Reflective Portfolio: Assignment Four
PRE-ASSIGNMENT FOUR: THOUGHTS AND COLLABORATION
We had a group meeting with the other producers for both Week One and Week Two and discussed our ideas for the production. We thought a satirical, comedic show would be entertaining, allowing the most audience engagement. We came up with the concept of ‘fake news’ and using the typical “breakfast show” layout (but at night) as well as some challenges and activities for the hosts. As a group, having other ideas to bounce off about the production has been a really valuable experience and something that I think really contributes to the face value of ‘liveness’ as everyone can arrange and organise different elements of the production and make sure the production of week one and week two is across the board. We highlighted early on that coherency between the two episodes would be crucial, so we have been keeping in contact with a group facebook page.
WEEK ONE: CAMERA OPERATOR
THE RUN THROUGH
Being on the floor for the first run-through as a camera operator was intimidating as it was my first time trying something new. I did find the role quite tiring as you have to be ‘switched on’ for a long period of time, whilst still listening to directions from the director and keeping watch of the others around you. I find the communication in this role key, as you want to represent the visions of the director to the best of your ability. Being in the studio presents many distractions, especially when focusing on the show, the interactions from the audience as well as making sure that you are representing the vision correctly. I found the first run-through challenging as everything had not been tightened to the best of everyone’s ability and the vision of the director had not been established. Although this was stressful, I quite enjoyed seeing everything come together at the end of the run, especially because it was our first time reading the scripts through for the four camera operators to direct the cameras.
WEEK ONE, THE LIVE SHOW REFLECTION
Our live TV production for Episode One was a success from a camera operator point of view. Watching the live-stream back, everything ran smoothly (the only fault with this is the GFXs going over the screen for some of the news segments). The directions and communications from the director in Studio A were successful, with panning shots as well as tracking shots included, which added depth and variety. Through our work in my previous role as a writer through Assignment Three, I felt that it was crucial that the writing and the satirical comedy of Midnight Snack would also come through our camerawork. Producing and having a live audience was intimidating and something that I hadn’t thought would faze me with being on the floor of the studio, however, I felt that reflecting on this is significant, as all our other assignments had been in front of the class – a worry of mine was about audience reaction as well as feeling professional and the feeling of ‘liveness’ that is presented through producing a live television production. The quote from the reading “Sounding Live” stated that “a sense of flow and unity is accomplished through the ideological connotations of the live (Feuer, 1983: 16)” thus, connecting with the forms of liveness that is every flowing and continuous – I feel like this takes place with a live audience present, as anything can happen at that moment, which was nerve-wracking. However, the audience was receptive and excited – laughing at the right times and making the production feel that sense of liveness that we wanted to achieve. Our segment for the live band segment was another element that we have not attempted before. Having to not only focus on framing of the shots but also how to make sure that everything was flowing smoothly was tough, however, with the firm direction of our director, we made our camera shots possibly. By setting up our cameras in a ‘flowing motion’ (zooming in and out) it created action and movement, so the audience who are live-streaming will not be getting bored or unfazed by seeing full still shots of the band playing.
WEEK TWO: PRODUCING
PRE-PRODUCTION THOUGHTS
Although my role for the first week is the camera operator, I feel like undertaking my role as one of the producers for episode two is going to be more of a creative (and slightly stressful process) due to the level of organisation. I have not had much experience in camera operating, apart from shooting with a DSLR, so it should be interesting to learn something new, which is something that I wanted to take away from the studio. Throughout Assignment Two and Three I have learned that communication is key to running a live television production, especially with producing and making sure everyone is comfortable with their roles.
I found this idea of maintaining professionalism and making sure everyone is comfortable in their roles in the production, making sure that the best effect of “liveness” is produced.
Through communication with the writers, we established themes and topics that they were enthusiastic to develop for Episode Two, making sure that we are coherent with the satirical theme. Whilst this was occurring, we also established our ideas to our directors, making sure they are familiar with the run sheet and the timing. This makes sure there is no miscommunication between sketches or between Studio A + C.
Our run-sheet was similar to Episode One, with a few changes to accommodate different sketches as well as the removal of the band and the insertion of the interview with the comedian. However, to maintain our sense of ‘liveness’ – we also wanted to make sure that the stings between Studio A + C were smooth and deliberate. The statement made in the reading, “Liveness Redux: On Media and Their Claim To Be Live” states that “The lure of the live is not just about media connecting people to a social centre, it is also about giving them the chance to be part of an experience” (Karin van Es, 2017) – by being the producer of the live show, I am allowing people to connect and engage with the sketches that we are producing, thus, allowing them to be apart of the experience that is “Midnight Snacks” and understand the process of live television.
EPISODE TWO, PRODUCING
The day of production, the role of the producer is making sure everyone has their right materials, are keeping time and everyone knows their roles and the structure of the show. In the second half of our meeting, the producers made sure everyone knew the order of the run sheet and that everyone felt comfortable or had any questions about the day. As you can see from our run sheet below, it kept a similar time to Episode One. Our role during the production was not only to watch the show come together but also help with bumping in props and set, once everyone feels comfortable in their roles, we were also there to liaise with the crew if they had any dire questions.
THOUGHTS ON THE SHOW
From the control room, even right up until the live show, everyone was calm and collected and ready to go, which was a change from the first week (which was slightly suspicious – I was worried that we were missing something crucial because everyone was so calm!). The reading “At a Loss for Words: Televisual Liveness and Corporeal Interruption” by Alla Gadassik states that “Our experience of television liveliness is connected to our “unscripted” effective moments when words fail and something else breaks through: gasps, pauses, tears, silences, aggressive eruptions, etc – these last minute ideas and concepts that were in our episode that were not necessarily scripted (such as the ‘Bean Boozled’ challenge) gave the audience (and those in the control room!) a sense of excitement and anticipation for who was going to get the best snack out of the two, thus, adding to our sense of ‘liveness’.
OVERALL
FINAL THOUGHTS
At the beginning of the semester, I just thought live television production was about news and the shows that I watched, however, I now understand that it is so much more than that. Live television production is not only just about the camera operators and directors but about the audience reactions, the moments that turn out really well (for example, the voice-over in episode two and the bean-boozled challenge in studio C) as well as the whole team working together and communicating to make a production. When I originally picked Ready, Camera, One as my studio for this semester, I did not realise it was going to be as hands-on as it was (I enjoy the “doing” style of learning) and I found this rewarding in many different levels. Although writing is more of my forté, I have seen my improvements throughout the semester and have enjoyed going through multiple different roles to find out where I could potentially fit in with live television in the future.