Multi-media Workshop

A group of us got together at Bridges to spend a week working on producing a CD. We were going to be working with a DJ, a photographer and 3 students from Stevenson College who were going to be filming us and making a video to accompany our CD.

On the Monday we all got to know each other and started writing our rap on the theme of smoking. We had the smoking sessation worker from East Lothian Council in to give us some ideas and facts around smoking, she showed us loads of posters showing smoking advertising, the effects on your health and what you could buy with the money you saved!

To help us write our rap we all took a different view on smoking – education, giving up and the effects – then we wrote down a list of words in relation to our view and started trying to rhyme them up. I was amazed how after a bit of help getting the rhythm of the rap we had all written our own lines. Whilst we were practicing others on the group were taking photos and looking at designing a cover for the CD.

We all left on the Monday pretty tired but looking forward to the next day when we were going to be putting our rap to a track.

On Tuesday the practicing started and it was hard work! We had to work on emphasising specific words to make the rap more effective and fitting it into the tune. We then went out to get some fresh air and practice walking in time to the music. After a few more practices we all headed home to get a good rest before we headed to the recording studio.

On Wednesday we all left in a mini bus to the recording studio in Granton to actually record our track. It was really cool being in the studio, its just like you see it on the telly, a room with a class panel, the big microphone and the headphones, we felt like we’d really made it!! We all went in individually to record our verse and everyone else could see and hear you when you were singing! The guy operating the controls then played our track back and he could speed it up, slow it down and merge it with another track, very clever!! After lots of practices and photos we has enough material for the track so we finished up for the day with the warning of wearing warm clothes tomorrow because we’d be outside all day!

On Thursday we headed to the Scottish Parliament to film our video, we chose there because it’s where the decisions about smoking were made. It was freezing cold but we started filming straight away. We were all to walk with attitude on our own and sing into the camera then walk as a group. It was really hard walking in time but we eventually go there. We had a break to warm up and had some lunch in the Parliament which was really nice and then back out to finish up. We got some group photos then finished for the day.

With all our bits done the next stage was for the music and video to be cut and transformed into a CD by the Stevenson students.

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