When they film in Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares they need to make sure that they are getting good shots along with great television to watch. They will have a checklist of everything which they need to shoot. They will also do a shot list before the filming and make sure they stick to it quite tightly during the filming.
Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares doesn’t have as tight of a schedule as Match of the Day. If Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmare has a day where the production doesn’t run as smoothly as they want then they can make it up in the remaining number of sessions.
Shooting Plan
Studio
Before filming the live scenes in the studio they need to have produced a plan beforehand of some conversations which the presenters will talk about. They will also have a switch cue so for when Gary Lineker speaks the camera will be on him and once the other two speak the cameras will be on them. They will have already set up the camera’s so that they have been white balanced, they have the correct angles and framing on the presenters.
Once they get to the studio they will set up the equipment. Seen as though Match of the Day is on every week in the same location they might already have the equipment up from the previous week so there is a level of consistency in the shots. Even if they need to set up the equipment again they will have done it enough times they will have it done in a very quick time. Just to make sure though they will have a floor plan for where everything will go in the studio.
Once everything is set up correctly with auto-cue and presenters all in place they will film. When filming they can’t do any mistakes as it is live. They need to shoot the show in an order where is it apparent to the viewing and can’t do it in any particular order. Also when changing the cameras over for the live editing they need to make sure they do it at the correct time. Any misfortunes as in turning on the wrong camera and it could get bad reviews and lose audience figures so they have to concentrate fully when live on the air. I remember some time ago when MOTD was on live Alan Hansen’s phone went off during the live show. This did bring bad reviews to the show and they must not get a repeat of anything like this.
Match
Before shooting at the match they need a plan of where all the cameras are going to be in the stadium. Once everything is set up they will shoot for the entire game. They will record everything for about 2-3 hours. They will still record during half time and after the game to see if anything worthwhile happens. Once they have finished they will take the tape and send it to the editing suites so they can edit all the highlights together. They will also send the log sheet to the editing team so they know where the highlights are in the match so they don’t have to watch the footage again.
Comparison
The equipment set up in the studio will be very different from other programmes such as Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares and Ten Years Younger. Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares will have a large amount of shots which are hand held and some pan shots. This is not the case with MOTD as they have still shots using a tripod.
Ten Years Younger is different as they need to use some lights to light the programme. They will also put extra effects on to the show in order for the viewing to be better. They also use a lot more angles and shots than both MOTD and Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares.
The editing will be a lot different other programmes as well. They need to edit all the highlights together a lot quicker than any other programme and this will be a concern if anything goes wrong with the machines. They only have from 7pm till 10.30pm to edit the last match’s highlights together.
Resources
Pre-production
Studio
With MOTD there are a number of resources which are needed at the studio. They will need the lighting equipment in order to light the studio in the desired way. With it being late at night the studio could have windows therefore the light could be bad. Also the lights in the room would not be powerful enough to light up the correct area so extra lighting equipment will be needed. They will also need all the cameras, digital camera for shots for the risk assessment and a microphone. They could use a microphone when discussing what they are going to do and what ideas they have for the show this week. It is a lot easier this way to record what was said instead of writing everything down which would understandable take too long.
Another resource which they would need is transportation. This would be for the presenters to get to the studio from their homes or from where they are staying. They would also need forms for consent of people who are going to star in the show and these will be written up and signed when sorting out the contract for the presenters.
The researchers will also need transport (however they could use their own and be reimbursed with some money) to get from their homes to their office which could store the database of all the players and news and then to the studio in order to hand the research to everyone.
At the pre-production stage there will be a designated time and place for meetings to occur for the next show. These will almost become quite routine and new ideas are hard to do in the time they have. These new ideas would have to be brought up again at the end of the season to see if they could implement the new ideas into the show and see if they would be worthwhile.
Match
Before the match the only resource which you would need is transport. Transport for the camera crew and transport for the equipment to the stadium at where the match is being played.
Comparison
The resources needed at MOTD are different from other shows, as other shows will have to look for locations. For Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares they would need more transport, a digital camera in order to get a lot of shots for the risk assessment and maybe a shot of the people who work at the restaurant, and they might even take a DV camera with them in order for them to show a brief video of the premises and dishes made.
Production
Studio
The resources needed in the studio when the live coverage is taken place are as stated before. They would need cameras, tripods, microphones which could be either tie clips or gun mic’s and lighting. They would also need an auto-cue for the presenters so they know what to say and when to say it and they would also need a vision mixer in order to change the shots which are being broadcasted live to the BBC viewers.
In order for all this equipment to be in working order and in the studio they need to check it before it arrives at the studio and they will have to transport it from where they get the equipment from to the studio.
Match
The resources needed for the match wouldn’t include too much, some cameramen might prefer a seat to take with them to sit down during the game; otherwise it would be just the standard equipment of the camera, tripod and maybe a microphone if the camera hasn’t already got an in-built microphone in it (most cameras do have an in-built microphone however for football and for the BBC they use the best microphones for the extra effect of the crowd noise or the ball bouncing of the woodwork).
For each match they would need a lot of equipment however they get a large amount of angles from all around the pitch.
For the production they also need resources for the commentators to do their jobs. This would include more microphones and headphones in order for them to hear themselves when talking.
Comparison
There isn’t much difference in the production side of things. Other production would not need a vision mixer as they are cable of doing all the editing in the studios. Another difference is that other programmes will not need more microphones to be at the venue for commentary as they can insert voiceover in the editing suites.
Post Production
Studio
Seen as though MOTD is live it wouldn’t have any post production for the Saturday night show. However the Sunday morning show would have to be edited together in order to show it with different presenters but with the same game highlights.
Match
The resources needed for after the match would be the transport of all the equipment to where they got it from, they would also need to transport the cameramen to either a office, studio or editing suits in order for them to give the editors the footage. They would also need enough footage for the best games to show for a longer period of time than the others. They would break the footage down into small blocks for each game with the key games lasting longer than others.
Also in the editing suites they will need to put on the graphics of the score, who scored, substitutions etc. They also need the commentators commentary in order for the commentary to run smoothly with the highlights. They will match the commentary to the highlights in order it makes sense and gives it more realism. The editing suites will be dual display monitors with suitable software and capturing kits to put all the editing from the games together.
Comparison
All programmes which are not live are a lot different in post production. They will have other paperwork which would include an EDL and storyboard present in order for the editing team to do their jobs easier and so they know exactly what they want and what they are going to get for the finishing programme.
Budgets Considerations and Constraints
Match of the Day
When making a programme the BBC will initially set the budget for either the entire year or for each show. In MOTD’s case it would have been more acceptable to have it done on a weekly basis as then it is easy to work out the budgeting for the week.
