Final Reflection

After the two integral weeks of pre-production for The Charlie Show, it was finally time to shoot our first episode on Thursday Week 11. Going into this first episode there was a general feeling of anticipation and excitement in the air, as this would amount to a culmination of semester-long toil. Along with my role as a producer, for this first episode, I also found myself assigned as Camera 2 in studio C. This involved filming both the infomercial and musical guest segment whilst taking orders from the director. Such directions included the shot size, the framing, and informing the actors on when the set would go live. Personally, I found episode one to be relatively problem-free and easy-going whilst on the camera compared to other roles I have done in previous productions like director, floor manager, and DA. So, my props go out to those involved in those aforementioned positions, they absolutely killed it! On the other hand, for episode two I was assigned to the Audio team. As I have previously mentioned in blog 3, I found the role in audio to be quite challenging and we faced constant adversity stemming from issues such as the number of mics in comparison to actors. Furthermore, faced with the distorted audio during the first monologue as a result of the positioning of Erika’s mic, and not having access to a headset to communicate between us when mic checking in the studio added further issues. However, Simon, George, and I worked in with great agility and collaboration to resolve these issues effectively. In regards to our project, The Charlie Show, I believe our final work is both hilarious and engaging whilst staying true to the key learning ideas we have discussed in the studio this semester. No matter how audiences react, whether they laugh, cry, or cringe, I believe they will be intrigued and hopefully appreciate and recognise the amount of effort put into the production by all of my classmates. Hypothetically, if we were to continue The Charlie Show further, one area that proved to be adverse and that I’d seek to resolve would be ensuring that there is an adequate number of mics in relation to speaker characters. This would have made things a lot less stressful in the audio booth for George, Simon and myself, however I do recognise and understand that we faced certain limitations regarding the audio equipment due to the events of RMITV filming at the same time as our production.

It’s simply a no-brainer, but without our teamwork and strong collaboration, this production would have in no way be possible. No matter what role a person was given, each individual effort was integral to the success of our productions. When reflecting on our own collaboration on The Charlie Show, communication was an essential and critical skill required. Whether that be a discussion on our Facebook group chat outside of class time, corresponding between Studio A to Studio C, regular team briefings in order to avoid confusion, ensuring each person is aware of what is required of them or informing actors on timing and schedules. One highlight of our collaboration was my involvement in was our first brainstorming session as a producer of The Charlie Show with the writing team, this was where we were able to express our own ideas and pitch individual segments to the group. Moving forward from this I gained a clear understanding conceptually of what the show will look like making it easier for me personally to envision the final product of The Charlie Show. Furthermore, another highlight experienced during the journey and filming of The Charlie Show was my work in the audio booth with George and Simon – given the hurdles we faced here, the ability to adapt and effectively collaborate was essential. We worked fluently together despite the many obstacles, and thankfully the audio we produced in the final product was well done, this can be credited to our proficient collaboration and communication. Overall, this studio has taught me important skills that I strongly believe will benefit me in my media endeavors in the future. Aspiring to involve myself within television production, specifically Reality TV, the role I undertook as one of the producers of The Charlie Show taught me a lot about the importance of collaboration and communication between cast and crew. As well as learning different key roles in the control room.
Ultimatelty, I believe our class has maintained a high level of collaboration throughout the entirety of this course, I’m so proud to say I was part of The Charlie Show and this studio in general. I’ve honestly gained some amazing friends and skills from this class, thanks so much Ruth!