The location has been confirmed for the Cafe thanks to Cailan. He had been emailing back and forth with a couple of possible cafe's. After phone calls, Cailan had suggested we follow up Cafe Manna based 200m from Tunbridge Wells station. This location evidently had the most room for filming and Cailan had made sure of this. On my side, I had already recced the location where we planned to film the Vox Pops. I had visited Tunbridge Wells town centre many times in the past so I knew where the people would congregate and give us the best chance of a good interview. The location will offer great natural lighting as well as little sound issues as there is only a quiet bus lane nearby. I am happy I could recce the location beforehand and understand the possible problems as well as how best we could shoot.
The main uncontrollable variance we have for tomorrow will be the weather. All week the reports have been changing, some saying run, some saying overcast and some saying sun. We cannot change what will happen but I chose Thursday in good knowledge of it being the best day. Our other planned shoot day was Tuesday, but once we condensed to a one day shoot, Thursday would hopefully give better lighting as well as more time to prepare.
I have made a call sheet for the day's events so we can keep on schedule. This is not something that needs to be stuck to exactly, more of a guide to help us keep on time.
9:15am Alex and Cailan arrive in Tunbridge Wells
10:00 Meet Louis at Station
10:30 Go to Vox Pop recording area
12:30pm Finish recording vox pops & cutaways and Walk to Cafe for Lunch
1:30 Finish Lunch and Plan how we are going to film PTC scene.
3:30 Finish recording and record any final cutaways shot.
4:00 Louis will get a train back to London
4:30 Get Footage onto Cailan's Harddrive
5:00 Shoot day complete
Liaising with Louis over the last few days I have made sure to state what he should wear as well as where we will meet him. I said that Louis should dress Smart-Casual and gave him the reference to the Vox videos we are taking inspiration from. I also mentioned that we would meet Louis either by the Taxi rank on one side of the station or in the station lounge on the other. I would text Louis on the day with where we would be.
All preparation has been completed before we start shooting in the next few days. We are still yet to hear from a contributor but I am confident I can get something sorted in the next few days. We could do this whole segment without a contributor but I feel it would something extra to our piece.
On 1st of May, I recced the location that we intended film at for this unit. I had acquired the access from Kent Film Office, I just wanted to make sure everything was how I wanted it to be for the shoot day. I attended this important recce by myself and made sure I did my best to fill Cailan in on what he was missing. I felt that all the locations that I had planned to film at were as to be expected and would offer us great opportunities to vox pop and a great place to record a PTC.
Outside shopping Mall: I aimed to film the vox pop's outside Royal Victoria Place which is a large shopping centre in Tunbridge Wells. From previous experience, I knew this area could be busy which would be good for our vox pops as we wanted as many opinions as possible. However, after recceing the location I realised there may be an issue with sound. There was a flight path above the location as well as the mass of shoppers which could create noise. There was also a bus but that was not very loud. I made the decision that we should still film here, either side of the road because I believe it will give us the best opportunity to get a large number of vox pops.
After to speaking to Cailan about this area, I feel he agreed we should take the risk of securing more vox pops rather than going somewhere inherently quieter, which may leave us with less actual content. It is risk vs. reward in this instance and I feel this is the best place in Tunbridge Wells that we could secure the right interview in or timeframe.
There should be no issues in terms of public access as there is a wide space and I doubt it will be heaving on a mid-week day in May. One thing to watch out for will be the road crossing, one we will cross on multiple occasions to move locations. We will need to cross this with care, especially when holding the kit.
Excuse the Google Maps pictures as I forgot to take my own ones!
Manna Cafe: Cailan did a great job of talking with Manna Cafe but did not have the chance to recce the location due to where he is based. I decided to have a look for myself to understand the situation. There was not too much to look at from the outside, rather than there was a small walkway, so if we were to film outside we would have to be careful not to get in the public's way.
I did not go inside the cafe at this point as Cailan had not confirmed to the owner and manager that we were planning to use it. I saw from the outside there was a nice space by the window that Cailan had mentioned. I could see that it was quite a long building so there may be some opportunities to film at the back of the cafe. We will ask about all filming location possibilities inside the cafe on the day to get a better idea of what the light is doing on that day. I don't think lighting should be much of an issue, especially if we film by the window. I just think we will need to be careful about not overexposing his face. We may need to adjust chairs and tables to suit our shot. I told Cailan that I think this would bea good place to shoot and that he should confirm the location with the Cafe team.
One thing I had discussed with Simon is how Tunbridge Wells has a very unique style, and with the majority of Vox videos, it feels like it could be set anywhere. In this case, I need to make sure that the filming locations that I chose were suitable for this brief. Anywhere that was too outstanding or obviously unique would need to be avoided. I think this may be tough as Tunbridge Wells is unique in a lot of ways but I think we should be able to manage it. If we stick to close up shots we should be able to hide the scenery.
If we had more time I would have chosen a different location because I think this could have been set in London for a more global feel. Tunbridge Wells was the best scenario for well-educated responses for our Vox Pops in the time we had. We had the opportunity to film in Maidstone but I think we would have a better chance of proper answers and fewer people trying to interrupt when filming in Tunbridge Wells.
As the director, one of my main roles pre-production was storyboarding what is going to be shot. I had a rough idea of some shots from Cailan's script but I now had to get to work on my directorial decisions.
I know already, drawing up scripts is not one of my stronger points, but I hope this experience has helped. As we are following a certain style of video for this piece of work I knew I could not change vastly the type and style of shots that are included. I did, however, change some scenes to fit my directional style, as that is my purpose in this project.
The idea is for the project to be as relatable to many as possible. This means in the scripts keeping it quite open and not so "in your face". Some of the shots I have decided to shoot are bold, including some close-up shots of the presenter which may be odd at first, but will suit the style of the documentary. I hope the variation in shots will help keep the viewer's attention while still sticking to the video ethics of our chosen series "Vox". As you can see in the "Shift Change" video linked above, a wide mixture of shot sizes is used to hold the viewer's attention as well as telling the story in a unique way.
Below are my storyboards for this project. I have not implemented in shots of the graphics and found footage as we will have a discussion as a team when it get's to the editing stage. We know what style said graphics and found footage would look like, but we cannot plan it until we have a rough cut.
As a director, I could not do much planning of shots until the script had been completed by Cailan. Scripting was a role that neither of us would have had to do in our dedicated role so it was one of the many roles we had to split between us to achieve success in this project. Cailan did a great job after the feedback from Simon to fill out the script with all the needed information. I will, of course, have to change some of the shots to fit my directorial style but I also understand Cailan wants some specific shots for his edit. Below is the script created by Cailan, but will be adopted by the presenter to suit their way of addressing topics. This will only be little changes to sentence structure, however.
Firstly I am going to talk about my initial idea pitched to the course leaders called "First World Problems". Looking back now I realise we were probably underprepared going into the pitching session. While I think everyone agreed it was a good idea it needed more context to have been put forward as a viable project.
I wish now, we had chosen a more interesting first world problem as "transport/traffic" doesn't exactly get the heart racing. If we had chosen a subject that could have been taken more light-hearted we could have been taken more seriously. The pitch itself was also a little disappointing. I work with Cailan who is always so positive, but for me personally, I thought we both somewhat crumbled in the pitch. There was a confidence issue from both of us, and not knowing our slides that well did not help either.
I think we had done a really good amount of research for our project but it was probably focused slightly in the wrong place. We should have completed an in-real-life set design as well as having more details about what studio segments we would include. We also had a very heavily-based VT show which may have let us down somewhat as well. I think overall our idea was very good, but our pitch let us down as well as our research into it. I would have enjoyed being the producer, but I did also enjoy the opportunity to be back to a hands-on camera operations role.
I will split the rest of this evaluation into my two roles VT Camera operator and Studio Camera operator. This will give me the best opportunity to explain both of my roles.
VT Camera The camera operation role for both my jobs had a slow start. This was because as it is a hands-on role a lot of your purpose happens right at the end. The VT camera role started with a lot of research into the role. I wanted to make sure that I understood my role as best as possible before I was actually filming. Through understanding the role of a camera operator through researching professionals and completing test shoots, I was in a good place when it came to filming the VT's
It would have been good to have any scripts or storyboards from the VT's before we shot, but I understand the director was having to change shots and plans very last minute so I can understand him not getting them to me in time. These would have been helpful to understand before the day what was exactly going to be shot but for the photoshoot especially, fine details were changing right until the last minute.
The content from the first photo shoot was really good. I loved the four eras which translated into video really well. They all had a very unique style which was thanks to the producer and director thinking through the set design and the camera angles well. In this shoot, I was actually taken off the camera at stages which I did not like as I thought I should be doing my job role. This, on reflection, is something that I would have done differently. I would have made sure that the director did not take control of the camera because that is my job and I should have been at the controls of the camera at all times. Apart from that, I was really happy with the video that was captured during the photoshoot. I was tested as an operator shooting a genre that I had not done before but I adapted really well and managed to film to a high quality. Ideally, I would have done a test photo shoot beforehand to make sure I knew what would work and would not, instead of learning on the spot. Despite this, I was really impressed with this section and it looked really good in the final edit.
As for the second VT shoot which was an interview, we did not have the director in attendance, but that was fine as we worked well as a team to follow the ideas set to us by the director previously. We also had a two camera setup which was great for coverage but more of a challenge for setting up shots. We were aware that having two cameras would mean we would have to allow more time for setup. In hindsight, we underestimated how long it would take meaning we spent around 40 minutes setting the camera up. We probably should have only spent around 20 minutes setting up the camera, but thankfully our contributor completely understood that we wanted to make sure we got the best footage possible. As we had two cameras we did spend time making sure that we cameras pictures were matched. This took some time to match them as even though they were the same camera, as they were pointing at different angles they needed different amounts of light. After focusing the camera and formatting the memory card we started to shoot the second VT.
Unlike the first VT, I was fine not being the only camera operator because we had two cameras. I was still the operator focusing on the cutaways and getting the main shots, but either Alex or George would stand over the second camera getting a static wide shot. I was extremely pleased with my cutaway shots. The editor really liked the shots which was nice because as I did not have any directions from the director I did really have to think on my feet. It was nice to have the creative freedom actually, which I probably would have not got if it was all storyboarded. Overall, between the two cameras, we produced some quality footage with great cutaways which looked fantastic in the edit. I was happier with my performance today. I felt I was able to get the right focus and angle on every single shot. This shoot seemed to all come together and was a lot smoother than the first VT. It felt less rushed and the footage was much better for the second shoot. I think that both of the shoots were equally good after the edit, but I was happier with my own performance in the second VT shoot because of the number of quality shots I took. Studio Camera
The studio camera role started quite late onto the unit because of a lot of things needed to be completed before we could actually ever get on the camera. Things like the script, the set layout, VT's and stings all needed to be created, in some form, before we would ever be filming in the studio.
I researched into operating a studio camera and the possible problems that could occur when on the floor. After some research, I found the main issues of operating a camera in a studio could be:
Wires on the floor (potential hazard)
Cameras being in the way of the audience (This would ruin the viewing experience)
Cameras running out of battery (It would be vital to have a spare at all times as well as having extra batteries on charge)
Making sure each camera had a unique shot (We have 5 cameras on this shoot so there was a lot liaising with the camera operators and the directors to make sure we all had a unique shot)
More issues would represent themselves as the studio unit would go on, But nothing that was hard to overcome.
An example of how we kept on top of the ever-changing shots and camera movements was writing all extra information on our script.
This was a practice that we kept on top of throughout the unit and even in these earlier examples of the script, you can see clear evidence of me making sure I had all the information possible.
One problem we had throughout the process was the script being rather "loose". A lot of the time the script and it's camera shots would not be representative of what the presenters and contributors were doing. This meant a lot of the time we had to wait for the director to call a shot before actually knowing what was needed. Over time we did start to understand where our camera was located at certain points during the production.
The main problem with the script as it was never really updated in terms of camera shots so by the end we basically had to write down all our own information on the script to be able to cope.
This is by no means having a go at anyone, however, as I know everyone is doing a live production for the first time and some things will be overlooked. It was great to learn how to keep proper notes as I am sure that is a useful skill that will be very helpful in the future.
After the many rehearsals, we had mastered our camera movements, there were three of them in the end. It was tough at first to understand exactly when in the script we would have to change position. As the rehearsals went on, however, it was easy to pinpoint a time in the script and I made sure that I wrote that information on the script.
One thing throughout the process that was an issue for all of the camera crew was knowing if our shots were being broadcast in the gallery. The DVI wire that connected to the cameras to the Studio's system was temperamental and we all had issues with it. Luckily we had technical support from the Maidstone studios staff which helped. It would have been nice to actually understand how the wire actually worked but in all honesty, it was a great learning experience to understand and overcome problems.
After all of the rehearsals, it was finally time for the live production which went to plan which was fantastic. On our camera, we had a really good run, which was equally as good as our final rehearsals which was nice because there was much more pressure on the actual day. I was happy that I had taped down all of the camera positions because it meant the moves were less of an issue. Working as a team with my camera operator Cailan was also very helpful as we both let each other know what the next shot for our camera would be. By the final take, we did more or less know the camera positions and timings off by heart. Having someone there to help though was always a help as we wanted to make sure we nailed it on the actual shoot.
I managed to complete all my shots without issue which was great because my anxiety did hit in the production because of the worry of anything going wrong could be caught. It did not help that it was extremely hot in the studios with all the lights and the audience but we managed to still hold the professionalism we had shown throughout.
After the credits rolled there was a sigh of relief as I was worried something would have gone wrong. But looking back at the production now I am really happy with how it all went. I feel I challenged myself which enabled me to learn new things. For me, the most important things I learned was how to work with a large group effectively. It was strange going from a small group to a 30+ Maidstone studios help sized crew. I think we all adapted well and we all understood the pressure of each others job which was helpful.
In some ways, I wish I had pushed myself even further, but in hindsight, you always feel you would be able to do more knowing how the situation played out. Here is a list of what I could change if I could right now.
I would make sure I spent all of the first VT shoot on the camera. I was disappointed not to be in complete control of the camera on that day as I thought that was my job
It would have been nice to have the scripts and storyboards before out VT shoot days because then I could have prepared better for the shoot days
It would have been nice for the studio script to be fully representational of what the directors are asking. I completely understand that it was a tough task for them so writing our own notes was not much of an issue.
Lastly, I would have spent more time myself doing test shoots to understand what works and does not work during a particular VT. I could have done this in the early stages of the unit as there were weeks when as a camera operator I did not have much to do. In hindsight, I should have
To conclude. This project was a massive success and the issues we had were great to learn from and we made the best of each scenario that we found ourselves in. I am really happy with my personal input to the project, especially in the VT Segments. The VT's looked really nice and I am happy to put my name on them. I know for myself that a studio environment is not my ideal setting but after speaking to Del and learning more about working in a studio, I enjoyed it much more than I would have ever expected.
The feedback from peers and audience members was great as I was unsure how the studio segment would be received. In reality, it was an incredibly professional production and one we can all be proud of. I am happy to have battled my anxiety and battled being quiet and trying to get a voice. I am happy I pushed myself and I managed to interact really well with the rest of the group to voice my opinion when needed. Overall I would not change my approach to this unit but I do wish I have been a little more proactive in the early stages of this unit to ensure I knew exactly what to do on a shoot day.
I'm sad it's over, but also happy we did it. I am looking forward to the next challenge!
Over the weekend Cailan and I made the decision on which presenter we wanted for our transition unit. It was a really tough decision as we had some very strong candidates that may have all worked in one way.
However, saying this we decided to go with Louis as we liked his enthusiasm for the project as well as his past experience in theatre and on television. Since we made the decision we have liaised with Louis management and decided to shoot on the 1st and 3rd of May. These will be in the confirmed location on Tunbridge Wells. One may be in a nearby restaurant which Cailan is currently sorting out.
As Cailan also sorted out the script I asked him to send Louis the script so he can have a good look at what we have planned so far! Louis is currently looking through the script and we hope to have some feedback to make some adjustments in the next few days.
Over the last few days, I have been trying to sort out a contributor for our unit who will be talking about how having a social media following affects how they protect their data.
I have sent out emails that read as follows:
Hey, hope all is well! I am a university student based in Kent and we are currently in the middle of planning our next unit on our Television Production course, which is a project based on data protection. The general premise of the project is testing the awareness of the public of the issue. We already have a presenter and our locations set, however, we wanted to get a great contributor involved with our project - So that is why I am emailing you! What we would like to talk to you about is how having a mass of followers across your platforms has changed the way you protect your data. Maybe we could talk about how as you have found more success you have become more conscious of what you post publicly as well as securing personal accounts like Facebook! Anyway, I wanted to say a massive thank you for at least reading the email! If you are not interested that is completely fine, but if you would be interested in doing a short “interview” to camera for our university project that would be fantastic! If you would like any more details, I can let you know right away! Our filming week is 30th April to the 4th May and we would only need maybe 30 minutes of your time! We can come to you or you could come to us (we can cover travel expenses) and we would film in a local cafe if that is the case! Thank you once again!Alex Baldwin
I have yet to receive any responses from these emails. I sent out around 40 emails to people I thought may be interested in this project and Cailan sent out about 10 emails as well. We hope to get a contributor secured in the next few days so we can nail down all planned shooting days. I think we have put a huge amount of effort into this unit considering we had the hand in for the previous unit at the same time.
With myself securing the filming application and the actor as well as emailing contributors, I asked Cailan to help me out with the cafe and restaurant location as he had all but finished the script. Cailan emailed out to a couple of local places and got some instant responses which is fantastic. Cailan email these companies:
Of these six he got a response from The Knoxbridge Inn, Rustic cafe and Manna Cafe. Cailan has said once the hand in is complete for the as live unit he will properly follow up these locations and see which is best. It is unlikely we will be able to scout the location before the shoot day but if that is a possibility then I will. It will be hard for Cailan as it is a long commute but I will attend a location scout if possible. Cailan will call all of the locations that have expressed an interest soon and relay the information back to me. Like with the choosing of the actor, that will be a group decision, but Cailan has done a great job with securing a possible sit down loaction for our main PTC!
Over the next few days the transition unit will continue to grow, but with the main focus on the as live hand in, there may not be many updates until the end of the week! I am really excited to get filming with this unit, it lets us explore our roles, and with a high-pressure deadline, it also makes it more a realistic scenario as if it were real TV!
On the week commencing the 16th April Cailan and I completed five interviews of possible presenters. As I was completing the casting I had narrowed down the actors to a list of five but wanted Cailan to have some input in the decision of who we should have as a presenter. The task to narrow down the presenter was not easy but looking at their previous work as well as emailing them about other commitments I feel that I had chosen a solid group of five to have a proper conversation with. We would ask each presenter these seven questions.
Interview 1: Duncan
Based in London, Duncan talked about his previous experience, which was mostly based in the theatre. We loved his energy and opinions on the subject and we believe that he genuinely was interested in the subject rather than saying he did to get the part. He also stated he has worked with children in his past work which shows his adaptability that will be needed for this project. We will need someone to ask the public questions so this adaptability in talking and engaging with people will be important.
Duncan seems like someone who will be very viable in terms of being cast as our presenter. He ticked all of the right boxes, but we did not want to get carried away as we had four interviews to conduct after this. Duncan stated he would be free for at least two days for filming which would be ideal.
Our next interview was a few days later with Tharek A. Duncan was the youngest person we interviewed and we thought this may be good for our main target audience which was 18-25. Tharek was nervous at the start, but we went into every interview knowing the same thing, that people may be nervous for the interview but may be fine when actually presenting. In all cases, we wanted to know the facts over judging someone on character. Tharek was interested in the idea, if a little less knowledgeable about it in comparison to Duncan. Tharek also talked about his issues with data protection and how he had his Facebook hacked, which made his much more wary of his passwords and who he connected with online. Tharek also stated two days he could be free within our shoot week which was important to know. He seems like someone who could be cast, but maybe having less experience in front of the camera may be the issue here.
Our next interview was with Louis R. What impressed me and Cailan was Louis interest in this project as well his wide range of experience, both shooting video, but mostly on theatre. He had worked with Cartoon Network on Ben 10 and had also appeared on ITV's Endeavour. These are both extremely impressive shows to have on his CV as well as him being knowledgeable about the subject. Something that was very interesting to learn in this interview was how Louis had actually been a victim of companies profiling him through his Instagram page as well as other social networks. This shows the employers people are willing to go to, to try and get the most successful stars. He also stated how having a large social media following actually helps people get roles. He talked about how he was slightly frustrated that companies would only pick someone because of how much internet success they see to have. Louis was knowledgeable and interested in the subject as well as having an impressive CV. he stated he has not done as much presenting as he would have liked but feels comfortable in that area.
Our next interview was with Jasmine N-S. Jasmine did seem somewhat interested in the subject, but maybe not quite as much as portrayed in the emails. We feel Jasmine is extremely talented and would work well in many roles, but the lacks experience in front of the camera aswell. She did seem to have less of an interest in the subject as well as not knowing much about it. This is completely fine, this is the reason we do interviews. We appreciated the interview with Jasmine but we feel she did not really suit the role. We did not say "no" right away in case we had second thoughts, but I see it as unlikely that we will cast Jasmine for this piece. We know we need someone energetic and engaging in front of the camera and we needed someone with more of a passion for the subject. She saw herself more of an actress than a presenter, but none the less we will have a hard think before we make a final decision.
Our final video interview was with Niv.P. From the outset, Niv seemed like an engaging personality. He was not as exuberant as Louis or Duncan forsay, but he would have still suited the style of presenting for this show. Niv was the most engaged about this subject and as you can see from this interview we chatted for nearly half an hour. It was a great discussion about the subject and how Niv has actually been personally affected by the positives of data protection. As an Isreal native, he stated his life was probably saved by people spying on peoples data, trying to catch the bad guys trying to cause harm. His passion for the subject matter was probably the greatest out of all of the interviews we had. He also talked about he actually covers his webcam, like many do nowadays, because of the chance people are spying on it. This is one of the everyday techniques many people are using to help combat data protection issues. Niv also stated he would love to further his knowledge on the subject and learn more before the shoot day. This was great to hear from us as casters, that someone would be so dedicated to the role. Niv had certainly given a fantastic interview and it was going to be hard to decide who to go with. Niv had not done much English presenting as most of his work has been done in his homeland, he wanted to be a part of this project to get more for his showreel.
We will take some time to reflect on these interviews over the coming days and decide on our presenter in due course. For me personally, it is between Niv and Louis. Both showed a lot of enthusiasm for this project and would be both incredibly viable for this project. Saying this both definitely would present the show in different ways. Niv would be much more serious and also include reference to his experiences with data privacy. As he talked about how the spying of data in his homeland of Isreal could have saved his life, I think it would be interesting to bring that in if we chose him. On the other side, I think Louis would be fantastic with his energy and that may contribute that something extra to our piece. He talked about how companies stereotype him just through looking at his social media and also always bring up follower counts. This can be seen as intrusive and we may ask Louis to include this information if he does present our piece. Upon further reflection, we may decide to go a different route, but for now, these are the two presenters I think would work best with our project.
I know Cailan was a biggest fan of Niv and he was pushing him to be our presenter because of his willingness to research and be involved in the project. I was a fan of Louis because of his breadth of experience as well as his energy on camera. Everyone who we had cast had not had as much presenting experience as we would have ideally liked, but we think they are all viable in their own right to present on our show. I will be talking with Cailan over the next 24 hours and we will decide who should be our presenter. I am personally thinking we should cast Louis because of his experience as well as his personality which will really help when going up to people and asking to help get vox-pops. I think while Niv has a great interest in the subject he may not be as engaging as Louis in front of the camera, as well as lacking the experience. Niv has such a great story, but I feel we need to look at the evidence of what they have done when casting for this subject. As of right now, Cailan seems to want Niv and I seem to want Louis. We will talk about the pro's and con's and come to a conclusion soon.
This week I also completed the stages of obtaining filming permission with Kent Film office for filming in Tunbridge Wells. It was a simple process this time and I had worried about them getting back to me as it took a few days. However, this was by far the simplest it has been to obtain permission from them. I had suggested multiple locations and they said all were fine but that I should choose one for now. I went with Tunbridge Wells as I live 10 minutes from the town centre and feel it would be best as I have local knowledge of it. (unlike Maidstone which was another example and I have only ever been to the town centre around 5 times). We have filming access in Tunbridge Wells from 30th April to 4th of May but we will only be filming on two of those days - The two days chosen are down to the presenter as we are both free all week.
We will not need a specific location for our vox pops but will need a good sit-down location for the inside shots. I am currently in contact with many cafe's and pubs and some restaurants in Tunbridge Wells to hopefully secure a good spot in the early parts of next week before our meeting with Simon. The Kent Film office did not directly suggest any locations only selected areas. I will work with what I have and also possibly follow up some contacts I had from my directions unit as I filmed in a Cafe in that unit successfully. We have a lot of pressure with another handin at the same time as this unit but I am really happy with how things are moving a long.
The big day is finally upon us and I was really looking forward to filming the actual show. It has been a long unit and one of my favourites on the course so far. It has been great to understand new roles as well as working together as one big team. It really has brought the group together which I think has been great for everyone!
We got in early for rehearsals and I made sure I was in for 8:30am so I could get in and on my camera ready for a first take which I thought would be around 9:15am. I got in at half past eight and then got to work on my camera checking everything was in place. Unfortunately, a lot of people got stuck in heavy traffic meaning we did not get started until later. This did not help the stress levels as a group, but it was nobody's fault about the traffic. It was one of those things we had to learn from and move on as quickly as possible!
I think our first rehearsal started around 9:30am - To be fair to the rest of the group the presenters did not make it in until after 9 as well so it was hard to set up everything with nobody there to focus upon. Our first rehearsal was shaky and actually pretty disappointing. I felt we got all of our shots in focus and on time but it just not very slick. We did realise that we needed to do better with only two more rehearsals left and Del rightly told us we need to step up after this first take.
Take two and three went really smoothly. Without the pressure and the heat of the extra lights and the audience, we probably felt a little more at ease than when we came to the actual show. As previously mentioned we had to master the switching of positions on camera 4 as on occasions the wire that transmits the footage would get in the way. By the end of our last rehearsal, we felt we had these moves to a Tee. On these two takes, everything felt that it went to plan. All shots were in focus and on time.
I did keep letting the floor managers know of any last tweaks that could be added. For example, I remember on shot 66 the shot used is an un-flattering profile shot and I suggested that we go to our camera and get a nice shot of Alfie. They took this advice on board and it was used in the final rehearsal. I also mentioned important information like the audience speakers being too quiet and the positions of the presenters on the sofa. This was all transmitted and received by the directors and they took the information on board and changed the shots accordingly. In this scenario, I just wanted to help out as much as possible and I feel I did go to a next level in helping out when it was needed. I am happy I did because these last pieces of feedback will hopefully add a little extra something to the show.
After lunch, it was time for the big, final show. The audience arrived around 1:30pm and we were all standing there patiently for the cue to get ready. We knew that we had to be at our most professional at this stage as people who we did not know were watching and probably judging us on everything we do. After a great speech from the floor managers to get the audience prepared and the cues from the directors. It was time to go live. It hits 2pm and the title sequence rolls. Even though I am not on the camera first I am feeling the nerves. The heat in the studios had really ramped up in the minutes before we went live which made it all a little more uncomfortable. Cailan did a great job with the shots in his half of the show and I did look out to see if they had used shot 66 in the actual show but sadly they did not. I think this shot could really have been better if they had cut to us at this stage but I understand that the directors may have not wanted to risk it. Overall the first part of the show went really well from our cameras point of view - The changes were slick and the only problem Cailan said he went the wrong way with the iris but changed it back in good time.
Onto my half of the show and I was ready for what was ahead. The change over to myself on the camera was smooth while the VT was on the air. I set up and focused on my first shot and Cailan did say it got cut too a couple of times which was a close up of Alfie. This shot was very tough as I was on a very close up view of Alfie but he moves a lot when he is standing on the spot. This meant I was chasing him around the shot a little. I managed to get the shot locked down in time but this was a moment where I was a little on the edge. After the next VT, I set up for my main shot which was a two-shot of the presenters. Over every single rehearsal, I had been told to crab more and more right for every take for this shot and I think the final one for the actual show was the best it had ever been. The eyelines matched much better and the directors seemed to like the shot. One frustrating thing was suddenly at one point I was told to pan right and it had not been in any of the rehearsals so it threw me somewhat but I think when it was on the air, it was good.
The rest of the show went completely to plan and it was nice that in the final stages our camera got cut to quite a lot as we where the main camera focusing on the presenters. At exactly 2:30pm the credits finished and we had hit the thirty-minute slot bang on! I was really happy how we had come together as a team on this project and completed such a smooth project. After we had de-rigged and taken pictures there was a sigh of relief. The biggest video project of university so far was over. However, there was also a moment of thinking how much fun this project had been and how it is a shame to move on from it! Now to focus on the essay as well as our other units. I am so happy with how this project turned out and I think that stemmed from a great idea and great leadership from the producers. Throughout the process, we have all worked together efficiently to create a great piece of television!
With the Live shoot day happening tomorrow. I wanted to dedicate one blog post to understand what camera controls I will be adjusting throughout the show as well as understanding my camera positions.
We have left the cameras in the same position overnight so we will not need to hook up the transmission wire tomorrow which has caused many issues in the past with all our cameras. That shifts the focus onto the camera controls.
We understand that we will be shooting at the Iris setting F11. This has been calibrated across all the cameras so that we do not need to worry as much about matching shots up tomorrow morning before the final rehearsals. However, I am sure we will go through another check tomorrow to ensure they're all still the same and that the producers and directors are happy with the shots that we have.
We will also adjust the white balance on the day I am sure. I do not think the lighting guys are too happy with the current setup so we may need to adjust the white balance once again. As I write this we are set at 3100K but with possibly more lights going up that number could come down. All we need to make sure of is that we are all on the same settings and that are cameras look more or less the same when on air. if we have a big jump in colours and look it would look like a student project and at this stage of university, we should be looking as near to professional as possible.
As for camera movements - I have taped down two positions on the floor for my camera to be set up at. I am only focusing on my half of the show but I did also tape down Cailan's positions as well to help him out. I was happy that I remembered to do this as nobody else did and it meant that my shot was the same every time which was good for the directors.
I only crab to the right on one occasion during the show which is simple enough, you could think. However, the camera next to us does a lot of moving and an issue we had was their wire and ours getting tangled. We have to make sure with 100% certainty that doesn't happen in the actual show. We knew by the end of the day that the assistant camera operator would hold the loose wires so that it does not become an issue.
Overall, we have mastered the movements on the floor as well as adjusting the cameras. The nerves will be there tomorrow and I am sure during the actual production that we may encounter issues like heat which affect us - but I feel we have learned all we can over the last few weeks in terms of camera knowledge to get us through. We just need to make sure that we do not let the pressure get to us! Looking forward to it now - Let's get it over and done with (in the best possible way!)
This blog post will be dedicated to the script of Steal The Style and how my camera will be used.
I started off by going through the script with Cailan and circling the points at which our camera was in use. This was a useful exercise for our very first rehearsals as we knew when there was a possibility we may get used.
As the rehearsals went on we started to get called by the director on segments that were not in the script. To solve the issue of being surprised we continually updated our personal scripts to match what the director wanted.
However, it was frustrating as when a new script was put on the google drive it would not include the "new" shots that were being called by the director. Then we would go to work on the new script and the director would still call for the shots that were asked for the week before, the ones we had handwritten on the script. This was an annoying cycle that kept going throughout the unit meaning on every new script we had, we had to hand write all our camera positions. By the end, most of the time the script had no relevance to the camera operators at all.
As for the movement of the camera - I had taken the initiative to tape down markers on the floor so I knew where my camera would be pointing. I also wrote notes in our script to make sure we knew our cue to change position. Cailan did seem to follow my lead on this as I did all the writing and taping down of positions as he went along with it. It would have been good to have both taken responsibility for these jobs but I was happy to do them by myself if it meant our camera was always in the correct position.
An issue that presented itself throughout was my first shot of Alfie. He is standing side by side with Adeline and I am trying to get a close up on Aflie. This was never achievable though as Alfie tends to move a lot of the spot and it is impossible to track him when the camera is locked down. I did mention this to George. N the floor manager who I know would have transmitted the info to the director. Nothing was ever done to change the distance they stood apart from so I could get a wider shot to compensate for him moving constantly. This will now be an issue on the day, which is frustrating as I have mentioned it numerous times - I will have to work with it and most likely have Alfie be cut off when he moves or a wider shot where Adeline is slightly in the frame.
Another issue I came across in the final rehearsals is that when I am operating the camera towards the end of the show, I am focusing on the two presenters. I always lined up the camera in the Center of Frame as that is what it is listed as. However, on every take, I was told to put them more towards the left of frame to give them "looking room". In hindsight, this should have been discussed way before this moment, but it was frustrating to only learn about this change over talkback in the middle of the take.
Like I've mentioned in my report and other blog posts, it was hard to fully trust the script as a camera operator as a lot of the time, what was on the script did correlate with what the director wanted or the cue cards given to the actors. I am not trying to be harsh in saying this as I realise this is everyone's first experience in a live setting. I just want to make sure the blog voiced my concerns that myself and Cailan had throughout this process.
Today was the last full day of rehearsals that we had before the big shoot day tomorrow! This was also the first time we had the opportunity to see the set and get the lights set up accordingly for the actual show.
We got in for 10am however, we knew that we would have to wait around for a little bit of time while the set was finished and the lighting was complete. However, We did manage to complete around 4 or 5 full takes today which was very important as we had missed extra days of practice due to the snow about a month ago.
Before lunch our takes were rusty, Del himself said that he could see that we were struggling and it was strange as Cailan and I on Camera 4 felt like we did everything asked but it just did not feel "right". The problem before luck was really the "slickness" of the moves of the camera positions and the setting up time. I do count myself lucky as I only have to move camera positions on two or three occasions and I know most of the rest of the crew have it harder than me.
As the day went on the takes got much smoother and Cailan and I were getting on top of how we would help out each other in the actual show. As we had a half of the show each we knew for the other half of the show we would have to be of some help to the other half who is operating the camera. Cailan agreed to hold my wire so Camera 3 did not trip over it because they had done so a couple of times in rehearsals. To be clear this was not Cailans fault but Camera 3 had to change positions quickly and on a couple of occasions they did not check their lead and it got tangled up with ours.
After discussion with the crew on Camera 3, we sorted out a good method for it not to happen again. We would ask the 3 crew to step forward one step when filming next to us so that the wires would not tangle. We also made sure the camera assistants on both cameras were holding the lead in the second half of the show as that is when the cameras are in close proximity.
Something else we completed today was making sure all five cameras were set up to the same settings. As soon as the lights were turned on it meant we had to drastically change all of the settings on the cameras and just before we left our cameras for the night we made sure we had them all set up the same. We had our camera set up to 3100K White Balance and 11 on the Iris. We had three different types of cameras across the show so we had to do a little bit of tinkering on those but luckily for us we had one of the easier cameras to set up.
Over the day we also make sure the camera was sufficiently charged and I was practising my runs back and forth to the charging station for new batteries. I feel that I got pretty swift with these changes.
After lunch, our takes were so much better and Del recognised this as well. Even though I think we all struggled with the heat and the pressure we managed to get a near-perfect show by the end of this final full day of rehearsals. There are a few instances where we need to change positions quickly and reframe and refocus and I am assuming under the pressure of the actual show we may feel it a little in these situations. However, saying this I am now really excited for the final rehearsals tomorrow and then the big final show at 2pm.
At this point, we have done all we can and we have nearly perfected all of the show. I left today happy with what we had achieved in a quick turn around in the last few weeks as well as now fully understanding the stage layout as well as the lighting. I think after all these weeks.... We are finally ready!
The main uncontrollable variance we have for tomorrow will be the weather. All week the reports have been changing, some saying run, some saying overcast and some saying sun. We cannot change what will happen but I chose Thursday in good knowledge of it being the best day. Our other planned shoot day was Tuesday, but once we condensed to a one day shoot, Thursday would hopefully give better lighting as well as more time to prepare.
