New Video Podcast: Something To Be Desired
Published by Bre Pettis on 23 Feb 2006 at 2:32 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under Vlog News.
Justin Kownacki is the writer/producer/director/editor/cameraman for Something to Be Desired (or STBD), a comedy video podcast about a group of DJs at a struggling radio station in Pittsburgh.
The series isn’t for kids due to language and sexual content, but it’s got great production values and is watchable. I promptly went to itunes and did the search for STBD and subscribed. (Subscribe to STBD in iTunes)
Through email, I asked Justin about his workflow and the process he went through to make it a podcast and he sent me back such a great response, that I’m printing Jason’s reply right here:
Our workflow is always in a state of tinkering, but in general our approach
has been:
1. I conceive of the outline for a season, and the individual subplots within the overarching story.
2. We audition for any new recurring characters we’ll be adding to the cast.
3. I write the individual scenes for the various story arcs.
4. We film until we collapse.
5. I edit.
This past season, we’d held auditions in February and then, based upon the new cast members we added (I prefer to write dialogue once I know who’s speaking it), I built up a storyline of roughly 90 scenes. We then filmed from May through September, during which time I recorded almost every scene I’d need on nearly 30 hourlong DV tapes. As scenes were filmed (or added), they were marked as such on a scene database in the crew’s Yahoo group, which I found to be a decent way to keep track of what was done and what was
still needed, as well as any prop and wardrobe notes.
Those DV tapes were then catalogued into a Word document database, so I know what’s where on each tape. Then I edit, using either a few stock backing tracks or, when possible, music from indie and unsigned bands to color the mood of the episodes. All video editing is currently done in Adobe Premiere Pro, with audio edited in Sound Forge and Cool Edit Pro (which has since become Adobe Audition, but which I haven’t upgraded to). I own a MAC and have Final Cut Pro, but I’ve used Premiere for nearly a decade and it’s
second nature to me by now, so I’ve stuck with it.
Our webmaster designed an upload manager for the episodes which allows me to post them well in advance and then set the release date at which a new episodes “goes live.”
On the surface, this would seem like a foolproof plan. Here’s the truth: Most editing is done at about 4 in the morning and uploaded in haste the day an episode is due, occasionally with me needing to clear the use of a song hours before it’s set to be uploaded.
Despite 75% of the season having been filmed well in advance, there are still scenes we haven’t filmed for upcoming episodes because scheduling gets very difficult once winter strikes Pittsburgh. Making Pittsburgh look like summer in winter is even more difficult. Two seasons ago, we were literally cleaning salt and slush off a car with wet paper towels, by hand, in order to mask the fact that we were filming “July” in December.
Shooting around cast absences is the name of the game. Our lead actor from Season One was unavailable to film the closing episode because his wife was having a baby that day. He returned for Season Two, only to move 6 hours away midway through filming. This season, my female lead left for college in London in October and my male lead moved to Virgina Beach in January, which makes scheduling them a near-impossibility. And, since the entire project has been voluntary (aka unpaid), I frequently bend schedules around the
paying jobs and gigs landed by the cast, all of whom have day jobs and / or classes.
So, yes, we do it all by the seat of our pants despite having a perfectly adequate system in place. Perhaps I’m just incapable of following rules or “getting ahead,” but as long as the episodes are produced on time, I don’t mind the headaches nearly as much.
As for the iPod format, I’m not certain we’ve actually converted all the way yet. We have .mov versions available, but converting to the preferred .mp4 and .m4v has proven difficult for me because I a) don’t have an iPod to test those files with, and b) haven’t been able to get them to play in any browser or iTunes. However, the .mov files have reportedly worked fine, so we can temporarily hang our hat on that while we search for the missing tech solution to the .mp4 problem.
What do I love about creating video for the net? Several things. I like the immediacy of the feedback. I like the ability to watch video at all hours of the day, on-demand, and I suspect this entire web-loving generation does as well. I like working in a serial format because it gives the characters a chance to evolve and grow over time, rather than having to solve all of their problems in one 90 minute film. And I like the guerrilla approach to shooting and editing, although a budget and better equipment would doubtlessly make life easier.
It’s funny: I’ve had the idea for a web series since 1999, before the technology existed to make it possible. When we finally started up in 2003, it was essentially an experiment to see if we could make it work. Now, three seasons later, Apple releases the video-enabled iPod and suddenly there’s a huge demand for web video, and we’ve been passed up by the studios with money and proper PR methods. Yet here we are, 50-some episodes in and working toward the end goal of being noticed by as wide an audience as we can attain. Perhaps we’ve never been in the exact right place at the right time, but I keep thinking success is just around the corner, which keeps the creative urge burning.
Becca on 23 Feb 2006 at 8:31 pm: 1
Hi Bre,
If you want to link their site directly from iTunes, go to STBD’s podcast in iTunes and right click the picture in that podcast (if they haven’t submitted a picture, then it should be the default podcast picture). It should say “copy iTunes music store URL.” Use that address and paste it in your blog (a href etc.. etc..). Then, anyone who clicks it should be directly linked to STBD’s iTunes podcast.
Hope that helps,
Becca