PORVOO JAZZ FESTIVAL 2014ALEJANDRO DIAZ ORTIZ

Workplacement//

Summary

Porvoo Jazz Festival is a three man band composed by Antti Ansas, Andre Sumelius and Hash Varsani.

The main concept is that of a cozy not too large festival directed to an audience in particular

I learned about the workplacement through another project from the CEM specialization program

I was presented with the opportunity to participate in the promotion of the event

My main tasks were to create promotional clips for the event and translate the vision into video

Goals

My main goal was to be involved with the marketing aspects of the project and gain a first hand look at this type of event organization

Gain more experience with filming Earn connections Gain experience

Challenges

Communication: Keeping up with updates on certain information and tasks was difficult to follow at times with a non-centralized board of directors

Pre-arrangements: The former led to complications when it came to pre-arranging the shoots

No extra equipment provided Translating the vision Editing long duration takes in High Definition Experiencing some bad technologic meltdowns

Tasks

My main tasks included: Making promotional video for the festival Video coverage of moments during the festival Backstage assistance Taking part in different promotional activities Editing audio/visual material

Tasks//Making the Video

A video for marketing and promotion was commissioned The goal was to create a clip of 30sec to 60sec (Shareability) Choosing locations; developing characters

Originally, a strategy was discussed to better engage audiences of different segments.

The main imagery was to be centered on the scenery of Porvoo in contrast with the coziness of jazz

Scenes in the old town and countryside areas Transcribing the vision was one of the biggest challenges

Tasks//Making the Video/Scripting

Visualizing and trying to translate the vision of the festival wasn’t simple. Brainstorming was done, many abstract elements Various meetings were set with two of the commissioners to discuss

ideas Main question: How to translate cosiness and jazz to video

(perception of those things varies per person Envisioning several scenes

Tasks//Making the Video/Scripting

Clip ideas; Concept of cosiness: a man at work staring at the clock on the wall

across the room, receives a letter delivered to his desk; inside the envelope are two tickets to the festival; the clock marks the end of the work day; man unties his tie, relaxes, smiles and finds himself listening to a tune of jazz getting up to leave and head on his way

#2 – A group of tourists hitch-hiking to the festival #3 – A person walking down the streets of old town Porvoo breathing

in the jazzy feel of “porvooness”; blended with shots of the countryside

4# - Video compillation

Tasks//Making the Video/Change of Plans

Originally the task was to make a promotional video to promote the festival before the festival date

The first interpretations of the vision into film were not translating

The task was reshaped and re-commissioned into filming the festival

Re-assessment of the necessary tools Last minute changes

Tasks//Making the Video/Change of Plans ~ New Challenge

A new challenge was presented to me This challenge came in a package of various challenges

Filming more than 30sec - 60sec in High Definition Limited equipment options available Analysing the new resources needed Finding new resources Working on a indoor environment/unknown environment Creating new strategies Assembling a filming crew last minute

Taking on the challenge

Tasks//Change of Plans/ New Challenge ~ Filming More Than 30sec - 60sec In High Definition

Filming short length content in HD is quite manageable with most common tools in the field nowadays; Filming long videos in HD is a different story

Storage: High Definition recording takes up a lot of space HD Formats used: Apple ProRes & Quicktime MPEG 1080p Memory Devices used: SSD 120GB Sandisk (129€), SSD 500GB

Samsung Evo (237€), 2 x 8G SD, 1 x 16GB Hardware & Human Resources:

2 Camerasn (Nikon d5100 & BMCC, MacBook Air, Thunderbolt 2 connection, 2 tripods (1 light, 1 heavyduty), Shoulder tripod, 2 Nikon Batteries

3 persons

Tasks//Editing the Video/~ New Challenge

The editing process can be long and tedious at times. Selecting the shots The duration of the editing process varies on key elements:

Footage length Footage format Available hardware (computers, wires, memory devices, etc) Available software (colour correcting, clip editing, special effects

editors, etc) The previous varies on the products you purchase. Many editors allow you

to do certain thing others don’t; the key is to have compatible programs or a pricey all-in-one editor.

Tasks//Editing the Video/~ New Challenge

Software used: DaVinci Resolve 10, Pinnacle Studio 17, iMovie, Cyberlink PhotoDirector/PowerDirector

Shooting in the festival meant shooting in a low light environment This is a challenge when trying to avoid video noise It makes it difficult to capture the image without distortions It makes the process of editing slower and harder for requiring so

many corrections It requires more equipment; not available

Tasks//Editing the Video/Colour Grading ~ DaVinci Resolve

Because of the noise and distortion, the process of colour editing can be long and tiresome when not possessing the best tools.

Colour correcting is considered an art by some Only one part of the editing process Mainly about finding the right points in tone and temperature,

light and shadows DaVinci Resolve is a professional colour grading software Bringing more life to the images; Many shots were taken on a low

saturation/contrast mode or a flat mode in order to later colour grade in post production

Tasks//Editing the Video/Colour Grading ~ Pinnacle Studio & iMovie

Not all editing programs give you every option in the book Using multiple editing programs common Clip trimming, Coverting, and audio handled after colour grading Pinnacle studio for file converting and certain special effect iMovie is a pretty basic free software that comes with Macbooks.

Due to an error on one of the editors, I had to use iMovie to attached the audio to the video

Tasks//Editing the Video/Rendering ~

Rendering is the process in which a video format is compressed and reformatted as a new output

Rendering takes hours at times, especially without a proper computer

Computer Available: At first I had only but a MacBook Air since originally the task didn’t require long duration footage; this is why the first stages of editing where dramatically long. A second computer became available weeks after the festival// This

one with better memory, graphic card, storage and operating system Rendering on the latest (‘faster’) computer takes about 2 to 3 times

the length of the footage itself (1hr = 2hr – 2.5hrs) Slows down the editing process

Reflections

Filming an event requires clear and constant communication throughout; this helps understand the ‘vision’

Preparing an effective workframe or work strategy beforehand is a must

Filming is an expensive profession Editing HD footage is a long process that requires the right tolos Researching the target audience can be helpful; market

segmentation, demographics study, consider psychology and other methods of targeting

Things I enjoyed Quite understanding commissioners Interesting Project close to my competences Meeting & interacting with the artists Gaining new contacts & connections

More clear explanation of the vision More clear team structure Direct communication Extra equipment for new tasks; nothing was supplied

Things that could’ve been better

Meltdowns Last minute change of strategy & tasks Not enough memory to cover the needed length of footage Last minute shopping for equipment Laptop temporarily died Data corruption – After assessing the needed materials, I obtained more memory

space to shoot. Our main SSD 500GB (Stationary System Drive) card suffered data corruption on the first evening; recovery was needed

One commissioner accidentally dropped a memory card; the footage in it later showed ‘skipping’ (because it dropped frames)

Data loss – After the festival, Once the SSD was mountable (fixed), information was passed from the SSD to a 1Terabyte external hard drive; the SSD was then formatted to be reused. Then the 1Terabyte drive too suffered data corruption and lost the information.

Additional software was purchased to recover the data (77€)

Suggestions

A more clear organization structure; who is the main person to contact for the task?

Make sure your tasks are clear Create realistic goals (you need to know your tasks for that) Make sure you understand what the commissioner’s vision really

is… Take notes, document your work Make sure you have time to complete the work When filming, have as many backups as possible Make sure you can get enough time from commissioners to ask

and answer questions along the way

Workload

Calculations// Average minimum of whole editing process per clips: 8 to 16 hours

Maximum hours per day on average: 6 to 8 hours (cutting & pasting clips, pre-rendering

Average minimum hours per day: 4 - 6 Average days of video work: 2 – per week during summer; 3 – 4 per week

during Festival and after festival Minimum work hours per day during festival: 6 – 8 hours (from arrival before

concert until after jam sessions. Estimated total time filming + Editing: 390 - 404hrs minimum

Clip Samples

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0ykAY9d_7k&list=UU87WV-Ifl-4rpDGHB6kxE7whttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6AwAf6eB_U&list=UU87WV-Ifl-4rpDGHB6kxE7whttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5JUxlyZPQo&list=UU87WV-Ifl-4rpDGHB6kxE7whttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56KF13ugV-0&list=UU87WV-Ifl-4rpDGHB6kxE7wLINKS

GRACIAS! KIITOKSIA! THANK YOU! TACK!

ALEJANDRO DÍAZ ORTIZ, 2014POBBA 13