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.