As Live Production: Workshop 06/03/18

As Live Production: Workshop 06/03/18

Today we had another workshop with Del. Since we had missed a week due to the snow today combined two workshops in to one. 

The day was designed to give us experience and an understanding of all the main roles associated with studio production. If we had the opportunity to learn each role then we would be better prepared for our live-show as we would know what is required from each area and be able to communicate this more effectively. Also it would help us sympathise with whoever is in each role on the shoot day as we have experienced the pressures of that role ourselves and can now work together more effectively as a team. 

This was the first workshop where I got to work as floor manager (the role I will be taking on for the show), and this was also the first workshop where we got to use the talkback systems. 

As floor managers myself and Sonia were tasked with setting up and distributing the talkbacks. This was actually easier than I anticipated, the devices were simple to set up and when it came to distributing I was able to prioritise effectively. Obviously I made sure myself and Sonia had one, the next priority was to make sure all the main camera operators had one (as they could just hand theirs to their assistants at the half way mark) so they could hear what the gallery wanted. There were still a few units left which I gave to sound (since although I could have handled communications between sound and gallery, and sound should know what they are doing anyway; it would save time if there were any problems). The remaining spare units I gave to a few camera assistants and our assistant floor manager.

We began the workshop by setting up a 2+3 interview situation. This  would give as practice at managing cameras and floor around a scenario that would be similar to the set up of our real show. Del suggested we start the show in our assigned roles for the actual production (starting with group A then group B) and after we had run  this for a few takes we could begin to switch things up.

Those who didn't have a key role to fulfil would fill in as the "talent"/"guests". 

Floor Manager

Since I had been learning the hand signals for my role as floor manager I felt somewhat prepared, although I hadn't had a chance to practice several of them yet. Since this was my first workshop as a floor manager I found this to be a useful learning experience and a good opportunity to break in my skills. 

In the beginning I found myself at a bit of a loss as to where I should stand, but after some time I found it effective to stand by the main camera or in the centre of the room, this way if the director asks me a question or there is a problem, I would be in a good place to get around quickly or see what is being spoken about.

One problem I encountered was that other people weren't aware of what my hand signals meant. The main ones I was using were to mark time left e.g. 30 seconds, but the talent/guests couldn't recognise this and as such would not wrap up a section in time. To overcome this I communicated what the signals meant to everyone else before we went on air. 

For next week I need to work on memorising all of my hand signals, and Del said that it is important to brief our talent and guests so that they know what is going on.

Camera Op

As the day went on I got the opportunity to experience the other roles involved in studio production. The first of these was as a camera operator. 

For this role I had to be quite on the ball and make sure I listened carefully to the director. As a camera Op you need to know the ins and outs of your camera. You must make sure that you have set your white balance and exposure/iris to match all the other cameras in the studio (unless there is a good reason why yours is different). 

You need to ensure your camera is in a good position and you need to be ready to move it as your director requests. 

I found this role to be a little bit dull since we were still in the early days of our rehearsals and the director didn't get us to move/adjust our cameras all that often.

I also struggled when they asked me to adjust some of the technical aspects of my camera since I haven't used the studio cameras a whole bunch, and as such I was unsure how to adjust things like my iris.

None the less it was useful to understand the responsibilities of a camera operator, and understand that they have to be just as alert as the floor manager.

Sound

The next role I got to experience was as the sound operator. This was something I had very little experience in but was eager to understand.

I found that like floor managing there are some unspoken rules that you must be aware of. For example you fade up the sound once the countdown reaches 3 so that you are prepared if the presenters start talking early.

As sound op I learned how to adjust mic sensitivities and how to mix sound levels as the tone of peoples voices change throughout the show. I learned the importance of sound-checks and that getting peoples levels to match is not as easy as you first think. 

As sound you must also be aware of who has what mic and be able to keep track of any changes. I also found that sound is quite an independent role as the director will often rely on you to organise and sort out all sound related tasks and issues yourself, and not check for updates very often. I found this quite a new experience as floor managers and camera ops are in constant communication with the gallery, and I had to use my own initiative to fix my mistakes and find out why some mics weren't being picked up.

Talant

Although none of us will be in front of the camera in our actual show, it was still good to learn what it is like to be a talent/presenter/guest.

In this role you rely heavily on the floor manager to tell you what camera you should be looking at and to find out how you should adjust your pacing to account for the time left in the show. 

Since I have done this kind of thing before I didn't find it too difficult. However I dod find it difficult when I had to keep a conversation going in order to fill time. 

I also found it strange and a little difficult not having any communication with the gallery. 

Gallery PA

Gallery PA was a very interesting and high pressure role that I had not experienced before. 

As gallery PA I was responsible for keeping the show on time. I had to prep countdowns before the start of each segment and ensure I had the exact timings of each VT and show segment so that I could let both the floor and gallery know how much time they had to left to prep or round up a section.

Making sure I had exact countdowns prepared at all times wasn't easy but I think I did it quite well, I just need to be more confident and remember that the gallery talkback is always on so try not to speak over others.

VT/Graphics Operator

The VT/Graphics operator was probably the easiest but least interesting role. All I really did in this role was make sure that the correct graphic and or VT was queued up ready to go, then listen to the director to make sure to press play at the right time. That was as high pressured as it gets, as you don't need to make any visual changes like you would as vision mixer, you just let the VT play. Never the less it was a valuable experience and will help me understand the 

responsibility of some of my peers in the live show.

Vision Mixer

Since we had a vision mixing master class last time I was feeling quite confident. I followed the words of my director carefully making sure to keep my eye line and hands in the correct place. 

This meant that I was able to respond to directions quickly and efficiently, remaining calm and adapting if the director changed their mind or decided to mix straight to transmission without preparing the shot first. 

Overall I enjoyed vision mixing and did it efficiently.

Director

Although I have done directing before, I have never directed a Live broadcast in a studio environment with this many cameras, so it was a new experience.

To begin with I followed Del's advice as to which camera angles I should pick. However once I got a feel for the scene we were shooting and gained more confidence Del took a step back. 

I had to use my own judgement to decide what camera angles we should  use, while also thinking ahead to decide what shots to queue up. I did this reasonably well, occasionally cutting to a shot that wasn't queued up in order to keep up with the action on the floor. I did find myself playing it safe now and then by picking shots that looked quite similar. In future I need to be more varied with my shot choices.

Communication is key as the director, especially with the floor manager so you can ensure cameras are re-positioned how you want them and that the floor is prepared or aware of any issues. This was a good learning experience and has taught me how stressful directing can be and that as floor manager I should keep an open but patient line of communication with my director.

2nd Half

For the second half of the show after everyone had been given a chance to experience all the roles, we changed the studio floor to form a presenter led demonstration scenario. Similar to something you would see on a show like Blue Peter. 

For this part I went back to working cameras and floor managing so I could learn how to manage this kind of set up. It was important to listen to the director so you were aware of what part of the action they wanted to follow. 

You must be able to act quickly in this scenario as you can't really predict what the presenters will say and how they will interact with  their objects. Since we have guests like an Etsy seller on our show, who will be bringing in items to show off/talk about, this was a great experience for us. It helped us learn how to react and follow the action at a different pace, and thanks to getting a feel for for our role in the morning, we were all able to perform efficiently.

Overall today was a fantastic learning experience which will help me understand and sympathise with everyones roll during our live show and improve our communication skills.