As Live Production Unit - Updated Camera Plans

 I wanted to update all of my camera plans. From the mock block up shoot I added 2 more cameras so that I could plan out where al 5 we're going to be. After this and through a couple of rehearsals it was clear to me that some of these shots were not working due to spacial awareness and shot coverage. I made sure to update these as I went along to ensure myself and the crew were aware of the changes and what the new plans were. You can see a couple of examples of the final ones below:

As Live Production Unit - Lighting Plans

Myself and Gavin wanted to make sure that the lighting was right for this production. We sat down together and looked at what we wanted and what would work for the set. Looking at my half there wasn't anything to complicated that I needed. The soft area had to be flooded as well as the hard area so that we could see the presenters clearly and that the set was nicely illuminated. With the catwalk area we talked about cross lighting above so to light it up and light the models up well for when they walked down at every stage. There is also a part in my section where the presenter walks out into the audience to talk to some guests. This would mean that the audience would have to be lit for this part of the show so we needed to factor this in as well.

With Gavin's half, things were a little more complicated. The final section of his show had a drag act performing on the catwalk. This meant that all the other areas would have to be dimmed and a lighting change would have to happen. We decided that red gels would work well as it gives a different tone of colour and would be more effective than standard white lighting. We also discussed putting Par cans along side the catwalk to give it more of an edge. Below you can see the plans we drew up:

Overall I am very happy with what we discussed and Gavin is going to email Jon the lighting engineer so that on the rig day he will know exactly what we are looking for. 

As Live Production Unit - Production Meeting Five: Last Pre Production Progress Update

On this meeting it was our last chance to discuss any concerns about anything to do with pre production work for the show as we would only have one more meeting 2 days before the show to discuss schedules. With the VT's all groups are at a stage where they have filmed. 2 VTs are already fine cut and are ready for transmission with 2 more still waiting to be cut. This puts us in a good position to use them in rehearsals and practice. We discussed music with Andrew as I want music for the catwalk and stings, he explained he had some samples he was working on and we both agreed to sit down together after the meeting and go through them.

With the promo team we are at a relatively good stance but there are some pick ups that need to be done with some of the footage, they are currently organising a reshoot date. Audience numbers are currently at 61 out of 100 so tickets are selling well. In terms of a brief schedule, the set will be picked up on the 17th and rigged on the 18th ready for the show on the 19th to be transmissioned. For behind the scenes they will have access to the UCA's official instagram/ snapchat page to post on the day. 2 in ear mics will also be delivered for the presenters to use so I can talk to them in the gallery.

Transitions Unit - Feedback From Initial Ideas

Today I had my first tutorial with Simon and I presented to him the ideas we had been thinking about. I talked about the music video and he agreed it would be a good project but it needs to be elevated from a directors point of view that can be different to the one already their. He likes the story and the editing style but looking back at the brief it needs to be original from my part rather than the form it stands as.

I have been thinking about how I can make it different and I've had some ideas about different shots I can use being more quirky and sharp whilst retaining the smooth cinematic style the video holds. I also felt in terms of narrative, I could change this around too by inverting the characters genders. Rather than the video as it stands with the female being hunted by males, I could switch this to women hunting a man to give it more of an edge and a mystery to what was originally there. I will develop these ideas ready for when we pitch.

The Music video can be viewed here:

Simon also noted that it would be handy from a directors perspective to work with an editor. George Nicholls was looking to edit for a group and me and Drey felt it would be good to have someone else on board so I could get the experience of working with someone who edits the footage together. We decided to incorporate George to the group and get him up to speed with the project we have been planning.

As Live Production Unit - Second Rehearsal

Today was my second rehearsal with del and the team and things went a lot better than the first one. We did the same as before marking out the set and going through the movements and script whilst I sat in the gallery directing over talk back. We started again with the introduction, and the first part which is steals of the season.

Once everyone was on talk back I was able to direct the presenters and stand in's to their positions. I made sure cameras were all lined up where they were meant to be and what shot to begin on. I then got the P.A.s to give me a count down and asked them to roll the VT. Although we didn't have the real VT's that we were going to use in the show, we were still able to use other ones in their place so that I could cue in on time. We still did not have stings or music either but Del wanted me to get used to the timings and cueing in at the right time. I struggled on the first go forgetting stings and lining up camera shots quick enough. It was also apparent that the steals of the season section was taking a lot longer than the producers anticipated and felt it may need to be cut down to make the show work better.

By my third and fourth go I was starting to get into the swing of it. I kept myself calm and kept persisting on with it which helped me a lot rather than getting stressed and losing it altogether. I did one run through of these two sections and everything was looking a lot better. I was hitting my timings and lining up my shots better as well as my graphics. We decided to move onto the fashion fails section as I had not gone through this yet.

Since the VT had been shot we knew what the outfit was so we were able to bring this in on the mannequin to help run through this section. The camera plan that I had wrote before didn't seem to work with the shots that I needed. I also found this very complicated as we needed so much coverage based on what they were talking about. An example of this would be when they were talking about the bag, I needed a close up of the bag and then they would talk about the necklace so I needed to get a close up of that but also bridge it with a wide. This will take some getting use to but I'm sure over time I will start to get to grips with it more as I understand what I have to do but I need to make sure It works. The next problem was going from static to handheld with the cameras. I didn't have a good enough shot to change to when the camera operator was taking going from the tripod to handheld so I will have to plan an alternative for this.

Overall I think Im really improving but there is still a lot more work to do to get to the level I want to be at and to fix hidden logistics that have shown themselves in this rehearsal which I will look at over the easter break.

Transitions Unit - Initial Ideas

After we figured out the roles that we wanted to focus on, myself and Drey sat down to talk about a few ideas that we had. We decided that we wanted to do something in terms of drama and create something thrilling to watch. Our first thought was the hit US show American Horror Story. I first presented the idea to Drey and we both loved the style in which American Horror Story portrays. My first thought was a scene from Season 2 Episode 2 where the protagonists attempt to escape the mental institution that they had been wrongly placed in. The visual imagery was beautiful and I liked the way it was shot.

From a directors point of view, I already loved the shots and the aesthetic that American Horror Story already has and I wanted this to inspire my directing rather than recreate the scene. We also both said in order to do the scene justice it may prove difficult to get the right location on a tight budget so we feel this idea will not be feasible.

We then looked into the idea of doing a music video but instead of a slick, pop, heavily choreographed video, we would stick to something that has a narrative and drama to it. My first thought was a song called Sacrilege by The Yeah Yeah Yeah's. The video has a great story that lays over the music and shows a really interesting narrative that's gripping to watch. The thing I love most about this is the shots that are used and the way the short video is edited together. Its played backward to heighten reveals all the way through so we start as a viewer at the end and work our way to the first scene.

The music video can be seen here: 

We really like this idea and will present this to Simon for our one to one feedback.

Transitions Unit - RESEARCH A Directors Role

Over the course of this unit I am going to be the director so its important I know what my role is. With research, I will hope to build upon my existing knowledge in order to be the best I can be when it comes to the production shoot and have a clear understanding of what a director does.

The first thing to note is that a director is the key vision behind any film that he or she directs. This is key to capturing the feel and tone of what the audience are watching and delivers the narrative from script to on screen in a way the director wants it to be told. I found a good way of describing it when reading about it, imagine a solar system, the director is the sun in the middle and other departments like writers, actors, D.O.P.s and editors all orbit around him or her like planets. He or she is involved in every part of the process from pre production, production and post production to convey the film into its final piece.

When working with the cast and crew its important that the vision is relayed to them. The right people will understand and respect the vision that you have and you will all work well as a team to get the vision that was behind it. This includes the cast as the director will make important decisions about who to hire for the film to make sure the vision is still being adhered to as well as throughout the production.

Scripts if there is dialogue and shot lists are important to keep the shoot running to how the director wants it. It is key that a director will create a shot list so that he or she can refer to it on the day and ensure no shot goes a miss. Although its important to get the shots on the list, a director can add to things in the moment creating more variety to play with later on in the edit. One of the last parts of pre production is when the director will scout locations and test their ideas to ensure that the film is going to look right visually.

In production, the director must be clear about their vision and ensure all the cast and crew understand what he or she is trying to achieve. Although everything has been thought out and well prepared, some improvisation is great on shoot and a director should not be afraid to try something that comes into his or her head if it is not written down on paper. A film shoot is very time consuming. On average, shooting a page of a script will equate to a minute of film and it can take a long time to shoot each page. The cast and crew should be in high spirits and a director should share his passion through speech and body language to allow the crew to deliver.

In post production, a director will sit with an editor and they will go through the edit together. Its important that the director guides the editor into what they want the film to look like. Once this complete and the director is happy, this is called the directors cut. Although this can be changed into a final cut, the films tone and the pace of it is near enough exactly as the director had imagined it and the film is then complete.

Transitions Unit - Briefing

Unfortunately, I was not there for the briefing as I was away at a family event but I did make sure I went through the handbook and looked at notes that a class member had made for me. I broke it down into a simple structure so that I could understand the unit thoroughly as to what is expected of me. Below is the document that I produced:

From this, me and Drey decided that we wanted to work together on this project and build on the work we had done in the past. We discussed what eachother would like to do, I said about being director as this is something I am considering for my third year project and Drey liked the idea of being a D.O.P. We both decided that these are the roles we are going to take. From this we are going to sit together and come up with some ideas for a scene we would like to work on.

As Live Production Unit - First Rehearsal

As the script was complete in its first draft, today we did our first rehearsal. Going off of set design we knew a rough layout of what areas we were shooting with the soft area to the left, hard area in the middle and the catwalk area to the right. We had the presenters and stand in's so we could run through the show as if it was the real people there. I was first up in the gallery and since this was my first proper time doing anything like this Del walked me through what I should be doing. Everyone had talk back on and I was able to communicate to the camera operators where they should all be.

Once everything was ready to go we practiced the first section of the show which was the introduction and steals of the season. Over the course of the whole day I didn't make it much further than these two sections as I kept making errors and mistakes throughout the whole thing. I missed stings, camera shots were not directed very well, everything was all over the place. By the end of my turn in the morning I started to get the hang of it a bit better. I was using the right terminology and was understanding how the process works. Although I have done a lot of research into the role, putting it into practice was a lot more challenging. The biggest problem for me was being able to multi task. As a director you have to be focusing on more than one thing at a time and this I found very difficult. I was looking at the monitors for my shots as well as listening to the P.A. and working out what was coming up next on the script. I would often lose my place on the script and not know where I was and what I was doing. Although Del assured me this was normal and that I was improving more and more each time, I still found it very frustrating that I couldn't get to grips with it as quickly as I wanted to.

This rehearsal has been one of the biggest learning curves I have ever come across. Although I feel I improved throughout my rehearsal time, I am no where near ready to direct the show and will need a lot of practice before I get to the standard I want to be. I am ready for the challenge and will try 100% to get to the level I want to be before the show transmissions.

As Live Production - Script First Draft

The producers had produced a script with all the dialogue on the right hand side of the page and had sent it over to me. Since I am directing the first half of the show, its my job to put all the blocking and camera shots onto the left hand side of the script alongside the dialogue so we can see how the vision marries up with whats being said. I used my knowledge of a previous workshop into how this script should be written from my side. You can view a few example pages below showing the script as it was sent to me and after I finished it:

Before:

After:

I had gotten rid of the boxes and firstly typed the shot number on the right. This was then followed by the camera number I wished to be shooting on as well as what type of shot it is for example m.s. (Mid Shot), w.s. (Wide Shot). I then decided to display where the presenters were when it came to framing for example Alfie L.O.F ( Left Of Frame), R.O.F. (Right Of Frame), C.O.F. (Centre Of Frame). 

When there was a graphic on screen I used GFX to show that an image would be there and gave a brief description below it. I also included camera movements on here as well so that everyone would know when to move and where to also referring to the camera plan. I spent a long time on this first draft and I'm very pleased with the structure of it and my ability to apply technical language to make the script look as professional as it can possibly be. 

As live Production Unit - Production Meeting Four: Discussing Scripts and Contributors

Today instead of a large meeting together we all had individual progress meetings with Helen about how far along we are with the project. I first had a meeting with Katie and Mellisa (Producers) to discuss show content and the script. This went well although Helen wanted the script more conversational from the producers side. when looking at the script as a whole we all agreed that it was at a stage where I was able to put my camera and visual directions on the left hand side to marry with the dialogue. I shall be completing this over the weekend.

I next had a seperate meeting with Jack and Victoria as I know they had a few concerns about contributors and we wanted to discuss what the next step would be. Most of the contributors they were trying to get was in my half of the show so I felt it was best we all sat down together to get a plan in place. We already had 2 female models confirmed for the steals of the season section but no males. We discussed with jack expanding his research onto more websites and to keep posting adverts for male models. Our biggest concern was audience contributors for the fashion fails section. This is where one of our presenters goes into the audience and interviews a member of the public about a previous fail they have had in the way of fashion. We have not got any people that could contribute to this section so Helen suggested going to social clubs and asking retired people if they had pictures from the past. It would be more practical to talk to people in person rather than emailing or posting up advertisments. This is something we all agreed on. On the plus side all the VT contributors have been confirmed and is all set to go.

This meeting was very constructive and I feel we can move forward through all elements of production with the script and sourcing contributors for the show.

As Live Production Unit - Present Casting Audition

As we wanted to be as prepared as possible for the audition process, we asked Jemma to create an audition pack that could be sent out over the weekend so the candidates could be as prepared as possible for the day. Once I checked it over and made a few adjustments the pack was sent out to them. You can see below:

As you can see it has the name of the show on the title page as well as the time, date and location. It then follows with the schedule of the process with a map of where the studio is located as well as taxi information incase they needed this. The next page consists of the shoot dates that we are looking to film on as well as the live show so that they can be aware of the days we would need them for. The following two pages consist of a mock script that the producers put forward. This was decided by the team that it would be good to see them individually give us a a reading so we could see their potential as close to the shows format as possible. 

As there was a work shop going on at the time with del, we decided to split ourselves into two halves as one director, one producer and one project developer per half. Myself, Katie Joslin (Producer) and Jemma Cotterell (Production manager) decided to take the first half and interview them all individually whilst Gavin Roberts (Director), Melissa Moore (Producer) and Victoria Simmonds (Production manager) took the second half looking at pairing them up together and seeing who works well as a pair. 

The candidates all turned up to the studios on time and we showed them to the canteen where they could get some lunch. They were then back to the base room and the auditions then started. We took each of them one by one in a room and asked them a few questions for example why they are interested in the project, what they know about fashion already and there previous work with live or non live projects. We then all asked them to read the script that they had been given and practiced on us as the live audience to see their personality and how well they delivered it. Once this was complete we then asked them a few more question like their availability and any questions they had for us. This was then the first half completed. After Gavin's team had completed their half, we all sat down and had a group discussion on who we liked and who we thought would work well together. It was a completely unanimous decision that Adeline and Alfie would be our two presenters for the show based on their delivery, interest and personality for the tone of the show as well as their chemistry together. 

As Live Production Unit - Del's Workshop 3

In this workshop I was present for most of it but I had to leave a certain points as we had a casting audition scheduled in the afternoon to hire 2 presenters for the show. The purpose of this workshop was to see eachothers roles as we all swapped around. We began by staging an interview with some people on camera, some people being the talent, a person vision mixing, someone directing and someone being the P.A. We kept rotating until we all had a go at every job so we could apreciate each job roll that people have got to perform when it comes to transmission.
I started off on camera and had my talk back on so I could hear the gallery. This became quite confusing at first as I was watching what was going on infront of me, whilst looking at my camera framing and listening to the gallery for the directors commands and the P.A's count downs. Although I got use to this after a while I can see how added stress of doing this live could become quite difficult.

I next moved on being the vision mixer. Although I have had a little go of this before, it was nice to see what it would be like to go back to it. I was listening to the director at all times and standing by on the lower buttons following with cutting on the buttons above. Although I got more to grips with it this time, I can still apprciate how difficult this job is and can get quite confusing at times where I would make an error.

I finally finished doing the P.As job counting down the timings. This is something I found quite difficult as you have to make sure you are on time with everything and know how long it is to each section. If a section goes under or over, you have to add or take away time onto another section to make sure it runs on time. This to me was quite challenging as you have to make desicions very quickly.

Over all, although I was not present through all of it, I felt I learnt a lot from this workshop understanding what is expected of everyone throughout the whole show and although my job is stressful, everyone else has their pressured responsibilities also.

As Live Production Unit - Initial Presenter Casting (Skype Interviews)

Since the presenters are a really important part to the shows vibe and style, myself and the other director Gavin have decided that this is something we want to be really involved with along with the producers. We have asked Jack our researcher to put several adverts out across the board for presenters that would be interested in hosting the show. He then put them into information sheets with a clear picture and bulletpoints so that we could have an overview of who has applied. Below are a few examples:

Once this was done me and Gavin spoke to the producers and decided that we would both skype interview the applicants allowing us to filter who had potential for the show and who was not suitable. We wanted to do this as we feel its more efficient to get an idea of the person rather than just inviting them down for an audition straight away. Since their travel and expenses would be paid on the audition day, this would help us to be cost effective and less time consuming than the process would need to be on the audition day. We looked at all the people who had applied and contacted them via email arranging time slots for thursday the 1st march so that we would be able to interview each person at different times throughout the day.

Me and Gavin met up on the day of the interviews at a coffee shop and conducted the majority of the skype interviews writing notes as we went along to ensure we didnt miss any vital information that we may miss when we come to consider who we want to come along for an audition. We spoke to people over 20minute time slots and then had a discussion about who we liked and who we thought may not work for the show.

After a long conversation we finally picked 2 girls and 3 boys to come forward to the audition which will run next week. We sent out emails to all candidates who applied letting them know who was successful in moving forward and who was unfortunately not chosen to continue.