A television production update.
A quick run down of projects so far for my blog.
Our first documentary went very well. A strange subject - a bridge club - but I think that somewhat paid off. I directed the piece and felt right at home in doing so. Putting in some voiceovers really paid off in our favour and is probably one of the main reasons we pulled out a 65%. I didn’t learnt too much from the shoot unfortunately, as it was a quite slow, one standard four hour-ish shoot. But it was a good experiment in getting a range of shots from a single, non-changing location. Which I feel paid off later on when we came to our Indie Documentary brief.
Secondly was our short drama, based on Secrets & Lies. We messed around with the script too much and overcomplicated it - this resulted in a poorer score I believe. Although saying that I believe we learnt a ton from the shoot in terms of prep. We worked together really well as a team to overcome problems. It was just a shame we were constricted by time quite a bit and things didn’t seem to go in our favour. I also mucked up on sound and as a result learnt my first big lesson of the year - which was incredibly helpful.
We currently just finished shooting our Indie Drama - I was very lucky to secure a cracking idea shooting at a local science fiction convention. We were searching for ideas and in almost desperation I typed Sci Fi Bournemouth in to Google (me being a fan of science fiction) and this event popped up, practically coinciding with our shoot dates - fate? Cheers to my Muse for that one. After a few emails back and forth everything started to click. But I found the phone calls and a bit of a laugh on the phone really secured the deal. We end up with all access press passes and our first night was spent by the Pimm’s and Chocolate fountain chatting to the celebrities at the event - not too shabby! I was a complete directing mess the first night. I just wasn’t on it, self-doubt? tiredness? the broken crap camera? the feeling of being overwhelmed? Whatever it was, I was far from being on the ball. However, I listened to my crew (who did a fantastic job) and took on board what they said, went home and just had a moment to myself (OI OI!) and walked myself through the problems and the solutions. I feel we turned up on Saturday much more together, I set myself a plan and we we got some great shots. Sunday got even stronger with a brilliant set of interviews which really gave me and my team a confidence boost for the documentary. I had a moment where I had to really pick myself up and as a result boost the crew and I hope they saw a change in me. We had a very tough shooting schedule, working two 12 hour+ days easily and I was very happy with every member of my crew and their work output and concentration. To date the edit is not complete, but after seeing a short trailer my editor created I am happy, and there is a serious ‘ob doc’ feel to it. I hope we get a good grade, actually, get our first, well deserved, 70%+. My second huge lesson of the year is PREP, PREP, PREP AND MORE PREP! You are never prepared, ever.
As far as studio is concerned I feel we have done really well. For our HD studio work I have not been that involved, we have a very large group and so the jobs fill out fast. So I have generally filled a helper role as I have a bit of knowledge of parts of the studio such as loading the VT’s - so I have passed on to other members what I know. I also got the chance to work on the lights. I set out thinking I could just ‘do it’ (may general attitude, which more often than not puts me ahead). I spent ages fiddling around with the lights - only to realise I had left the ‘house’ lights up all the time, pathetic really and I also had no real idea how the light board worked, pretty stupid of me. So I then did the best thing ever, went out of my way to find Nigel and ask him what to do. He showed me how everything worked, including the voltage differences and DMX voltage for the floods. I learnt a ton on that day even though I wasn’t necessarily directly involved with the production.
Lunchbox, however, has been brilliant. I have had the fortune of directing our show twice now and I absolutely love doing it. I get a real rush. Our first show went surprisingly well. We got a band in, which was ambitious for our first show but it payed off. I called some good shots, it flowed really well. Our VT’s were good and the content of the show was Uni based and interesting. The only nag was that we went out at about quarter past instead of at one. This was due to needing to mic up the band, and our radio mics being set to mute and no one knowing. Which was very stressful. All shots were grammatically correct and it went very smooth. This left us with a serious high, and as I found out recently, a tad complacent.
Our second Lunchbox was set to be even bigger. We had some cracking VT’s, animations all set up by the wonderful Rory Binks. We struggled to get guests and a presenter but we pulled it together at the last moment. We went out band on 1, despite some annoyances with the VT’s. BUT! I pulled some bad decisions on shots and I have to hold up my hand, I just forgot about screen grammar. I also forgot to get ready for a shot change, so I feel me and my PA needed to work better, I should have had him sat up with us and feeling more a part of the team. My lecturer Nick pointed out my errors and I had to wholeheartedly agree. This is the biggest lesson I have learned so far. And I feel all my errors have been better than any other knowledge gained. I am not ashamed about screwing up bits, it happens to the best of us. I am glad it has happened now, so I can improve whilst I am still young. The show went quite well overall, definitely watchable, but I think as a crew we needed to get together more. Looking back I think we were a bit disjointed. With no formal meet up before the session and some people trickling in or a bit ill. Again, I hold my hand up - I should have taken more control and implied a bigger incentive and really worked on the bond that E2 always has and what makes us a very strong group. I also became quite laid back and jokey (this may or may not be my standard defence mechanism when dealing with these situations) but if I had adopted a tad more professionalism and thought things through more things may have been better. I can only improve.
Essays have been alright, enjoyed writing them actually. Ok grades so far, going to get stuck in for the next two big time.
Currently brainstorming for our Indie drama idea. I am trying to come up with a simple idea with just a strong story. Come on Muse wherever you are, don’t fail me now!
