AS LIVE PRODUCTION; 70S RESEARCH

70s Fashion Research

The fashion scene of the 1970s, was very similar to the fashion we started to see break out in the late 60s, it’s mainly described as just being a bit more ‘Flamboyant’. Designers of this time mainly opted for the use of polyester as the main material for clothing in this era, with bright colours being seen on most items, irrespective of gender and age. In the early 70s, we saw high cut boots and low-cut pants for women, in a sense people were pushing the boundaries with the clothes they were wearing, taking what they wore in the 60s but extremely exaggerating them. However, by the late 1970s the fashion started to change, leisure wear in the form of pant suits and track suits were seen everywhere. The only piece of fashion that didn’t change and flowed through the entirety of the decade was the tight-fitting pants, it was the first era that women could freely wear any piece of clothing that they liked.

Bell bottoms are a style of trouser, they were tight from the knee up and become wider from the knew down. In the 1970s, these types of trouser moved into the more mainstream fashion, with nearly everyone owning a pair. American pop-duo Sonny and Cher, helped to make these pants mainstream by wearing them on their television show, particularly looking at the US market. Within the 70s, there were other variations of the bell bottoms that were introduced, such as ‘Elephant Bells’, which were similar but made of denim.

AS LIVE PRODUCTION; RESEARCH

As VT Producer, i thought i would do some research into both the role of a VT producer as well as VT packages themselves. Firstly, i found the role of a VT producer, is mainly to guide a VT through pre-production right down to the final edit. Obviously there are other roles such as director and editor that would take importance in certain stages, but a producer in essence is their throughout the process to make sure it all runs smoothly and retains the original idea/narrative. A producer works closely with the researchers to produce the story of the VTs and then start to script it, before passing it over to the director for them to turn the script into a reality.

Also, i looked at some VTS to see how they are produced and to just look at some of the codes and conventions that they use. Firstly, i looked at the One Show to see what their VTs look like, obviously not a fashion based programme i thought i would look at this to gauge a full perspective of all types of VTs not just restricted to fashion. The One Show VTs are extremely informative; the format they take is almost that of a documentary. Something i noted which was quite important within their VTs is that whilst they take quite a long duration, they are their own self contained package with a full beginning, middle and end. They pose a problem and then suggest a solution to that problem all within the VT. For example the one i looked at, we see the presenter in a coffee shop with his mum, telling the story of her battle with MS, we get told that funding was withdrawn for her medical care but then are told how they overcame the issue and the solution. Within this particular VT, there is a range of different devices used to tell the story; firstly the presenter does a voice over whilst we see some GVS, then he engages in conversation with his mother to further the story, and finally he does some pieces to camera directly to finalise the point. I think this is quite an interesting way of doing it because its engaging, what we are seeing and hearing on screen changes shape so much that it's very engaging for the audience and they don't have a chance to get bored.


Looking at This Morning and a VT directed more toward fashion, it differs quite a bit. The fashion VT is a lot more fast paced and to the point, it doesn't have a long introduction that introduces the point in any way, instead driving straight into the fashion elements. The music featured on the fashion VTs are a lot more upbeat and uplifting, which resonates with the audience a lot more. The mis en scene is a lot different as well, for example rather than taking places in multiple locations it just takes place in a bedroom which is a perfect location for fashion as well as relating to the audience, it brings a lot more informal approach and has a very comfortable and welcoming feel. Finally, the way in which fashion VTs are informative, rather than telling a story like others, are through their graphics and visuals on screen, we see price tags and labels for everything the presenters talk about, making it a lot easier for the audience to follow as well.

Points to take forward for producing VTS
- Fast Paced                                       -Bright colours
-Comfortable locations                      -Still telling story, but in different visual ways

AS LIVE PRODUCTION; RESEARCH

Working in groups to research different segment ideas; myself and my group chose to research the segment 'Music in Fashion'

-Musicians often create distinct stage looks for themselves, they want to stick out clearly from other acts so they create there own style that there audience can recognise them by

- By doing this; their fan base start to adopt a similar style of clothing, to one show their support of the artist as well as be different like them

- This led to fashion brands coming to musicians to help them promote their clothes, in this day and age its normal for us to see celebrities sporting fashion designer labels and featuring in advertising campaigns

- The correlation between the two can be due to the fact that music is seen as an escape from life, you listen to music and relate to the words they sing, the clothes they wear help to derive from that lifestyle

- In the 60s we had ‘beatle mania’ (affecting more directly London fashion) 70s brought in Glam Rock with the help of David Bowie; the 80s was very different by testing the limits of fashion and is described as the most ‘eccentric decade music has included fashion on’; the 90s had mainly hip hop influences, sagging clothes and gold chains, followed by the present where indie music brought in the fashion of skinny jeans as well as many unique dress from unique artists such as lady gaga

                                                      Examples
A website that i have found was for a company called 'NoWayBack', they are an independently owned clothing company who produce clothing based on dance music and culture. They produce their own limited edition designs and patterns to put on there shirts and jumpers, they also collaborate with certain DJS and labels on the designs. They can be found at; https://www.nowaybackstore.co.uk/pages/about-us

Mods - Mods we're a British group of people who formed around 1965, they were known for wearing American army parka jackets, over the top of imported American shirts and their suit trousers were a tailored fit. Graphic symbols such as union jacks, targets, horizontal colour stripes and cycling images were highly appealing to the Mods and often appeared on their clothing. During the 1980s and 90s, the 'Mod look' carried on in bands such as Style Council, Blur and Oasis with some cross cultural additions.

As i can see from the research we have done, there is a lot to talk about in terms of how music influenced fashion in the many ways that it did and is continuing too. However, its turning this information into an entertaining segment for 'Steal the Style' that is more of the challenge. Ideas for segments
-Visit a store that sells clothes influenced by music (example above)
-Talk to someone who dresses only in clothes branded or worn by their favourite artists
-Catwalk of people wearing certain clothes influenced by music?

AS LIVE PRODUCTION; STYLE RESEARCH

For the AS LIVE Production, the idea chosen was a show called 'Steal the Style' and firstly, we all needed to look into style and what it really means. On first look at some website, i realised that style meant more than just fashion, it can relate to the way you talk, the way you present yourself as well as the way you dress. Below is a shot from the first site i found that demonstrated how the term 'Style' can mean a lot more than just fashion.

Style can refer to a range of different things, the way in which you groom yourself, the way you dress, the way in which you formulate your speech and your body language. If we take grooming for example, a man with well kept hair and no strays appears to be a lot more important and social, than someone who's maybe got overgrown messy hair. This links in with every other aspect of style, the man with well kept hair you would expect to be very fashionably dressed and have very confident and open body language. Whereas in comparison the man with messy hair you would expect the exact opposite, messy hair and perhaps closed in body language. As seen above, it looks as if Style is an expression of who someone is as a person, taking into account everything about the person, not just their clothes. 

AS LIVE PRODUCTION; PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT

What is Production Management? 
-Overseeing all aspects of a production
-Working for a producer and a director
-Managing people
-Responsible for budget of a production
-Scheduling
-Contracts
-Hammering down the best deal for a studio/location (looking at the finer detail)

Production Mistakes
1) Leaving things to the last minute
2) Not delegating
3) Over delegating
4) Not knowing the role
5) Not working with their team
6) When they think they know best

Production Dos
-Make a schedule and stick to it
-Create call sheets
-Risk assessments/safety
-Contact lists/book staff
-Budget
-Release forms
-Risk assessments/safety
-Collating floor plans, lighting plans
-Tech specs
-Communication

Things to consider when filming on location
-Access
-Rigging time
-Refreshments for people involved
-Release forms
-Anything else going on in the same area
-Wifi?
-Risk Assessments
-Parking charges and fines

Filming Abroad
-Find a good 'fixer' and sound them out within the country you're filming in
-Book flights as far in advance as you can
-Visas/Permits - speak to your fixer and find out what visas you need and make sure to apply for them as early as possible

AS LIVE PRODUCTION; COMISSIONING RESEARCH

As part of the pitch and presentation we have to prepare, we have to decide which channel the show we create would fit on, so I thought i would research what the main channels (BBC One, ITV and Channel 5) look for when commissioning new programmes.
When looking at the BBC, we found that they were mainly looking for peak Saturday night shows, particularly ones that would be able to reach a huge audience. What the BBC looks for;
1) Humour - audience needs to laugh, and the broadcaster wants to laugh along with the people on-screen.
2) Scale - they want shows that will keep the audience coming back year after year, series after series, their biggest example of this on their current schedule is Strictly Come Dancing.
3) Talent - central to their shows they want a show that demonstrates talent.

ITV - Every year ITV invests around 1 billion pounds in commissioning new television programmes. ITV is the home of high quality, popular television from the biggest entertainment events, to original drama, soaps, sport, factual series and independent news.
Mainly ITV looks for shows with good, relatable characters as well as good stories. It has to be ambitious, and in a way simple, ITV likes to reach a big audience so they do not like ideas that are 'too cynical' that could put some audience off. They welcome ideas with 'popular and familiar hosts'.


What we chose - For 'Challenging Times' we have decided to move forward with BBC One as our target channel. We think that what our show brings is exactly what the BBC are looking for, it targets a huge array of ages whilst creating some fun interactivity for all to partake in. Looking at the BBC Schedule we think it fits in perfectly early Saturday evenings, where as you can see, they normally show game shows at this time.

AS LIVE PRODUCTIONS; AS LIVE AND LIVE FORMATS

What is 'As Live'?
-As lives are recorded programmes with a live feel
-Usually recorded


Why choose As Live? Advantages
-Less left to chance, more controllable, more polished
-The opportunity to re-record elements of the programme and to make improvements to the intro and closing shots
-Importantly they do not require a satellite which means less likely for technical things to go wrong
-Therefore cost reduced
-Recording to near duration time ensure the programme can air quickly after recording and also retains the 'excitement' and 'reality' of live TV

Disadvantages
-Trying to manufacture a feeling of a true live programme
-Truly live programmes are less polished and thus feel less maufactued
-Tension of a live programme hard to recreate
-Post-production may compound this problem - 'feel manufactured and clinical'm

As Live formats
-Panel Shows i.e. pollination e.g. question time
-Quiz Shows e.g. weakest link
-Chat Shows e.g. the graham norton show
-Music e.g. top of the pops

Common themes in As Live
-Audience
-Usually recorded in studio, requiring a full studio floor crew
-Often involve on screen guests/talent and main presenter
-Often Topical/drive

Impact of Genre
-Genre conventions may dictate the sort of content, style and location you choose for an As Live, consider differences in approaches of Question Time and Graham Norton

Audiences
-Why have an audience? What do they add? Why do we need them?
-The audience can take a number of roles
1) Passive - simply quietly viewing
2) Participatory/Active - actually taking part in some way
3) Appreciative - responding through laughter, clapping etc
4) Supportive - there to offer support to a particular contributor

As Live Content
-Theoryically anything can be presented in an as-live format
-It is only limited by considerations such as time, location, budget and logistics
-It is essential that as lives consider timings - when discussing potential content this is a huge factor, just like a live programme as lives are carefully times so that each segment fits a prescribes duration
-A simple discussion round the viability of an idea in terms of timing could determine whether it will be included in the programme or not

Points for analysis
-Content   -Style   -Location   -Presentation   -Contributors    -Format

GENRE OF LIVE
Technological advances in satellite technology have led to the advent of outside broadcasts such as sporting events e.g. olympic