Before going into the studio, and weeks before the rehearsals of the show start, Helen wanted us to get into our groups (the VT group, the Graphics/Promo group, the Production group) and create a test shoot. This would help us when looking at the different shots we may decide to use, the blocking of the scenes/segments and how it will be edited.
The VT group were to do test shoots for their VT's, the Graphics/Promo group were to do a test shoot for the trailer of the show, and the Production group were to do a test shoot for a part of the show that might be challenging to shoot.
The Production group consisted of me (the Director), Imogen (the Production Manager/Floor Manager), Sam (the Assistant Producer) and Josh (the Producer). Since there were only four of us, it meant that, as director, I would decide what shot I wanted to do, how we were going to do it, but also it meant that I would be filming it as well. This is due to the other three acting as the host and the contestants.
Before shooting, we looked through the script and my initial blocking ideas, and decided that we would trial run either Round 3 or Round 4. This is because these two rounds are probably the hardest to block. We ended up deciding that Round 3 was the best one to trail, as Round 4 still wasn't a clear visual for me in terms of blocking.
So when it came to shooting, I had the blocking images for Round 3 and we moved a few things around in the lecture room to suit our test shoot. The different shots I did was a LS of the Host & Contestants, a MCU of each of the contestants, a BWS of the whole scene, and a handheld CU of the boards.
When shooting all of the shots except for the handheld camera. Looking back when editing we decided that those shots weren't useable and it was actually really hard for me to film it due to not having enough props in the test shoot. I knew as soon as I had shot the CU that we wouldn't be able to use it because I knew it was a very good shot.
For the editing process, Josh edited it and I directed the shots that I thought would work best in that particular moment. Due to time restrictions, the sound wasn't perfect, but that's ok because it is a test shoot and it was really just to see whether this round would work well in the show.
When getting some feedback from the group they said that it was a bit boring, and considering it is the third round, it needed to have more movement and more excitement to it. The way the shots all went together looked good, it was just the round itself that people thought needed to change. There were a few suggestions, like making the contestants run to the board, which was actually an original idea at the beginning of the development of the show, but there were quite a few cons for this idea.
Josh had to think about what we could do to the round to make it more interesting, and whether we should scrap round 3 and come up with a new idea for that round.
Overall, doing this test shoot was actually really useful and as we realised that maybe Round 3 should be something different, and also it should be something fun as it is nearly the last round of the show.
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