Commission: Roles

Researcher

The role of a researcher within television is to develop programme ideas, using their understanding of the industry. They'll then give their findings to the producers and other decision makers within the show. "TV Researchers originate or develop programme ideas, drawing on their knowledge and understanding of industry requirements, and present their findings to decision makers." (http://creativeskillset.org/job_roles/308_researcher_tv)

Researchers also carry out interviews to assess potential contributors and their availability for inclusion in their project. During production they arrange transport for the contributors, greet them, brief them and escort them to the studio or location.

When I was working on BBCs 'Watchdog' I found the researchers would speak to the contributors on the phone before meeting to discuss the issues they've had with a company. This was a relaxed, casual phone call and gave researchers the opportunity to invite them down to the studio to be on the show.  "They carry out preliminary telephone and/or face-to-face interviews to assess contributors' potential suitability and availability for inclusion in each programme according to its genre and format."(http://creativeskillset.org/job_roles/308_researcher_tv)

The researchers on Watchdog would be really kind and treat the contributors well, and whilst it was my job look after them they had already leased with the researchers so had a familiar person to speak to. "After years of intensive analysis, Google found the key to good teamwork is being nice" (Mohdin,  2016). Thus looking after contributors is a very valuable asset to have in production because it means clients are more likely to stay on board. 

Researchers also check facts, work across all genres of televisions of production.They need to understand and work within, relevant legislation and regulations. They can be briefed by the producers or other 'decision makers' about programme ideas and then carry out further development on their idea.
"They also identify relevant data, contributors, locations or archive material, collating and assessing information from various sources, and ensuring that legal, compliance and copyright requirements are met." 

Locations for my commission were quite awkward to organise. I was faced with a huge restriction in my commission piece, arguably the biggest one I could've had and that was that I was unable to access any archive footage from the studio as they didn't have any, and I was unable to film inside the actual studios for health and safety and legal reasons; ITV are currently leasing the studio so anything that happens in the studio, responsibility lies at their doors. Given that this is a vital part of the promotional video, it made it very difficult and brainstorming ideas to resolve this issue was far from easy. After pushing to film and explaining how important it was I was able to get access to certain areas of the building to film. 

Director

Directors are the people who are responsible for the 'creative translation' of a film's script into actual images and sounds onto screen.

During the pre-production, they direct rehearsals and performances when the film gets to production. They also manage tech aspects like, camera, sound, lighting, design and SFX.
In post they work closely with editors to help them reach their final version of the film.

"Directors make crucial decisions, such as selecting the right cast, crew and locations for the film". Something thats really inspired my directing was a masterclass I had last year where British award-winning director for film and TV is screenwriter Farren Blackburn came in and discussed his professional career in directing. I felt very inspired by what he had to say and it influenced my 'Directions Unit' Project at the time.When having meetings to discuss new projects, Blackburn often uses mood boards to show how he wants things to look like and refers to different movies, but he never uses stills from movies to say exactly how he'll do it. I too for my project designed a storyboard for how I wanted my promotional video to go, as it would help me visualise how I wanted my piece to look.

Producer

The producer has the overall control over on every aspect of the production and their responsibilities span over then entire production. They bring together/approve the cast and crew. I too organised my crew. I needed an animator to help with studio split graphic and a crew member to help with lighting on shoot with lighting and carrying equipment since I'm using a lot of heavy, expensive equipment. 

This meant sourcing an animator, and being at a creative university, there were plenty around. I spoke to Fergus Maloney, my course technician who has experience in animation. I had a meeting with him to discuss my ideas and to see if they were possible. He was very willing to help and after speaking to him I could see he was as passionate about it as I was and he agreed to help show me how to animate this graphic. I gave Joe a briefing by showing him my Treatment Proposal so he had an idea on what the video is about and it's running themes. I also showed him other examples of a building breakdown, this way he would be able to hopefully visualise how I wanted it to look. I went through with him days we are both available so we could go through the graphic together. In professional industry I would probably have meetings every other week to check on progress and to discuss any issues/resolutions. However, because of filming restrictions, and even the studio space is such vital element, I felt it best for me to sit down with him and be more hands on with the project. I too was able to learn the process of building a 3D image, and once I learn a key concept theres no limit to what else I can do with it: “It's important to learn the concepts of editing, as this gives you skill and experience not only in the digital technology but also in important concepts about pacing, structure, and how shots interact with each other.” (Wolsky, 2013. Pg. 8).

They are accountable for the success of the finished film. Producers secure rights, choose screenwriters and story edit teams. They raise the funding and supervise the development process.
In pre-prod the producer will bring together key creative members of their crew including, the Director, Cinematographer and Production Designer as well as key cast members.
Producers will also approve locations, studio hire, final shooting script, production schedule and budget.
In terms of programme ideas the entire responsibility rested on my shoulders. Whilst I found it useful generating ideas form the brief and other people, responsibility lied at my door, so it was solely up to me what ideas passed. This meant I also had to be strict on myself and realistic with my budget. "Without an agreed budget, you will not be in any position to start making proposals and decisions about scheduling"(Production Management for Television, Leslie Mitchell). 

Editor

The edit for me was a strange process. I started out with a rough edit before I knew I could film, which mainly included graphics and animations. However, after filming, the style of my video changed so much, those graphics and transitions look out of place. Again, just like with my green screen shoot, I got a lot of coverage and needed to go through all my footage and organise into appropriate folders based on location and mark the clips I don't want to use (red), are good enough to use (amber) and I definitely want to use (green).
"Editors work closely with the Director, making rushes into sequences that make sense.
They work closely together before shooting, deciding how to get the maximum out of the screenplay." (creativeskillset.org/job_roles/758_director)

The role of editor job rested solely on me and because I was also the director it meant I could edit to the style and intentions I had. The only problem this brought me was the fact that I was very hesitant in cutting clips I had filmed. An editor would be more brutal because they haven't gone through the process of filming and directing and therefore aren't as happy or attached to the work and so will cut what does and doesn't work and not include a shot that isn't necessary just because it looks good. 

Cinematographer 

Given I've never really filmed with the Panasonic 4K camera before part form in a workshop, I am use to using the Sony EX, so I thought it would be worth my time doing a little research into filming with the Panasonic cameras. In my research into the art of cinematography I stumbled along Danny Cohen, an Oscar and Bafta nominated cinematographer who has worked on films like 'The King's Speech.' He said his job is to help the director realise what is in is head by putting it on screen. I am the director and cinematographer so I can hopefully recreate exactly what I want when filming. He says:"The cinematographer creates a consistent look for the film and makes images that help tell the story. It's what's in the frame, the lighting, getting the mood right - getting images that push the story along and keeps the audience inside, not outside, the film." (Cohen, BBC, 2011). 
Cinematogrpahers put the directors vision to to practice so we have a genuine visual representation. "They provide a film with its unique visual identity, or look."(http://creativeskillset.org/job_roles/759_director_of_photography). 

References:

By Aamna Mohdin

February 26, 2016

https://work.qz.com/625870/after-years-of-intensive-analysis-google-discovers-the-key-to-good-teamwork-is-being-nice/

Wolsky, 2013. Pg. 8

Production Management for Television, Leslie Mitchell