AVPROD - Stage 4 - Evaluation

MD101 & Mic

I have decided to buy a MiniDV camera and microphone for myself so I can use them to self-learn through the summer break. The primary contender is the Canon MD101 ('ZR800' model in the USA) which is £175 and has a connector for an external microphone (which is apparently rare for a camera of this level). I am still researching microphones.

AVPROD - Stage 3/4 - Nearly Done

Stage 4 of 5 for Audio/Visual Production is nearly up and I can't lie, it's been an absolute struggle for me. The latest problem, which is potentially a huge one (I have e-mailed Deb so we'll see), is the fact that I have seriously struggled with Adobe Premiere and since I took so long with learning and doinging the filming and capturing (due to have no previous knowledge before this stage and having lots of other work to do in other modules (also starting the work in those from the beginning)), I didn't get much time to learn how to edit and actually do it so I resorted to using a program I know how to use. This is the embarassing part but let me explain.

First, it's Windows Movie Maker. Yes, you heard me. However, as I said, let me explain. Windows Movie Maker 2.1 and WMM for Vista are very capable of capturing and arranging DV AVI clips whilst leaving them untouched. So, my plan was to (and is) to:

1. Capture the entire tape using WMM.
2. Slice the footage using WMM.
3. Save the sliced footage as individual clips.
4. Edit the clips (coloring etc.) in Premiere and save them.
5. Use WMM to arrange them.
6. Export the 90 second film (again, retaining DV AVI) using WMM.
7. Converting to appropiate codec using VirtualDub.

So yeh, WMM is basic but it won't screw with the DV AVI footage and I knew I had to make a decision. Time was tight and I managed to submit a film that was at least acceptable whereas this wouldn't have been possible if I had started to learn using Premiere.

However, I understand I still need to learn how to use Premiere in the industry and I have no problem with this. I am lookng forward to learning. So much, in fact, that I am in the process of buying a MiniDV camera and some books to study and practise using over the summer break.

PD4C - Enlisted More Help

I have decided to enlist the help of three friends for small acting parts. They are Rupert Cawte, Stuart Prior and Tom Steer.

Tom Steer will also be at the video camera during filming in case of swift theft.