Studio Production | Project Evaluation ~ SP

When starting this unit, I was quite nervous and fairly unprepared as well. I was nervous because I had never done anything like a studio production before and I didn't know how all of working as a big group would go. I felt unprepared because, when thinking of ideas for my pitch, I found it very difficult to be creative and come up with something original.
However, once I had a few ideas and a definite idea for my pitch, I felt a lot more confident, and once I had my pitch prepared, I felt confident about the idea and a little more confident about the unit itself.
In terms of my job role, at first I was confident with getting the role, but when I started the rehearsals I felt quite apprehensive about the pressure. However, after practice and a bit more experience I coped better and I ended up enjoying the role a lot.

What worked?
My favourite part about this project was seeing the show develop, starting from an idea and actually creating the show on camera. The best thing was seeing the model of the set, made by the set design team, and then seeing the actual set being built in the studio. It showed how the development of the set changed, but also it gave glimpses as to how it changed from the very beginning.

• My Pitch
• Once I had a solid idea that I was happy with, I found presenting the pitch in terms of the visual presentation and the dialogue quite relaxing. I was confident with what I was pitching and I liked the idea, which helped my pitch come off strong which in turn made the panels reaction and thoughts to my idea positive.
• When presenting I felt confident and I knew what I was saying and I thought I showed my idea well. I was also prepared for the questions that I was asked, and I answered in a way that would show I was happy for adjustments, but I was also very knowledgeable about my original idea.
• Being prepared in this way, and feeling very calm within the pitch, meant that the panel were positive with my idea and they felt confident about some of the factors I had mentioned.
• Even though my idea didn't get chosen, I still think my pitch was a good one as I stayed confident, I spoke clearly, and my presentation skills were fairly good including answering the questions thrown my way.
• Developing the Visuals & Research
• Due to my job role being the director, I was in charge of creating the visuals of the show and I was responsible for the look of the show. This meant that I thought about and planned the framings of the cameras and the look of the set.
• When starting the planning of the different shots, I had a few ideas in mind but I wanted to do some research on shows that might potentially be similar to our own show. I used 'The Big Fat Quiz of the Year' a lot for inspiration in terms of shot framing and when to use them. One of the shots that I added to the show, using inspiration from the Channel 4 show, was the wide shot that panned upwards when cutting to it.
• I think this shot added a creative style to the show, and also it was a really nice shot to start the show and the rounds with and to end the show and the rounds with. I was really happy with the outcome of this shot, and the framing worked well when wanting to capture the audience's reactions to jokes and rounds and so on. 
• By doing the research on the Channel 4 show and others similar to it, I feel like it helped me produce and develop visuals for our own show, which then in turn helped other visuals form in my head like the single shots which were CU's and 2-S's and group shots which was a LS. 
• The visuals, during the blocking of Round 3 and 4 especially, where developed a lot as a group. So with some help form our Professional Adviser, Del Brown, shot types that I hadn't thought about before were being suggested, and I took them on board. By having this communication with everyone and being open minded, it allowed the show to have more challenging shot types for the camera operators. It also allowed everyone to have more of an input as to how the show would ultimately look which helped towards our group work.
• The outcome of the shots really helped show the tone and style of the quiz show, and I was really happy with them. Some of the shots also reciprocated shots from other TV studio productions which meant the research I did before hand helped a lot.
• Decision Making & Taking Control
• When having to make decisions before the show and on the spot, I felt like I dealt with this quite well and the decision I made helped the show in positive ways.
• One of the decisions I made early on was whether to have CU shots of the audience. I decided that I didn't want that, instead I wanted a BWS (Big Wide Shot) so you could see some of the audience and the whole set, so the atmosphere element is still evident.
• I think this was a good decision on my part as it didn't create any awkward camera shots and it kept the focus on the contestants the show itself which is what I wanted the camera shots to do. That way you're always looking at the show, rather than looking at awkward audience members that probably don't want to be filmed.
• Another decision I made early on, was whether to have an autocue or not. At first I wasn't very keen on the idea of the autocue as the one we had wasn't very sturdy and might not have worked within a studio production environment very well. Some members of the crew said that they thought we should have one cause we have the ability to, but I still wasn't very keen. After the audition process with the host we made sure that they felt confident with learning the lines in the script as we probably wouldn't have an autocue. Once our host said they were confident with this, I made the decision not to have the autocue.
• There was a moment during rehearsals where myself and the Producer felt quite nervous about the host and his ability to learn the lines due to something he had said to another crew member, so we discussed this element further. But in the end I stuck with my original decision, and we didn't use an autocue in the end.
• This was a good decision as it meant we had a lot of freedom with the movement of the cameras but also it meant that we didn't have to find someone to operate the system and there wouldn't be a lot of pressure on said person. We wouldn't have been able to see the autocue from the gallery, so it made sense not to have it.
• However, this did mean the host had to rely heavily on memory, but that was his job, and we also provided him with an iPad that held all of the questions on it for him to read.
• There was also a moment within one of the rehearsals where no one was ready to start even though there was a clear countdown from the PA, and everyone knew when we were going to be going 'live'. Within this moment, the VT operator wasn't ready a few seconds before going live, camera operators where walking around set and the PA wasn't prepared with her counts. I took control and got the opening sequence to start when it needed to, and I kept everything together making sure that we started our rehearsal when we said we would and making sure that people were prepared to do their job even if they didn't feel or portray that they were.
• I had been given positive feedback from Del Brown about this situation, and even though I don't remember much of it because it was all a blur to me, he said that I kept the control and took the lead which is what a real director does in the professional world.
• Working as a Team within the Rehearsals and the Live Shows
• Within the rehearsals leading up to the live show, and within the live show itself, I feel like the whole crew worked really well as a group. There were moments where people needed help and others offered their services, but also the communication through the talkback, mainly towards the last few rehearsals, was good and clear. 
• When camera operators felt confused or had a few suggestions, they told me through talkback and I made sure to keep their thoughts in mind, and I worked with them in order to make the shot better while keeping everyone happy with the changes being made.
• We were all aware of what everyone's job entailed and what each person was responsible for, and I think this played a big part in the respect everyone had for each other within the run-throughs of the show. 

What didn't work?
Even though I was happy with the final outcome of everything, there was still some mishaps that occurred along the process, that then affected the show, before the live recording, somewhat.

• Not having the mannerisms of a director in the first couple of rehearsals
• A director, throughout rehearsals and the live show, should have a calm manner and should motivate the crew with positivity. During our first two rehearsals, I found this quite difficult as I didn't feel confident with the show and how I was doing in my job role, which then affected me. Having doubts in my mind about how I was doing in my job role gave me negative thoughts which in turn didn't help the moods and feelings of everyone else in the studio and the gallery. 
• After talking with Del Brown, and thinking about the situation a little more, I realised that in order to be a good director and have everyone thinking positive thoughts and feeling motivated during rehearsals, I need to have a better mind and manner.
• This then led me to be more positive during rehearsals, and I made sure that I was friendly to everyone, I respected everyone's jobs and I motivated everyone in doing the best they could. If something went wrong I made sure to help them improve rather than dampen their spirits and make them feel bad for what they did wrong.
• This, in turn, added a more positive attitude and atmosphere throughout our rehearsal with the host and all the others up until the live show. My mood and feelings towards the show and my role helped the other crew members reciprocate my mood, which then helped with the team work element.
• Communication with the Set Design Team
• After seeing the model of the set that the CAFT team made, we let them get on with making the flats as they knew what they were doing. However, when going through rehearsals there were quite a few changes that were made like the addition of the spinner within Round 3 and the numbers on it,
• When trying to get in contact with the CAFT team, to tell them about our new changes, they were quite slow to reply but eventually when they did they obliged to making the new props we needed.
• However, at one point, myself and the Producer wanted to go and see the development of the set. When we contacted them about it, they told us very late in the week that we couldn't go and see the set. This was quite annoying because we were concerned after them making a few changes due to some limitations they had.
• The outcome of the set design was good in the end, but I still would've liked to see it before hand so I could've been prepared and so I knew what to expect the day they were to come in to the studio.
• The Buzzers
• Before the rehearsals started, there was a mention of having actual working buzzers for the show. This situation was between the sound operator, Sammi, and Laura who knew someone that could create this for us.
• During our dress rehearsal, the day before we went live, we realised there was a hissing problem with the buzzers, and the sound adviser, Paul, suggested that we don't use them. Obviously this was very disappointing as we were really happy and grateful to have them, but we couldn't have a hiss in the background of the first few rounds.
• We decided in the end to not use the buzzers, much to our dismay, but instead we had to come up with a few other solutions in order for Sammi to see the contestants in the sound room through a monitor. I spent sometime with Sammi and Paul, discussing what we could do instead of the buzzers.
• The solution we came up with was to use lights that only work if you press them and adding those to the podiums. We would take the batteries out of them so the light element wouldn't actually work, and by putting them at the top of the podium Sammi would have the ability to see the contestants pressing the buzzers. This meant that Sammi could then press the correct sound effect for each person.
• This solution worked well and everyone was cooperative with it, however it was still a shame that we couldn't use the buzzers that had been specially made for us.

What did I learn?
Within this unit I have learnt:

• Communication is key when working on studio productions.
• When working as a team, communication is always very important, but within a studio production environment it is basically the factor that keeps everything going. Without communication a lot of problems and difficult situations could occur and it could essentially make the studio show less enjoyable and it could fall apart so to speak.
• Working as a team itself is extremely important as everyone has their own individual role, and all of these roles are essential to the show. But having good communication with everyone makes everything a whole lot easier and more enjoyable. This can be both talking during the show itself or before hand.
• There should always be a good form of communication with a group as it will keep everyone's spirits high and the work will be more enjoyable, also the positive vibes will be presented on the screen making the show look seamless and more enjoyable to watch.
• Planning for Rehearsals is very important.
• If I hadn't done any planning of the rehearsals, mostly the blocking of the show and the potential camera positions, then they would have gone really slowly and we wouldn't have gotten a lot done within them.
• Having the majority of the visuals of the show planned meant we could use our time more wisely and actually rehearse the show rather than spending a lot of time going through the blocking of each round and so on. 
• As director, it's your job to have all of this information in your brain as the crew will come to you if they have a question about the visuals of the show. Preparations help make the rehearsals less stressful, the time limit is being used effectively and the whole crew learn the layout of cameras and so on very quickly.
• Knowing the limitations of what can be done while also being confident in making challenging decisions.
• The director must know the limitations of the production and how affordable/sustainable an idea may be in order to make effective decisions. By having this knowledge, the director can negotiate with the Producer and the Production Manager with an idea, and try and make it work knowing the limitations.
• Sometimes these limitations can limit what you show on your show, what shots you can do, and the directing style. However, as the director they must feel confident with challenging the camera operators and other crew members to get good shots that may be fairly difficult.
• In order to do this, they need to be respectful of the crew members jobs and liaise with them in order to create challenging visuals while also making sure everyone is feeling happy and confident about it.
• Having this knowledge helped me as I was able to challenge my crew members in order to make the show better than it could be, while also making good decisions for the show. For example; having the split screen for the last round (with cameras 1 and 2 framing for it) and not switching back to the single shots in a different frame as it would be much too quick of a change over.
• Personal feelings are left outside of the studio - director must be positive and motivate everyone.
• The personal feelings felt towards people and other personal feelings you may be feeling need to be left outside of the studio, and you need to focus on your work.
• At first I found this quite hard to do, however as time went on and I had more experience with my role, I felt more confident and I found it a lot easier to go into the studio and focus on the work we were doing and my individual role as well.
• The director must lead and motivate their crew, and by putting personal feelings aside it is a lot easier to do this and it is effective within the crew as everyone tends to reciprocate the same feelings.

Overall, I'm really happy with the outcome of our show and I think we all did really well in our own jobs. When watching the show back I think it looks really professional and it doesn't resemble a student project very much. Even though there were a few mishaps within the live show, they don't affect the show majorly and also it's live, meaning things go wrong most of the time and I'm surprised at the small amount of factors that did of wrong. A lot more could've made the show fall apart, but it didn't and I'm really proud of us all working together as a team. 

I'm proud of our final show, and I really enjoyed the process of the job as director. It was a great learning curve and enjoyed developing some of my skills and creating new ones.