TV Studio

The past few weeks have all been go go go, especially within this TV Studio module so let me catch you up with what has been going on!

Groups and choosing our roles
The first thing that happened was that we were put into groups. I was put into a group with Tasha, Ashleigh, Dave and Rio which I was really happy with as we all get on really well so I know that we will work effectively together as a team. We then had to all choose the roles of a TV studio team that we wanted. The roles up for grabs were: Producer, Floor Manager, Presenter, Director and Set Designer. I knew that I definitely didn't want to be director or set designer as I'm not always the best at having a creative eye with camera angles or what looks good on screen. I wouldn't have minded being the role of Presenter because I feel confident in front of the camera however I preferred to try something different and 2 members of the group wanted that role. I decided that I definitely wanted to be either the Producer or the Floor Manager as these are job positions that I am considering as my future positions in my career. I successfully ended up being Floor Manager which I'm really excited about as I can get practice of the job and see if it's something I fancy doing again in the future. 

Camera Workshop
We had our first camera workshop with our lecturers, Trevor and Alex, who showed us how to use the brand new cameras and gallery. I was very nervous to do this as using these cameras were completely new to me but the lecturers made us all feel at ease and once we started to use them, I became comfortable using them. Having a go at the gallery was enjoyable however I realised just how much stress and pressure real directors have on live studio shows as they have to choose the right cameras at the right time otherwise you end up with bad shots. After this session I felt more confident using the cameras for our live shoot but I will appreciate more practice. 

Paper Planes
As one of the major parts of the show we have to produce is a demonstration with the guest, we had a mini task of planning and filming a short demo for kids TV about how to make a paper plane. We had to write a script, design the set and then have the presenter present whilst 3 of us were on cameras and the director was in the gallery instructing us what to do on cameras. Unfortunately I was struck down with tonsillitis so couldn't come into uni for the filming of our Paper Planes piece. However because I still wanted to play a major part in the production, I wrote the script for the show. I found it enjoyable writing the script as I thought it was exciting planning exactly what the presenter will say and how the show will go. This is definitely something I want to do more of. We got positive feedback from our piece and I was really proud of my group for how amazing our mini show looked! I was happy that we had this task because it made us realise about some key things that may seem small to us but actually made a big difference on camera. For example, it was crucial to look how every shot is framed, especially on close ups as often presenter's hands would get in the way of the paper plane so it was hard to see what the instruction was. Also it is important that the presenter isn't wearing any noisy jewellery that interferes with the mic. Overall this task was extremely helpful because it opened our eyes to the fact that we need to be aware and plan everything because there isn't room for mistakes on live TV. 

Cross Shooting
As another practice exercise we did with the cameras was practice cross shooting. Cross shooting is often used on chatshows when there is an interviewer interviewing a guest. There are 3 cameras with the middle camera focused on both the interviewer and guest. Then the other 2 cameras are focused on just one of them, with each camera focused on the other person. I found it really interesting to learn how to do this because I've spent years watching this technique being done on lots of different shows so it was great to finally learn how it is all done. With this knowledge I feel that it will definitely help make our shows look more professional.

Initial Ideas
After our first group meeting in which we created a list of over 40 ideas for guests, from fashion designers, to dancers, to circus performers, we decided to go away and research an idea each properly, contacting the prospective guest and seeing if they would be up for appearing on the show. For us, we decided that we wanted to find our guest first, and as long as they were an interesting person, the show concept could be created around them. The idea that I went and researched was the idea of having a comedian on the show as I thought this would ensure that our show would be entertaining. As Liverpool has a big comedy community I knew that there were lots of people who I could talk to about appearing on the show. I went down to a local comedy night and asked around the comedians to see if they would be up for coming on the show and received an overwhelmingly positive response. It's great to know that if we go with this idea that we would be able to choose an ideal guest from those who volunteered.