AS LIVE PRODUCTION; PROJECT EVALUATION

The 'As Live Production' has felt like one of the longest units so far, but also one that I think required the most amount of work. Starting back in January with our pitches, when myself and Aimee pitched our idea for a show; 'Challenging Times' the project seemed like one of the most daunting yet. Once 'Steal the Style' was pitched to us and we were given our roles, I was slightly aprehensive about being a VT Producer and Operator. Firstly, I didn't particularly want to do any roles that were technical as it isn't something I enjoy and I would personally say I am not very good at anything majorly 'technical'. Moreover the idea of being a VT producer was equally as daunting because its about being in control of people, particularly people that I hadn't worked with before, so I wasn't entirely sure how this would work out.

The Models and Photographer we used for Old to New

During this project, I learnt that the importance of being on top of the dates and times of filming, and always communicating these correctly. Unfortunately, I told the models that we originally had plans to use for the Old to New VT, that we would be filming on the 14^th of March, when in fact we were filming on the 15^th. The reason for this was that the locations couldn’t do the date we wanted so we had to change it, I found that our filming dates changed a lot due to various reasons, and I struggled to keep up with them leading to this mistake. In the end we managed to get new models involved in the project and it worked out perfectly, however a lot of hassle could have been avoided if I was to have given the correct dates. In future, I am very wary now to make sure all the correct dates are written out, as well as this I think it would avoid any issues if i perhaps kept in contact with contributors a bit more. I could email them about a week before filming and confirm everything once again to make sure they are still available for the dates, meaning there would be no last-minute problems, and everything can be organised for the filming days.

Bonnie - Etsy Seller in DIY

Furthermore, as a VT producer, it was really important to set and stick to deadlines. Within this project, because the content for our VTs (the baseline for us to follow) took some time to get to us, we struggled to set filming dates as early as possible. Once we were given the rough idea that the VT needed to follow, myself and the researcher could begin to iron out the exact content. At this time, I didn’t set exact filming dates and I think this could have hindered as slightly. At the time I didn’t think to set preliminary deadlines because I wanted to find the contributors and locations first. However, I know realise that it would have been good to set a date purely for something to work towards, it would help all of the crew know what is going on as well as for first talks with contributors. When dealing with contributors you have to make sure you fit in around their schedule, especially for such projects that they aren’t being paid for. For example, with the Etsy VT, our contributor Bonnie had a tight schedule and we had to film about a week later than we needed too. This meant that we had to edit throughout the Easter break and make sure it was ready for our first full rehearsal. Whilst the VT still went well and the edit was done in plenty of time, it is still something that I would be cautious of in future projects, you have to adapt to the needs of your contributors if it means good content. Moreover, something that I would also like to improve on and have learnt in this project, is to pay attention to detail and understand that even a second of something being out of place in footage, can throw the whole thing out. After our rehearsals, Del asked us to make sure the VTs had no fade to blacks on them as this looked odd in the live studio setting. In and amongst all of the title and audio changes we had to do on all four of the VTs, I didn’t notice that there was still a fade to black on one VT and the 15 second tease. We had to get this re-edited with about 12 hours’ notice to make sure they were ready, with no fade to blacks, for the transmission day.

Similar 'Blackmagic' machine used in VT Op room

Upon finding out that I was going to be a VT operator, I felt slightly apprehensive. After researching the role, I found that it was a very technical role, something I do not normally enjoy nor do I get involved with. The machine that we used to play the VTs were not as hard as I expected to use, it followed the same format of importing media and pressing play, that many other programmes use. However, the issues came from the fact that the clips were in the wrong format to work in the correct programme, so we had to use a different programme known as ‘Resolve’ to render them into the correct format. This meant that we went one full rehearsal without any VTs because it took about 3 hours to rend them all. This proved stressful becausr it is something that cannot be controlled because it is technical issues. To make sure this didn’t happen again I came in earlier than the planned time on the day before transmission, to load and render them all onto the machine. This helped me because I knew that by the time it came to rehearse, all of the VTs, stings and titles would be ready to go on the machine with no issues.

During the project there were also some things that I think went extremely well. For the Old to New shoot I had to research and purchase all of the clothes needed for the shoot, making sure they were the right size for the models. I think the clothes I bought worked really well for the shoot, they were the right styles to match the trends we were going for and they were also very decently priced, matching 'Steal the Styles' high street fashion ethos. When I had to start writing the scripts for the VTs, I wasn't entirely sure of the format to write them in. I am used to writing fiction scripts in the normal way but these would be different, they are actuality and especially the Old to New shoot required next to no dialogue. I had to use a two column format for these scripts, using the left hand column to write down the action that would be happening, and the left hand column to see what sound we would be using to match the action. I think the scripts in the end went well and they are definitely a strength of mine within this project. They were slightly short but they got across exactly what we wanted to do for the VT. Communicating with the crew and cast is something that is a big part of being a producer, of anything. You are the one that is expected to know everything and people will most likely come to you if they have any issues. I made sure to keep the crew up to date, updating them if any location or date changes were made as well any script adjustments, I made sure to let everyone know so that they knew what was going on.

In terms of being a VT operator, I think it went quite well. I was very aware that whilst pressing play on a clip can sound quite simple, it also can only take a simple mistake for it to all go wrong. I had to make sure that the VTs were only played when they were needed in the running order. The type of things that can go wrong include moving the cursor and skipping the VT ahead of time (this happened once during rehearsals) this means that the production assistants timings would go completely out, and the VT itself obviously wouldn't make sense. Also, I think I did well to follow on with the script as the show was going out. The director has so many things to think about during the live transmission that it is possible they may forgot to queue a VT, sting or credit, so for me I wanted to make sure i followed on with the script and was always one step ahead in terms of knowing when something was needed to be played. This happened a few times but I was ready with the clip so it didn't effect the show in any way.

Overall, I think this unit went really well for me. I would say it has changed my opinion of technical roles, whilst I still do not think a technical role is something that would suit me in the future, I did enjoy the role. When there were issues with the formatting of the clips, i enjoyed fixing them because it was a solution to a problem. Being a VT producer is something that I really enjoyed and would definitely pursue in the future. I liked the creative freedom that came with the role and liked having to be organised and communicate with people. I was extremely happy with the outcomes of the VTs I produced (Old to New and DIY) i think the team worked really together and the end product really shows that.