AS Live TV Research - Take Me Out (Entertainment Show)

I recently did some research into a factual "as live" show in the form of the grand tour. Now I will be researching into an entertainment show. I decided to go for a show called take me out which is actually filmed at the Maidstone tv studios. This would then be an interesting show to analyse to see how they utilise the space which will be very similar to ours.

Take me out is an ITV Dating show which airs 60-90 minute programmes and has been on our screens since 2010. They have currently just finished airing the 10th season of the show.

I am reviewing yesterdays episode, Season 10 Episode 8. The first thing to note is Take me out's iconic title sequence. I never actually watch the show but I recognise the theme tune and the graphics. This shows the producers have clearly thought through the decisions of what needs to be in the title sequence. The catchy jingle is one that most of us will have heard even if we do not know the show. This is something that clearly would need to be perfected if "steal the style" was a commissioned project on TV. From what I have heard so far the producers have a set idea of the style of graphics and the tone of the music. This is a great start and we just need to make sure those stylistic choices work for the rest of the show and at the same time would be catchy and rememberable.

The fading to the audience clapping while the graphics are still in the final ten seconds is also a nice touch. This shows clear decisions made by the director about what will be the most important sound at the time. Personally, when I hear an audience making noise and clapping it get's me excited for the show. It may be hard to replicate in steal the style as it is a factually based show, but there will be times when clapping will be needed for the show to have energy. In relation to our planned show "first world problems" I think audience interaction was key. We wanted a comedic take on a more serious issue. Therefore audience interaction and audience clapping would have been a key point of our show.  Following on from that, excluding the opening shot showing the presenter, the camera goes into the audience right away. I think this shows great audience interaction which we would have loved to have implemented into "first world problems".

From a camera operation perspective, the opening PTC is interesting as it looks like it is shot with a crane. There is a quick movement to go from a wide shot to a medium close up of Paddy introducing the show. As I will be the camera operator for the show I am already looking at ways we could be creative, to get the most engaging show possible. In steal the style we should have nice PTC shots to open the show. It looks like there will be a runway which the presenters will walk down to start the show. This is similar to take me out as the walk down the catwalk/stage gives the presenter time to be seen before they are properly heard. If I were to relate this to our pitch first world problems, I would have said we had probably not thought about the issue of how the presenters would appear on stage. This was an over thought but one we should have had before pitching our idea.

An interesting cinematic shot is the ultra wide shot of the whole studio and the majority of the audience. I highly doubt we will be able to have a shot this wide because, most likely, our set will not be big enough to cover the studio. However, I like the use of the cut to this shot as once again it gives a nice touch of encouraging the audience to be a part of the show. The casting for take me out must have been a hard process, but Paddy Mcguiness it the perfect presenter for this role. He has the wit and enthusiasm as well as the interaction with the audience nailed. This is something we were brought down upon our presentation pitch for first world problems. Even though we cast a presenter we were told he was not very enthusiastic about his role which meant he was not taken kindly upon. This will also be a role that needs to be thought through properly for steal the style as well. They have talked about getting two presenters and from experience, they need to work together well and have a good vibe between them otherwise it could be really awkward and hard to follow.

 The clean audio throughout the show makes for a pleasant viewing experience. I notice that all the contributors are wearing clip microphones as well as the presenter. This will be the case in steal the style and would have been the case in our show first world problems.

Something I also noted from watching the show was its colour theme. The show is heavily based on pink/purple which are colours that are symbolic of love. That makes perfect sense for this show but would not work in steal the style. From what we have seen so far we will be using pastel colours pinks, beige etc but as they are pastel they are not too vibrant. The set the producers had made was very minimalist and easy on the eye. We need to make sure when the UCA design team visits that they have this idea in mind. We need to keep a running theme of colours through the show so it does not seem disjointed. To compare the colours to our project first world problems. We had a colour scheme of grey and white which may seem boring, but that was not really the case. The colours were to relate to what we thought our audience would be, meaning flashy colours and harsh lighting may have been a turn-off.

The set has obviously had a large amount of time and effort put into it, however, in reality, we cannot be expected to have a set which is as multi-dimensional as take me out. However, we can take pointers from it. These include where the presenter stands as well as where the main attractions of the show enter and leave the frame. I will not have much input as a camera operator but making sure the set is somewhat multi-dimensional (which it looks like it will be with its multiple areas of a sofa area, clothing rail and runway) so that we can get interesting shots. If the set is flat and has no texture to it, it will be very hard for us as camera operators to get interesting shots.

As for VT's, take me out does not have many, but on a few occasions this episode they do. They normally have a sequence at the end of the show which is seeing how the couples do on their dates. However, in this episode, they use one to go back in time to see how one of the previous couples is getting on. This is a nice backstory which gives the viewer knowledge of the successful happenings of the show in previous seasons. The use of this could help the viewer trust the show more, as some may think the whole show is a gimmick. For steal the style, we will have 4 VT inserts and I think each one will be quite different from the next. This is different from take me out as all of the cutaways are generally along the same theme. The VT inters will be vital to keep the pace of the show and to not put too much pressure on the presenters to remembers loads of lines. In relation o to our pitch, first world problems, I now realise our show was heavily VT-based ie. Top Gear. This is something in hindsight I would change because we were never going to get commissioned when 1/2 of the show was a VT. In reality about 1/4 of the show should have been a VT and we should have known that sooner.

Finally, the show concludes with a nice roundup of what has gone on in the show so far. This is great to do as it makes sure the audience does not forget the key points of the show. It is also great for the presenter as well as they can usually put their own twist on what is being said to make it funny/happy/sad depending on the scenarios that have taken place. This particular show was a special episode and they decided to make a funny VT to end the show. I think this would be an option for both steal the style and first world problems if it was an established series. I don't think this is the kind of thing you can do in a pilot episode as people may think that is always how you will end the show.

Overall Take Me Out is a heavily thought through the idea with a fantastic presenter and set. The camera operations while basic in some areas are impressive when they want to show the scale of the production (ie. Wide shot showing the whole set and also the crane shot to start the show). We can take heavy inspiration with the audience interaction and hopefully include that somewhat in our show. The most important thing at this stage though is getting presenters that are natural together and do not make it an awkward viewing experience. I hope the producers can find two presenters to fit their agenda as finding presenters who work is very hard.


References

Take Me Out Season 10 EP 8
https://www.itv.com/hub/take-me-out/1a8716a0101
Accessed on 3rd March 2018