Studio Production - Post Production Day Thoughts

The shoot went amazing.

No other words can explain! The communication I had with the team and the structure of the day was brilliant. I was happy with my performance as a director, the contributors were great and really brought the best out of each other. I could never understand why an audience was so important to have in a production, but upon hearing the sound of a real audience nothing can quite come close to it.

There were a few hiccups in the day. A few vision mixing errors but nothing that can't be touched up in the final edited piece. Chris and I made sure that all cameras were recording to cards so therefore we can touch up a lot of the show (cuts, vts and astons) ensuring it looks good for when we submit on the 27th.

Anyway, I'm happy with how the story came to an end so to speak. Everyone really tried to make this show the best show that UCA television production has ever made. Props to everyone that was involved. GROUP PHOTO TIME!

Studio Production - Direction Confidence?

As I director, I feel I have matured from what I did when I started the unit. Being a television studio director has made me think more on my feet in terms of shots and what looks good to cut to. Film directing doesn't have the level of time constrant that tv directing does. I keep getting told I have the 'eye' for a good shot and that keeps me motivated to try harder and achieve the best I can in the coverage I have made for myself. Myself and the vision mixer have great communication and also share the vision that me and Chris share.

So to answer the question of the post. Yes. I've matured not just as a television director, but as an overall director, it will transition great into the third year when every shot I do matters, has to serve a purpose, etc etc.

Studio Production - Final Thoughts Before Production

Tis the day before the production and to be honest, I can't wait. I can feel that the live audience is going to bring so much energy to the live production, and really bring the best our of the contributors. I'm not a person to feel nervous and live the idea of being put under pressure. I am still worried about the set but I have been asssured that the set will be arriving tomorrow in its full state so its not all bad. Hans has been great in really bringing out the bests in me for multicamera shooting. I feel that I can really do this unaided and its because oh Hans' guidance that this is all possible, so kudos for his teaching style and I really appreciate everything he has done for the team and for myself.

The camera shots look great and the timings are almost perfect. Cutting to VTs are now silky smooth and I know it drags on the guys in the studio but there is a lot of work going in the gallery that may seem little but is helping me a great amount. I'm happy with the inclusion of a position B and the coverage that I have achieved from it.

Looking up!

Studio Production - CATF Development

After a small meeting with CATF, it seems like they are behind schedule by quite a big amount. Chris and I viewed the project and there was not a lot to show since we last spoke to them in the pitching session. This is a very worrying sign as the deadline is creeping up insanely fast. Apparently the cash code was released late by our course, so therefore the budget wasn't sorted on time, pushing the time-scale back by quite a fair amount.

Always see the silver lining, the basic wireframe is there but the overall decor is not, so hopefully this can be a quick turnaround so we can get this done.

EDIT 28/04/15: Upon investigating further, the mix up was on the side of CATF. The budget was released on time, but internal communication at CATF lead to misinformation to myself and chris which has now been sorted out.

Studio Production - Developed Camera Script and Final Camera Placement.

Upon discussing with Hans my coverage wasn’t as good as it could be. This introduced me to the methodology of ‘position B’ and variation of my shot sizes. After certain cameras were given a position B it gave new life to the production, it turned a 6 camera shoot into an 8 or 9 camera shoot. After I received this information I wrote my camera script which ran alongside the main script compiled by the producers. The template was from myUCA and it gave me the terminology of what is included in a camera script. As the rehearsals of the show took place, the timings were then added to the camera script, after communication with the PA. If you compare my 1st and 2nd camera setup to now, you can see the progression in camera layouts. 

The camera personnel were given an array of camera cards with their shot list on which when directed they would then cut to. I was advised to do this by Hans and rehearse the shot beforehand to get the right timings. This was also the case for a position B. 

Example of camera cards.

Studio Production - Mid-term Reflection

Working with the producers on the mood board and helping with the fruition of ideas has really been such a giving thing for me. Even though I am only credited as director listening in to the production meetings and getting a feel for what the television show will contain and giving my feedback to everyone on my opinion has been really nice. The communication between myself and chris in creating the mood board, camera scripting and amongst others has been second to none. I have always wanted to work with chris and starring in the same role in the studio production for me was nice. It feels like its not just me who is directing so someone who can assist me in getting the best out of me creatively has been brilliant. I am excited for what the show is going to be like and how it will transition to the little screen will be a feat in itself.

Studio Production - CATF Pitch and Cemented Idea.Up

For our set since the fruition of broadcast media, UCA has always crossed over with other courses to get the best out of each other. This is where Creative Arts for Theatre and Film came in. They have experience making sets for theatre and one of their units is a commision based product, similar to our course. So therefore we pitched the idea of our show to them.

I do like designing presentations and prezi is my favourite deliverable format. Tasked with creating the pitch document I included as much as I could about the product we would be featuring, plus some extra bonuses that our course achieved (such as royal television society awards etc) just to sweeten the deal. After the pitch was sealed, the CATF team pitched an idea back to us that we really enjoyed. What I liked was that we essentially, based on the content we privided, gave them free reign over what they can have on the set design aside from our restrictions. As far as I know, the team did not have prior television set design experiences, so were not limited to the conventions of it.


Updates soon on this project.