As Live Production: Entertainment Studio Production Analysis

As Live Production: Entertainment Studio Production Analysis

As part of my ongoing research for this unit, I am going to be critically analysing a studio-based entertainment programme. Reviewing the success of all the filming elements that it uses and how it has inspired/informed my work. 

The show I have chosen to look at is "This Morning". Officially re-launching on ITV in 2009 the show is a "breakfast show" that provides Live entertainment for a wide audience. 

The show features two presenters namely Phillip Schofield (who was a personality type that I thought would have worked well for my pitch idea "Teen Talk TV") and Holly Willoughby. Having two presenters like these who have great chemistry and can bounce off of each other, means that they are the primary source of entertainment. They are the recognisable icons that people picture when they think of the show and they generate a warm welcoming atmosphere. 

This was the type of character we wanted when casting hosts for "Steal The Style". And from what I've seen of our presenters, they do have that warm welcoming chemistry which is necessary for the show to successfully draw in an audience. 

The set for this show is also well constructed. It is reasonably large but appears homely/cozy thanks to the use of props and space management. When designing a set for my own pitch I used a 3D room building software to visualize how my set would look, with a large soft area and well-placed lighting and props. 

"This Morning" features both Hard and Soft areas that the presenters can walk to and interact with guests in. This means that scripting/blocking and directing has to be well planned out to keep a constant energy level throughout the show that helps presenters "segway" in to a new topic. 

For "Steal The Style" I look forward to working closely with the directors and presenters to plan out how we can block our scenes. The producers have already taken inspiration from "This Morning" and we plan to have both a hard and soft area. So when floor managing in this show I will be able to guide presenters as to which cameras they should look at and where/when they should move in order to keep a constant flow of energy that maintains audience attention. 

It is also interesting to look at the camera set-up for this show. Unlike some of the other shows, I have looked at "This Morning" regularly uses a standard 2 + 3 interview set up. Although it is such a common occurrence in studio productions, it (along with the blocking between areas I mentioned earlier), allows for a great multi-camera set up. You can have one camera as a wide, one as a mid/close up, two on the guests, and one on the presenters. Allowing for a variety of angles that gives an otherwise static interview more energy, successfully drawing in the viewer. 

For "Steal The Style" we actually have 5 cameras to work with, and we have been practising this interview set up in rehearsals. So hopefully when we have our set come in and a new version of the script we will be able to play around more with this setup to grant an even more immersive viewing experience. 

The show features a variety of guests and contributors that help generate the stories and entertainment value. When pitching my idea I had already thought of some guests I wanted that would make for an interesting story. But since "Steal The Style" was the winning pitch I have been working hard as a researcher to source interesting contributors that have a valuable or entertaining story to tell. In-fact I have been in contact with an Etsy seller who not only fits with the content of our show but can provide a unique and entertaining story that you would find on a show like "This Morning". Unlike some other shows ive seen this one makes good use of VT's to divide up its content and will help us learn how to transition into the VT's we are using in "Steal The Style".

Overall the show features a more traditional set up than some other Live/As-Live shows. But it is probably the closest show to "Steal The Style" in terms of content and technical set up, with its two presenters, hard and soft set, and simple multi-camera layout. But because of that there is so much to learn from it in terms of blocking, scripting, cross shooting, VT's etc.