My initial feelings when told that we had to produce a 5-minute television programme were mixed. Instinctually I was excited, yet nervous, as the idea of working with strangers was daunting, but I was ready for the challenge and willing to put as much effort into the whole process as possible.
I carried out research before the production was filmed, by watching television talk shows to familiarise myself with the actions/behaviour of comedic presenting style to get the ‘gist’ of being in front of the camera. I feel I contributed a lot to this production, by attending every Media lesson/private studio time. Through these I contributed various ideas towards the production, and I feel that in reference to the Belbin questionnaire I was a co-ordinator and organiser within the group. I was disappointed with some members’ lack of interest, who gave the impression that there was no need to try or attend as it was not important. This was disheartening, and communication in the team was poor, because we did not know eachother and people were either lazy or too afraid to voice their opinions. I felt this myself, as though I had to keep my opinions quiet in order to prevent argument, however there were many things that should have been voiced in order to demonstrate to these certain members the problems they were causing towards the organisation of the production.
Problems were occurring from the very first lesson. The whole group was present at the beginning of the four-week process and roles were decided equally by the group. However, some people were not as prepared to share out the workload, therefore it seemed only a small number of people were willing to do the work/research required. As we began collecting the footage and rehearsing, problems arose as group members were not attending the media production workshops, nor the private studio time. Therefore this affected the efficiency of things. Syra was the main cause of this problem as she attended only one Media production lesson and approximately 15 minutes of private studio time. People were dropping out of Trinity all together, decreasing group members, forcing people such as myself to take on more roles. However, this did not bother me, as I was willing to make this production work.
On the contrary, there were a select few who were willing to make the effort and this is what held it together. Caroline, the director, was extremely organised throughout and made suggestions on what to do. Claire, the PA, who actually dropped out of Trinity, the day before the production, was efficient up until this point and made every effort toward the script, which was used in the production. Tom, Ben, Joe, and Carly, and myself, were consistent in showing up to the private studio time, and working on the ideas.
~ Equipment ~
Throughout the four-week period leading up to the production I managed to familiarise myself with every aspect of the studio equipment. I enjoyed using the sound and the vision mixer, as it gave me a chance to experiment with different colours, images and sounds, which was interesting. The cameras were also interesting and I was intrigued by how different scenes look through a camera lens, as every shadow is accentuated. The control room with the recording/engineering desk and ENG machines looked fascinating, but I found it frustrating to use as there were so many buttons and switches, and different operating machines.
I found the lighting problematic; from the point of view being in front of the camera, it was extremely hot, making it uncomfortable. Secondly, setting light positions was perplexing, as it was difficult to get the position right/get light setting correct, and which camera numbers to use.
I did not get chance to work with the caption generator or autocue, however I observed others using it and saw the difficulty of getting the speed right. The caption generator was out of order when the prpgramme was filmed, adding to the problems we faced.
~ Production ~
Overall the production succeeded, in terms of timing, use of footage and the script. However, It was stressful and unorganised. This was because certain members were not present - Caroline (director), Claire (PA) and others who had left Trinity and All Saints. This made it difficult, and to add to the problems, a new member, plus Syra turned up at the lesson. This should have been a positive thing, however the new member Harriet had not previously attended any lessons thus did not know what to do or how the equipment worked.
I found it difficult in front of the camera, as I would have preferred to work with the gallery equipment, simply because I felt uncomfortable on camera and I felt I had a natural affinity with the sound and the vision mixer. I found it hard to follow all the directions of the floor manager coherently and which camera to look at was confusing.
Other problems that occurred on the day of production were that certain equipment was not working such as the caption generator, and also the script was not followed entirely correct as we had to make changes. These changes were due to the fact that the footage tape was not edited before hand as we had problems booking studio time before the production, therefore the editing had to be done within the hour and a half we had to make the production, which took up valuable time.
Generally, most team members gelled well together, and natural leaders such as Caroline, myself and Oliver came forward, which aided organisation, yet may have intimidated some members, which is something that could be avoided if we were to re-do it.
~ Evaluation ~
The production could be improved by better organisation and team work, as well as communicating better with others and voicing opinions aswell as letting others voice theirs. This was not successful in our group, as certain people were too self-involved to hear other people’s ideas. Individually, I could have contributed more by making an effort to communicate with certain members who seemed to be having problems.
The expectations of the group were too high; we did not realise that how little our TV production knowledge was, with little time to complete it.
On a more positive note, most members gelled well and made an effective contribution to the success of the programme, however better communication and time management could definitely have improved it.
To conclude, the television studio work was interesting and enjoyable, and the final piece was successful, despite problems that we faced, which can account towards the piece as a whole. I am satisfied with my contribution to the final piece and most of my expectations were met; as I knew it was not going to be easy, I made the effort and was willing to do the work.
Words - 1121
