Studio Production: VT Fine Cut Viewing

Today we had a fine cut viewing of the VTs with Helen. Laura and I just had a few sound design changes to make to the trailer before showing it but we were finished before lunch ready for the viewing. We had a lot more positive feedback for the viewing and Helen seemed pleased with what we had achieved. In terms of the extra footage we shot on the 3rd and 4th shoot days, this was useful as it allowed us to have more edit points and more varying shots. We tightened up the mockumentary, shortening it to 2 1/2 mins. With the edit changes, this made the VT sustain that length effectively without it being too long or feeling dragged out like it had before. In terms of the trailer, Helen was pleased with it but suggested we have a voice over. I asked Josh to do the voice over for me as I thought his voice would be suitable. In an ideal world we would have had Darren do the voice over as  it was supposed to be a Norman-made trailer. However, the final result was effective and added to the production value of the VT. In terms of the final edit for the Trivia VT, the editors used some after effects including some animations and transitioning effects to tie the shots together which I think worked really well. Overall, I am pleased with the feedback we received for the final edits and think that the decision to re-shoot some of the footage was the right thing to do. The quality of the VTs could have been improved in areas such as the sound quality as there are elements where it is too quiet or there is some echo. However, I think after some adjustments on audition, this has been improved and brought to the best possible standard.

Studio Production: Camera Operation - Research

I have been researching the role of a studio camera operator which is the studio role I will be taking on for the production. It is the camera operators job to follow the Directors' shot list, based on a studio script and frame up the camera. The cameras used for a studio production will be of high quality and complexity. In the working environment, there would be another person to operate the iris of the camera. However, as a camera operator on this production, all of the operators will be managing every element of the camera for the show.

Other responsibilities of a camera operator include:

• Ensuring the cameras and associated equipment is rigged and ready for the required set up. 
• Using talk back, camera operators must be able to multitask to carry out several technical tasks,  listening to directions from the Director. 
• Assisting and supervising the Camera Assistant to move the cameras and carry out fault fixtures.
• They must also work with the contributors, giving them constructive advice, and giving feedback to the Director in order to achieve the required picture composition needed. 
• Working quickly and efficiently to a professional standard to provide the appropriate shots. 

I have found out that most camera operators start out by having training, as an apprentice. This means that they would learn most of their practical skills through hands on experience on the job. Throughout this production we have been rehearsing and having hands on experience with the cameras in a studio environment. I feel like this is the best way to learn about the many settings on the cameras and have as much practice and rehearsal time as possible. Being a technical role, it is essential that we learn through doing and exploring the features of the camera, as well as learning to troubleshoot to solve any problems on the day. 

Continual professional development is very important for this role, especially as technology is changing so rapidly. I found that some useful ways of obtaining information about this role in practice includes attending exhibitions, studying trade journals and joining industry forums. Basic photography skills, which help to develop visual and composition skills, provides a camera trainee with a useful starting point. I have an interest in photography and think that my attention to shot composition has helped me understand the basis of this. 

Studio Production: Editing Norman's Trailer

Today we were editing the VTs for the fine cut viewing. I was focussing predominately on the trailer as I was the lead Director for this VT. I worked with Laura who was the main editor for this VT so I could make some decisions regarding how I wanted the final edit to look and sound.
In terms of the montage section, I wasn't able to edit with Laura for the rough cut viewing and so had lots of changes to make for this sequence. I had imagined it to be snappy and fast paced to reflect the super hero theme and to account for the limited time frame. We went through the clips and chose the ones that would work best. As I had filmed several close ups of Norman's face for the mask and glasses etc, I wanted to use these throughout. There were some disputes with the Producer and other Director about whether to have the reveal of his face at the end. However, I had intended for the last shot to be a slow reveal which tilts up to show his final form. Therefore it made sense to use the close ups throughout rather than just at the end of the VT before the reveal. We then found sound effects to work with the actions to make the montage more dynamic and even snappier.
In terms of the other sequences, I decided to cut these down to only a few shots for each sequence so that Norman would be rushing around, delivering his DVDs in true super hero style. There were some issues with sound for the sequence with Saskia as she wasn't clip mic'd. Although, we managed to edit these in premiere to make them sound clearer.
Overall, I am relatively pleased with the trailer, however, the issues with the sound levels have brought the quality down slightly. However, I enjoyed editing with Laura as I felt like we agreed on the decisions and worked well as a team.

Studio Production: Re-shoot - Mockumentary + Trailer

After a rough cut viewing of the VTs featuring the character Norman, we decided to re-shoot some footage to give us more coverage and allow us to change our approach. Some of the footage we had for the mockumentary, Helen said was quite slow in pace and was dragged out. The character was speaking slowly and was saying 'erm' quite a lot which meant that we couldn't cut it down very effectively.
We decided to schedule the day the same as we had before with the mockumentary in the morning and the trailer after lunch. In order to steer away from the one take approach, we booked out another camera. This will allow us to get a wider variety of shots to cut to in the edit which should dramatise the film a little more. We ran through the second half of the script where Norman is in his bedroom and changed some of the shot sizes to include some tighter shots. Throughout, Troy was capturing some cutaways such as objects falling on the ground and of the posters in the background. These should help to give the edit more context and allow the audience to get to know the character better.
As the director, Saskia ensured that Darren knew that he had to speed up the lines so that we could cut it more smoothly. In hindsight, I think this was a great decision as it added much more energy to the shots, which was apparent during filming. I noticed that the team were able to communicate more effectively for this time round as we were all aware of what we needed to get and how we wanted the edit to look. I think in terms of set up we were also much more organised and we were able to get on with filming very quickly.

After lunch we filmed some extra footage for the trailer. I was happy with the shots for the montage section so we didn't need to re-shoot those. However, I wanted to film the sequences with the crew cameos again to get a wider coverage of shots and improve on the first shoot. I focussed on ensuring I got several different shots for each sequence including wider and tighter shots to make it easier for the editors. I also ensured that we used two cameras for the sequence with Saskia, placing one of them from Saskia's point of view to get the shot reversal. Set up was pretty simple as we only needed to dress the room which meant that we were able to stick to the schedule. Overall, I think that the team work was better on this shoot day as I think we all knew what we wanted to achieve. I think some areas for improvement would be to communicate with each other with regard to equipment and setting up.

Studio Production: Rehearsal Progress

For the past few weeks we have been spending Tuesday with Del Brown who has been carrying out work shops and spending our rehearsal time with us. Many of us have never worked in a working studio environment so this has been a totally new experience. For the production we all have very important and key roles. Working in a studio is a very different experience to working on location which means that the time we have with Del is vital for the success of the show and our learning experience along the way. There are several studio roles including Vision Mixing and Floor Managing that none of us have done before. Throughout these rehearsals we have all been given the opportunity to try out everyone's role and understand the demands of it.
For the first few weeks, we had specialist work shops in some of the technical roles such as camera work and vision mixing. I particularly enjoyed the vision mixing work shop, which allowed us to all have a turn at cutting to a piece of music. We had to follow a script and a count to cut the cameras in time with the music. I found this to be challenging at first but enjoyable as it was something i'd never experienced before.
For another workshop, we rotated roles so that everyone had a chance to take on everyone's role. This was a really interesting experience as it allowed us to understand the demands of each role and how pressured they are. I was surprised that I enjoyed Directing. It is very high pressured as there are a lot of cues to remember, however, I found it to be really exciting. Another role I thought I would like was Floor Managing. However, this role I found to be quite challenging. It involved a lot of communication between the gallery and the set floor which I found rather confusing when several people are trying to communicate with you at once.
For today's workshop/rehearsal we have been undertaking our own roles. I think that having as much rehearsal time as possible is very important to ensure that we all feel as practised as we can. As a camera operator, I feel comfortable using the camera to a good standard as we have used them in other units. However, there are other demands including ensuring the cameras all match up and look identical. This was a totally new experience and demand for all of us, which we found rather challenging at first.
In reflection, I feel like I have learnt several new skills from the work shops and feel relatively confident in the rehearsals we have completed so far. Each rehearsal so far, we have made a few mistakes so I think that the week of the recording, the rehearsal time will be vital to ensure that the crew feel as prepared as possible.

Studio Production: Re-shoot: Trivia

Today we had a re-shoot for some of the shots for the Trivia VT in the studio and gallery. We had decided as a team after the rough cut viewing that we needed a few more tighter shots and generally a wider coverage of shots for this VT.
In order to get a good sense of atmosphere in the studio, we filmed during a studio rehearsal with Del in the morning. Whilst everything was being set up for the day and after we had set up the cameras, we met with George - the host to film. We asked him to wear the same outfit to account for continuity with the other shots.
We were very pushed for time but were able to film the stare off with Cheyenne in the studio which was much more successful than the first time round. We also filmed the intro and ending again in the gallery, getting some tighter shots, making sure George walked in and out of frame for every shot so that it would be easier to cut around.
In terms of sound, we weren't able to have Sammi as she was setting up the sound for the rehearsal but I was able to take over and ensure that we had good sound recording throughout.
We struggled with the shot in the corridor, which features a watermelon as it was dropped a few takes into filming. During the editing process, this shot may need to be cut out as we weren't completely happy with the shots we got.
I think that getting some extra coverage was a good decision as we managed to get some cleaner shots for the final edit. It was also a positive thing to have people working in the background on the production as it gave the studio a much more visual back drop, giving the shots more content which still related to what George was telling us in the VT. From a directors point of view I would say that we could've been more organised with the filming of this VT and ensured that we had plenty of time to film it to the best possible standard, as we were very pushed for time. This meant that we had to make very quick decisions on the day. In conclusion, I am relatively pleased with what we have managed to film and think that there will be lots of improvement for the final edit.

Professional Practice: Shopping List and Excel Spreadsheets

During the prop buying process I undertook on my placement, I used several documents to assist me. I was given a shopping list on my first day so I knew what to shop for. I analysed the document and started by browsing some of the items online to get some quotes. Once I'd made a list of quotes I added these up to get a total to work with. I was given a budget of £1000 which is a very tight budget.  Once I had found some firm options for each prop and had worked out how I was going to obtain all of them, I documented the prices onto an Excel Spreadsheet which calculates how much you have spent. This was an incredibly useful tool as it allowed me to keep track of the expenditure and ensure that I stayed within budget!


Shopping List 

Excel Spreadsheet