As Live Production: (Rehearsal with Presenters)

Today was our first rehearsal with our final presenters, which made the show feel all the more real.We had planned previously hat cameras each of us were on (I was sharing camera three with Jason. I'm filming the second half and assisting him in the first).

When we reached the studio it was back to the routine of setting everything up. Given we had done this before in our rehearsal last week we all seemed to know what we were doing and who was on what role. It was then a case of laying out the studio set mockup using tape which Jack brought.
Everyone had the same version of the script, meaning everyone was more prepared and had a clear idea of what would be required of them. The directors felt that we should rehearse a different section of the script. The advantage of this was that we had some mock up/rough cut VT's prepared and we knew exactly how long we had between segments and the gallery/VT operators could practice the running of these clips. This gave the VT mockups we made have another use besides from just being practice.

As the day went on we discovered that although we all had the same script the camera blocking on it was a little rushed and a lot of it needed re-working. I suggested to the directors that everything was too static and that the cameras needed to have a bit more movement than being stationary on tripods. Even the handheld camera was on a tripod which made the whole operation seem too fixated.

I spoke to Del too and he said in our meeting at the end that this is something we will resolve later on in rehearsals once our roles have all ben perfect he said "we will get the basics first sovereign is fluid and then star working on movement. Don't run before you can walk".

This made things a lot clearer for me, and whilst camera work was straight forward for the camera operators (since we've been using these cameras for two years) there were other team members in completely new roles they had never practiced before (like the directors) and therefore it was easier for them to start off without overcomplicating things.

Throughout the day I would take script notes on camera movement. Whilst this wasn't set in stone and would eventually change once everyone has perfected their roles it was a good habit to get into and allowed myself and Jason to have a reminder for next rehearsal as we have a two week easter break in between. The next scene we rehearsed was the finale. This was the section that took the longest. Since we had to get all of our contributors on to the stage, move our cameras with a fast turn around, and still guide the presenters, it was quite the challenge.

Today was asuccess for our production overall. We were far better improved than last weeks rehearsal and one thing I did lear in everything was to be patient. As camera op there was a lot of waiting round for other people to get into their jobs but being a good team player I acknowledged this and did my best to support them and make their lives easier by offering help and suggesting alternatives. Hopefully next rehearsal we will be able to have a full run-through.