Studio Production Unit- My position, Research and Development

After my interview with Simon and Helen, I was given the position of Sound for VT sequences and the Studio. I was actually very pleased with this position, as I have wanted to improve my quality of work with sound for a while. It also helps that I host a podcast with Andy, and as such working with sound is part of one of my hobbies, and I would be happy to take my hobby and use it for a professional purpose.

Once I had joined my VT group, we decided we would throw some ideas around to try and generate some bases on which we could create some stories which would be discussed in the show. The show's assigned producer- Helen Welsh told us that she wanted a show similar to Loose Women crossed with Saturday Night Live, and she wanted us to come up with some stories that would be entertaining. A story that was suggested was something involving the topic of whether or not graffitti could be considered an art or vandalism.

Helen also told us she wanted a reaction segment where people would watch a trailer for a videogame, or actually play the videogame and give their opinions. The clincher here would be that the videogame would be a very infamous and politically incorrect one, which would create a discussion about whether or not such video games are damaging people.

In a further discussion with my VT group over facebook chat, I suggested that we make the reaction video look and feel a little bit like Conan Obrien's "clueless gamer", a segment that airs on Conan Obriens talkshow which is very entertaining.

The main reason I suggested this was that the project seemed to quickly be becoming very serious and almost boring, and since the original idea was to involve comedy and parody in some way, I thought a segment similar to this one would be ideal in breaking up any potential monotony.

I will continue my research by seeing if there are any sound-recording techniques I can learn between now and when the VT and studio recording starts. I will also continue with my other units, including commission so that I do not waste any time.

Commission Unit- Big Update

A major problem I have had with this unit is that I haven't had much time to focus on it, as I have been putting a lot of my efforts into the Studio Production Unit and my dissertation proposal. As such, I find that I have been spreading myself quite thin, and not getting much done commission-wise.
I decided lately that it would be worth putting more effort into this unit so that I do not fall behind, and I did this by settling on which commission I wanted to take.
I previously wanted to take the Friday People commission, and I wanted to learn more about the organization and what they do. So I emailed the man in charge of the charity, Nick Ward to arrange a meeting. I made sure in the email I sent to specifically point out that I hadn't fully decided on what I wanted to for my commission, and I didn't want to commit to anything until I had thoroughly investigated the organization I would be commissioned by. Nick understood this, and I arranged to meet him at the Friday People base of operations at Romney Place in Maidstone.

Romney Place

Romney Place is a very great location for this charity to be based, and the fact that it is based here, and I will be spending most of the time I have at this place during this commission is very convenient. The bus I catch to university stops directly outside this place, and it is relatively close to maidstone tv studios where equipment is kept (meaning I will be able to tranport equipment easilly, which is great as I do not own a car to transport equipment.)

I found meeting Nick to be a very educational experience. Although I had previously done some of my own research into the charity through slides and information supplied by UCA, I wanted to know more about the actual charity from the source, including about how the charity had recently acquired the funding required to rent the office space at Romney place, how long they had been operating etc.

Here is a list of beneficial things I found out:

• I will be able to use the office space for my own work whilst taking this commission.
• Nick will be supplying any contributors for this project, meaning I can concentrate on creating the actual product.
• The project brief is very open ended, meaning I can take some liberties with the way I work and what I create, as long as I stick to a deadline.
• Any products I create will be used as part of a large installation in Maidstone's town centre which could get the word out about my work and potentially lead to more commissioning opportunities.

Here are a list of drawbacks I found out:

• At any point, the charities funding could be cut, meaning the office may be lost, or development could be stopped.
• Nick is going abroad for 3 weeks as part of his work, meaning I would not be able to start the project for nearly a month.

The negative aspect that gets me the most is the fact that Nick is going abroad. This is a massive blow to my commission, as I have potentially lost the ability to speak to my commissioner face to face, and the chances of me being allowed into the office space to film without him around is unlikely.

I am thinking I could still take this project however, and I could spend the 3 weeks I have alone to finish other projects (studio production research and development and my dissertation proposal) as well as begin potentially storyboarding and scripting some promotional videos for the Friday People. This way no time is wasted.

All in all, I am feeling very positive about this project, despite the early set-backs. I have overcome these kinds of problems in past commissions using my own initiative, and so I don't think this will be a problem really. 

Studio Production Unit- Job Interview

For the Studio Production Unit, I had to partake in a mock job interview in order to secure the positions I applied for the day the winning studio production pitch was announced. Since I have never been too confident when it comes to the actual operation of cameras, I applied for jobs where my main role wouldn't involve me actually handling the camera.
After some discussion, the possibility of me working with sound was pitched. I am actually quite happy to work on the production's sound, as there is a much more definitive sense of my work either being right or wrong. If the sound is staticky, or of poor quality, it will definitely be noticeable. However, when it comes to camera-work, a lot of it is subjective, meaning I could use certain shots and angles that I think are perfect, and everybody else could think they are terrible.
In creative terms, this sense of subjectivity is actually something I love about media and the arts, but when it comes to working in an environment where a lot of different opinions and through processes will be flying around, I feel that I would be much better suited to a straight forward right or wrong task, such as sound.

Studio Production Unit- Giving my Pitch and Feedback.

Yesterday I gave my pitch to a panel of Helen, Simon and Laura. I arrived an hour early at the studios so that I could prepare myself on exactly what points I wanted to emphasize during my pitch. I thought this would be a good thing to do, as my PowerPoint presentation contained a lot of information, and with the limited amount of time I had to complete my pitch, I had to make sure that although all this information was there, I only hit the key points for time sake.

Throughout my pitch, I made sure to give the panel opportunities to ask questions when they seemed confused about what I meant by certain things. That way it wouldn't dwell on them, and they'd be able to concentrate on the rest of the pitch.

Once I had completed my pitch, I was praised for the idea I had given for the overall show, and it was called "interesting." I was also told I seemed very passionate about the ideas I gave. I was also told that although there was some confusion as to what kind of films would have been reviewed in my show, that question was answered later in the pitch, suggesting that I had gone about it the right way, answering a question that had been raised without even knowing the question had come about.

It was also suggested that perhaps my show sounded like something more geared towards a BBC Two mid-week program as opposed to a weekend BBC One slot. This was explained to me in detail, and in the end I decided that perhaps this was a reasonable suggestion afterall.

The key point about yesterday was that although my idea was not chosen in the end, my idea was one of five that came very close to being chosen. This suggests to me that I definitely have the right idea about how to pitch in general, and which key points to hit, but I still need a bit more polish on certain areas to get my pitches just right.

I am very happy with the way things went, and yesterday was definitely a learning experience for me, which I am sure will be very useful in the near future.

Studio Production Unit- Supplementary Pitch Document

This is the supplementary document I created for my Hollywoodbes pitch. This single sheet basically condenses my idea down into one single document, which I hope will break my presentation down in such a way that it becomes a lot clearer and easier to understand.

Studio Production Unit- Finished Pitch Slideshow

Here is a slideshow I have created which will aid me during my pitch this coming Tuesday, where I will attempt to show my ideas and suggestions for a studio production to a panel of people in order to get the greenlight to become the producer for said show.
The slideshow can be viewed here:

As you may notice, my presentation is broken down into two parts, the first is creative, which discusses all of my creative ideas, what the shows name means, what kind of hosts I plan on having etc, and the other part discusses more technical elements, such as audience retention and set layouts.

Studio Production Unit- "Hollywoodbe's" concept promotional item.

This piece was created after I had a bit of a brainwave. The theme I want for my television program is that of a production that is trying to be as good a quality as Hollywood, yet failing. In my spare time I decided to create this piece:

The Hollywood Hills sign is a symbol of the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, the home of some of the most prestigious actors and directors of mainstream movies in the entire world. Therefore, I decided to take the sign the other way for the purpose of this program, having the "Hollywoodbes" sign looking all rusted and decayed and the actual hills being a scrap heap.
This in itself is a parody, and I feel it reflects nicely the nature of the program I wish to produce.