Evaluation

I believe the multi camera TV production was a success. At first everything was going smoothly and it looked liked it was going to be a great show. The producer and director both seemed confident and therefore boosted the classes’ ability to work. We all pitched ideas that were included into the final design for the show, we were all assigned roles, I was designated a camera operator.

In the first few weeks we made a basis for the shows running order and set layout. After visualising what the set would look like, we got to start on the rehearsing. It took some time for the hosts to get into character; therefore it took a few takes to get the opening script right. And when we did, it took them a while to get the closing script right. These two parts took so long and so many weeks that we all forgot about actually arranging the set.

We had all visualised the set, but never set it up. As a result, three quarters into the deadline we were faced with the task of arranging and setting up the set. It was at this time I was fed up with the producer for not organising our production schedule properly. Organising the set which should have taken a few weeks, only took us one lesson that was rushed, resulting in a poorly designed set and backdrops. Even more annoyingly, this lesson could’ve been used to practice the main parts of the show which the hosts had no rehearsals on.

A few weeks before the deadline, we had finally found some guests to help us rehearse the main parts of the show. Because these scenes were not scripted, the rehearsals were much more fluent and successful than the opening and closing scenes were. But because these were our first rehearsals with guests, the guests had not committed to the date our live production was on and therefore we had to change a few of them. This put our rehearsals at risk with, introducing the guest and the guest’s background and description.

But this was the hosts and producers problems. My role was to listen and obey instructions from the director. But I’m sure I speak for all the camera operators when I say the director wasn’t very good at directing. I’m sure he tried his best at times and he was overwhelmed trying to direct everyone. But failing to specify how far he wanted cameras to zoom in/out or pan, put all the camera operators including me in a bit of a pickle. Not to mention the times when the director never said anything throughout half of the show. i.e. #Hosts and guests get up and dance to music# (out of camera view) And the director says nothing, leaving it up to the camera operators to adjust the cameras to the shots they thought looked right.

Unfortunately this communication problem wasn’t resolved and we had to cope with it throughout the official production. But due to the rehearsals we had a clear idea of what to do if it happened again. And the producer finally recruited guests available for the date of our show, allowing a small amount of time for us to rehearse with them before the big day.

Overall I think the show was a success, although the rehearsals were terrible. Everyone completed their roles well, including director and a producer. Although next time I would probably get them to sort themselves out before the deadline so that we all feel more confident on the big day.

Health and Safety

Cables and Wires - Trip Hazard - Tape down cables and wires.

Tripods and Cameras - Heavy cameras and teleprompter could cause a tripod with loose movement locks to fall/tilt forwards or backwards, and as a result of this could cause damage to equipment, equipment to fall off the tripod or cause the whole tripod to topple over if enough weight was a applied - Have a sign, stating to make sure all cameras are locked and cannot be adjusted easily that could cause an accident. Lock all cameras securely.

Overheating - Cameras and lights can overheat, damaging equipment - Make sure all electrical equipment is switched when not in use for long periods of time. Use air conditioning to keep equipment cool, but make sure it's not noisy, for recording purposes.

Secure and Safe Set - If the set is not secure, it could fall apart and damage more of the set, or more seriously injure a person - Make sure staff are assigned to make sure the set is safe and secure. Also make sure there are medical facilities at hand in case of any accidents.

Script

Introduction

Jude: Hello and welcome to the 1.5 show, I'm Jude Leigh-Kaufman

Jack Branchflower: and I'm Jack Branchflower, and were back giving you the down low on this week's news stories, and trying to work out if they were written by a 5 year old or just someone with no common sense.

Jude: Before we kick off today's stories, we've got a special guest in the studio, Mr Jordan Essex is here and he'll be filling us in about his new film, a film that's been commented on saying '' is he for real ? this is actually a film ? ''

Jack: So let's start it off with the news.

---

Guest Of The Week

Jude: Now for our guest of the week. He's new film has been called ' this film is worse than the titanic remake '' and movie go-er's have been seen walking out of the cinema, with one saying ' we didn't even make it past the first 10 minutes ' when asked why, he just pointed at the title. 

Jack: and that title is Reem Attack, a film that is basically Mr Jordan Essex just saying Reem in every scene, once even in another accent, which may surprise people , as we thought he could do no other than just touch his hair.

Jude: Here to defend his own film, is the man himself, Jordan Essex.

- Jordan walks on set, takes seat next to hosts-

Jack: So jordan good to have to you here, now what do you say to these reviews of your film, which apparently only took a couple of hours to film ?

---

Band introduction

Jack: Now we've got loads of comments coming in about Jordan Essex's comments about not knowing who Gaddafi is, and thinking he was a brand, but while we get them all in, it's time for some music.

Jude: Our entertainment this week, apart from the mocking of Mr Essex, come from a local Band, Dead Baby Birds. The group came together in 2009 covering punk, hard rock and metal, and then went on to producing their own songs. Jack you've heard a few of their songs, any good ?

---

Ending

Jude: And I'm afraid thats all we've got time for this week, a big thanks to Jordan Essex, who film continues to be unseen by the smart people in Essex, and all of the country for that matter

Jack: We'll be back next saturday at an earlier time of 9.30 as apparently XFactor will be having a shock twist in the show, and word just in, the twist is that they may actually have people on the show that can sing, and don't have a dead parent, dead arm or aren't completely mental.

Jude: Till then, Thanks to Dead Baby Birds who will be playing us out with their take on a classic. Goodnight!

Jack: Goodbye!

Equipment List

Video Camera(s) - 3

Tele Prompter - 1

Lighting Desk -1

Vision Mixing Desk - 1

Sound Engineering Desk - 1

Tie Microphones - 4

Headsets - 6

Macs - 1

Mugs - 2

Headphones - 1

Boxing Gloves - 1

Hosts Desk - 1

2 Seated Couch with Cushions - 1

Backdrops - 2

Production Progress

These past few weeks me and my class have been rehearsing our production. In the 1st few weeks or our rehearsals we hadn't had a script yet because it takes time to prepare, so we just had to improvise. At 1st these improvisational rehearsals worked successfully and it was good practice. But after a while it got a bit tedious. This s because no one liked the script so it had to be scrapped and re-written. This wasted time and reduced the amount of organised run throughs we had. This was also the case because of teacher absences. Of course the teacher cannot help being ill on these dates, but the director and producer were not reliable enough to continue working without assisstance.

When our rehearsals became more organised, with a rough script and coloured lighting, we decided to involve back drops. But unfortunatly this took over 3/4's of our lesson and as a result we were not able to rehearse.

Further more we experienced many technical difficulties, including faulty microphones, colour correcting cameras, faulty tele prompter, faulty vt segments and cut aways and more... Which all of which we left to the last minute to fix, therefore making the final production a rushed project.

In the last few weeks, we had recorded, edited and sourced all the material necessary to record our final production. But during this time I felt dissappointed in our producer and director because they had let me and the class down. The producer failed to keep us on track and organised and often used the excuse he had work on a certain day, so he couldn't complete some of the work himself that was related to his role as producer. And the director, all though good at times, failed to use specific terms of media jagen, making it hard for me and others to understand instructions and also at times became dead silent and never gave instructions to any of the camera crew or floor manager. As a result of this we had to improvise and the show may not have been as good as it could have been.

My Role - Camera Operator

Sourced from 'The Production Roles in the TV. Studio' booklet handed out by Steve (Video Lecturer):

"Cameraperson: Go over the shots with director prior to taping... Be familiar with all terms for types of shots, i.e., close up, dolly in, tilt down,etc. Keep tripod adjustments loose enough to move camera upon command with smooth movements... Recieves instructions from director on headsets regarding which shots to line up during taping."

My own Words: My role is to operate the camera, achieving the camera angles asked of me by the director smoothly and accurately on cue. Also due to operating the camera with the tele prompter, i had to be extra careful and make sure the hosts could see the autocue at all times.

Sourced from Skillset - http://www.skillset.org/film/jobs/camera/article_4688_1.asp:

Camera Operators perform a vital role within the camera department on feature films. They support the Director of Photography (DoP or DP), and the Director, by accurately carrying out their instructions regarding shot composition and development. The seamless ease with which the camera moves is key to the narrative flow of feature films, and is the Camera Operators' responsibility. They are usually the first people to use the camera's eye piece to assess how all the elements of performance, art direction, lighting, composition and camera movement come together to create the cinematic experience.
The DoP or Director often requests a specific Camera Operator, who in turn makes recommendations about the rest of the Camera and Grip Departments. The work is physically demanding, and requires high levels of strength and stamina. Hours are long (12-14 hours a day), and some foreign travel may be required, involving long periods spent away from base.

Class Production Roles

Producer- Jordan

Director- Lewis

Floor Manager- Casey

Script Writers- Ellie

Hosts- Jack and Jude

Camera operators- Tim (me), Rebecca, Jorge

Tele prompter- Christina

Vsion Mixer- Freddie

Lighting- Hope

Title Sequence- Ben

Graphics- Jordan

Sound- Harold

The 1.5 Show running order

Title sequence

Introduction from presenters

Small quantity of news

Introduce Mit

Mit's vt segment

Interview with Mit

More news (funny story)

Introduce Charlie

Interview Charlie

Outro

Band play with rolling credits

Finalising Multi-Camera Production

'The 1.5 Show'

• Magazine style show
• 2 Hosts
• 2 Guests
• 3 cameras (multi-camera) 1 Camera broadcasted a side on shot of the studio floor and close ups on guests. A 2nd camera broadcasted a side on shot of studio floor and (side) close ups of hosts. And a 3rd camera broadcasted a close up of hosts and a wide shot of the whole studio floor (Hosts and guests). The 3rd camera also was equipped with with a teleprompt which provided the hosts with a script to be read whilst looking at the camera.
• Dress Code - Casual clothing
• Purple/Pink lighting, this was 'The 1.5 Show's' colour scheme.
• Pre-recorded and edited video segments to introduce guests.
• VFX - Show Titles and Credits
• General news and gossip
• Music Band
• Props: pens, paper, glasses/mugs

Finalising Multi-Camera Production

After separating into mini-groups to make our own seprate ideas for a multi-camera live television production (Brainstorming and powerpoint), the whole class gathered round to organize our official production. This involved incorporating ideas from each mini-group, and assigning roles to members in the class.

We decided what style the show was going to be, the layout of the set, backdrops, external video footage (cut aways), how many guests and who they would be, how many hosts there would be and finally what would be involved in the show to keep it running smoothly for 10-15 minutes.

Power Point for our Pitch

Brainstorming for our Pitch

Talk Show - 

Interview music band + Andy Popperwell

Vox Pops

Andy: upcoming events - Ask Havering etc.

Music Band: Top 3 Music hits and performing at Ask Havering etc.

Target Audience: 

Ages: 16 - 21

Demographic -  D

Running Title: 'Students Speak'

(Present the pitch via Powerpoint)

Music: Top 3 hits, discussion, opinions and rating with guests (music band) who will perform at 'Ask Havering'.

Local News?

Back Stage - Interviews with Ask Havering host; Michael Cockerell, students attending Ask Havering and other panelists.

Single Camera - Back stage interviews, vox pops (cut away, not live) , interview with Andy Popperwell (cut away, not live)

Multi-Camera - Interview with Music Band, Local News?

Research - Analysing Multi-Camera TV shows

Question Time- (Live - Debate Show Format)

Props: 6 panelists, smart / casual wear for the panelists and the audience (formal), pens, water glasses and paper on panels. The backdrop was colourful and advertises the shows title.

Running Order:
Host introduces themselves and the audience.
Title Sequence.
Host introduces the panelists.
Asks for the 1st question from the audience.
Debate / answer over the panelists, host and audience.
(Each topic lasts for about 10-20 minutes)
Asks audience for the next question... (continues to repeat this stage until the end of the show)
Credits

Camera Angles:
Mid-shots and Close Ups of panelists
Close Ups of audience - Person asking question to the panel
Wide view (side on) of whole panel
4 or 5 Camera's - 2 Camera's on Panelists (close up), 1 or 2 Camera's on Audience and 1 side on view of panel.

Camera and Boom operators stand on side walk interviewing / picking up audiences questions.

VFX - Low banner (Lower 3rd Caption), introducing speaker on panel and occupation.

Lighting: Constant bright (white) lighting, illuminating the all of the audience and panel.

Question Time use multi-camera techniques to make it more interesting for the viewer. Because it's a debate show, the viewer would get bored really easily and switch channels if it was only from one camera angle. But because it is multi-camera, the vision mixer can enhance the flow of the programme for the viewer by making snappy or fast paced changes between multiple camera's.

Question Time also use multi-camera techniques to gain coverage of the action (i.e. panelists or audience's reactions). Having multiple camera's allows the programme to focus on multiple people at the same time and therefore they are able to broadcast it within quick succession. This enables the viewer to take in the information that they would be able to take in, if they was actually there on set.

It is also more efficient if Question Time have multiple camera's, because with more camera's for the vision mixer to change between, less mistakes will be made if one of the camera's malfunctioned or was too slow on its cue to achieve a certain picture.





The One Show- (Live - Magazine Show Format)

Running Order:
Title Sequence
Introduce the Host's
Introduce and Interview with Stephen Fry.
Cut away to a Pub Quiz involving Stephen Fry from the studio. (Live)
Non-Live cut away's to alternative programmes that Steven Fry presents.

Whole show based on or around Stephen Fry.

Camera Angles:
4 or 5 different camera's
1 Camera on both hosts
1 Crane Camera (Wide shot / sweep)
1 Camera on Stephen Fry
1 Camera viewing the hosts and Stephen Fry in a wide shot
1 Handheld camera at the pub cut away

VFX - Lower 3rd Caption introducing hosts and stephen Fry and presenter in the pub quiz.

Lighting: was bright and illuminated hosts and guest.

The One Show uses multi-camera techniques to make it more interesting for the viewer. Because it's a magazine show, they are more relaxed about the personalities of the hosts and the camera techniques used. This makes it easier to entertain the viewer. However if it was broadcast from only one camera angle, the viewer would get bored really easily and switch channels. But because it is multi-camera, the vision mixer can enhance the flow of the programme for the viewer by making snappy or fast paced changes between multiple camera's. Another advantage due to the relaxed theme of the show, The One Show has a Crane camera. Which allows a relaxed and entertaining sweep / panning shot of the audience or hosts.

The One Show also use multi-camera techniques to gain coverage of the action (i.e. Hosts or alternative live event, the pub quiz). Having multiple camera's allows the programme to focus on multiple people or events at the same time and therefore they are able to broadcast it within quick succession. This enables the viewer to take in the information that they would be able to take in, if they was actually there on set and more.

It also is more efficient if The One Show have multiple camera's, because with more camera's for the vision mixer to change between, less mistakes will be made if one of the camera's malfunctioned or was too slow on its cue to achieve a certain picture.

The One Show uses multiple camera's to match their deadline before the next programme is due to broadcast. It would be a waste of time to travel back and forth from the studio to the pub and back again, just to broadcast a live image. Therefore multiple camera's help in time saving and efficiency, at the pub and at the studio, making sure they finish on time for the next programme.

Multiple Formats - Types of Shows that use Multiple Camera's

• Debate Shows
• Comedy Chat Shows
• Game Shows
• Gambling Shows
• Sports Entertainment
• Sport Shows
• Music Shows
• Music Entertainment
• Reality TV
• News / Informative / Magazine
• Award Ceremony
• Cookery shows
• Educational
• Sit-Coms (Frasier + Everybody Loves Raymond)

Reasons for Multi-Camera production:

• Live Reactions (Everyones)
• More efficient (less takes / shoots)
• Spare equipment if things malfunction or break
• Boring if from 1 camera angle (Viewer interest)
• Fast Paced
• Coverage of action

Time Restraints: Environment, deadline, hire cost, next programme.

Brief

Assignmentsheet 1 Unit of study/Title:  22: Multi-Camera Techniques Date set:                  W/C 19th September 2011 Completion date:    4pm Friday 2nd December 2011 Group:                      Extended Diploma Media Year 2 Lecturer:                  Stephen Pick _______________________________________________________

Internal Verifier Andy Popperwell Assignment writer Stephen Pick Assessors Stephen Pick

Learning outcomes: 1. Understand programme formats that use multi-camera production 2. Be able to plan a multi-camera production 3. Be able to apply multi-camera production techniques Introduction: The term multi-camera production covers a wide range of specialisms and skills in the moving image industry. It is applied in situations as diverse as live broadcasts of sports events and concerts, TV productions such as game and chat shows, and the provision of screen displays for corporate conferences. A good grasp of these skills provides the foundation for working in specific technical and production roles in the industry, from studio producer to sports camera, and to work on programmes as diverse as soap operas, comedy game shows, music festival broadcasts, local news magazines or Premier League football matches. For your task, ‘Propellor TV’ is a cable station seeking content for their channel. You should form a production team, produce and record a live television show of 15-20 minutes duration to submit for broadcast. Tasks You should compile a range of research material on your online blog looking at and analysing the different programme formats and the reasons for multi-camera use. (P1 M1 D1) Interim deadline: W/C 10th October 2011 Plan your show and ensure that you have considered best use of time and resources.  Provide evidence of your planning in the form of all relevant production forms, such as storyboards, floor plans and scripts.   (P2 M2 D2) Interim deadline: W/C 1st November 2011 Film your live television show in your chosen roles using the techniques you have learnt throughout the assignment.    (P3 M3 D3) Deadline: 4pm Friday 2nd December 2011 You will be working in a production team to produce the show, so allocate yourselves roles and responsibilities throughout.  Individually you should keep a diary of the production, what went right, what went wrong, and type up a 500-word evaluation of what you did and thought. You need to submit your own content for the research and pre-production material, which details your individual contribution to that documentation.

Grading criteria

To achieve a pass grade the evidence must show that the learner is able to:

P1            Describe multi-camera production

programme formats expressing ideas with sufficient clarity to communicate them and with some appropriate use of subject terminology

P2            Plan a multi-camera production working within appropriate conventions with some assistance

P3            Apply multi-camera production techniques with some assistance.

To achieve a merit grade the evidence must show that, in addition to the pass criteria, the learner is able to:

M1   Explain multi-camera production programme formats with reference to well-chosen examples expressing ideas with clarity and with some generally appropriate use of subject terminology

M2   Plan a multi-camera production competently and effectively showing some imagination and with only occasional assistance

M3   Apply multi-camera production techniques to a good technical standard with only occasional assistance.

To achieve a distinction grade the evidence must show that, in addition to the pass and merit criteria, the learner is able to:

D1   Critically evaluate multi-camera production programme formats with supporting arguments and elucidated examples expressing ideas fluently and using subject terminology correctly

D2   Plan a multi-camera production to a quality that reflects near professional standards showing creativity and flair and working independently to professional expectations

D3   Apply multi-camera production techniques to a technical quality that reflects near professional standards working independently to professional expectations.

Welcome!!!

I am Timothy Willcox and I wish to welcome you to my blog, enjoy...



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