As Live: Evaluation
What could I develop?
From research to rehearsals this project has been challenging but enjoyable. If I was to do this unit again I wold consider trying out other roles or at least being able to have more experience in them so I could really benefit from another skill. Something I wish I could get more experience in would be sound. I haven't had much studio experience in this and feel our workshops could've gone more in depth as when practicing in one workshop I was shown straight on it with little experience. Luckily Del and Fergus realised this and were able to help me after but my turn was nearly over so I would definitely like to play with this a bit more and see if it is a role I would consider in the future perhaps. However, this is the same with most roles and it would take to long to be able to have an attempt at every single role in production.
What did I learn?
Due to unforeseen circumstances I was unable to make it long to the Etsy shoot which was a massive setback fro the rest of my group. However, I wanted to insure they were not left in the dark with this at all and so went ahead and planned the shoot down to detail with a detailed shot list. I also showed the group some clips of a similar themed programme and the way thats filmed/edited so they would have an idea on the visual aesthetic and what to aim for. I also made it clear to get as much actuality as possible to avoid it being a plain static interview. I feel the outcome was great and although I wish I was there, my planning meant my group weren't left in the dark with it.
Another what could've gone even better was the camera me and Jason were on for the show. We were using a Sony PXW whereas every else was on the Sony EX300's and a new JVC. As a result it was very difficult to match our lower budget camera up with the rest of them in terms of color and white balance. However, this also really tested my ability with cameras, patience and trial and error. I was really able to develop a much more complex understanding of cameras and also colouring, something I would have only done roughly on shelf shooting. I've never had to match up that in depth with multiple cameras. The closest I came to it was when shooting our documentary in Berlin where we also had a multi camera setup. However the cameras were all the same DSLRs so colouring was all fairly straight forward.
Myself, Jason and Ferg tried to fix the color/white balance and we spent a lot of time playing with the camera which meant really getting to know the in's and outs, and lot of it tested my own knowledge beyond the manual. It was great to learn hands-on rather than just reading about it.
What didn't work
One thing that I feel didn't work was the finishing shot of mine from behind the audience. I think seemed too quick and out of place since its only used once at the end of the show. Preciously it was too static and just doesn't work very well as it doesn't really show much off. I suggested to the directors we have a track or jib but according to Gavin it's a health and safety hazard to leave them at the back, and pointless for being used once. "The Health an Safety at Work..is often regarded the profession as high water mark of its achievement" (Health and Safety in a Changing World, edited by Robert Dingwall, Shelley Frost). I then suggested it was used more than once and could be used for the back shot when Alfie interviews audience and also as an opening shot at the start but health and safety was still an issue regardless. I feel like if the track or jib was used in the opening shots of the show it wouldn't cause any issues as our camera (camera 2) isn't used much here and the static shot could be replicated by any of the cameras.
To improve this I raised the tripod and did a tilt up to close the show. Although this made it a lot better and less static I still feel a track or jib would be more effective.
My biggest issue overall was that I don't think I was able to exceed my full potential in my role as studio camera. When put on a camera I thought I would be more hands on and be able to be more creative in what I filmed but later realised it was more up to the director. Because of the nature of studio production where the Director choses shots, I had to move according to that which isn't something I would enjoy so much. If I was to do the studio production again I would give directing a go as I think it would allow me to be more creative. Luckily I was able to express this creativity when directing VT's which is something I really enjoyed and would definitely do again.
What worked
Directing is a career path of interest to me, so being able to put this to practice for our VT’s was a great learning curve for me. “Director is like a symphony conductor. The crew members play their “instruments”. The director coordinates them, calls the shots of who “plays” what when and sets the timing and pace.”(Holcomb, 2009). This is a rule I found challenging but found that with preparation like storyboards and shot lists I was able to walk into the shoots knowing exactly what I wanted.
The VT's really worked well, and I was able to adopt my own style using inspiration from one of my favourite shows 'The Grand Tour', who's style I admire. I spent a long time researching my style for this and knew what I wanted and inspiration came from all over including music videos with he likes of G-Eazy's video 'sober' which was released just before my own shoot. Overall I am pleased with the VT's and I think for Old to New the lighting and style of filming for each era really worked in putting the audience into that era of clothing (60's,70's,80's and 90's).
To conclude, I am very pleased with the shows outcome. There were plenty of mistakes made in rehearsals which as a team we learned from and really pulled together for the show allowing it to go as smoothly as possible and myself and my team were able to remain professional. I have learnt a great amount throughout this process and I think it has allowed me to be more confident but also more aware of the other roles within the group and working with each other on making decisions.
I feel as if this role has given me a lot of experience in a studio environment and it has challenged my skills in camera and directing to an even higher level than before production, whilst developing new ones throughout the process. I’m especially happy with the skills I have developed and how I’ve found where I would like to go with my own directing style.
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