Indic Oral Culture Project Resources

Preparations before leaving for on-ground work:

• Check that all equipment- phone camera, tripod etc. are in working condition. The devices should be tested at home before leaving for the field.
• Connections/contact person- talk with and confirm with your contact person about your date of arrival at the field, and your requirements with respect to folk song and tale recording, along with other requirements.
• Storage space- create enough space in your phone/device in advance. Plan where you can store the recorded videos to create space for new recordings.
• Weather forecast- check weather forecast before planning the field trip. Extreme weather like rain can cause limited mobility, background noise in recorded video, and hamper the field trip in general.

Resources:

Oral Culture Transcription Toolkit

YouTube tutorials on setting up a tripod

Research:

• Search the internet to see which folk songs and folk tales from your language have already been uploaded online. Search on YouTube and popular social media, specifically those that might host oral culture of your language. This will ensure that there is no duplication of effort and you do not record the same songs and tales again.
• You should request the subject (people you will be recording) to sing lesser-known songs. Focus on recording those songs that are not widely known and/or restricted to certain areas only.

Preparing to record:

While getting ready on the field to begin recording, keep these things in mind:

• Note down the names of the songs/tales. The title needs to be included with its video while uploading the recordings on Commons. Carry resources like pen and paper/digital notebook to the field for this purpose.
• Creating the subtitles of the folk songs and tales is an important part of the project. To ensure that you do not face difficulty with it later, note down the lyrics of the songs. Also note any words that you do not understand. You can ask them the meaning after they have finished singing the song in which the word was mentioned.
• Singing can be quite fast paced and sometimes it gets difficult to understand each line. It is suggested that you ask the subject to explain the lyrics and record it. These videos are for your personal use and they will not be counted as folk songs/tales. Alternatively, you can carry pen and paper to take notes.
• Request the subject for a quiet place. If outdoors, a place without noise from traffic, conversations, noisy animals etc. If indoors, a place without indoor noise like ACs, gates opening, kitchen appliances etc.
• Keep your phones on silent during recording to avoid sounds of notifications in the video.
• Only the subject/s should appear in the frame, not you or other family members. A wall/solid background behind the subjects will ensure that there are no visual disturbances in the background caused by other moving people.
• Keep the recording device at eye level of the subject. Their eyes should be looking at the same height as the camera, not too far below or above it. So, you should set the tripod adjusted to a low level if the subject is sitting.

Good frame and bad frame for videos:

• Record the videos in a single frame. The video should not move once the device is set.
• Do not cut or merge videos, except for cropping the beginning or end.
• Do not add music, audio, or filters to a recorded video.
• The subject should be in the middle of the frame and looking forward
• If the subject is looking or sitting sideways at the camera, follow the Rule of thirds to create a good frame.
• Person should be looking towards the front, or the white space (sideways empty space in the two thirds of the frame- refer to the rule of thirds in photography).
• Make sure that any portion of the subject’s face is not cut out of frame if they move. Usually the top of the head can be cut out if the frame is too small.
• Place the tripod at various distances to check which one would work the best.
• Ensure that the subjects’ face is visible, that there is enough natural light. Artificial lights (bulbs) are not as good.
• Avoid direct sunlight or sun in the background, as both will result in bad light. These will result either in harsh light or dim light.
• Keep the recording device horizontal, not vertical. This will result in larger surface area and better documentary value.
• Don’t create large videos as they might be tough to process. The format of the vidoes have to be changed, then they have to be upload etc. Keeping these factors in mind, it is advised that each video should be 10 minutes long at the most.
• Wait for the subject to finish before stopping the recording. Some folk songs have lyrics that are repeated several times, they should not be cut out.
• A signal from the singer would be helpful. Discuss hand signals like claps, thumbs up etc. in advance, the singer can use them to signal that one song is finished.
• Tap on your phone screen lightly to stop the recording, otherwise it will shake the video. In case the video shakes, it will result in extra hassle of having to crop the video before uploading.

Etiquettes:

• If the subject or their family offers something to eat/drink that you do not normally like? Do not refuse them, as it is considered impolite to refuse food and drink at someone’s house.
• Be extremely patient and be respectful to your subject and their family.
• In order to blend in, you can have conversations with the person you are recording. It might also help put them at ease in your presence.
• When you are with a partner, please refrain from engaging in conversation with each other, unless it's related to technical matters.
• Do not interrupt or talk while recording. You can respond non-verbally to the person you are recording, e.g. smiling, nodding at appropriate moments to demonstrate your attention.

Metadata (information about the content):

• Note the date, language, and region of the recorded material. Also note any other relevant information.
• Note the lyrics of the songs. Often there would be words that you might not recognise (archaic words no longer part of the vocabulary) or simply that you are not able to comprehend. Write/type/record the lyrics.