As Live Studio Production - Project Evaluation
Project Evaluation
Upon starting this unit there was certainly some uncertainty and anxiety towards the nature of the production. This is the first time most of us have taken on such a large and ambitious project, not to mention the fact that we're being assessed on the entire thing - there was some tension in the room for sure. However, we've been aware of this unit for the duration of our time on the course and have had necessary time to be able to prepare for the challenges that it has brought.
I'm happy to be able to say the project itself went well from inception to completion. There were both positives and negatives that I will address as this evaluation continues but first I wanted to highlight my roles in the production of 'Steal the Style'. During the planning and pre-production phase I had the roles of Social Media Manager and Promo Editor. This involved setting up and orchestrating the social media campaigns for Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. (pictured below), followed by the editing which involved cutting together a 30-50 second promo using footage planned and shot by the rest of the promotional team. During the production itself I worked as a Camera Operator on Camera 4 with Alex Baldwin. I shot the first half of the show and Alex took over for the second half. Due to the size of our group the production had to be split into two different sets of crew to ensure everyone had a significant role to play - As far as I know, this is the first time this has been done on the UCA TVP course, though it seems to have went well regardless!
What Went Well?
There were a lot of positives when it came to the production of 'Steal the Style', but one of the most crucial things to the smooth-running of the show was the amount of rehearsal time we managed to get in the studios. We had 4 full rehearsal days in the weeks preceding the transmission date of April 19th. Fortunately, being able to run through the show over 15 times, there was a clear sense of progression in terms of the issues we were encountering during production. This involved minor things such as headroom adjustments to certain camera operators and minimising the hazard of cables lying around that people could trip over, though there were some more significant issues that were ironed out during the rehearsal process; the script for example changed drastically over the course of the unit and resulted in a great, professional looking live show.
I also wanted to note how much more cohesive the group felt by the end of the project, it started to become clear to everyone that we were all striving for the same goal, to put together a great studio production. Through that passion there has been a sense of genuine teamwork flourishing between us all as we approach the conclusion of this ambitious undertaking we set out to complete 4 months ago. Being able to receive quick and reliable feedback when talking to directors and other camera operators was invaluable, allowing me to appropriately adapt to any changes/issues that arise during production.
For example, during one of the later rehearsals there was a misunderstanding between me and the Director George Lock. Several of the shots for my half of the show were listed in the script as C.U. (Close-Up) L.O.F. (Left of Frame), though interestingly George noted during a rehearsal that the framing was somewhat off which confused me - It later turned out that George wanted the shots C.O.F. though this wasn't communicated with us in the script. (More on that later...) Either way, I demonstrated the ability to think on my feet and was sure to flag it up with George and correct the issue before the next rehearsal.
One thing I certainly cannot criticise in this unit would be the incredibly talented and professional presenters, Alfie Garston and Adeline Close. They joined the project just over a month ago and have tirelessly dedicated themselves to hours of rehearsals and tedious script run-throughs. Not just including the in-studio material in front of the lights and the live audience, but also being extensively involved within VT & Promotional material across multiple departments. Furthermore the contributors that we had for the 'DIY Fashion' and 'Steals of the Season' segments were incredibly professional and talented, the models we had parade down the catwalk all expressed a clear satisfaction with the way the project went by the end of it all, and our resident drag queen - Connor - said how impressed he was with the entire production!
What Could've Been Better?
During the production itself there wasn't much that went poorly when it came to the actual live transmission - however the scripting issue detailed above was the key discrepancy Alex and I had with the show, the entire issue I had with framing was simply a miscommunication as a result of an inaccuracy within the script itself. This incident was indicative of a wider problem I had with the script in general. If we were forced to come up with some kind of constructive criticism for the show, it'd probably be the fact that a large portion of the script felt more like a 'rough guideline' rather than anything concrete to follow. A lot of the dialogue, particularly in the latter half of the show with the Bonnie and Connor interviews, felt almost entirely ad-libbed and/or unrepresentative of the 'final' script we all had in our hands. It would have been nice to see a more accurate script in terms of shot composition and dialogue, within reason of course.
The pre-production phase was enjoyable for sure, as part of the promotional team I was tasked with establishing and maintaining the social media pages for the show (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter), followed by editing the promotional trailer for the show. I did however feel that within the promotional team itself there were some organisational issues that could've been handled better. The initial promo trailer test shoot was originally scheduled for two different dates by two different groups of us, meaning that for the first several weeks we were working off 2 seperate plans for the promo. One being down on the Monday and one on the Thursday. The Director, Ollie was unfortunately not present for the first shoot on the Monday as he believed we were shooting on the Thursday. This is nothing more than an example of mismanagement from our perspective and I wouldn't try and put blame on anyone but ourselves, but in retrospective it could've been useful to have coordinated more in order to avoid creating tighter deadlines for ourselves.
The social media campaigns were rather successful and I was content with the type and frequency of the posts being made to both the Instagram and the Facebook page. I suggested that I take core responsibility for the Instagram page, while Danny (our other social media manager) could work primarily on the Facebook page - though for what it's worth I set up and established all social media platforms for the show. At the beginning of the pre-production phase I expressed a clear interest in creating a Twitter account for the show, though Danny informed me that it was not something that the producers were all that interested in so we decided not to bother with it. To my surprise, I received a message from Danny on April 18th, the day before the live show, asking me to set-up a Twitter account and post some things to promote the show. While I did so and didn't mind in the slightest, it was somewhat frustrating to hear so late, given that I could've put a lot more effort into the Twitter account, retweeted various different things etc.
As for any personal issues I encountered during my time on this unit, there were a couple worth mentioning. During the rehearsals we had been experimenting with adjusting the aperture to allow more/less light onto the camera sensor (thus increasing/decreasing the exposure of the shot), however this was something that wasn't practiced all that much during the actual rehearsals. At the end of my half of the show I have a M.S. of Alfie C.O.F. and it acts as my last shot before Alfie heads into the audience and we crew swapped to the other half of the team. Upon reaching this moment in the transmission, George asked me to close the lens slightly in order to darken the image and in my panic I opened it rather than closed it - though fortunately I was not on air at the time and quickly went back the other way in time for George to cut to it appropriately. Ultimately it wasn't anything noticeable as it didn't go to air, though it was a bit of a blunder on my part and for that I feel I should take responsibility.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I have found this project to be a genuinely insightful, rewarding and valuable experience to add to my portfolio. Watching the show back on the monitors during rehearsals was a rollercoaster experience; at times the monitors would show everything looking smooth and professional, though at others there were various audio issues, scripting problems and inconsistencies in camera movement from other camera operators. Fortunately thanks to the rehearsal time we got in the studio in the weeks leading up to transmission day, we were able to iron out all of the potential problems that could've hampered the live transmission, leading to what felt (and looked) like an incredibly well produced, industry-standard live show.
I've learnt a lot throughout the as live production unit, varying from social media management skills such as; correctly tagging and promoting commercial content on platforms like Instagram and Facebook; being able to appropriately and professionally edit promotional material into something that matches the brand laid out by the producers and graphics design team; and of course working in-studio, on set with the camera equipment - ensuring I worked to a respectable standard of camera operation. No doubt the knowledge I have gained throughout this unit will go on to benefit me greatly in the years to come.
Upon starting this unit there was certainly some uncertainty and anxiety towards the nature of the production. This is the first time most of us have taken on such a large and ambitious project, not to mention the fact that we're being assessed on the entire thing - there was some tension in the room for sure. However, we've been aware of this unit for the duration of our time on the course and have had necessary time to be able to prepare for the challenges that it has brought.I'm happy to be able to say the project itself went well from inception to completion. There were both positives and negatives that I will address as this evaluation continues but first I wanted to highlight my roles in the production of 'Steal the Style'. During the planning and pre-production phase I had the roles of Social Media Manager and Promo Editor. This involved setting up and orchestrating the social media campaigns for Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. (pictured below), followed by the editing which involved cutting together a 30-50 second promo using footage planned and shot by the rest of the promotional team. During the production itself I worked as a Camera Operator on Camera 4 with Alex Baldwin. I shot the first half of the show and Alex took over for the second half. Due to the size of our group the production had to be split into two different sets of crew to ensure everyone had a significant role to play - As far as I know, this is the first time this has been done on the UCA TVP course, though it seems to have went well regardless!
What Went Well?
There were a lot of positives when it came to the production of 'Steal the Style', but one of the most crucial things to the smooth-running of the show was the amount of rehearsal time we managed to get in the studios. We had 4 full rehearsal days in the weeks preceding the transmission date of April 19th. Fortunately, being able to run through the show over 15 times, there was a clear sense of progression in terms of the issues we were encountering during production. This involved minor things such as headroom adjustments to certain camera operators and minimising the hazard of cables lying around that people could trip over, though there were some more significant issues that were ironed out during the rehearsal process; the script for example changed drastically over the course of the unit and resulted in a great, professional looking live show.
I also wanted to note how much more cohesive the group felt by the end of the project, it started to become clear to everyone that we were all striving for the same goal, to put together a great studio production. Through that passion there has been a sense of genuine teamwork flourishing between us all as we approach the conclusion of this ambitious undertaking we set out to complete 4 months ago. Being able to receive quick and reliable feedback when talking to directors and other camera operators was invaluable, allowing me to appropriately adapt to any changes/issues that arise during production.
For example, during one of the later rehearsals there was a misunderstanding between me and the Director George Lock. Several of the shots for my half of the show were listed in the script as C.U. (Close-Up) L.O.F. (Left of Frame), though interestingly George noted during a rehearsal that the framing was somewhat off which confused me - It later turned out that George wanted the shots C.O.F. though this wasn't communicated with us in the script. (More on that later...) Either way, I demonstrated the ability to think on my feet and was sure to flag it up with George and correct the issue before the next rehearsal.One thing I certainly cannot criticise in this unit would be the incredibly talented and professional presenters, Alfie Garston and Adeline Close. They joined the project just over a month ago and have tirelessly dedicated themselves to hours of rehearsals and tedious script run-throughs. Not just including the in-studio material in front of the lights and the live audience, but also being extensively involved within VT & Promotional material across multiple departments. Furthermore the contributors that we had for the 'DIY Fashion' and 'Steals of the Season' segments were incredibly professional and talented, the models we had parade down the catwalk all expressed a clear satisfaction with the way the project went by the end of it all, and our resident drag queen - Connor - said how impressed he was with the entire production!
What Could've Been Better?
During the production itself there wasn't much that went poorly when it came to the actual live transmission - however the scripting issue detailed above was the key discrepancy Alex and I had with the show, the entire issue I had with framing was simply a miscommunication as a result of an inaccuracy within the script itself. This incident was indicative of a wider problem I had with the script in general. If we were forced to come up with some kind of constructive criticism for the show, it'd probably be the fact that a large portion of the script felt more like a 'rough guideline' rather than anything concrete to follow. A lot of the dialogue, particularly in the latter half of the show with the Bonnie and Connor interviews, felt almost entirely ad-libbed and/or unrepresentative of the 'final' script we all had in our hands. It would have been nice to see a more accurate script in terms of shot composition and dialogue, within reason of course.
The pre-production phase was enjoyable for sure, as part of the promotional team I was tasked with establishing and maintaining the social media pages for the show (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter), followed by editing the promotional trailer for the show. I did however feel that within the promotional team itself there were some organisational issues that could've been handled better. The initial promo trailer test shoot was originally scheduled for two different dates by two different groups of us, meaning that for the first several weeks we were working off 2 seperate plans for the promo. One being down on the Monday and one on the Thursday. The Director, Ollie was unfortunately not present for the first shoot on the Monday as he believed we were shooting on the Thursday. This is nothing more than an example of mismanagement from our perspective and I wouldn't try and put blame on anyone but ourselves, but in retrospective it could've been useful to have coordinated more in order to avoid creating tighter deadlines for ourselves.
The social media campaigns were rather successful and I was content with the type and frequency of the posts being made to both the Instagram and the Facebook page. I suggested that I take core responsibility for the Instagram page, while Danny (our other social media manager) could work primarily on the Facebook page - though for what it's worth I set up and established all social media platforms for the show. At the beginning of the pre-production phase I expressed a clear interest in creating a Twitter account for the show, though Danny informed me that it was not something that the producers were all that interested in so we decided not to bother with it. To my surprise, I received a message from Danny on April 18th, the day before the live show, asking me to set-up a Twitter account and post some things to promote the show. While I did so and didn't mind in the slightest, it was somewhat frustrating to hear so late, given that I could've put a lot more effort into the Twitter account, retweeted various different things etc.As for any personal issues I encountered during my time on this unit, there were a couple worth mentioning. During the rehearsals we had been experimenting with adjusting the aperture to allow more/less light onto the camera sensor (thus increasing/decreasing the exposure of the shot), however this was something that wasn't practiced all that much during the actual rehearsals. At the end of my half of the show I have a M.S. of Alfie C.O.F. and it acts as my last shot before Alfie heads into the audience and we crew swapped to the other half of the team. Upon reaching this moment in the transmission, George asked me to close the lens slightly in order to darken the image and in my panic I opened it rather than closed it - though fortunately I was not on air at the time and quickly went back the other way in time for George to cut to it appropriately. Ultimately it wasn't anything noticeable as it didn't go to air, though it was a bit of a blunder on my part and for that I feel I should take responsibility.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I have found this project to be a genuinely insightful, rewarding and valuable experience to add to my portfolio. Watching the show back on the monitors during rehearsals was a rollercoaster experience; at times the monitors would show everything looking smooth and professional, though at others there were various audio issues, scripting problems and inconsistencies in camera movement from other camera operators. Fortunately thanks to the rehearsal time we got in the studio in the weeks leading up to transmission day, we were able to iron out all of the potential problems that could've hampered the live transmission, leading to what felt (and looked) like an incredibly well produced, industry-standard live show.
I've learnt a lot throughout the as live production unit, varying from social media management skills such as; correctly tagging and promoting commercial content on platforms like Instagram and Facebook; being able to appropriately and professionally edit promotional material into something that matches the brand laid out by the producers and graphics design team; and of course working in-studio, on set with the camera equipment - ensuring I worked to a respectable standard of camera operation. No doubt the knowledge I have gained throughout this unit will go on to benefit me greatly in the years to come.
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