Well now, it’s been some time since I handed in my MA Social Media thesis – about which I might eventually write more here at some point when my writer’s cramp has faded – but just as my academic adventures were fading into nostalgia-tinted memory, another of the projects I undertook for the MA has come back into my life in a rather exciting way.

You might remember me blogging about the video production project that my fellow student, Stewart, and I undertook with Brook Manchester? Here are some posts about it if you’d like to find out more. Stewart and I made a whole series of videos for Brook – for example, showing how to correctly put on a condom, how to actually find the Brook Manchester clinic, and what to expect from your appointment.

Our video-making exploits were part of a broader Knowledge Transfer Partnership between Brook and Salford University, which is designed to marry young people’s love of social media with the need to reduce panics around sexual health issues. The project took our videos and disseminated them through iPods etc to enable young people to access the information on demand, without embarrassment, and in a clear visual medium. The approach was nominated for a Brook Award this week for Service Innovation – sadly it didn’t win, but I’m reliably informed that everyone enjoyed the chance to get up close and personal with JLS at the ceremony!

It was certainly a fascinating project to be part of, for me, and I came away feeling that we’d really only just begun to scratch the surface of the potential role that social media could play in Brook’s work. I’ll be watching this space for the next innovation…

I’ve just been writing up the self-assessment part of my Skills Project (Beyond the Baths), and thought I would post up here some of the examples of museums and heritage sites’ use of social media which I’ve been using for inspiration during the project. These are all great examples of organisations using social media tools to engage and inform visitors, go behind the scenes of their institution, or encourage participation.

CULTURE SHOCK – DIGITAL STORYTELLING BY PEOPLE IN THE NORTH EAST

BROOKLYN MUSEUM ON YOUTUBE

NATIONAL MUSEUMS LIVERPOOL BLOG

MUSEUM OF LONDON’S PODCASTS FROM THE PAST

MANCHESTER LIBRARIES ON FLICKR

LONDON TRANSPORT MUSEUM DIGITAL STORYTELLING

MANCHESTER MUSEUM: THE MANCHESTER HERMIT

If you’ve found these interesting, check out the audio and video I produced around Victoria Baths HERE.

We’ve recently been cracking on with some filming and voiceover recording for the Brook Manchester video project, so here’s a brief update as to what we’ve got in the can…

CONDOM DEMO

Cristina needed a demo version of the basic condom demonstration film for a presentation in February, so Stewart and I, with help from Brook youth worker Jerome, filmed a rough version on our Flips. This was a really useful exercise, as it highlighted some of the difficulties we would face on the main shoot. The demonstration is quite fiddly, and we realised afterwards that there were moments when Jerome’s own hands would hide what he was doing – for example when actually putting the condom on the model. We also determined that a fairly close-up shot of Jerome’s hands would be the most useful, with alternatives of a wider front-on view, and an alternative from over his shoulder to one side for cutaways.

We returned a couple of weeks later for the main shoot of this film – using both a P2 and a camcorder from Salford. We arranged the cameras with the P2 as the main camera, shooting from front on, with the camcorder slightly to the left, but closer in. We then used the camcorder to re-film the process from over Jerome’s right shoulder.

We encountered some logistical problems, such as having to move rooms, and then being placed in the rather noisy meeting room, where the lighting isn’t great. However, we used some colourful display material in the background to obscure the door etc, which looked pretty good on camera.

We recorded a voice-over separately with another volunteer from Brook. I’m not sure how well this will work, as the volunteer was very nervous. We did record a backup version by Jerome as well.

JOURNEY TO BROOK

Stewart and I used a HD camcorder to film a series of shots for the journey film. We filmed a fair bit of the comings and goings around Piccadilly Gardens, then shot each stage of the journey, moving the camera about 2m on each time. Our initial intention was to use this material intercut with footage featuring an actual client (in the form of an actor) making the journey, but as we were filming, we came to like the idea of editing these shots together with stills and graphics, and building up the journey that way. We’re going to have a go and see how it turns out, anyway. I’m going back along the route this week to take stills etc. At this point, Stewart is the first choice VO artist, but that might change – watch this space!

PLANNING VISIT TO BROOK:

I undertook a research mission to Brook as part of the planning for the ‘Journey through a Brook clinic visit’ film. I spoke to a member of the reception staff, who walked me through the process that she would undertake to register a new arrival at the clinic. Whilst I was there, I also took some photos of the reception area, the private booth where clients go to complete their personal information details, and the waiting room. Some of the things I didn’t realise, but which we’ll need to highlight in the video are, for example, the fact that there’s a picture sheet that clients can point to if they don’t want to say out loud why they’re visiting. We’ll also need to make it clear that the private booth is out of sight and earshot of the rest of the clinic.

Brook's waiting room

Afterwards, I also spent some time with one of the Brook nurses, who told me what she’d do for a standard clinic visit, and also for a pill demo. I’m now slightly worried about the pill demo video, as there’s an awful lot of information to cover, as well as a lot of variables depending on a person’s medical history etc. I think that we might need to include some graphics / info shots as well as live action. Or possibly all graphics and stills.

One of the clinic rooms at Brook

DRAFT SHOOTING OF THE JOURNEY TO BROOK:

I undertook the task of writing an initial script for the journey to Brook Manchester from Piccadilly. Pretty much as soon as I got going, I realised that we were going to need a reference copy of the journey – so Stewart and I fired up our Flip cameras and walked the route, filming (very roughly) as we went. This was useful in two ways – firstly it gave us something to refer to to ensure that we included all the relevant detail, in the right order, in our script and shooting schedule. Secondly, it showed us clearly that we’ll need to speed up significant sections of this film, as the real-time journey takes approximately 11 minutes. No-one’s going to sit through all that.

Video

VICTORIA BATHS VINTAGE FAIR:

I attended the first Open Day of the new season at the Baths in March, which took the form of an open day (with tours) and a Vintage Fair. My original plan was to record audio content, and edit that together with stills to create an audio slideshow.

Stallholder at the Vintage Fair

However, owing to technical problems with my aging audio kit, I ended up having to cover most of the day using my Flip camera, which I’d chucked in my bag as a bit of an afterthought. I like the Flip though, as it’s perfect for capturing on-the-spot action at events, without getting in people’s way. Also, I always recommend it to the third sector organisations I work with because it’s CHEAP, EASY TO USE, and will plug into any computer – even with basic ON-BOARD EDITING SOFTWARE. Using the Flip, I concentrated on getting reactions to the event from visitors, aiming for a mix of ages, as well as recording an interview with Keeley, the organiser of the Vintage Fair, and one of her stallholders.

View from the balcony over the Vintage Fair

Thanks to Sohail’s helpful hints and tips, I also spent a fair bit of time shooting cutaways and scene-setting images (e.g. panning over some of the tabletops at the fair, shooting people browsing through the racks etc). Because of the nature of the Flip,  the video vox-pops you shoot with it tend to have to be pretty close-up, which I actually quite like, but I found that intercutting these with the cutaways worked much better than my previous attempts, when I’d usually edit together just a bunch of close-ups of people….see for example the video I made in September for the Mersey Basin Campaign:

Mersey Basin Video Nation from Kate Fox on Vimeo.

THE EDIT: I’ve almost finished editing the finished piece from the Vintage Fair. On this occasion I used iMovie, as I’m not that confident with Final Cut Pro as yet. Still, it seemed to go fairly smoothly, as I said, I found it much easier having the choice of cutaways etc. I also learned how to use the audio from one clip over the visuals from another, which has been a huge benefit – letting me essentially have ‘voiceovers’, and vary the shots more when I’m using a longish piece from one speaker. I also experimented with some of the effects available in iMovie, such as the ‘aged film’ look, and something called ‘old time’, which combines with the beautiful surroundings of the Baths to render the whole think slightly like an archive fim (or the opening credits to Bagpuss!) I’ll post the final product onto Vimeo once I’m happy with it!

A happy shopper

NEW CHARTER MURDER MYSTERY:

I’ve also booked out kit to film the New Charter Housing Trust’s Murder Mystery day on 23rd April. I’ve provisionally asked for a P2 (large camera) and a handheld digicam. Ideally I’ll be able to recruit a camera assistant for the day to help me get cutways and extra shots.

My rough plan for the day thus far is to film ‘re-creations’ of key moments – the revelation of the murder, the corpse, and the naming of the murderer – before the guests arrive, so that when those moments occur, I can concentrate on getting people’s reactions. I’ll also be trying to capture things like people getting dressed up, responses to the day, as well as members of the ‘cast’ introducing themselves for the credit sequence.

GORTON VISUAL ARTS

Following up on a tip from Steve Helme at the Baths, I’ve also been in touch with Ian MacKay of Gorton Visual Arts group, whose work is scheduled to be exhibited at the Baths later this summer. I have made plans to head to their base on 19th April to shoot some video of them talking about what they do – and I’ll probably return the following week when they’ll be doing more hands-on worj=k towards their exhibition.

Audio:

VICTORIA BATHS VINTAGE FAIR

As I mentioned, I intended to capture only audio at the Vintage Fair. Sadly, my microphone finally gave up the ghost four interviews in, but I did manage to get interviews with a selection of the stallholders talking about why they were involved, what their stalls featured, and their reactions to the building. In the next week, I’ll be aiming to see what I can salvage, and edit together a piece using these interviews and some of the stills I took to create an audio slideshow.

BARRY – HISTORY VOLUNTEERS GROUP

I headed back to the Baths after the Fair to record an audio interview with Barry, who’s a member of the Baths’ History Volunteers group – coincidentally, he’s the person responsible for recording oral history material.

We had some problems finding a reasonably quiet place to record, especially as the restoration work has entered an especially noisy phase at the moment. Luckily though, we were able to use the climate-controlled archive store, which the volunteers have constructed in the basement of the Baths out of plywood and plastic (because the Baths is listed, they weren’t able to create a permanent structure). We discussed the archiving process, the work of the history volunteers, and some of the people Barry’s met during his oral history work. I’ll be using Audition to edit this content this week.

ECOLOGY BUILDING SOCIETY

I’ve also recorded an audio interview with Janet Slade from the Ecology Building Society, who held their AGM at the Baths last year. We talked about the organisation, how they came to use the Baths, and the reaction it got from their members. Happily, Janet also lives locally, and has her own memories of swimming at the Baths when she first arrived in Manchester in the 1970s, which added a nice personal touch to the interview. I’ve just finished editing the audio from this interview, using Audition. It also gave me the chance to roadtest my new Edirol R-09 recorder and brand-spanking-new Rode M3 mic (bought to replace the one that sadly passed away during the Vintage Fair). I’ll post an excerpt here soon.

NEW CHARTER MURDER MYSTERY

A busy week for audio collecting – I also went back to Paula and Shaun in Ashton, and recorded some audio of them discussing how the Murder Mystery project came about, their experiences of using the Baths for the last event, and what we can expect on 23rd April. I think this will make a nice companion piece to the film from the day itself.

Online

In other news from this project, I’ve decided to use WordPress as the platform for the content. I toyed with Posterous (where I found a couple of really nice, appropriate themes), and Tumblr – thinking about the group-posting capabilities. In the end though, I decided that WordPress would be the easiest platform to hand over to the Baths at the end of the project – and there’s the most help and support available, with even a Mancheser Users’ Group if they get really keen. I’ve decided to use the url beyondthebaths.wordpress.com, as I didn’t want to use up the victoriabaths option in case the Baths needed a more general blog down the line.

Last week I went to Ashton to meet Paula and Shaun from New Charter Housing Trust group. They’ve come up with the brilliant idea of organising Murder Mystery days for teams from their organisation as a training activity and team-building experience. And yes, you’ve guessed it, the action takes place in the spooky surroundings of the Baths.

The next murder is scheduled for April, and I’ll be filming the tragic events, and following the detectives and guests as they get sleuthing to uncover the culprit. I’ve been getting some advice from Sohail about the best way to make sure I manage to cover everything, and he’s suggested that I ask Paula and Shaun and their team to re-enact (or should that be pre-enact) some of the key moments - such as the announcement of the murder, the sight of the corpse, and the revealing of the killer – before the guests arrive. That way, when the drama starts to unfold, I’ll be able to concentrate on filming the reactions of the participants.

I’ve also had some fun ideas about shooting a kind of ‘credits’ sequence where each of the characters (who’re all theatrically-gifted members of the marketing department) introduces themselves. I’m especially intrigued by the worrying-sounding Dr Pat Ology, who wields a chainsaw and spends the day, apparently, covered in blood.

I’d also like to find some Twenties-sounding royalty-free music to use in the background. Sohail has suggested that I recruit an assistant for the day to use a smaller camera to shoot cutaways of the building and faces of the guests and so forth, so the hunt is on.

Around the project, I’m also planning to produce some Making-Of material – for example, I am going back to New Charter in a couple of weeks to record some audio with Shaun and Paula talking about how they came up with their ideas, and what motivates the project – as well as focusing on how using the Baths has affected their work.

On the day, I’ll also capture some vox-pops or video vox-pops with participants, organisers and actors to find out what they’ve got from the day.

Whew. If you say it quickly, it just about sounds do-able, right?

Just a quick update on what we’ve been up to recently with regard to our video project for Brook Manchester…

1. RESEARCH TRIP TO NELSON:

Stewart and I took a really useful research trip to an NHS sexual health clinic in Nelson, Lancashire, which I’ll blog about separately. It was great to talk to the people there about their work, and gave us lots of useful ideas.

2. DRAFT CONDOM DEMONSTRATION VIDEO:

Since then, we’ve also shot  a draft version of the basic condom demonstration video, which Cristina at Brook needed for a presentation about the progress of the project. That was an interesting experience, and I think it’ll inform the way we shoot when we film the demo for real. For example, we discovered that it was difficult to get a clear view of the demonstration, as the demonstrator’s hands change position all the time. We also found that the kitemark and date stamp on the back of a condom packet will never be clear on film, as the packs are reflective. Think we’ll have to use a graphic to make sure that people will know what they’re supposed to be looking for.

Following our filming exploits, we also spent some time in Salford with the mighty Fraser, who’s now shown us how to set up the various cameras we’ll need for the rest of the shoots. I’ll make some handy diagrams later and post them up here.

3. JOURNEY TO BROOK – RESEARCH VIDEO:

In preparation for shooting the Journey to Brook Manchester video, we’ve also shot a rough version of the journey itself. We used our trusty Flips again, and just walked the whole route, gathering useful landmarks that we’ll use to help people navigate along the way. This is going to be pretty vital, as I had a go an writing the running order yesterday and found that I couldn’t remember stuff like how many junctions you cross on the way up Lever Street. Now that I have a visual aid to help me, it’s going to be much easier. For interest’s sake, the journey took approximately 11 minutes – so no way is that going to be shown in real time!

4. RUNNING ORDERS / SHOOTING SCHEDULES:

I’ve started drafting out running orders and lists of shots we’ll want to get for the Journey video and the condom demo. I’ve found myself also writing out a fair bit of script along the way, and have started to develop an idea of the ‘tone of voice’ for the journey. I actually started daydreaming about my ideal voiceover artists – don’t know if it’s because I saw Bez on Skins the other night, but I could kind hear him saying it. Probably better stick to someone a bit younger though.

We’re still waiting for quite a few chunks of script information from Brook for the other videos, and I discovered (by having a go), that it wasn’t a great idea to try and write running orders without content.

Thanks to Sohail, our fantastic production expert who’s provided us with some resources about writing scripts and planning shoots. I’d be completely lost at this point without them.

If you’re thinking about embarking on a similar project, have a look at THIS HANDY ONLINE GUIDE.

Here I am in action at Sounddelivery's Social Media taster day

Before Christmas I was engaged in the highly theoretical process of producing a research proposal for my potential MA dissertation. Because of my professional interests, I am hoping to focus this on social media and non-profit organisations. With that in mind, I thought I would blog about the fantastic day I had on Friday with my colleagues at Sounddelivery in London. As they’ve just moved into their beautiful new office in Aldgate East, AND it was Social Media Week London, the team decided to host a drop-in Social Media Taster Day for non-profits. Anyone could book a slot or turn up on the day with their social media queries, problems or projects.

We were really busy all day, and met lots of great people. Surgery visitors ranged from one man who didn’t even have a computer, and professed himself to be a complete technophobe, to those who wanted to get going on Twitter and Facebook, and others who were already using social media, but wanted to develop and improve their projects. It was brilliant to see the range of organisations that are getting involved with social media tools, and the imagination that people had brought to their projects.

We used our trusty Flip cameras to capture people’s reaction to the day, and took lots of photos.

I’m scheduled to go and do a similar kind of thing at MDDA’s Connecting 2.0 Communities event on 17th Feb in Manchester, it will be interesting to see what kind of ‘patients’ appear that day too.

Whilst I was in London, I also visited the Media140 conference at We Are Social. There were some great panel sessions, and I picked up some useful tips. I was particularly pleased to discover samepoint.com – a social media conversation search tool. Think this might come in handy for my further studies!

Picture from AtilatheHun on Flickr:

Last Thursday was audio day in our Skills Workshop training. After some guidance from Fraser on using the swanky Marantz recorders (approximately three times the size and power of either my trusty old minidisc recorder or erstwhile impressive Edirol R-09), we set out into the frozen tundra that is Salford Crescent at the moment in search of some willing victims to commit to posterity. I do feel for the staff in Salford Uni’s cafes, shops and public buildings. I get the distinct impression they’re recorded and filmed so often by eager beaver media students that they feel as hounded as Katie Price on her average trip to Waitrose. Nevertheless, B and I managed to find some brave souls who were prepared to answer our searching questions.

We  decided to ask our interviewees what they found to be the worst thing about students – our logic was that the chance to have a rant might mitigate the irritation of having a microphone thrust into their faces again and having to come up with some witty pearls of wisdom – which, let’s face it, can be tough on a run-of-the-mill Thursday in Salford, especially during January.

Here’s the fruit of our labours, recorded by Kate and B, and edited by us and Stewart, Thursday 14th January, 2009:

What’s the worst thing about students?