Digital Video Production

The aim of this unit is to introduce learners to the production and use of digital video material for an interactive media product.

• Learners will plan and create a video sequence and prepare it for use within an interactive media product | ASSIGNMENT 2 (2nd draft)

Unit introduction

Moving images are no longer restricted to the cinema and TV. Changes in technology mean that people expect to be able to watch and share movies online and on the move. As the proportion of internet users on broadband continues to grow, it becomes increasingly possible to view, upload and download films quickly. Mobile phones carry increasingly sophisticated technology for shooting, sharing and playing moving images. Portable music players show television content and people can watch movies on their portable games consoles. DVD has replaced VHS video as the ubiquitous format for watching movies at home so every popular format is now digital. In short, video in interactive media is everywhere. The implication for interactive media producers is that their work is converging with that of traditional film and video producers, but with an added requirement to implement this through current digital media technologies. This presents some new challenges for learners, including the technological requirements of this proliferation of platforms.

This unit begins with investigations into video in interactive media, enabling learners to understand both the uses and the technologies. Learners will then plan a digital video project, generating ideas, making decisions about content, storyboarding, editing, and producing digital video material for use in an interactive media context.

Learners can use this unit to gain experience of producing digital video material and preparing it for incorporation in an interactive media product such as DVD, worldwide web or mobile device delivery. Exporting the edited video using the appropriate compression and file format is crucial to its functionality on particular platforms.

Websites suggested by Edexcel

blogs

Textbooks

Baylis P, Freedman A, Procter N et al – BTEC Level 3 National Creative Media Production, Student Book (Pearson, 2010) ISBN 978-1846906725

Baylis P, Freedman A, Procter N et al – BTEC Level 3 National Creative Media Production, Teaching Resource Pack (Pearson, 2010) ISBN 978-1846907371

Adobe Creative Team – Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 Classroom in a Book (Adobe, 2007) ISBN 978-0321499806

Kindem G and Musburger R – Introduction to Media Production: The Path to Digital Media Production (Focal Press, 2009) ISBN 978-0240810829

Underdahl K – Digital Video for Dummies (John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2006) ISBN 978-0471782780

Watkinson J – The MPEG Handbook (Focal Press, 2004) Wells P – Digital Video Editing: A User’s Guide (The Crowood Press Ltd, 2007) ISBN 978-1861269522

Wohl M – Advanced Editing Techniques in Final Cut Pro 5 (Peachpit Press, 2006) ISBN 978-0321335494

Project Ideas: Padlet

Game or Film Review - first impressions episode plus a more in-depth follow-up and walkthrough

Unboxing - featuring some stop-mo or timelapse if building a Lego set, painting a Warhammer character

Recording your footage:

Try to capture gameplay and live footage at the same settings to make your experience editing in Adobe Premiere easier.

In the USA electricity is 60hz so framerate is approx 30 frames, but actually 29.97 fps 'drop-frame' to allow for sound (film is 24 fps unless you are Peter Jackson who shot The Hobbit at 48fps).

If your game footage is captured at 29.97 then try to do the same for your live footage - DSLR cameras should be easy, video cameras are often sold into different markets and may not allow you to choose.

Resolution size: HD 1080p recommended - 1920 x 1080 pixels, a widescreen format ratio of 16:9

Standard Def SD widescreen is 1024 x 576 at 16:9 ratio (often just 720 wide and anamorphically stretched from the 4:3 ratio sensor).

RESOURCES

Legal: Copyright is automatic unless waived

British Board of Film Classification | Children's British Board of Film Classification

PEGI European age rating for games | ESRB US age rating for games

Kevin McKleod at incompetech is becoming well known as a composer of atmospheric music for film-makers, and is a favourite of my son Jamie for his Lego animations. Free or cheap licensed music from Jamendo.
If you'd like people to be able to use your images or music in their own projects (or want to use other's work for your project) consider a Creative Commons License. A computer programmer turned singer-songwriter, Jonathan Coulton aka 'JoCo' made his songs available to anyone who wanted to use them as a soundtrack for their videos, and as a result a huge number can be found on YouTube providing him with free publicity.
Nickelodeon's parent company Viacom sued Google/YouTube and provided evidence that the founders were happy to exploit copyrighted material to grow their popularity and user base. Nickelodeon themselves went against the trend of issuing cease and desist orders against people who put up YouTube clips, and instead ran ads under the clips along the lines of 'if you enjoyed this, watch more at Nickelodeon'. The mash-up Gotye has edited together from fan videos for his hit Somebody that I used to Know.
Digital Millenium Copyright Act. DRM (Digital Rights Management) issues. Peer to peer filesharing rights, wrongs & risks of using the likes of Pirate Bay & BitTorrent.
While you can use Photoshop to add a © text layer with reduced opacity to your images to deter online theft (handy for eBay) you can also add an invisible digimarc from the bottom of the Filters menu. On Windows you can get the © symbol by holding down Alt and typing 0169 on the numeric keypad, or Alt g on a Mac. no right click
royalty free photography - stay within copyright laws using stock photography, it can be surprisingly cheap (or indeed free if you find the right site). My current favourite is 123RF, you pay about £29 to buy enough credits for 29 Web sized images, or a fewer number at a higher resolution for magazines. You can also download images at low resolutions and watermarks for use in 'comping' - putting together a mock-up to show a client prior to spending money/dreits on an image that may be rejected by your customer. If you are a photographer then consider uploading some of your own images to earn commission.
Other good stock photo sites include: istockphoto.com; www.shutterstock.com; www.corbisimages.com and Adobe has relaunched its own offering, integrated with its CreativeCloud.
Free options include Google advanced image search (hidden under the gear wheel)

with licensing options at the bottom of the list set to free to use.
Flickr Commons
Classic books are available from project gutenberg

	www.adobe.com the website of this software manufacturer contains useful information and resources, including training materials, forums, downloadable trial software and players, and news
	www.apple.com the ‘developer’ section of the Apple website offers training, news, reference and resources
X	www.dv.com (defunct) DV magazine website specialises in digital video production news and information
	www.lynda.com specialises in instructional books, CD ROMs and DVDs in creative computing. In addition to Lynda, try Total Training and VTC. Also online books from safaribooksonline.com

name	username	blogname.wp
Jed	jeddv	dveastleigh	jednetuk	jednet	jednet
Adam	adambagley	adambagleyblog	Adam
Mitchell	mitchellbennett97	mitchellaaronbennett	Mitchell
Sam	niketas1	sbulmerblog	bulmenator
Michael	realflamingginger	michaeldeakinblog	RealFlamingGinger
Joshua	fisherjosh	fisherjosh	Josh Fisher
Harry	harrygreaves	harrygreaves	Harry Greaves		Harry
James	jjameseastleigh	jimsvideoblog	UndamagedDaddy
Dave	daveloveml	daveloveml	Dave		Dave
Liam	liammcfall	liammcfall	Liam	Liam	Liam
Daniel	dmcgonigle	dmcgonigleblog	Daniel
Aimee	anmcmanus	anmcmanus	Aimee
Niall	niallphillips	niallphillips	Niall		Niall
Luke	lukewatton	lukewatton	Luke		Luke

Mondays 9.00 - 14:30 hrs in A212

Digital Video Production for Interactive Media
Creative Media Year 2

11th April 2016

Unit 62 as PDF

Aim and purpose

Unit introduction

Websites suggested by Edexcel

blogs

Textbooks

Project Ideas: Padlet

Recording your footage:

RESOURCES

Legal: Copyright is automatic unless waived

RESOURCES

Mondays 9.00 - 14:30 hrs in A212

Digital Video Production for Interactive Media Creative Media Year 2

11th April 2016

Unit 62 as PDF

Aim and purpose

Unit introduction

Websites suggested by Edexcel

blogs

Textbooks

Project Ideas: Padlet

Recording your footage:

RESOURCES

Legal: Copyright is automatic unless waived

RESOURCES

Digital Video Production for Interactive Media
Creative Media Year 2