Studio Production Unit: Critical Reflection

Overall there are good and bad points within this unit:


Good

- The trailer looks good: I am pleased with how the shots held up and all participants did a great job helping me out with it. The text on screen was a miscommunication between me and Vic: I envisioned text that was inside the world; floating around with Jamie. However I didn't explain this well enough and Vic took it as twitter tweets on the screen.

- The behind the scenes footage is good also: the scripts tell a better story and are easier to keep up with. Charlie and myself worked well together in our behind the scenes to script and film some good material. Although the scripts weren't followed mostly and it's only one video Vic did a great job piecing footage together and creating something that's pretty cohesive and feels like a true behind the scenes video.

- I'm very happy with the logo: I think it advertises the show well. The pixellation effect emphasises the online aspect of the show and the silhouette with the text-speech bubble shows the programme's debate aspect. The colour scheme fits very well and in terms of this: our team actually worked well to combine ideas to ultimately create a solid logo.


Bad

- Communication was our team's biggest flaw. Information wasn't passed through the ranks well with members of the group not finding out about things or news unless it was either too last or someone else told them. This is just my Promotions team I'm talking about. In terms of the entire class communication was again a huge flaw: pieces of information that one particular member was supposed to pass was instead passed via someone unrelated to the subject. This happened quite a few times in all departments. There was essentially no hierarchy in our group with the wrong people being notified on things rather than the people who were supposed to be told.

- There were issues with the behind the scenes regarding missing footage or being unable to use/find footage but a behind the scenes video is still of a good standard.

Things to take from this unit:

Only one thing: communicate better - Even if I think I've made my point or explained my idea I should attempt to make sure whoever I'm explaining it to is on the same page as me and understands. Also I should communicate with people in higher positions about events, ideas or changes in things just incase they are not already aware of these changes etc

Studio Production Unit: Production - Behind the Scenes: Massive Recap

Here is a recap of the filming for the behind the scenes:



I went to London with the VT team to get the BTS of their Graffiti shoot. Got lots of footage of VT Director Tim directing and the actual filming. Along with shots of some graffiti just incase and an on-set interview with Tim.

I filmed the first workshop we had with Hans. Unfortunately the Canon wasn't able to pick up much light and so the shots are grainy and unusable.

Charlie filmed BTS for the Domestic Violence VT including shots of VT Director Danny talking about the layouts, setting up of the stunt, the sound team recording it and an on-set interview with VT Producer Sophie.
I filmed their rehearsals for the stunt a few days prior: focussing mainly on them figuring out where to put the cameras and setting up the stunt location along with VT Camera Andrei linking the GoPro's to a mac to monitor them.

Charlie filmed the second Hans workshop: this time getting some better footage than I managed: these included shots inside the Gallery of Studio Directors Chris and Andy directing; PA Hannah time-keeping and the Studio Camera team filming.

The new version of the graffiti VT wasn't filmed as our Promotions Producer decided there was no point going to London again. Instead we filmed the next two Hans workshops that were set up in Studio 5. I took one day and Charlie took the other. I focussed on the Studio Camera team setting up and getting a layout along with filming some of the rehearsals and Floor Manager Kate instructing the team. I also managed to get footage of in-between rehearsals when everyone would blow off some steam and chat and mess about. I felt it was important to get some of this to show the lightheartedness the show can reach and almost portray the production crew as a 'family': having a laugh but getting the job done.

Charlie focussed on the sound team as I didn't cover this and there was no point filming more of the same in terms of the rehearsals. He got some interviews with Mike and Mark and also some laid-back moments.

For the set build we both had a Canon 7D each and walked around filming what we could. On top of this we set up a GoPro with help from Alex Rudge on one of the lighting rigs in the far corner to record the set build. Sam M. helped us out with the sound for most of the day switching between Charlie and me. He stuck predominantly with Charlie as I had Mike's zoom attached to the rig I was using to record sound.





For the actual recording day Charlie, me and our Promotions Producer, Aimee, came to an agreement on who would be filming where when the show went live. I was assigned the Gallery and Charlie and Sam M. were designated on the floor. Sam was with Charlie as I still had Mike's zoom as part of my rig and as the Gallery is smaller I wouldn't need a sound man whereas Charlie would benefit from a directional mic assisting in his filming. On top of this we had the GoPro film the audience coming in for another potential time-lapse and also when the set was being packed away.





I recorded the entire show from inside the gallery: focussing on shots of Andy, Chris and Helen. I also got shots of Hannah counting down to VT's; Sophie readying the VT's and the Vision Mixers cutting shots.

After the easter break we got ready for the interviews that were saved until after the recording: the people we had in mind to interview were Helen, Andy, Chris, Sophie, Danny and Tim. Below are the list of questions for each interviewee.

Interview Questions.docx

Due to time running out we only filmed Helen, Sophie and Andy's interviews. Hopefully it will be enough for the videos.

Studio Production Unit: Pre-Production - Behind the Scenes Script Versions 2 and 3

With the new format in place we needed several topics of the show to make videos for; we agreed to the following:

1. VT's

2. Set design

3. Rehearsals and Production

4. Promotions

5. Presenter and Panellists

With clearly defined topics now in place we began to script. This actually took some time: around a week to finish due to the workshops with Hans Petch starting.

Unfortunately I do not have a copy of version 2 as it was updated in the same document. So instead I shall list the changes made between V2 and V3:


- Combined the Set Design and Rehearsals and Productions. This was because they were essentially under the same category and besides footage of Studio Director Andy making the presentation of CATF; the style bible CATF made and footage of the actual set being built: we felt this wouldn't be long enough nor interesting enough as a stand alone video. The set build footage would be put to better use as overlays and short segments in the Production video.

- The Promotions video was removed completely. Originally I intended to film each member of the Promotions team (including myself) to get a story and footage of the marketing side of the show. However due to focussing on the other videos as they were deemed more important and the workshops I never got around to filming anything. I was totally fine with this though as I had doubts whether audiences would be interested in watching how a poster was made or how the vines came about or another aspect of the department. I shot some behind the scenes when Charlie was filming his title sequence but it was on an old camera I had so the footage wouldn't hold up in comparison to the rest of the footage in the other videos. Behind the scenes for my trailer was never thought about either so due to chances being missed and unit work the Promotions video was most likely never going to succeed.

- The original idea for the Presenter and Panellists was for me and Charlie to hang around with Jamie, Rory, Beth and Jordan individually and just film their everyday lives. Showcase who they are as people and to give the audience insight into who they would be watching. Due to unavailabilities though this idea never got off the ground. Instead we changed it so Show Producer Helen, in an interview set up, would talk about each participant: who they are and why they were selected.

Below is a copy of version 3.

Bts Official Scripts

Studio Production Unit: Pre-Produciton - Behind the Scenes Script Version 2

Unit tutor Helen took Charlie and me into one of the rooms and talked to us about the behind the scenes script and where it was at.

We had a version but weren't quite feeling it due to the constant changing of the subject and the fact some weeks have barely anything in them yet.

Helen wrote a brainstorm on the board to help us and mentioned that we could even do several mini-videos of each area of the production.

This suggestion piqued our interest and afterwards Charlie and me had a chat about potentially doing several smaller videos for individual parts. We agreed that this would be better as the focus for each video would be consistent and not waver to anything else. 

With this agreed on we told our Promotions Producer the new idea and began scripting for it.

The brainstorm Helen made.

Studio Production Unit: Pre-Production - Behind The Scenes Script Version 1

Below is the script Charlie and myself wrote.

There are blank sections due to us not knowing exactly what will happen in that particular week.

We were going to colour code who films what but never got round to actually doing it. 

I feel though that the script is too broken apart: we're constantly switching between different areas of the production and it may be hard to keep up with or keep track of what is going on. 

Behind the Scenes Script the SECOND

Studio production Unit: Production - Trailer Filming Part 2

Around a week later the corridor that runs beside Studio 2 was booked for me to film shots 1 and 4 in and with a new cast list drafted (due to some being unavailable) myself, Jamie, Andy, Helen and Tim filmed the last two shots.

The corridor could only be booked for a lunchtime meaning time was most definitely of the essence: I didn't want to keep everyone waiting too long and starve them!

We managed to complete both the shots with 20-30 minutes of lunchtime left to spare which was a result. However the time it did take to film didn't come without issues:

- In shot 1 it goes out of focus at the beginning which was my fault. Next time I try something like this I may consider enlisting a focus puller to help take mine or the cameraman's mind off of having to focus the shot.

- Due to the rush I forgot to white balance the Canon: although it hasn't ruined the shots I do feel shot 4 is a bit yellow on the walls.

Despite these niggles I am proud of what I've accomplished. I love long takes: I like to incorporate them into as many of my shots as I can to create fluid storytelling without interrupting dialogues with hard cuts but they are very difficult to achieve. A guy with a standard shoulder rig isn't going to produce steady cam-level results and I was aware of this and it does show but overall I am very much looking forward to seeing how it looks in the final version.

Shot 1 out of focus at the start.

Studio Production Unit: Production - Trailer Filming Part 1

On 27th February the first day of my filming for the trailer began.


With me I had the script and storyboard along with a cast list so I knew what people I needed.

We managed to film 2 of the 4 shots in the time I had which I'm pretty pleased about but what I regard as the hardest shot (shot 1) wasn't done: that is for the second day.

To create the seamless transition I was after myself, Jamie Terry (the presenter and actor in my trailer) and Sam Mckeown filmed shot 2. I then imported it into my mac and took a single frame of the best clip. I then dragged the still into Photoshop and edited it into a poster thus creating the start point for shot 3. I would then start shot 3 with the camera as close as possible to the poster so that the image filled as much of the frame as possible. I then moved backwards and proceed with the rest of the take.

In terms of editing it makes the edit a whole lot easier with the end of shot 2 and the start of shot 3 being the same thing. I put the two shots into Final Cut Pro and edited them together so I could see whether the transition actually worked before handing them over to Vic to edit. I'd rather know now than wait potentially a week or two to find out I need to reshoot.

The poster created using the still frame.

Thankfully the edit worked incredibly well and I'm very confident that at this point, the trailer is going to be exactly how I envisioned it and it can pull off the camera tricks flawlessly.

Studio Production Unit: Pre-Production - Trailer Style

I envisioned the trailer to comprise of only a few shots: having lots of cuts would remove the audience from the environment. With Jamie walking and the camera following we are placed right in the action as if we were heading to the set with him; lots of cuts would remove that effect.


On top of the concept I made here are a couple of examples of the transitions I want to implement into the trailer.




The clock transition at the start is very neat and the calibre I aim to make the edits in my trailer reach.


The second video just further examples the seamless transitions I am after:





I am aware of the difficulty of long takes but I'm confident it can be pulled off: I used long takes in my Directions Unit film with decent success. This will hopefully be more choreographed and the shots are more straightforward.

My only concern will be the co-ordination: the first shot consists of 4 paparazzi; 2 fans; a security man and Jamie. Including myself and a sound operator that's 9 people involved with one shot.

I know what I'm after and so as long as I can explain that there shouldn't be any big problems with the shoot.

Studio Production Unit: Pre-Production - Trailer Version 2

My original trailer idea was lacking in character for Jamie and punch for the actual content: it needed to hook and maintain the viewers' interest.

So I went back to the script and focussed on selling the show. The USP of the show is that they look at the public's opinion and gets their say. I reworked the script changing the description of the show to lead into the USP and hit the point home.

Trailer Script 1

Trailer Script 2

The other major change is that the transitions are social media related: utilising Facebook, Youtube and advertisement to seamlessly shift to the next sequence.


I think the script is much better now with the changes and sells the show more efficiently.

Studio Production Unit: Pre-Production - Trailer Concept

To help explain my ideas for the transitions in the trailer I created an example in my room.




To create this I took the video and saved an image of a specific frame. I combined the image with an image of a blank Facebook post to use as an example and imported this new image into Final Cut Pro. I then used the Ken Burns to start the picture of the mug at the same size as the video and 'zoomed' it out to the full size of the image.

The task took around 5 minutes to complete and is surprisingly effective. I feel confident that in the real production the edit and quality will be even better.

It's refreshing and uplifting to see how the transition will actually look. Instead of guessing and theorising what it might look like and how it might be achieved; I've gone and made an example to see if the idea is actually feasible.

Studio Production Unit: Pre-Production - Trailer Script

One of my roles is Behind The Scenes but my second role is Trailer DOP. Meaning I'm in charge of the camera for the filming of it.

I chose to write a script for the trailer as I envision it as it's being created. Making a shot list and storyboard will be easier too as I will already have an idea of how it's going to look.

I have stuck with the idea of making it point of view and keeping it behind the scenes like in the BBC  Radio 1 advert. Originally this was going to be a teaser but Charlie suggested the idea of following the presenter/host as they 'lead' the camera to the set. I liked this idea as coming up with a teaser would be simpler than a trailer due to the trailer having to tell the viewer what the show is about rather than teasing what it is.

One notable problem with this is that it ends with the set: which isn't coming until 2 days before the recording which is far too late and impractical to film. An alternative idea is to end the trailer with the camera walking through a door to the set and a white light filling the screen to sounds of an audience clapping and cheering. This keeps a teasing element to the trailer but still provides information on the show.

My idea is to have the presenter talk about the show as they're leading the camera to the set. There'll be references to the stories that will be covered in the show.

I want it to look as though it's one continuous take but split by several edits disguised by a shot that can be edited easily. For example the camera whip pans and then use the blurring to transition into the next shot which begins with a whip pan to make the edit seamless.

To make the journey quicker each edit will 'teleport' the camera to a different place but closer to the set.

Studio Production Unit: Pre-Production - Behind The Scenes

Alongside the BTS script I am writing up the shot list for it detailing every shot required; its size and where it belongs.

I've also labelled the columns to make it easier to read; including the shot number (which corresponds to the same shot number in the BTS script) and a tick box so when a shot is done it can be ticked off.

For the set-up interviews a medium close-up will be used and various other shots will be used for the actuality segments.

Studio Production Unit: Pre-Production - Behind The Scenes Scripting

One task I proceeded with was to write the script with Charlie for the Behind The Scenes film of the show being created. It wasn't until late into the scripting that we found out that scripting this wasn't our role and was instead a role for the Promotions Producer and Show Producer. However since we were pretty far into the process we were allowed to continue.

I wrote the majority of the script but Charlie did have an equal say in what the content would be. My plan for the BTS was to tell a story from concept to production detailing the steps taken to get from a pitch to an actual 'as-live' production.

The maximum length is 10-12 minutes which I felt would be too short a time to fit everything in. Although at the same time 10 minutes can be a very long time depending on the variety of content you have. 

My goal was to get interviews with all the major players in the production: Show Producer; Studio Directors; Production Manager; Promotions Producer and VT Producer. In either actuality or set-up interviews. 

Instead of setting up an interview here and there at various stages of the production I was told to instead wait until the end (either just before or just after the actual recording) and film the interview as a 'whole': covering the past 9 weeks in a single interview. Partly to free up the interviewees and allow them to work but also to avoid the physical changes of them. For example, in week 2 an interviewee has a beard and then in week 8 they don't, or they're wearing different clothes or had a haircut. I believe this to not be such a big issue as it's behind the scenes and we're progressing through 9 weeks of their time. A haircut or different shirt won't ruin or affect the continuity at all due to the BTS covering a large expanse of time. Despite this I shall go ahead with the single interview at the end as it really doesn't make that much of a difference.

There are lots of actuality shots in the script including VT production; VT meetings and scripting; Promotions tasks like creating the poster; advert and social media pages and Producer department jobs such as preparation for the CATF meeting and auditions for the host and panellists.

Studio Production Unit: Pre-Production - Logo 2

Helen asked if we could make a second logo but with a female's silhouette.


To do this I found an image online of a profile of a woman's silhouette and replaced the male silhouette in a duplicated version of the document. Then it was just polishing the edges up and resizing the image to make the finished product.

Studio Production Unit: Pre-Production - Pixellating The Logo

Going into this task I knew it would be a lot harder to achieve as the test I did was a much lower quality document than this. To maintain the quality of the logo there needs to be more pixels in the canvas. Where the test had 72 pixels per centimetre this document had 1500 pixels per centimetre: meaning that my method of colouring in individual pixels would be pretty tricky and time-consuming to do this time round.

So I came up with the idea of making a 3x3cm square; colouring it in the same colour as the font and then copy and pasting it lots of times and then dragging the squares around. After doing this for a couple letters I felt it didn't look right so I tried a different method.

I discovered that you can change the shape of your paintbrush to a square so I used this and stared to paint random squares in a similar fashion to the method I did on the test document. Again, however, this just didn't look right to me. I felt they were too small and looked like random dots rather than the words actually coming apart.

Looking for another method; I searched online for pixellation effects and found this video:




I couldn't get the instructor's technique to work so I selected the paint brush tool and altered the settings so it would create little squares when I moved it around and this was the effect:

I love this effect, in trying out something I ended up creating the exact look I was after. The other technique of placing individual squares and/or painting squares was very time-consuming and just didn't look right but this was perfect. It only took a couple of minutes and I think it's very effective.

Studio Production Unit: Pre-Production - The Logo

Myself and Vic started work on the logo for the show. The promo team decided on the colour scheme purple text with a teal background and the font was also worked out.

Charlie had been testing an idea with a silhouette of a head shouting and then the text would be coming out of their mouth. With this in mind we grabbed an image online and placed it into the canvas on Photoshop.

With the teal background.

We next created a speech bubble where the text would be inside and added the text.

Not with final font.

Vic added the drop shadow and accidentally tilted the image trying to adjust it and it turned out to look pretty effective so we chose to keep the tilt.

We finished with deciding on the font 'Gil Sans':

Overall I really like the logo: I feel it fits the brand and style of the show very well; all that's left now is to add the pixellation effect and it'll be complete.

Studio Production Unit: Research - Logo Test

After our second production meeting, I started work on a logo style; the style I pictured was of the show's title becoming pixellated at the edges to show the connection with the online side of the show.

I went into Photoshop and typed the show's name into a text box. I overlaid the text on top of a black box and changed the text's colour to purple to make it stand out for illustrative purposes.

I zoomed into the image so a grid appeared notifying me that I was now zoomed into a single pixel-level.

I selected the paintbrush tool and reduced the size of it to a single pixel and began placing purple dots around the sides of the letters. I then changed the paintbrush colour to black and placed dots on top of the lettering to create the effect of the letters breaking apart. 

I think it's pretty effective and once the colour scheme and font are sorted it will look even better.

Studio Production Unit: Poster Test

I decided to test out the idea for the poster to see if would be achievable.

Here are some examples:

I started out by looking for an online site which would create this look but they all requested payment for the results so I looked into Photoshop and seeing whether it would be do-able through that software.

I found a video on YouTube that explained how to do it:





As a test I chose this as the main image:

For the images that would create the main image I chose some photos I took of my research for my pitch as a test.

I went into Photoshop and made two columns with the 'filler images' and then duplicated the columns to fill the rest of the canvas space.

I merged the duplicated layers together to make a single layer and dragged it into a separate Photoshop document already loaded with the main image. I then reduced the 'filler images' layers' opacity to make the main image visible and to create the desired effect.

I think this looks quite effective and it's only a test. I feel creating a proper version will be pretty straightforward if the idea goes ahead.

Studio Production Unit: Research - Production Meeting 2 and Posters

We had our second production meeting today which went well.

My 2 ideas for the trailers were well received but which suggestions for slight alterations.

The GoPro idea would be better suited as a teaser due to it not telling us what the show is about.

The second idea (of the host and panellists discussing why people should watch the show) would require the set. So instead perhaps they are sat around a coffee table or something else.

These ideas work just as well and I would like to develop these further with storyboards (especially for the GoPro one) and then feed these back.


Another idea I had that was brought up is for a promotional poster consisting of an image of the host made from lots of images of Facebook posts; Youtube videos; blog posts and other screenshots of social media sites showing public opinions.

I think the idea would fit in with the brand and show the social media aspect of the show.

Studio Production Unit: Research - Logo Ideas

During our first production unit I sketched out a couple of designs for a possible logo idea:

The use of the copyright and at-sign maintains the online aspect of the show: the symbols are combined with the title of the show to emphasise the combination of the online with the debates.

The titles are also pixellated to look more like it was typed on a computer. This again will emphasise the online topics the show discusses and makes it instantly recognisable.

The target audience (16 - 25) will be very familiar with the symbols and the text-style being a generation that have grown up with technology such as smartphones, computers and games consoles.