I took with me 2 Kodak Zi8s and a Flip, my Dictaphone and an SLR camera. I was very happy with the material I shot. My first catch was Marques Toliver performing In The Cab. We were able to grab him between soundchecks and take him to the drivers cab of one of the tube trains on the roof. After his interview he performed an exclusive song. I shot this on all three cameras but put a quick rush on YouTube.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This was in the hope that it would upload before the gig and maybe encourage people to come. However, it was shot in HD and cutting, rendering and uploading the clip took from around 5:30pm to 10:30pm. People were able to look at it after the gig and next day though, especially when Marques posted the video to his site. At last count this had 124 views. It’s worth noting with the free Vimeo account I couldn’t even upload the full Marques Toliver interview and instead I just broadcast the song.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It makes me wonder how much extra value there is in uploading a cut between 3 cameras a strong piece can stand alone? I also interviewed Kyp Malone – but this needs more editing, another lengthy process. It’s taken me 4 hours to convert the two Kodak files to MP4 and now I’m sitting waiting for it to load into Sony Vegas. (started 16:20, an hour later just 5% into material)

I spent the following day uploading my favourite Kyp Malone excerpts onto YouTube and with the help of a dedicated fan I was also able to rename them.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I’m in a dilemma about using video. Inevitably it is much better quality in HD, compare the clip above with the Flip clip below for example.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It does take considerably longer to put the HD stuff edited and online. The best practice might be to work out what can be uploaded instantly and do the more time draining stuff later on. When I put the Kyp Malone interview online, I’ll aim for as professional level as possible, and include idents and credits.

Next time I want to concentrate on chunking the material whilst I record it and spend more time thinking about processing the clips as I’m recording them. In future I will shoot 2-3 minute chunks and try to start or finish on the musical bar!

Tuesday was spent mainly filtering, editing and uploading Kyp Malone material and resizing and uploading pictures to Flickr. I was also able to grab an audio interview with Rosie Thomas from Collaborative Dance Experience. There wasn’t an awful lot to photograph at the ‘get in’ so instead Rosie gave me performance and production shots, which I quickly made into a 3 minute slide show. This was then published on YouTube and the Facebook fan site in time for their performance and maybe drive interest and audience.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Next time, I’d make the compilation of the slideshow a priority. This is simply because a slide show is the quickest way of publishing mixed media online, especially in upload terms.

Conclusion
Overall, I had an enjoyable few days experimentation which included a lot of variety. Having first hand experience of life working at Village Underground was the best way to explore and utilise the in house resources.

It’s fair to say that I did most of the work solo. I was concentrating on experimenting myself and didn’t want to lead, although I was grateful for help from my sister in law. Next time I will have a clearer idea and better contingency plan in place for speeding up the process, using people from VU and providing good content quickly.

At the moment, we’ve got our sights set on covering Kate Nash’s performance, depending on what her management think of the material we’ve produced so far!

A bug bear I have about Birmingham is creativity occurs on the fringes of the city, and often this can make us appear self deprecating. It’s almost as if were embarrassed by our artists so we push them to the outskirts. Don’t get me wrong, I’m behind the redefined Eastside. In fact I wrote the brochure’s main copy. But where I struggled was working out how to make art accessible and appealing in description, without appearing to trivialise or belittle ‘the art.’ A picture paints a thousand words, I just wanted people to visit Eastside and make up their own minds. Hopefully, many will this weekend.

The great thing about CiB shop’s centrality is that people can check it out, with very little effort. If this shop was based in Digbeth, for example, they wouldn’t have a fraction of the footfall. Take a look at this large and diverse mix of people in this 30 minute sample (recorded by me at 11am on a Thursday).

Click here to view the embedded video.

Okay, Pete Ashton in particular acknowledges it’s “in a shopping centre” so there are a few pieces that might be too leftfield for this consumer-centric audience. But its strong centre-stage presence is great exposure for all artists adorning the walls and shelves. And intrinsically Created In Birmingham features independent artists creating original pieces.

Besides wouldn’t it be great if when the City Of Culture judges get off the train and the first place they pop into is this shop?

The thing is I know Vimeo is generally considered the better platform, especially for aesthetically sensitive designers but it appears my allocation only allows me to upload on HD package a week. And besides YouTube now offers unlimited HD. For standard Vimeo there’s a cap at 500Mb. Here’s the two clips together, see if you can really spot the difference. For extra fun play them together.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.