Pre Production

 

For our final project in the Ready Camera One studio we were all tasked with creating two episodes of live twenty five minute shows over the last four weeks of the semester. After we had been given our roles for the shows we started on the pre production stage. My roles for the first weeks show was as a writer for studio A (along with the two hosts Jaie and Nicole) and for the second week I was in charge of set and props for studio C. As the first show was the main priority for everyone we set to work as a class brainstorming the concept of the project.

 

Together we looked at different parts that we could incorporate into the show including; a live band performing, an interview, some sort of skit, potentially a cooking segment that could have been pre recorded in one of the episodes as well as possibly a game segment. It was essential that we incorporate the live band/ pre recorded segment into our show and that was what helped us to form what would evolve into Midnight Snack. There was a lot of popularity with the idea of doing some sort of cooking segment and the class was a little divided on whether we would be making a morning or late night show. This turned into the first concept of a morning show at night, hence the name “Midnight Snack”. As we knew that we would have two hosts at this point (Jaie and Nicole) we then started to explore the idea that one person would represent that positive morning talk show host who was trying to convince the audience that a morning show is better, whilst the other person has the more sarcastic, late night tone in their dialogue and would play the host that is trying to make the show just a late night talk show. That way we as a production team could also play on the stereotypical conventions of those two shows and convey that we were sort of making some fun out of those shows in an snl live show type way as well, but the presenters on screen are serious about what they’re saying.

 

From here the class themselves split up into their individual roles and I as a writer then moved into a group with the Producers Brooke and Matt and the Hosts/ co writers Jaie and Nicole to discuss what segments could be used and developed as well as how we could structure the show. Something that I learnt immediately in the early stages of the production was the importance of collaboration and making sure everyone was heard. I felt like we had really good communication from the start as a class and knew that working together was going to get the project done essentially. Another thing I learned early on was the importance of being flexible and to be ok with adapting to a new idea and leaving other one’s behind if the project doesn’t go in the direction you originally planned for. This occured as we were trying to figure out what order the segments would go into so that we would have enough time to switch from studios A and C, when it became obvious that the audience competition segment wasn’t working very well as an idea. This was due to the fact that we weren’t confident that it would be funny or interesting for the audience and in terms of “managing liveness” spoken about in the Scannell Reading, there was very little that would have been left to the audiences reaction on the night. So we decided to scrap the audience competition segment and due to that being the main way to show we were also doing a morning show, we also decided to scrap that as well and just be “Midnight Snack” the late show instead.

 

Writing for the segments I was given (the comedy news segment and the interview questions for the band) it was a great experience researching news stories for the show and finding ways to give the hosts a punchline at the end of them in an SNL Weekend update style. The band we had in were also very cool to research and craft questions for. I learnt during this aspect of the script writing that the less general you are with questions, the more interesting the interview becomes and the more the audience learns about the act. Working with the other writers/ producers, we very much made sure to work with what we had and did this by looking at the studio to see how big it was an what its capabilities were (Luke, the studio’s tech guy was really helpful with this) and how the show could run as smoothly as possible. In terms of my role, it was really important that I got feedback from the producers who were reading what I had written and were happy with it. I learned the importance of having first and second drafts and to maintain heaps of communication as the script changes so that everyone knows what current version we were on as well as making sure to highlight for the graphics crew/ props people if anything was needed.

 

In terms of my other role as a set and props person, the pre production work was much smaller as I was finding props for the second show and working off what had been written as the sketches for studio C. These sketches involved a story about facebook which didn’t require any props as well as a skit about festival season coming up and in an infomercial style which involved some props and a desk. The props included a plastic bag full of “pretend drugs” which I created by crushing up dissolvable panadol, a bum bag and little bottle of sunscreen which I brought from home as well as an iphone charger and a straw to out inside the bum bag.

 

The sketch was about having a the pretend product called the Bum bag 3000 and so I decided to make a label to attach to the bum bag with that title on it (pictured) which I used out of yellow orange felt and textas from home. Props was a role that made me get creative and realise how much you can find without really having to buy anything (it should also be noted that the label started falling off so it was removed and we just had the bum bag).

 

Rehearsal and Production

 

The rehearsal was a great time to really see what we had written be tested in a multi camera format. We spent some time collaborating with the director and camera crew a lot more and were able to find out if the monologue/ news stories would work ok for the hosts, which actually turned into a duologue for them to go back and forth from each other. This was due to the fact that noticed that it felt awkward having Jaie speaking most of the dialogue and Nicole being there in the background. It reminded me of the  that talked about the moments that some consider the most live, where unplanned moments occur such as awkward silences, pauses or laughing that was not originally going to be there. Although we knew this could happen, we wanted to do our best to have those types of live moments be ones that didn’t feel like naive errors but just something spontaneous that works, so the duologue felt the most right for the show.

 

During the actual filming of Midnight Snack, my role for the second week involved having all the props on standby and making sure Pat (who was using them in the skit) was happy with them. Due to the facebook skit not having any props used, we decided to add in an apple laptop in the last rehearsal which I volunteered with my own as I wasn’t needing it for anything. Being a set and props person taught me the inevitability that shows can change and even in the last few rehearsals there can be some significant changes. For example there was a midnight snack skit that required two hosts to try really foul smelling and tasting jelly beans in order to get their reactions. For this we realised that we had to find other little things such as plates for them to use and cups to get rid of the chewed jelly beans into. As we weren’t in a position to head to the nearest supermarket it was easiest to ask around and see what we could find. Overall the skits in studio C went really well as everyone worked well together and made sure to help one another instead of just focusing on only their jobs.  

Post Production and thoughts

 

Thinking about the production as a whole, I really understood the power of live television and all the steps that were taken in order to make it the best it could be. There was definitely more planning and scripting than I expected, which goes with the debate of whether it should really be considered live if it isn’t done completely scriptless. I believe that what we did could very much still be considered “live” as although there was a script in place and various cues/ marks to have been hit, there was always the chance for something to change on air, such as the audience laughing in the wrong spot during week 2’s monologue, or a camera shot being changed such as during “spit boy”’s appearance or simply the hosts improvising a little off script throughout shows one and two.

In my roles, I learned that collaboration is about mutual respect and having the top priority be the project instead of one person’s individual wants. I think we worked so well as a class because we all understood this and most of all, we learned to enjoy the idea of live tv instead of be intimidated by it. I also learned that you often have to rethink how you are going about a task or action, and that often makes you a more efficient contributor to the project and media producer. Midnight Snack was such a great way to finish off the studio and I feel really proud to be apart of it 🙂