Wevee

Final fling with history?

2011-04-05T07:24:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered what it was really like to live during wartime? How much luggage were evacuee children allowed to take with them? What did enemy planes look like? To find out, just take a look at our latest additions to the archive clips!

We've added a whole host of clips that allow you to explore what life was like for ordinary people during the second world war - panic shopping for gas masks and tinned food, preparing for blackouts, bidding farewell to soldiers leaving for the front, children being evacuated, as well as Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in London. There's even footage from across the Channel in Paris.

The initial funding we had for the WeVee website came to a close at the end of March. Supported by the UK Film Council's Digital Film and Archive fund and administered by Screen West Midlands, this funding enabled the launch of WeVee in January 2010 and the activity which then followed through our WeVee workshops and on the website.

It's been an exciting journey so far and we'd like to take this opportunity to thank the funders and SWM for their support. We have also worked with some fantastic people from the community of archive holders across the region who have contributed material to the site. Thank you, we are thrilled with the range of footage that you have enabled us to add to the website, much of it previously unseen in the public domain. A special thank you goes to Emma Morley and all the team at the Media Archive for Central England for their patience with our requests for footage and their continuing support with WeVee. Finally, a big thank you also to Ray Johnson, who recently received an MBE for services to the arts. The Staffordshire Film Archive collections never cease to amaze us and we're especially excited be some of our recent additions from here, featuring Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain.

We very much hope this isn't the end of the WeVee journey. Over the coming months we will be working with some key partners to explore the future of the WeVee website, so will keep you posted.

Until then, what are you waiting for? Do get stuck in and explore the latest additions.

And please don't forget to share your creations by saving your WeVees and publishing them to the gallery for everyone to see.

Happy WeVeeing and Happy Easter!

The WeVee Team

First Light Awards 2011 Competition

2011-01-18T06:24:00.000-08:00

Here's your chance to create a WeVee which could be screened at this year's First Light Awards Ceremony at Odeon Cinema in Leicester Square, London on 15th March. To enter, you need to create a WeVee (of 1minute 45 seconds long) using the clips tagged with FL2011 or FirstLight and save it to the website's Public Gallery so we can see it!

The competition is open to 5-25 yr olds and closes on the 14th February. For those of you under 13 years old, please make sure you have permission from your parents or guardians to use the WeVee website.

The clips are extracts of short films created by young people across Britain who have been nominated for the First Light Awards 2011. Use as many of the clips tagged with FL2011 as you like and make sure you use the competition music track "Chaos Engine" to create a promo film of 1 min 45 secs. The winner will have their First Light WeVee shown at the Awards ceremony in ODEON Leicester Square on 15th March.

Please Note: You will only be able to hear the music track when the winning WeVee is screened at the awards ceremony. However, you can still use the dialogue from the clips for you edit, this dialogue just won't be heard during the awards screening.

How to make a WeVee:

1. First, REGISTER on the site to create your profile area. Here you will need to enter a username and password which you can use to log-in to WeVee again in the future.
2. Once logged in, click CREATE NOW. This opens the video edit tool window. You'll see that the MY CLIPS is empty, so click on ARCHIVE CLIPS. Here, you’ll find all the clips in our WeVee gallery.
3. Type FL2011 into the search box and this will display all the clips available for you to use in your First Light competition promo film entry. To select the clips you want, click on the image once. A tick will appear and the box will be highlighted in green.
4. Next up is to select the audio track. Click AUDIO button. And select ‘Chaos Engine (FL2011 Track)’ this is the special track assigned to FL2011 competition entries.
5. Click back to MY CLIPS and you’ll see that all the video clips you’d chosen from the FL2011 selection, are now arranged down the left side of your screen. The Audio track is there too when you click the AUDIO button.

Now, you’re ready to edit your WeVee.

6. Select the clip you want to start with and simply click and drag it to the EDIT line.
Here you can adjust the length of the clip. Move your mouse cursor to either the beginning or end of the clip and a black arrow will appear, click and drag on this to shorten the clip. You can preview the clip in the left hand viewing pane.
7. Once you’ve selected the section of the clip you want, drag it to the video line. You can view your progress in the right hand viewing pane.
8. Adding audio is simple. Click the audio track and it automatically appears on the audio edit line. (You can adjust the volume by selecting a point along the line and moving it either up to increase or decrease the volume).

REMEMBER – Your WeVees for the First Light Awards Competition need to be 1 min 45 seconds long. Do try and include as many of the FL2011 clips as you can, even if it is only a very short clip.

To save your WeVee click the ‘save’ button in the bottom right hand corner of the edit tool, give it an appropriate title, make sure you include the FL2011 tag in the tags box and tick the add to public gallery box so we can easily search for your entry.

GOOD LUCK!!

See First Light's website and more information about the competition by clicking HERE

A Christmas round up

2010-12-17T02:39:00.000-08:00

Seasons Greetings WeVeeers!

We'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for all your support during our first year. Our launch was only in January this year, yet the ever growing footage and interest in the site has made us feel so proud of our archive holders, the regular visitors to the site and our regional heritage as a whole. So thank you for watching the footage, playing with it and sharing your WeVees.
Here are some of our highlights from 2010:

* Managing to encourage owners of archive material that has previously been locked away in cupboards, to showcase the films on WeVee and allow users to learn from its history and use it creatively.

* Being featured in the Guardian's "Internet Picks of the Week"

* The great feedback and huge audiences we reached at both Artsfest & SXSW festivals

* WeVee workshops in schools around the region and in BirminghamLibary have helped us guide users through the site and the WeVees that have been published during those workshops have been incredibly impressive. Especially when you think that these pupils have never used edit tools like this before. Well done you!

* Mentions in national and local press have been incredibly positive and motivating and we've even been interviewed a few times for radio broadcasts and promo films!

So, to end the year on a high, we've added lots more clips to the Archive Clips section of the site that have a Christmas or Wintery feel to them. Why not create a Christmas themed WeVee and send it to your friends! Much more creative and inventive than a Christmas card, and it saves paper and stamps. :)

We hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The WeVee Team x

Fancy coming on Safari?

2010-12-15T08:19:00.001-08:00

Yes! We've done it! We've managed to get hold of some rare and special footage from inside West Midlands Safari Park for you to use in your WeVees.

There are clips of the endangered white lions, cute playful lion cubs, hippos, elephants being washed, and an Aye Aye! Yes, we didn't know what one of those was either!

Looking forward to seeing what creative WeVees you can create using the new animal clips...

Juniper Cinema and WeVee

2010-12-14T04:56:00.000-08:00

We've been given the fabulous opportunity to showcase WeVee at The Jekyll and Hyde's Juniper Cinema nights on Wednesday evenings. You will be able to watch the WeVee 'trailer' whilst tucking into your popcorn and cola before the screenings of classic and contemporary films.

Keep your eyes peeled for new wevee footage being added this week!

The WeVee Team

2010-11-05T08:46:00.000-07:00

A great time at the Royal Television Society awards last night saw WeVee nominated for best digital innovation and its promo up on the big screen in Birmingham University's Great Hall. Although WeVee didn't scoop the prize on this occasion it did make it to the last three in this Midlands-wide competition.

We're out and about at the moment with WeVee workshops and about to add more clips from the Mini archive, so watch this space and keep WeVee-ing.

2010-10-29T03:14:00.000-07:00

The WeVee roadshow team were out again yesterday. This time at the Library of Birmingham's Centre for the Child. We had 3 large gleeming iMacs and banners galore to attract the half term crowds.

It was a tough job as Sponge Bob Square Pants game was showing on neighbouring computer screens, but the children loved WeVee. We even spotted a few parents picking up a WeVee sticker...

There are some great new WeVee additions to the gallery and all created by complete novices in under 20minutes. So well done!

Have a look at the new WeVees in the gallery here

And (one of) the nominees for RTS Best Digital Innovation Award...

2010-10-13T04:10:00.000-07:00

is...WEVEE!!

We're delighted to announce that we have been nominated for an RTS Award this year. Best Digital Innovation and we are very excited. Not too sure who we are up against yet though.

Thank you for your continuing interest in WeVee and if you're not already, please become a fan on our facebook page or follow us on Twitter

The WeVee Team (RTS Nominees)

Becky on the radio! (again!)

2010-10-13T03:22:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, or fortunately for Becky, you can't listen again to her radio interview with Carl Chinn from Sunday 26th September. BUT I can tell you that it was great! Becky and Ruth Ward from ReWired PR (pictured above) spoke to Carl ALL about WeVee, from the seedling of the idea to the clips we've chosen for the site and it's success to date!

BAFTA Young Games Designer Workshop

2010-10-13T03:00:00.000-07:00

WeVee was invited to present at the BAFTA Young Games Designer Workshop at the MAC in Birmingham last week. This was a chance for young people (although the room was full of young men actually, come on girls!) to hear about games design from some of the best game designers in the country.

We were up after Pete O'Donnell from Freestyle Games, the company who designed DJ Hero, so the pressure was on to hold the audience's attention. It was a great chance for us to show a group of people something new and with their 'gamer' hats on, WeVee was a great opportunity for them to explore their creativity as well as learn the art of editing.

We'd like to thank Screen West Midlands for inviting us along and also good luck to all the entrants to the Game Design competition. Information about the competition can be found here

WeVee in the classroom

2010-10-07T07:35:00.000-07:00

Want to stretch your pupils' knowledge and creativity? Want to know how to create the best mash-up or where to find the best clips? How would you like to have your very own WeVee workshop at your school for a day?

We know that using WeVee at home or in the classroom can be a bit daunting for users if they don't have any guidance or topics to kick start their Weveeing experience. So, how about we come to your school, take over the IT suite for an hour or so and guide pupils and/or teachers through choosing the best archive clips and a suitable track to create their very own mash-up videos to share with friends and family? Like a private tuition session!

From October we will be visiting schools in the Midlands to run WeVee workshops with pupils and teachers, working around current topics they're covering in History or using clips from the town or county in which they live.

All we need is enthusiastic pupils and an IT suite for an hour or so. Feedback from our workshops earlier in the year have been incredibly positive, with teachers now using WeVee as part of their creative lesson plans.

If you'd like to be involved please contact us at info@weevee.co.uk we're looking forward to hearing from you.

The WeVee Team

Wevee's hypnotic!

2010-09-01T02:20:00.000-07:00

The football archive we unearthed in time for the World Cup is proving popular! Of special interest to Gloucester City fans is the clip of the team being hypnotised before the game. Click here to see the news article on the This is Gloucestershire website and here to see the clip for yourself!

Not only has WeVee news been spreading online and in newspapers, but the WeVee team have also been out and about in schools and at public digital events.

School workshops - Fancy having the WeVee team demonstrate how you can use WeVee in your lessons? All we need are enthusiastic pupils and a set of computers and we will transform your class into a team of editors and wannabe film makers in an hour! Contact us for more information.

2010-06-22T10:28:00.000-07:00

Since our last blog post, in March, (that seems like such a long time ago!) the WeVee team have been busy finding topical archive clips for you to play with.

The General Election saw our 'Lets Vote' campaign put into action, with WeVee populated with lots of politically themed footage including Maggie Thatcher's visit to Birmingham in 1977 and snippets of what children had to say about politics in the run-up to the 1964 election.

Next up? We're calling all frustrated football fans!...

Come and relive England's golden era and create your own perfect score with our newly added football clips including vox pops taken on the streets of Birmingham during 1966 World Cup, and footage from the England Team's training sessions with Sir Alf Ramsey in 1973.

We've added over 30 football themed clips from the past century at www.wevee.co.uk Footage comes from across the West Midlands region and includes women's football game in Tipton from 1957, three Leicester players in match against elephants from the local circus! and selected FA Cup final matches dating back to 1904.

Don't forget that once you've viewed the clips, you can edit them to music and share your mash-ups on facebook and twitter. If you have a twitter account, follow us here

WeVee showcasing at Hello Digital TODAY!

2009-10-21T01:16:00.000-07:00

Are you attending Hello Digital today? If so come and find us in the main hall and create your first WeVee.

Using the latest digital technology, WeVee gives you the chance to explore how the region has been captured on camera. Users can have fun putting together clips from as early as 1901 and as recent as five years ago, with clips ranging from the chocolate factories of Cadburys, to Malcolm X on the streets of Smethwick and from inside the classrooms of the 1940s to how to make a bomb shelter.

There’s a huge wealth of archive footage given a new lease of life through WeVee.

WeVee beta was first showcased at Birmingham’s ArtsFest during September. In development since January 2009, we were eager to see what people thought. It was an exciting couple of days with queues from our stand quickly growing as people wanted to find out more and try out the tool. Over the course of the weekend it was clear WeVee had appeal to all, as children as young as four through to adults in their eighties WeVee’ed away!

We’re using WeVee as a noun and a verb: you can create WeVees and you can WeVee by sharing and exchanging them.

WeVee’s official launch is in January 2010. At this stage you’ll be able to share your WeVees, not just on the WeVee Gallery but across social networking sites.

In the meantime…
visit our website www.wevee.co.uk to register for updates
follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/weveecreate

Come along today at Hello Digital and be one of the first to WeVee.

Be, Live, Go, Share WeVee at ArtsFest!

2009-09-13T01:52:00.001-07:00

We had a very exciting day yesterday as WeVee beta went live. The WeVee stand at ArtsFest, Birmingham proved to be a roaring success.

So what is WeVee?

WeVee is a new unique, online tool. It gives anyone the chance to view clips from the region’s fantastic archive collections of film and video, edit them to music tracks and make a short ‘mash-up’ (two and a half minutes max) as your personal take on the region’s history. Try out different effects by mixing the original sound of your selected clips to music.

WeVee uses the latest digital technology to give our audience the chance to explore how the region has been captured on camera. They can have fun putting together clips from as early as 1901 and as recent as five years ago.

It's showcasing again today, so come and find us at our ArtsFest Stands 1 & 2 opposite the beach in Chamberlain Square. We’ll be there from 11am through till 6pm and it would be great to see you there. Just come down and have a go at creating a WeVee for yourselves.

WeVee’s official launch is in January 2010. At this stage you’ll be able to share your WeVees, not just on the WeVee Gallery but across social networking sites.