In the above video, Barnsley College’s HE course created a musical “live-ish” stream similar to that of ours in project one. One thing that I really enjoyed about this video was the editing. Although the students could not be together they still made it work in the edits. The quality of each video was between a good and excellent standard, which is impressive considering the circumstances. However, as it is not consistent this can be distracting at times. For example, when the Otamatone is introduced in the first song the video is cut incorrectly and shows the student pulling away after pressing the camera button. The audio is also an impressive feature of this stream because despite these students being at home they have recorded and mixed their parts very well.
One problem I found with this video was that the tutor was presenting himself in a bad way. In the background of his room are lifesize cardboard cutouts of Darth Vader and Kylo Ren, a pickle rick toy and cat pillows. To me, it looks a little bit like he is sat in a child’s bedroom and is not very professional looking at all. There is a vague lack of professionalism in various parts of this video from people in dressing gowns (although I understand it is meant to look like a boxing robe it gives off a bad impression) to the same tutor wearing a sparkly gold shirt and pyjama pants in a very strange parody of Dua Lipa’s Don’t Start Now and his toddler in the background.
Although I thought that many of these musicians were very talented, I had a few concerns with the level of ability especially because they are HE students. In my opinion, many of our FE students from both the level 3 and level 3 extended course have much more musical ability and control. For example, the first performance included 3 female singers and I would say that they lacked control especially on higher notes or more projected parts. As this song was originally performed by a man, it is clear these girls were struggling with the key. On our course, we have a wide range of female vocalists with talents ranging from strong projection to a higher vocal range that exceed these girls.
There are elements of this stream that set it above the rest, creating something new and different. That can be said of the games design section. This has a very good soundtrack and beautiful visuals. I want to take inspiration from this for when we showcase Isaac’s project of; writing game music. However, I would not just brush over it. Due to the fact that his project is so different from others, I believe it deserves more time unlike the one in this video. I would like to interview Isaac to talk about his project before showcasing it.
The final thing I would like to comment on is the walls of text placed in the middle of the stream to explain the courses available. This was successfully discussed by Nic at the beginning of our stream with links in the description to find out more information.
This is an online concert by the band Hot Milk, released during the lockdown. I really enjoyed this for a few reasons. For example, the intro to this was extremely creative and built up suspense just like at an actual gig. This was done by using visuals that are quite eerie and a countdown before a message comes onto the screen. I think this is very effective and would like to try something similar on our stream for those who watch it after the premiere. Something else I really enjoyed visually was the lighting and screens they used as a backdrop. These were very professional and added to the whole experience. Unfortunately, lighting is hard for us as the colour filters at college need to be changed in B41. However, I would really like to use B25 instead this time as it is a different venue with a better lightboard and I think that the mirror in there could be used for cool shots if not covered up.
Something else that I really like is the fact that despite the coronavirus limitations, they created a stage set up almost exact to that of a regular show but at 2 metre distance. It looks really professional and reminds me a lot of when I saw them live in January 2020.
The audio quality here is impeccable. There were vocal layering and other various effects added. I am unsure if this was done in post-production but either way, it sounds really good and although different to the studio recordings I would argue that they are better versions in their own right. I think that this will be the case for those performing in the showcase, whether they put their own spin on a cover or reproduce a live version of their studio recorded singles and EPs.
Finally, I found that the stage presence in this performance was very good. Use of the words “make the largest circle pit your living room has ever seen.” and “We love you!” These evoked emotion and included the audience even though they were stuck in their homes. I feel as though many of the performers on our live-stream could take inspiration from this and deliver interesting and confident speech between songs and at the beginning and end of their set.
This video is a live performance by our very own degree students. I thought that this would be a good video to look at because it was recorded in college like ours will be and I had some notes when watching the premiere.
First of all, this was recorded in B41, the room we used for our showcase in project one. The reason why I do not like this room is that the lighting is not good quality. As you can see here, it washes people out particularly the drummer.
In addition, the video quality of this is very low and was done by the college media team. After watching this, we decided that we needed to get better quality and have enlisted the help of a professional videographer called Barney.
In this video, like all watch listen tell videos, the introduction is short but effective. The letter board at the beginning of the video shows the audience who the artist is, the song they will be playing and where they are. I found this to be a good idea to use at the start of our interview sections of the showcase. If we have a sign, letter board or text on screen it will be great for the audience to know enough about the students and save as much time as we can.
Bibliography:
- Barnsley College, 2020. Barnsley College HE (Creative and Digital) Lockdown Sessions: Online music and arts festival 2020. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2m4hyZAjCI&t=1475s> [Accessed 24 February 2021].
- Bradford College, 2021. HE Live Music Showcase. Available at: <https://youtu.be/PsuxdfZ9_GY> [Accessed 30 April 2021].
- Hot Milk, 2020. Digital Anarchy – Hot Milk. Available at: <https://vimeo.com/479995834> [Accessed 2 March 2021].
- Watch Listen Tell, 2013. WLT – Bastille – Overjoyed. Available at: <https://youtu.be/hm92KOlB7NE> [Accessed 11 May 2021].