CHRISLEYDON.COM

Weekly posts it seems to be, at least that’s the feeling that I’m getting from the amount of posts on here.

Fairly busy week.My Internet & HTML Technology assignment deadline and exam were this week. the exam was incredibly easy, I scored 97% which let’s face it isn’t bad going really; the assignment as perhaps the trickier task of the two.

The assignment was to create a website based around the streaming technologies that the BBC use on their websites. I had to create the website from scratch using a WYSIWYG, if you know me, or have seen my work, you know that I’m fairly capable at this kind of thing. The hardest thing about this assignment was simply the content; the BBC don’t REALLY use that many different streaming technologies, at least not that many up to date ones. They still use Real Video and Windows Media for their news reports, as an example, instead of Flash.

In the end I used a theme that I created for v.4.0 of the Keyone Productions website and customised it to fit my needs. If you want to take a look at the finished site, head on over to www.chrisleydon.com/bbc - I’m quite happy with my work.

I have one more assignment and one more exam left before I finish Uni for the year, the exam is on the 28th of April and the assignment needs to be in by the 2nd of June. My final assignment is for Audio Processing; I have to create an original piece of music and then write a report on the process, pretty much the same thing as last time - apart from this time we’re using Reason instead of Cubase.

I’ve taken this weekend off from working; I know that this isn’t a good plan but I feel as though I deserve it. Next week I’ll be working on Reason and the technical report. If I have some spare time I might even pop around once again, write a post and give you an update.

Chris Leydon.

Oh it really has been a long time since I was last year, in fact it’s a new year completely since my last post. I guess that this really shows commitment to posting.

So much has taken place in the last two months, so much in fact that I’m now going to take up precious minutes of your life telling you what’s been going on.

I’m now in my second semester at Staffs and the work is steadily increasing. I’ve had to hit “panic mode” several times this week, just so that I can get it all done in time.

You may remember that for my Audio Processing module I had to record a radio play and master it in Cubase. Well I’m very pleased to say that I have indeed finished this task and I’ve added it to this post for you to download. - UPDATE: WordPress is being a pain in the arse and won’t let me upload it, go figure…

The second term of the Film Tech module has proved most interesting. If you would care to think back a few months you might recall a little film I was working on called “A Crash Course In Polite Conversation”. That’s now over and done with and so it’s time to start work on a new project… Project Elements.

Project Elements comprises of two films, a documentary and a drama (based on the research that the documentary uncovers) both based on the key elements of our modern society. Find out more information at www.project-elements.com

There is more that I need to talk about but I need to organise train times for tomorrow and write an essay.

Chris Leydon.

So I’m on a train on my way back from the big city, otherwise known as London. I’ve had a rather busy week and a very busy weekend.

My week started off fairly simply, well I suppose it actually wasn’t. If truth be told last weekend we played a few pranks on our neighbours upstairs, they weren’t best pleased with this and so they retaliated by playing mind games, unbeknown to me, all through Monday. By the end of Monday, after my Film Tech lectures, I was incredibly mentally unstable and under the impression that I was going to be chucked out of Uni. This was not true. In the end our mental game playing neighbours came downstairs to our flat and told us all about the ruse; we weren’t best pleased.

Tuesday was a really good day for me. My first lecture was cancelled, but for the first time since I’ve been at Staffs I finally understood my Audio Processing lecture. It was a fantastic feeling and I’m really proud with myself.

Digital Image Production on Wednesday was as boring as ever but we’ve started on our first term project so I expect there will be some excitement soon. The rest of the day, however, was spent in intimate meetings with my Film Tech partner fiddling about with storyboards and pre-visualisation for our short three minute film. Everything went smoothly and I do believe that we have a really sweet project going on.

On Thursday, after waking up a tad late for Scriptwriting, I boarded a train with my trusty Mac and headed to London, to stay with my family over the weekend, for a party on the Saturday.

The London trip has really been a highlight of my week. I often visit London and so the attraction of going to the capital is usually lost on me, however this time I was attracted by the prospect of meeting up with some family members who I hadn’t seen for a few months, as well as attending the Leopard launch.

Friday was interesting. To begin with I helped out my uncle with installing a new bathroom (despite the fact that he is a sound technician) and then headed towards Oxford street for a bit of shopping.

Of course Friday was the launch day for the infamous operating system Mac OS X 10.5, otherwise known as Leopard. To celebrate this I donned my geek hat and headed to Apple Store UK Number one, the biggest Apple store in the world, situated on Regents Street. I joined the que for the launch at 5 pm, the store was due to open its doors as 6 pm (BST), but already there was a que going halfway around the city block. By 6 pm the que had elongated itself and had ended up looping around the block twice. I’m guessing that it’s pretty obvious that there are a few Apple geeks in London.

I must say that I met some fantastic people whilst waiting for Leopard, and when the time came we were very happy to have our special edition Leopard T-shirts and our hands on the most advanced operating system in the world. For those sad people who are interested in seeing some very blurred photos of the UK launch (they don’t allow cameras in store), I’ve included a link to my Picasa album at the end of this post.

Saturday evening saw me getting rather drunk at a party in the Bushy part of London. The party was for my cousin’s husbands 30th birthday and it turned out to be a rather fantastic evening (again photo’s included after post). I spent most of the evening talking complete bollocks and getting rather pissed with my favourite band of all time, Seeing Scarlet.

And now I’m on a train on my way back to Stafford, some week, and it only gets better from here on in.

Chris Leydon. 

Leopard UK Launch

Another week has gone by and still all I can manage to do is one post, but still I suppose that it’s better than nothing.

Last weekend I was kidnapped by my parents and taken back home for a few days, they were only supposed to pop up here with a receipt so that I could change my digibox. Going home was rather fun and it gave me time to think back over al that’s happened over the past few weeks that I’ve actually been at University for. It also gave me the chance to meet up with the fabulous Mr Cooper and record a few more Podzones.

This weeks lectures haven’t been that interesting. Film Technology, however, was quite fun. We were allowed to start experimenting with the Cannon XL1s and we were set a task where we had to create three independent shots and frame them correctly.

In Digital Image Production we were introduced to Photoshop and taught the basics. Needless to say that I was one of the few in this class who left early as we had, had a bit of experience in Photoshop. I did stay for the actual lecture and demonstration but when it came to replicating the demonstration I buggered off.

Audio Production, once again, seems to be a waste of time. I wont go into another anti-Audio Production rant but pretty much the same thing happened again as it has done for the past few weeks.

The Keyone Productions website has been down for most of the week as I’ve been redesigning and reprogramming it. I must say that it is indeed starting to look very good, especially with the new Flash players that I’ve installed. No longer do we need to rely on Google Video.

I’m extremely pleased about the news of Leopard, otherwise known as Mac OS X 10.5, which is basically Apple’s new advanced operating system. It comes out on Friday and I’m hoping to be able to pick one up at the launch party in London’s Regents Street. I’ll take a few photos of the event and post them up on my blog after I’m finished. I know it’s a rather geeky thing to be doing, but who cares?

Chris Leydon.

So it seems that I’ve broken the promise of updating my blog regularly, but when there’s not an awful lot to blog about surely that is a good thing?

This week at Uni has been rather interesting. On Monday we had to pitch our Film ideas for Film Tech. I had a fantastic pitch that was so sweet and perfect, however it seemed that it was not good enough because my partner’s idea was chosen to be filmed instead. Fear not though as my original film idea will be shot anyway, just at a later date. I don’t want to give away too many details yet, but it is called “Like a Rolling Stone”. Obviously the title is based on the Bob Dylan song.

Audio Processing was a chore again this week. We were given some sheet music and told to input it into Cubase using the Keyboards, however when one has no musical knowledge whatsoever and help is not being given this is an incredible challenge. In the end I got rather annoyed with this lack of support and false description of the course, so I went up to the lecturer and basically asked him what the hell was going on. In the end everything was sorted out and instead of creating music I’m creating a radio play instead, so all is good there, finally!

This evening was a very strange experience. I was cooking my dinner in the kitchen with the doors and windows open and the extractor fan on when the fire alarm goes off. Our house and the houses on either side of ours were evacuated and made to wait outside in the cold rain for 20 minutes. I’ve got no idea if the fire alarm going off was my fault or not, there was no note and I haven’t recieved a fine yet. I shall tell you either way.

I’m off to the Student Union now for some fun at “Smashed” so I shall be back soon.

Chris Leydon.

What a busy few days I’ve had. The best part of this weekend has been spent attempting to get The Podzone Online back, well, online. As a few of you may know I’ve recently switched my web hosting to GoDaddy.com (use promo code “podzone” for 10% off any purchase) after falling out with my previous hoster, so this week I’ve been putting the pieces back together.

The Podzone Online is now back up and once again there is a new Podzone Podcast up and ready for download so I urge you to check that out at either www.thepodzone.net or podzone.btpodshow.com. The Podzone, in general, is still moving along swiftly, this o course is helped by the fact that myself and Nick recorded some shows in bulk last week, so we have a bit of a back catalogue to fall on if things don’t go fully to plan.

Lectures this week have been interesting and very challenging in certain areas. Audio Processing is seriously over my head. The lecturers seem to have this idea in their heads that everyone in their class is musically talented and has an advanced knowledge on music technology. This, of course, isn’t true and so quite a few of us are struggling in this aspect and are having to do so much outside research it’s untrue.

The ideas for Film Technology are still flowing and I’m busy writing up my plans for the 3 minute film, it’s all good.

Oh and I’d like to take the oppourtunity to wish my Mother a very Happy Birthday.

Chris Leydon.

I always seem to start off with good intentions whenever I dust off my old blog or create a new one, however I never quite manage to keep it up, until now (I hope).

A thought occoured to me earlier on in the day, now that I’m at uni, friends and family will be wondering what the hell I’m up to. So instead of talking to each individual person for hours on end each day and reciting the same old story to each person, I can just send people here instead to find out what it is exactly that I am doing.

I’m just finishing off my first “real” week on university, that is the first week with actual lectures in it, and I must say it has somewhat taken it out of me. This of course could be down to the freshers flu that has had me in bed most days, but that’s besides the point.

For those of you who aren’t aware I’m currently taking a BSc(Hons) in Film Technology Production at Staffordshire University.

The first week of lectures has been incredibly enlightening and interesting, I’ve recieved information on my first semester assignments and have already started work on them.

Film Technology is my first module, in which we have to create a professional 3 minute short film along with a presntation and various other bits and bobs.

Audio Processing requires us to create some sort of radio show (with a backing track) radio play (with backing track) or a song, as well as the presentation and all of the trimmings.

Digital Image Production is where we mess about with Photoshop and create a print style advert for a company such as Apple or Nike.

Scriptwriting is pretty self explanaory really, 5 minutes worth of screenplay. It’s all fun.

So it looks as though I’m to be quite busy over the next few months leading up to Christmas. I shall try and keep this poor olf blog up to date, as well as including some of the films that I’m working on.

Chris Leydon.