he made. He helped me personally to identify what I needed to do, what worked and what didn't and gave us a nice idea for the structure. I strongly agreed about the structure point and I think the footage will look better and be more appealing once it has a beginning, middle and end to the promo, despite it being 2 minutes long I think a structure would benefit it substantially.

The point about boiling point I disagree a little with, they were obviously the new young band starting out so are going to be compared to the other bands, but we do need them in the video as one of Simon's main points was to appeal to a variety of ages, and having boiling point in there shows we are also appealing to a younger age group. Overall, I think with Simon's and this feedback I should be on my way to having a well crafted, structured and informative promo video.

promotional video analysis

Here is a different kind of promotional video I found on Youtube, designed for an event at the Cambridge Film Festival last year, in which we helped to advertise with posters and leaflets around town too. The promo is advertising a spy event at the arts picturehouse in Cambridge.

Although the video is very short, (only 22 seconds long) it draws the audience in very well using animation and visual attraction. Also, the video is promoting an event and the venue, this is similar to our Junction promotional video in which we promote the Fiver event and the Junction as a venue simultaneously.

This first shot you see attracts the audience with interesting animation and visual imagery, while also having animation relating to the spy event immediately, with a pair of spy glasses and text saying 'the agent'.

This next shot you see also attracts the audience, but in a different way due to the sinister red colours of the text etc. It also promotes the spy event again with different text relating to a spy.

This is where the institution branding comes in, promoting the film festival instantly. It also is still linking to the spy event with the spy glasses dotted around the logo.

This shot begins with a text animation, which is again visually interesting. The first text you see is the date of the event, which is sensible so the audience know when the event is.

This next shot promotes the event again, with the text 'become an agent' is addressing the audience personally and therefore keeps them interested. This is similar to in our junction fiver event where we have used text to directly address the audience too.

These next two shots also promote the event by carrying on the text animation. The last part of the promotional video is actually where the spy event is being held, and I think this is effective as it sticks in the audience's memory. This is again similar to our Junction video in which the last shot you see is information about how to apply to the Fiver, and I think this works very well overall.

The spy event promotional trailer is embedded below.

Budget

Skillset Budget for the project, as bid for by Simon:

Travel £ 1000 Hire coach

Accommodation £20 per head for o/night at bournemouth, based on staying in a hostel £400

Food £20 per head £400

Uni fees £500 pay for student mentors from Bournemouth

Samba tuition £260

equipment costs at LR/Coleridge Nothing.

Total £2560

This above is the overall budget for the promotional videos and documentary. Actual costs however are likely to come in lower as we are now not staying overnight at Bournemouth, so this will eliminate the accommodation costs, and will most likely cut the cost of the coach as we do not now need it overnight. Also, the fact that equipment costs for Long Road and Coleridge are nothing has also meant our Budget would come to less than normal, which is a good result. Therefore taking away the accommodation costs aswell as cutting the cost for the coach would mean the budget now comes to about £2000 more or less, cutting quite a bit from the budget.

However, we also have to see the possibility of some additional costs incase we need anything else for the project etc, so not ruling out any additional costing either, the main point is that the budget has come to less due to the fact of the Long Road and Coleridge equipment has cost nothing to use, and that we are now not staying overnight so this has cut costs a little too.

General advice analysis - constraints from partner Simon Bates

As well as some personal feedback, Simon also gave us some general advice for our videos. (shown below)

"Don't use the junction/fiver.myspace address, it is no longer live!
All promos need to use our logo and NOT stetch it in any way.
Please use Helvetica as the font with no additional formating (ie bold, shadow etc)
The following logos MUST appear in the promo: The Junctions, The Arts Council, CRaM, Long Road, CRC, Parkside Federation, QB Learning Outside the Classroom, Skillset
All promos should include some advice on getting noticed, for example 'good photos' of them gigging, consider testomonials, 'action' photos"

My plans for Monday at Bournemouth

- All of this makes sense, it is clear I need to stick to the brief, add some logos to show the organisations involved, and include advice about how bands get noticed. The group and myself have used a simple font, although it may not be helvetica so we need to change this. I have also not stretched the junction logo and have simply put it in the far left hand corner to keep things simple. I have not used additional formatting in the text the group used either, so our group personally I think have stuck to the brief quite effectively, keeping the simplicity that Simon asked for.

Reflection on Feedback

For our promo video, we have received some feedback from Simon Bates, our client. The feedback is below:

Fiver Matt/Tara/Tim

"Live footage of The Fiver Very good, great intro, like the build up of band/tech/crowds
What the requirements are for getting in Doesn't make clear that you need some footage or experience first
What you get if your band is accepted Clearly sets out both financial offer and opportunities to work with pro sound and lighting people
How to apply Provides info
It must look contemporary Looks modern
Fast Retains excitement
Appealing to the 14 – 17 age group Good interview with younger band
Supply all the relevant information Yes
General comments If young band could be brightened up that would be good.
Really clear, good pace, like (love!) the intro
Sticks clearly to brief, well done."

Response

Overall, I think this feedback especially helps us as a group know what to change, what worked well and what else the gtoup and myself needed to add to our promo. What I liked especially was the fact he noticed we stuck to the core product, which I explained we tried to do while editing the footage. The core product is the most important thing for the video so I tried to stick to this as opposed to adding fancy effects or anything, and clearly this worked well.

While analysing the feedback I noticed there is a few things to change such as brightening up some shots and adding some more general information, as well as adding some more logos which are requirements for the promo. I also think the junction logo at the very beginning would work well before the video, to establish the institution.

With the other feedback I receive, the group and myself will edit our video accordingly as to what the requirements are. Perhaps while down at Bournemouth I will learn something new to add to the video or even some new effects etc. I'm looking forward to what other feedback the group receive and what the finished product will look like.

Channel 4 Inspiration Week

Channel 4 Inspiration Week, although not based in the Cambridge community but based in London, allows young people to showcase their talents in the media industry such as Journalism, advertising, film making, editing etc - and in this way explicitly links to my Interaction project because that too allowed me to showcase my talents in video and advertising work.

The work I produced at Channel 4 Inspiration week allowed me to showcase my talents also. Although I chose a Journalism work shop as opposed to a film one, my talents were shown nonetheless.

Here is a picture I personally took of the headquarters of Inspiration week. Overall, Channel 4 still allowed young people to showcase their talent from the community, and in this way was very much linked to my own Interaction project.

Youthoria Cambridgeshire scheme

The Youthoria Cambridgeshire scheme, ran by Connexions in Cambridge (which yet again shows explicit links to the younger generation in the community) shows yet again a scheme which allows young people to show case their talent and skills, which is mentioned clearly on the website, linked here.

This also highlights clear links to my Interaction project with the Junction because I was very much allowed to showcase my talents, and it brought a strong aspect of work related learning to the project. It allowed a local community such as The Junction to work with an education institution (Long Road) and in this way linked to working together towards the community.

The Strawberry Fair 'Shorts' film festival 2010

Another local community project which showed clear links to the work we produced and interaction with the client is the Strawberry Fair Shorts Film Festival in summer 2010.

The Strawberry Fair is one of Europe's largest free festivals and is held annually on Midsummer Common, Cambridge, on the first Saturday in June. The fair is run by a voluntary committee of local people and accepts no commercial sponsorship.

Strawberry Shorts is a new film festival which has grown out of the annual film screenings held as part of Strawberry Fair, one of Europe's largest free festivals, which enjoys an estimated 80,000 visitors each year.

The film festival, in Cambridge, is open to the public and since 2004 it has screened more than 150 independent short films every year; allowing young people in the Cambridge community to showcase their talent by making short films of videos.

Like Strawberry Fair itself, it is free and totally independent from any council run events. The festival is held on Midsummer Common on the first Saturday in June.

Links to my Interaction

I personally thought this showed explicit links to my Interaction project, mainly because it has clear links with the community. The new shorts festival allows young people from the Cambridge community to showcase their talents in making films or videos.

In this way, my interaction project clearly links because that too allowed young people from the community such as myself, to showcase video and filming talents by creating a promotional video.

Both these projects are very clearly community run and although the Strawberry fair has no budget because it is commercially run, both show clear links to community work and interactions with partners to create projects in the media industry.

The Junction Young Ambassadors Scheme

One interaction project which I thought was similar to ours in a sense was the local community Junction Young Ambassadors scheme.

This is a project where the local community of Cambridge and young 'ambassadors' help The Junction in important decisions and plans towards making it a more youth friendly environment.

From my research I have collated that they have been running since March 2009 and some projects before included working with Architecture graduates to design a new front Foyer for the Junction building and running a ‘Youth Summit’ which invited teenagers to the Junction to participate ideas to the ‘Summer Intensive programme’.

Their most current project was where they held a ‘Takeover’ event at the Junction on the 8th May 2010 for the youth of Cambridge. The day involved several workshops in various areas of the Junction building including, sound and lighting, djing, spoken word, dance, beatboxxing, digital imagery and more.

The Junction Takeover scheme even has a shop in Market square which involves work they have done and also links with the idea of an interaction with a client, as they are interacting personally with The Junction to encourage a more youth friendly environment.

Below shows pictures of them working in the shop formally known as Mr Shoes in the Cambridge market square.

The Junction young ambassadors have also worked on a new Junction logo, which pictures illustrate below. This links further to the idea of an interaction project as they are clearly interacting with the Junction, the pictures even show them in the Junction lunge area.

Links to my interaction

Therefore, the Junction young ambassadors scheme is a clear example of working and interacting with a partner, as the ambassadors are working explicitly with the Junction to design their logos and help the Junction to encourage a youth friendly environment.

This links closely to the work I did on my interaction project because I also worked explicitly with the Junction to create my promo video.