25th January- Ricardo, basic studio ops

Today I Made finishing touches to my assignment and pre production work.

Pete's assignment: my roles for the practical part

My roles

On the first week, I floor managed and was on camera 1. The second week, I did sound, vision mixed and was on camera 3.

I felt that they went very well and that I completed these roles sufficiently and to a good working standard.

When I was on camera 1 for the first week, I felt that it went very well as I performed different shots for the director as well as listening to their instructions for what they want from the shot.

The second role, floor managing I felt went well because I listened to the instructions from the director and gave them out to the floor but however It was sometimes difficult to hear what the director was saying because of the band playing as they were rather loud and the talkback system kept on breaking up.

Firstly on the second week, I was on sound. I felt that this went good as I managed to use the controls when I needed to and use the switchboard to mute the sound when the VT came on for example.

I felt that my vision mixing on the second role went well also as I managed to press the right buttons, following the directors instructions. I was also watching the monitors so that I had an idea of what shot the director would want next.

The whole roles linked to the rest of the production as all of the roles make the final production. The floor manager ensures that the sets, props and technical equipment are safe ready to use and in the right position prior to filming. They are also responsible for the communications to the director, audience and any of the guests. They are also responsible for passing cues to the presenters and guests as well as ensuring that the production goes smoothly.

My job role for camera one was responsible for physically operating the camera and maintaining composition and handling the camera throughout a scene or shot. Being on camera one, they listen to the director of what he/she wants from that shot and follows their instructions.

Being a sound operator, it linked to the rest of the production as without the sound there would be no production. The job role for sound operation is controlling the controls to make the sound a good level and not too high. They also have to mute the sound from the studio for example when a VT is showing.

Vision mixing is one of the most important roles in the production as they are responsible for controlling the vision mixing desk. they are under instruction from the director, selecting the required images and combining them. They press the buttons on the vision mixer as well as pressing record.

Camera 3 again like camera one is used to control the camera’s actions to get good angles, shots and shot sizes. The director gives them instructions on what to do.

Other roles I did not work on

The other roles that I did not work on was Directing, operator on camera 2, the online operator, runner, presenting or interviewing.

The director main role is to communicate with the floor manager and to inform the camera men of what camera shots and sizes they want as well as telling the vision mixer what camera they want next.

The director directs everyone in the studio and in the control room. Their main responsibilities are communicating to the camera men through headsets and giving instructions to the vision mixer of what camera to take.

Before starting the production, the director usually tells the camera men what shots he/she would like them top do. For example this could be for camera two to crab to the left or right at some point. The director would then talk to the floor manager through head sets ready for countdown from five and tell the you stream technician to start recording. Throughout the production the director will maintain among the staff in the control room, on the set and elsewhere. Such as telling the camera operators what shot he/she wants next. This role is a very important role that connects all of the production together.

The camera 2 operator is one of the main cameras for the production as they are in control for the main shots on the dolly rail. In most of the band performance, an interesting shot is wanted for example crabbing from left to right on the dolly so the camera man has to listen to the director’s instructions from what they want out of that camera man. As well as crabbing on the dolly, the tripod can also change height.

The online operator records the whole production and steams it to ustream. This is part of the live stream.

The runner is someone who runs around after people such as making cups of tea. They also look after people on the floor and follows some instructions from the director. Sometimes if the floor is untidy they could clean it up.

The presenter is also one of the main people of the production infront of the camera rather than behind. They are in charge of introducing (in this case) the next act and receiving information from the floor manager of when to start talking.

The interviewer is in charge for interviewing the band after they have played. They usually ask questions about their performance and other issues and things what they are going to do. they also look at the camera to introduce the band they are going to interview. As well as introducing what’s next or introducing back to the presenter.

I aided the production by using the roles that I had being given to a good standard and to my best which delivered a good result of the production. I heloed the director’s by being a floor manager, camera operator on 2 of the cameras and sound as well as vision mixing. These were all valid roles of which were successful towards the production.

I overcame my difficulties of being a sound operator. I wasn’t so sure on what a sound operator had to do at first but then when I got to know what I was doing, I felt more comfortable wit this role. When floor managing I over came my difficulty to communicate with the floor by listening to the director when I needed to and trying to communicate with everyone on the floor at the same time. As well as communicating with the sound operators as they needed re-assuring of what time we was going to start recording. When vision mixing, I overcome my difficulties with this role by listening carefully to the director of what camera and shot they wanted as well as understanding that I needed to take a wire out of camera 3 to swop it to see camera 4 as they are only 3 plugs for the camera wires to go into.

If I was to do this project again, I would have a chance at being director so I have the chance to be in control of all of the roles and make a good attempt at the production by trying to run it smoothly and think of good shot ideas I could use for camera 2 and the whole production.

If being a floor manager again, I would listen more carefully to the people on the floor and the sound operators making sure everyone is happy on the floor as well as listening carefully to the director’s instructions as I struggled because the talk back system wasn’t working very well.

If I was to vision mix again, I would get a good understanding of how everything works such as the wires from the tricaster needed changing. And listening to the director more carefully of what camera they want to change to instead of me sometimes predicting what shot they would want next and pressing it before they say they want that shot.

19th January- Ricardo, basic studio ops

Today we had the final studio production. I felt that this went good as we managed in the end to complete the production rather smoothly but however we didn’t put the V.T’s into the tricaster as we are going to edit them all in together after finishing the production. For the studio operation I was on camera 1 as all of the roles was taken by the group and there wasn’t anything left for me to do. I felt that this went very well because as well as listening to the director’s instructions for the camera I was trying to out my own input into it by creating my own shots such as zooming out and in to create an affect which would capture the audience’s eye and make interest for them.

Peter Waiting” and “LMCOB

My roles

On the first week, I floor managed and was on camera 1. The second week, I did sound, vision mixed and was on camera 3.

I felt that they went very well and that I completed these roles sufficiently and to a good working standard.

When I was on camera 1 for the first week, I felt that it went very well as I performed different shots for the director as well as listening to their instructions for what they want from the shot.

The second role, floor managing I felt went well because I listened to the instructions from the director and gave them out to the floor but however It was sometimes difficult to hear what the director was saying because of the band playing as they were rather loud and the talkback system kept on breaking up.

Firstly on the second week, I was on sound. I felt that this went good as I managed to use the controls when I needed to and use the switchboard to mute the sound when the VT came on for example.

I felt that my vision mixing on the second role went well also as I managed to press the right buttons, following the directors instructions. I was also watching the monitors so that I had an idea of what shot the director would want next.

The whole roles linked to the rest of the production as all of the roles make the final production. The floor manager ensures that the sets, props and technical equipment are safe ready to use and in the right position prior to filming. They are also responsible for the communications to the director, audience and any of the guests. They are also responsible for passing cues to the presenters and guests as well as ensuring that the production goes smoothly.

My job role for camera one was responsible for physically operating the camera and maintaining composition and handling the camera throughout a scene or shot. Being on camera one, they listen to the director of what he/she wants from that shot and follows their instructions.

Being a sound operator, it linked to the rest of the production as without the sound there would be no production. The job role for sound operation is controlling the controls to make the sound a good level and not too high. They also have to mute the sound from the studio for example when a VT is showing.

Vision mixing is one of the most important roles in the production as they are responsible for controlling the vision mixing desk. they are under instruction from the director, selecting the required images and combining them. They press the buttons on the vision mixer as well as pressing record.

Camera 3 again like camera one is used to control the camera’s actions to get good angles, shots and shot sizes. The director gives them instructions on what to do.

Other roles I did not work on

The other roles that I did not work on was Directing, operator on camera 2, the online operator, runner, presenting or interviewing.

The director main role is to communicate with the floor manager and to inform the camera men of what camera shots and sizes they want as well as telling the vision mixer what camera they want next.

The director directs everyone in the studio and in the control room. Their main responsibilities are communicating to the camera men through headsets and giving instructions to the vision mixer of what camera to take.

Before starting the production, the director usually tells the camera men what shots he/she would like them top do. For example this could be for camera two to crab to the left or right at some point. The director would then talk to the floor manager through head sets ready for countdown from five and tell the you stream technician to start recording. Throughout the production the director will maintain among the staff in the control room, on the set and elsewhere. Such as telling the camera operators what shot he/she wants next. This role is a very important role that connects all of the production together.

The camera 2 operator is one of the main cameras for the production as they are in control for the main shots on the dolly rail. In most of the band performance, an interesting shot is wanted for example crabbing from left to right on the dolly so the camera man has to listen to the director’s instructions from what they want out of that camera man. As well as crabbing on the dolly, the tripod can also change height.

The online operator records the whole production and steams it to ustream. This is part of the live stream.

The runner is someone who runs around after people such as making cups of tea. They also look after people on the floor and follows some instructions from the director. Sometimes if the floor is untidy they could clean it up.

The presenter is also one of the main people of the production infront of the camera rather than behind. They are in charge of introducing (in this case) the next act and receiving information from the floor manager of when to start talking.

The interviewer is in charge for interviewing the band after they have played. They usually ask questions about their performance and other issues and things what they are going to do. they also look at the camera to introduce the band they are going to interview. As well as introducing what’s next or introducing back to the presenter.

I aided the production by using the roles that I had being given to a good standard and to my best which delivered a good result of the production. I heloed the director’s by being a floor manager, camera operator on 2 of the cameras and sound as well as vision mixing. These were all valid roles of which were successful towards the production.

I overcame my difficulties of being a sound operator. I wasn’t so sure on what a sound operator had to do at first but then when I got to know what I was doing, I felt more comfortable wit this role. When floor managing I over came my difficulty to communicate with the floor by listening to the director when I needed to and trying to communicate with everyone on the floor at the same time. As well as communicating with the sound operators as they needed re-assuring of what time we was going to start recording. When vision mixing, I overcome my difficulties with this role by listening carefully to the director of what camera and shot they wanted as well as understanding that I needed to take a wire out of camera 3 to swop it to see camera 4 as they are only 3 plugs for the camera wires to go into.

If I was to do this project again, I would have a chance at being director so I have the chance to be in control of all of the roles and make a good attempt at the production by trying to run it smoothly and think of good shot ideas I could use for camera 2 and the whole production.

If being a floor manager again, I would listen more carefully to the people on the floor and the sound operators making sure everyone is happy on the floor as well as listening carefully to the director’s instructions as I struggled because the talk back system wasn’t working very well.

If I was to vision mix again, I would get a good understanding of how everything works such as the wires from the tricaster needed changing. And listening to the director more carefully of what camera they want to change to instead of me sometimes predicting what shot they would want next and pressing it before they say they want that shot.

1,500 research for Dave!

Research assignment

Various news package shows

There are many different news package shows that are broadcasted on today television whether they are formal like on the BBC or informal such as E4 showbiz news.

Some examples of formal newspackage shows would be BBC news at one and hard talk. The BBC news at one is a news package show that informs its audience of todays real life news including news about big stories and parliament. Its structure for the news package show is they usually start off with the main headlines then talk about them headlines in more detail followed by footage of interviews, v.t’s or pictures with data on them. This program’s duration is 3 minutes.

The hard talk show is about factual informative news on world debates and issues for example with politics. The structure of the show starts off with a small introduction to what is going to be talked about then the presenter will usually sit down with the person they are going to interview, this lasts for 30 minutes.

An example of some a more informal approach of news package shows would be for example newsround, showbiz news on MTV and E4 and This morning. Newsround is a news package show which is made for childen by the BBC. Is is shown on the program CBBC and gives out news of the world but with some news that specifically children would be interested in. the structure of the show is they introduce the program with headlines and then talk about the news, they mainly give news that are targeted towards their audience. Such as reports about animals and schools, With V.t’s of children and using music in the background of them. The pace of the news package is quite fast moving keeping that interest level up. The studio is also quite colourful and interesting. It usually lasts 7 minutes.

The MTV showbiz news is a small bulletin of a news package which is about news of film stars and popstars, mainly celebrities. It is set in a colourful studio with the presenter stood up this shows that show is rather informal. It is quite upbeat and fast moving with music playing in the background. Many V.T’s are shown of the celebrities for example, them performing or short interviews with them. The show only lasts 2 minutes.

This morning is more of a magazine show broadcasted on ITV 1 which is a morning show about what’s happening in the world. Some of the topics could be about fashion or general matters not just news. There are two presenters who host the show on a sofa which is more of a informal approach. They usually have guests in to interview. They start by introducing the show and then have a VT of what’s coming up on the show. They cover headlines of in the papers with guest which are involved with that news with some specialist which they will also interview. They also have a different studio where a presenter tells the audience some of news that has been put on social networking sites like twitter.

Content and style of my news package production

As the news package show is going to be about the History of the Manchester college, the style of the program is going to be informative but given in a informal approach. As the program gives relative informal facts, we will also use music on top of the VT which will make the program more interesting preferably for a younger target audience. I am going to have a studio that is designed in a basic way with a chair and a table with some flowers on and black ground with a relevant logo on it. This will give a more comfortable feel to the audience.

The structure and content of the show is firstly, we are going to have an introduction in the studio from the presenter about what the show is about and what going to happen in the show with small V.T’s as they are talking. Then there is going to be an interview with the college librarian about what she remembers of the campus and how she has seen it changed. Many V.T’s will be shown of the campus as she is talking about the specific place. We are then going to go back top the studio where the presenter is going to introduce a V.T of facts about the history of the college. Mainly talking about how the structure has changed and what the campus used to be in its time. This is going to be a number of pictures with a voiceover. The show is then going to go back to the studio where the presenter will introduce the next interviewee which is going to be Sebastian, a member of the college council and student rep and finish off with a conclusion back to the studio. So therefore clips, pictures and factual voiceovers and interviews are going to be included within this show.

Production roles

Producer:

The producer develops and pitched an original idea to a broadcaster. They also may have raised finance from a range of sources to fund the project. They are the person responsible for holding a project together from start to finish delivering the project on time and on budget. They take responsibility of both the creative and administrative areas of the production. They may also need to personally organize and transport the equipment, cast actors, recce locations as well as make sandwiches and cups of tea for the cast and crew members on the shoot.

The researcher is involved in the bulk of the background research of a project, identifying key participants, facts and locations. For example in a news package production the researcher will research into the story and get the sufficient facts needed.

The reporter gathers the factual information through interview, observation and research, they organize the material and writes the story according to prescribed editorial style and format standards, they may also edit or assist in editing the production. They may appear in a television program when conduction taped or filmed interviews or narration. They also may give live reports from site of event or mobile broadcast unit.

The videographer maintains and operates the video equipment, edits select footage and stays up to date with all the new technological advances.

And finally the editor is responsible for assembling raw material into a finished product suitable for broadcasting with adding music or other sound affects or changing the picture with lighting or colour change.

Use of sound/audio

Within most production the use of music is used on some V.T’s for example it could be quite funky, to represent a children’s news show or something smooth to compliment a V.T of pleasant surroundings.

We are going to use some soft music that will compliment the V.T of the building.

Opens: These are the cuts used to begin a newscast, usually accompanied by a vamp straight out of the open (either a stripped or full version of the bumper.) In a news package, opens come in short credit forms (for the main open) and long credit forms (for talent opens.) Some packages even include different lengths of the talent opens for 3 or 4-anchor lineups.

Closes: Closes also come in different formats and lengths, many of which are similar in sound to that package's open. Usually, there are :60, :30, :20, :15, and :10 versions of the close, designed to resolve at a precise time.

Bumpers: These are used primarily before the main open and teasing out to the next segment of a newscast. When the bumper is played, a summary of what will air in the upcoming newscast or later in the newscast will be shown.

Topicals/promo beds: These are the cuts of music used only in promos for a specific upcoming newscast. Topicals come in four types: theme donut/theme donut open beds, ID/promo beds, end theme news open/promo beds, and ID/stingers. These usually correspond with regular promo times (:30, :20, :10, and :05 ID.)

Franchise opens/stingers: Franchise opens or stingers are used to open various segments of a newscast in-show (breaking news, special reports, sports, weather, investigation, etc.)

IDs: This is a short package signature used to identify the television station. It can also be used in conjunction to identify talent. The Federal Communications Commission requires several over-the-air (OTA) stations (including radio stations) to identify themselves at regular intervals by either stating their call letters or brand name (sometimes known, particularly in the United States, as a "sounder" or "stinger", more generally as a station or network ident). Also, an ID can signify a network affiliation such as the NBC chimes or the Fox TV drum-roll.

Utility tracks

Billboards

news styles and graphics

Some news package shows have data or graphs shown as a V.T with voiceovers.

We are going to use text with some facts in from our own research over a V.T of the campus.

The ending credits are also shown with text. Some newspapers can also be shown with the headlines which will be talked about before going into that story in detail.

For example the 60 second news show shows the news in a graphical way which is in a box with a V.T and another box with the presenter talking as with running text scrolling along at the bottom of the screen.

Lighting

Natural lighting and artificial lighting is used when recording on a news package show. When recording outside, no special settings or lighting is required unless it I dark outside then lighting should be used. Inside the studio, upper ceiling lights are used on the presenters. Depending on the ambience of the setting, the lighting could be use softly to present a soft approach from the presenters to the audience or is it’s a serious matter for example a important story then the lighting will be used more strongly.

We are going to be using just two lights on the presenters relatively strong as we want the audience to concentrate on the presenters.

Filming techniques

When filming a news package show, various shot sizes and angles can be used on the presenters and the interviewees as well as the footage on the V.T’s. for example if getting a shot to show someone showing their power, then the camera angle should be lower than their head or if you want to make the person look small and negative then use the camera above there heads on them to make them look powerless. Wide shots or extra long shots can be used when filming a large area for example a birds eye view from a helicopter on a town or an area. when showing an area such as a building a panning shot would be good for this and then to fade out or make the footage go blurry ready for the live broadcast from the studio. Filming techniques such as filming people’s feet as they are walking into a building for example can be a good technique whilst using a voiceover.

Copyright

Copyright protection normally covers the life of the creator. Music clearances are when the director wants to use a piece of music, which was made by another artist. To clear the copyright, the producer has to identify who owns the copyright and clear it ahead of delivery and screening.

A producer will have to make decisions about the type of filming undertaken and consider whether its invading a persons privacy and dignity. Filming in certain sensitive locations such as hospitals, schools, prisons and nursing homes would require permission from the relevant people. In our case we will have to be careful not to get the nursery next door to the campus in shot as children play around there.

Defamation are false comments, accusations or statements which could harm or affect the reputation of a living person or company.

Any shooting on public or private property requires permission. This must be negotiated with the owners in advance. The producer will need to ensure that a location agreement or permit is signed.

Public liability insurance is necessary when filming. This legally covers the production against any injury or accident to members of the public or damage to building as a result o filming.

 Risk assessment

Hazard	Severity	Likelihood	Risk	Control Measures	Risk Rating
Tripping over wires in the studio	2	2	4	Tape the wires to the floor or put mats over them	1 (low)
	1	1	1
Car park – running over by cars	5	2	10	Get the runner to watch out for running cars around	6 (low)
	3	2	6
Library- books falling on people	3	3	6	Keep the equipment for example the tripod and camera away from the book shelves	4 (low)
	2	2	4
People walking into camera equipment with plates/crockers	3	3	6	Makesure people are aware of the equipment and watch everyone around you at all times	4 (low)
	2	2	4
The sports hall: parts of building falling down- looks unsafe	4	2	8	Get the site manager to make sure it is safe before entering the hall and watch out for any gym balls around (e.g tennis bals)	2 (low)
	1	2	2

A Severity                                                     B.Likelihood                                                 C. Risk rating (when A x B = C)

1. Trivial                                                          1. Highly Improbable                                  1 – 9 = (LOW)

2. Minor                                                          2. Remotely Possible                                  10 – 19 = (MEDIUM)

3. Major to 1 person                                    3. Occasional Occurrence                      20 – 36 = (HIGH)

4. Major to 2 + persons                               4. Frequent Occurrence

5. Death to 1 person                                   5. Regular Occurrence

6. Death to 2+ persons                               6. Common Occurrence