Adjustments So Far 2 | Development ~ SP

The show has changed quite a lot throughout the past few weeks, and here are some of the changes that have been made:

Rounds

After watching the test shoot of Round 3 and realising there wasn't much excitement to it, the round has been changed. After a lot of thinking and asking the group what their opinions are, Josh has decided to make Round 3 the 'Pie Face Game'. It will be called 'American Pie in Your Face' to create a link to the 'American Pie' film and the structure will be fairly similar to the previous two rounds.
The host will ask the contestants questions individually and if they get the answer wrong they have to spin the spinner and turn the handles on their machines. However, if they get it right, the other contestant has to spin the spinner and turn the handles. The aim of this round is to get a pie in the other contestants face and however gets the most amount of points gets to go first in the final round.

Website

The website has been created by Ellen and Nisserin. They have got a blog on the website with different articles on there for the viewers to read, and they are all movie related.

I think website suits our show a lot, as it has the same colours and font requirements are the logo and graphics. 

Host

We held auditions for the applications of the Host, the other Friday, in order to find the host to our show. In the audition process was Imogen, Sam, Josh and me. Imogen was there more for the money side of things, Sam was there as he was in charge of communicating with them, along with Josh. Josh was there for that reason, and also to find the right host that he wanted for the show, and I was there to make sure the host suited the look of the show.

Unfortunately only 2 applications were available to come in and meet us, so the other 4 sent audition tapes that we reviewed later. During the auditions, Imogen made sure to mention money, while I asked more technical questions about the autocue and talkback, and making sure they were confident with learning lines. We then had them act out the beginning of the show and the first part of Round 1. Imogen and Sam acted as contestants while myself and Josh watched the Host.

Once both applicants had left, we moved onto watching the audition tapes and in between each one, we discussed what we thought about them. We then moved onto the other two who came in and came up with a decision as to who we wanted to Host the show.

Then a week later, I was told by Imogen and Josh that the actor we chose was being quite difficult in terms of what days he was available, which was a surprise due to what he told us in the audition. As the whole group came together for a group meeting, we showed them the audition tapes and they preferred the other actor who came in. In that same meeting, Imogen heard from our first choice that he had dropped out meaning our decision to have the other actor has been made official.

Imogen spoke to him and he was very happy to be our host.

Our confirmed host is George Sesay.

When we auditioned him he seemed quite nervous, but he was very upbeat and enthusiastic, which is what I wanted for the host. He did slip up a few times when reading through the script, but this is something that we can work on with him throughout rehearsals if we need to.

Blocking Changes

After Round 3 and Round 4 changing, I have adjusted the blocking of them. Round 3, instead of having boards, there will now be a table in the middle of the set with the contestants on either side, sitting on stools. The games will be in front of them and the host will be stood in the middle of the table, behind it.

Depending on the script, both contestants will either be on the stage together and then one leaves and the other does the round, and vice versa. Or, they will take it in turns to come onto set and be introduced to the round. I know how I want to block this scene I just need to wait for Josh to write that part of the script so I know exactly how to block everything.

Scripts

The scripts have been updated regularly by Josh, but now it's getting closer to the start of rehearsals, I have started to properly annotate them. Throughout the development of the script I have been making notes on them, but I have now added the requirements needed for the script.

This includes the shot type, the shot number, the camera number and any cues I need to make. I have put this on the google drive for everyone to see and print off ready for our first rehearsal. 

VT's

The VT team have been preparing to shoot for their VT's and they will be shooting very soon with the host and other characters that they need.

Along with that, the opening titles is being planned and prepared after positive feedback from the test shoot, and the trailer is being planned as well. This is being done by Ellen and Nisserin.

Music

Sammi has been working on finding music for the show, and we have finally found an opening entrance music that we all really like. She also found some sound effects that will be used and stings for the show. These will all be ready to play when we do our first rehearsal which is useful as it will help us decide whether we like the music and how it suits the show along with the script.

Set Design

In terms of set design, the team came to the studios previously and had a tour around. They also then asked us some questions while we told them the sort of ideas we had in mind.

After discussing a few technical things with Alex, we have found out that using a projector for the cinema screen won't be a very good idea, so instead we will use a TV.

We have a big TV monitor already in the base room, so with permission we will be using that, which will hopefully work well with the vision mixing desk and the set design.

They will now go away and come up with an idea, which we will see on a later date before they start to build it.

Overall, these changes have been very useful to the show and I think it will make the show a lot better and more entertaining.

I think, through finding the host, we have realised how difficult it is to find someone perfect for the show, but also someone that is flexible and doesn't have many requirements that we have to fulfil. During the auditions for the hosts, I realised that it's important that we find the right person as he/she will be the face of the show, so I now know how important auditions are in studio productions.

Everything has been going well so far, and we are prepared for our first rehearsal with Del.