Masterclass 3 (With Del) | Workshop ~ SP

For our third and last masterclass with Del, we were to rig up the equipment, and then take turns doing everyone's jobs. The aim for today was to realise how important everyone's roles are within this studio production, and to gain respect for every role.

To start the day, we were put into little groups to each rig up the different sections of equipment. I was in a group with Imogen, Ellie and Josh, and we were to rig up the camera equipment and make sure they all looked the same. Then once everything was rigged up and working we were put into our actual roles for the real show. Due to Josh being the producer and not having much else to do before rehearsals, and Ellen and Sam were lighting and VT operator, it meant they were free to be the talent.
I started off with my role of director, however due to only just starting to prepare myself for what I have to do during the live show, Del started off as director. This was quite useful for me as I was able to see and hear what he was doing, which in turn will help me with knowing what to say and how to direct the cameras and so on.
As Del started to direct our first practise show, which was a interview talk show, I realised that there is a lot to say and a lot to cue. This did make me slightly nervous but I know when we rehearse the show over and over again I will eventually get used to saying everything I need to. To help me remember what to say during this 3 minute show, Del wrote a few phrases down to help me and the rest of us when directing.

With everyone in their roles, it was time for us to start the workshop. Considering I was the first one to direct, I don't think I did too badly. Obviously, my performance wasn't as good as it needs to be when the real show comes along, but it is only my first day of doing this properly. I did find it quite difficult to remember what needs to be seen on screen and how, but this is something I will learn over time.
After finishing the first 3 minute show, we switched round to different roles.
My next role was working on one of the cameras. I found working on the cameras not too difficult, as I just stuck on my shot size unless I was told otherwise through talkback. I found talkback very useful, when I heard my camera number being cut to I made sure to keep my shot still, then once my cut was over I could move.
I did enjoy being a camera operator, and it was good to try out the different shot sizes that every camera was on.
In between working on the cameras, I was either the host of the show or one of the interviewees. Doing this job was quite tricky as I found it hard trying to find things to talk about, but luckily this job wasn't too technical, and none of us will be doing this on the actual day and rehearsals.
Then I moved on to do the sound. Both sound operator and sound assistant where fairly easy roles, however when there's a lot more to do and structure, which there will be for the actual show, I know the job will be a lot harder and complicated. The sound operator played the stings on the laptop and the sound assistant used the mixing desk to track the sound levels of the microphones.
The last studio floor job we got to do was being the Floor Manager. I found this job alright to do, but since you are in charge of the whole floor and making sure everyone knows what they are doing, the job will be a lot harder. Knowing all the hand signals will be quite difficult to remember, and telling the host and everyone else on the floor and making sure they keep an eye on you as the floor manager would be quite a tough job.
The other jobs in the gallery that we were able to do was the PA job, which involved counting down the show and the sting, the graphics operator, and the vision mixer. After doing previous masterclasses involving graphics, I knew this role would be difficult, but having the graphics set up already made the job a lot easier. I still had to change the name tags and make sure that they played at the right times, which is part of the graphic operators job. Within the show, there will be more for the graphics operator to do during the show, so that role will be a bit more complicated than it was in this masterclass.
Doing the role as the PA was actually quite fun. I enjoyed timing the different sections to the show, however this was just 3 minutes long. For the whole 30 minutes show, the timings will get a bit more complicated and there will be quite a bit more to count. I think this job is very important and is complicated but it's also enjoyable, and I'd quite like to go into this job in the future, potentially.
The last role in the gallery is being the vision mixer. I also really enjoyed this job, and after having several sessions with the vision mixing desk, I already knew where to put my hands and fingers, and how the desk works. I found following instructions and cues were quite easy and do able, but it was doing it in time with the director that I found quite tricky. You have to be focusing on the directors call the whole time, while also paying attention to the screens in front. This role is enjoyable but also quite stressful, similar to the PA role and Director role.

After lunch, we did the same set up, just a different type of TV show. Instead of a talk show we did a teleshopping show, which meant we had to show a lot more close ups of the objects that were given to us. Again I started off as the director and directed the show after Del did a run through of it, showing me how he would do it. Then we went back around and tried everyone else jobs.
I found this useful, but I kind of wanted to stay directing for a little bit longer as I had only just started that role in this masterclass. I know there were others that felt the same way, so instead of doing everyone's jobs again, we did a few switches and then went back to our actual roles.
We did this show a couple more times and I felt having these run throughs as the director was useful and would help me with knowing what to do in rehearsals next week.

I found doing everyone's roles very useful and I definitely have more respect for everyone's roles. I definitely think that everyone is very important in this show and I think, its everyone having respect for all the roles, it makes working as a group a lot easier and much more fun.
Even though my role is director, and I like this role, I'm glad I got a chance to trial other roles. I now know that being a PA or a vision mixer might be something I want to go into, as I really enjoyed doing those roles.

This workshop has prepared me for our first rehearsal next week, and now I know what type of things to be saying when cueing everything. Having Del with us will be really good as he can let me know any new terminology I need to know, while also helping us work together as a group.

Ship Model Shot List | Production Notes ~ PP

To aid me in my last minute shoot on Monday, I put together a shot list that I can follow and make sure I have enough footage to edit together.

I knew I wanted to get a lot of shots that show the detail of the ship itself, so most of the shots I am planning on getting are CU. I will be shooting these CU handheld, but I'm going to bring a long a tripod so I can shoot the LS's and the MS's on the tripod. I'm going to experiment with shooting CU on the tripod, so I have a variety of different shots to work from when editing.
This part of the video will be half of the video itself, so I knew it was better get more shots than I actually needed instead of getting barely any.
I will also be shooting on my Canon camera. I'm choosing to shoot on a Canon because, from previous work, a DSLR is better at getting artistic, CU shots, showing details really well and the quality is really nice.

After creating this rough shot list, I feel more prepared for my first shoot day and I know what sort of shots I am aiming to get.

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.

Scheduling & My Ideas | Development ~ PP

Myself and Rachel arranged another meeting which would contain me telling her and Jeremy what my ideas were, while also them telling me what they think and what they want in the videos.

To start, I told them that I wanted to shoot three different videos, and I told them what objects I wanted to shoot. They were pleased that I wanted to make a video for the Silver Plate, as that was an object they wanted to be shot the most, but they were also happy with the other objects I wanted to make a video for. At first, however, they were a bit concerned over the fact I wanted to do three different videos. They didn't want me to have too much of a work load since I was doing another unit at the same time, but I assured them that I felt confident about it. I knew that if I did have too much of a work load that the videos wouldn't be as good as they could be, but I was confident that I could plan my time wisely and I would put in a lot of work and effort to make these videos really good.

They really liked my ideas, especially the Paperweight idea, and they were really excited to see what I could come up with.
In relevance to the prison of war, ship model, they told me that they would have to take the ship out of it's display and that it takes a lot of people, a lot of work, and a lot of time to do. Luckily, they told me they had made a scheduled time on the following Monday to do this as they were changing the display anyway. I hadn't started a script or a shot list, but I knew the rough shots I wanted when showing the model and the details of it. I decided to come in on that Monday, which they were both happy with, and shot the artistic shots of the model.
I'm going to make a shot list just for this shoot day so I can follow it and make sure I get all of the shots I want for the video. However, I won't be filming the interior shots that I'm planning on doing, as they can be shot on another day.

At the same time as arranging this shoot day, we arranged the main shoot day where I will shoot the paperweight, the silver plate and all the other shots I need. I'm going to write another shot list for this shoot day and before then I will write the script to aid me with how many shots I will need to get.
We then scheduled some edit review days where I'll come in and show Rachel and Jeremy my rough cuts and they can give me some feedback.

My Schedule for this Commission Job

By having this schedule, it will give me a good idea as to when things need to be done by, and also it will aid me in my time management throughout this project. I will stick to this schedule and things need to be moved around I will do so.

Idea Storyboards | Development ~ PP

Before going back to the museum I made a few small and very rough storyboards to help visualise my ideas and to also aid me in telling Rachel and Jeremy what my ideas are.

Sir Cloudesley Shovell's Silver Plate

Due to this being the object that Rachel and Jeremy really wanted a video made of, I wanted to do a few different sections in the actual video. 

• This first part of the video will be artistic shots of the plate which might look nicer in slow motion, but this is something I can experiment with when editing the video. These shots will show the plate in a variety of CU's, MS's and MCU's and there will be a voice over talking about the plate, where it was found and when it was found. 
• Then after those shots are shown, there will be shots of a ship that I might be able to get from the dockyard of riverside. These shots will represent the ship that Sir Cloudesley was sailing before the ship wreck. If I can find an archive picture of the actual ship then I might use that as well.
• After that there will be a section that talks about where the plate was found and about how the plate was nearly turned into a ball, which will be in the voice over. I'm thinking about making this an animation as I know there is a way to change the shape of a picture which would in turn create the plate being turned into a ball.
• To end the video, there will be a voice over on where the plate can be found at the Guildhall Museum and and how it was recovered. The whole video can end on a long shot of the Court Hall in the museum.

These ideas may change over time, but for now this is the start of my idea for this object.

Prisoner of War, Ship Model

I'm thinking, for this video, about having two main sections of the video, kind of creating a story for the model and how and why it would've been made. While also having a few images showing the detail of the ship as this is something I want to highlight within the video.

• The first section of the video will be information on the Hulks Prison ships, as this is where the prisoners who made the model would've been kept. The visuals will be the interior of the hulks that can be found at the museum, while the voice over will be setting the scene. There will be GV's showing the little details and possibly some of the mannequins that they have on display.
• Then the second section will be the various artistic shots of the ship itself, these will be CU's, MCU's and maybe some MS's. This section will start and end with a LS of the ship on display. I'll either film this in the actual display it is in within the museum or get a white background and film infant of that.
• The v/o for this section will be describing the model and telling the audience what it is made out of. The visuals will go alongside the v/o so the audience can hear and see the model. 
• In terms of sound design, I'm planning on having quite a lot of different sound effects that portray a ship being on the ocean, so some of the sounds will be waves and typical ship noises.

Much like the other video, these ideas may change over time, but this is the beginning of the development for this video.

Charles Dickens' Paperweight

This video will be a little different compared to the other videos as their won't be so much of a story or narrative to it. Instead, I quite like the idea of having a voice over of some of Dickens' work over the top of visuals showing the paperweight itself.

• The first section of the video will be a voice over of the actual letter that Dickens wrote to the lady that gave him the paperweight. The visuals will then show off the paperweight and the little details that are still on it after all the years.
• The second section will then be a voice over of the part from Great Expectation where they mention the Court Hall which is actually in the Guildhall museum. The visuals will be similar to the previous ones, but over the top with a low opacity will be a picture of the Court Hall so the room, the paperweight and the audio all go together. 
• Then to end the video, there will a motivational quote from Dickens or a famous quote that people will know him for. The visuals will be of the paperweight again but I may also include some shots of the paperweight on top of paper, and the desk that is in the display within the museum. 

Again, this is the start of the development for this video, but I definitely don't want this video to have much of a narrative as I think it will be a lot more creative and it will show off the object better than if there was a story.

I'm going to present these storyboards to Rachel and Jeremy and see what they think of my ideas, and if I need to adjust them I will as I want them to be happy with them as well. As the process goes on and I collaborate more with Rachel and I research more, I know the videos will develop and the structure might change, but I know that the definite style I want for these videos is a montage style.

100 Objects | Research ~ PP

Since I was leaning more towards filming the 100 Objects video, I decided to look into the website and research into some of the objects that I could potentially make a video for.

The three objects that I found particularly interesting were:

• Sir Cloudesley Shovell's Silver Plate
• Prisoner of War, Ship Model
• Charles Dickens' Paperweight

Sir Cloudesley Shovell's Silver Plate | 1707

This plate was owned by Sir Cloudesley Shovell who was a MP in Rochester from 1695. It was recovered in the 1960s by divers from the Channel off the Isles of Scilly. And it was recovered from the wreck of HMS Association, Sir Cloudesley's Flag Ship.

Rachel and Jeremy both said they really wanted this object to be brought to life through video, so this is quite an important object for them. They talked about showing it turning into a ball when in the water, so one of my ideas is to have some animation within the video. This is something I will think about more before telling them about my ideas.

Prisoner of War, Ship Model | 1803-15

This a ship model, made by prisoners of war that were held in the Hulks Prison Ships, and it is made out of bone plates and rigged with human hair.

When seeing this model in person, I was fascinated by the fact that this is covered with real animal bone plates and rigged with real human hair. I'm thinking about making this video a story about the Hulks which is where this model would've been made, but also have some artistic shot of the model itself. These shots will show the model and all of the little details that are there to show off the bone plates and the human hair.

Charles Dickens' Paperweight | 1860s

This is a ceramic paperweight used by Charles Dickens in his study at Gad's Hill Place. It is glazed white ceramic with 2 green leaves and gold initials of 'C.D'.

I've always been interested in literature, so when I saw something related to Charles Dickens, one of the most well-known writers in the world, I was instantly interested in it. Instead of telling a story with this object, I wanted to interpret Dickens' writing. One of the ideas I have is having artistic shots of the paperweight and a voice over on top of the visuals, the voice over will be part of the book. One of the books that I think will work well is 'Great Expectations' as some of that book is set in Rochester and has the Court Hall from Guildhall in it.

I am going to create a few small storyboards to show my ideas in the best way I can, and then the next time I see Rachel and Jeremy I can show them what I'm thinking rather than just telling them. This will help them visualise the idea better and also it will aid me when describing what I mean as well.

Masterclass 2 (With Del) | Workshop ~ SP

For our second masterclass with Del, he wanted us to rig the equipment ourselves with help from Alex and Fergus. To do this he put us into groups of either three or four, and set us to different stations to set up and do different roles.
I was in a group with Ellen, Josh B and Rosie, and we were given the task to set up the talkback and start off with the directing and vision mixing jobs. Talkback is the system that allows the camera operators, sound operator and the floor manager to hear the gallery. This will be what everyone on the floor will use to hear the director (me) call out the cues and instructions and, the PA (Rosie) counting the stings, the rounds and the VT's.
Once we gave the people on the floor there talkback headphones, we went back into the gallery to make sure they could hear us. As soon as we got some contact with the people on the floor, and we were confident that they could hear us, we moved onto the directing and vision mixing.

Del came into the gallery and told us to take turns being the director and being the vision mixer. One of us, as the director, would call different shots out to the vision mixer, and the other person, as the vision mixer, would standby and cut those shots on the desk. This was a good task to do as I got some practise calling out shots, but also we all got the chance to be the director and cut to the different shots using the vision mixing desk.
Then once all four of us got a chance to do that task, Del wanted us to try and get a split screen on the screen. We worked as a group to find out how to do this, and I actually found it quite difficult to do. Once we got the split screen on the screen it was time to switch over to doing the graphics and using the graphics computer.

The computer was already set up when we got to use it, but that did give us more time experiment with the different things that we could do with the graphics for our show. Fergus gave us a run through of the computer and how it works, and he showed us the best softwares to use on that computer. Once we had the knowledge of how to use the particular software to use, we all took turns in experimenting with the different sort of graphics and effects we could use and how to put them onto the screen.

..........................................................

After lunch, everyone that was in the gallery moved into the studio, and vice versa. My group started on the cameras, and before hand Del had told everyone to de rig the equipment slightly, so we all had a chance to rig the equipment.
Our first task as the camera operators was to make sure that the cameras were white balanced correctly and that they all looked very similar in terms of colour. This is something that should be done before starting a shoot for anything, but especially for the live production show.
We had a few problems trying to get them all looking the same, meaning we had to look at each camera and figure out what the problem was. As a group we went through the camera menu and looked at everyones settings to make sure they were all the same. After a few changes to the settings on some of the cameras, we managed to get them looking relatively similar.

Then once we had set up the cameras to the right colour and the correct balance, my group moved onto the sound. Sound isn't something that I feel very confident with, so when we had to rig the equipment and the sound desk I found it quite difficult. Myself and Rosie worked together to connect everything together, while Josh and Ellen wore the clip microphones. We managed to get the music coming out of the laptop working and it was connected properly, but we were quite confused with how the clip mics connected to the mixing desk.
We decided to ask Alex about how that is done, and he showed us how it's all connected. This helped us a lot as we were able to see for ourselves how the desk worked. Once everything was working, we moved the levels around and experimented with different things like gain and how the sound would sound like if the levels were full volume.

After everyone had experience with every job role we finished the masterclass.
I really enjoyed today, and I thought having the experience of every role was very useful. Even though I'm only doing the role of Director for the actual show, it meant that I had the knowledge of how to set up the equipment and how to do the role which will be useful for future projects.