Studio Production: Critical Analysis

Studio Production Critical Analysis

Vision Mixer & Promotions Producer

UCA Television Production: Year 2

By Megan McLellan-Waters

Word Count: 2592

Introduction

This critical analysis will explore my two separate job roles undertaken in the studio production ‘Teach ‘Em A Lesson’, these being Promotions Producer in pre-production and Vision Mixer during the live production. Alongside this will be the study of live broadcast television, children’s programme advertising and critical reflections on the unit. These subjects will involve discussing the creative methodologies used in my job roles and how they were heavily influenced by research, my understanding of live television and advertising for children alongside research of this and work experience within the industry. In addition, I will be analysing my work created in pre-production and the final results of all of my work. In relation to this, the critical analysis will begin by discussing my original pitch for a studio production idea, presented at the beginning of the unit.

Initial Idea Pitch

The overall theme of my studio production idea was a movie themed panel show called ‘Screenplay’. A show hosted by a comedian that uses four game and quiz rounds to create satirical parodies of films, and have two teams of hired actors or comedians compete against each other. The idea for this production was inspired by a number of current television programmes and their games involved, however making them movie themed. The rounds and their influences were as follows…

• Round One: ‘Trailer Trash’ and Round Three: ‘Plot Twist’ are two rounds that use a total of four pre-recorded VT’s (video tapes) of satirical film parodies. These were inspired by Channel 4’s ‘The Big Fat quiz’, a show that involves a guessing game on which famous film a group of actors are portraying in a satirical and unusual manner.

• Round Two: ‘Fast Forward’ was inspired by a card based guessing game called ‘Catchphrase’ (The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, 2015), similar to charades.

• Round Four: ‘Toplines’ was inspired by ‘Scenes We'd Like To See’ (Mock The Week, 2013), a guessing game that throws an unusual plot twist into famous films and events.

With these influences from adult studio productions in mind, the hypothetical broadcasting channel and scheduled air time was decided as Channel 4 at 9pm. Due to the combination of the fact that Channel 4 frequently takes on new shows and ideas, and that it has a higher proportion of adult audiences aged sixteen to thirty-four than any other public serving broadcasting channel - as found in the 2014 Annual Report Brochure (Channel 4, 2014). In addition to this, the channel’s influential comedy quiz and talk shows all seem to air at 9pm or thereafter. This includes ‘8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown’, ‘The Big Fat Quiz’ and ‘Alan Carr: Chatty Man’ (Channel 4 TV Guide, 2016). This is due to the adult content and language involved in each of the studio productions, similar to that involved in the content of ‘Screenplay’. Therefore, the decided broadcasting channel and time slot proved to be fitting.

While the production was not selected to be created, the premise proved to have a great deal of potential, and allowed me to gain understanding of each individual factor that was required to create a live studio production, giving me relatability and understanding of the producer’s (Wesley Denne) role in the chosen production, ‘Teach ‘Em A Lesson’.

Vision Mixer Job Role

In the role of Vision Mixer, I learned the requirements and how to use the equipment through a mixture of research and practical workshops with the unit’s Professional Advisor and Vision Mixer, Del Brown. This job role consisted of…

• Operating a number of complex areas on a vision mixing desk (see fig.1.) in the studio gallery.

• Working alongside the Studio Director (Jordan Parker) to cut between five camera shots under his instructions.

• Transitioning in GFX (graphics) on screen such as lower thirds and score boards under the previously selected transitions.

• Cutting in all VT’s where scripted, consisting of the opening titles, four stings, four in-round VT’s and the closing credits.

• Adding GFX to certain VT’s such as the programme’s logo and picture-in-picture.

In preparation for this role’s intensities and pressure, my research consisted of studying articles on the job along with articles and videos from The BBC Academy. I found that the role is best defined as ‘editing programmes live (as they are being transmitted or recorded), using a variety of transition methods, such as cuts, mixes, wipes and frame manipulation’ (Creative Skill Set). However, while this sums up the job role, experienced Vision Mixer Naomi Neufeld gave me insight into the importance of the job along with its mental and physical requirements by stating that ‘to be a vision mixer you have to be able to work under extreme pressure, you have very little thinking time and you have to be able to react instantly to situations’ (How to be a Vision Mixer, 2011). This prepared me when actively undergoing the role. As in relation, during both rehearsals and recording, I was required to follow extremely fast paced directions and use my initiative if the director was slow to cue any scripted parts of the show, such as VT's and GFX.

Fig. 1. My Vision Mixing Desk (2016)

Fig. 2. My Studio Script (2016)

My creative methodologies within this role consisted of…

• The aforementioned preparation based research.

• Actively using and learning how to operate a vision mixing desk.

• Rehearsing in the job role at any given opportunity.

• Being prepared through both memorising and highlighting all of my requirements in the studio script (see fig. 2.).

These methodologies allowed me to approach the role with a calm attitude, have the order of the script and my requirements memorised and prepared by the recording date, develop knowledge and understanding of professional phrase instructions from the Director – allowing for flowing communication, and develop a high skill set in successfully and professionally vision mixing.

Promotions Producer Job Role

As Promotions Producer for pre-production of ‘Teach ‘Em A Lesson’, my tasks in this job role were as follows…

• Creating a ‘Style Bible’ with information given from the Producer and Director that highlights key aesthetic information about the show for the crew’s shared use. Including fonts, colours, logo design, lower third design, costume, set design and lighting.

• Working alongside the DOP (Director of Promotions) to plan a promotional trailer and the opening titles for the show.

• Overseeing the produced GFX materials created by the DOP and providing feedback.

• Conducting research for the two separate promotional shoots to be held.

• Scripting the trailer (shown in Appendix. 1) and scripting the opening titles (Shown in Appendix. 2).

• Casting, securing locations and gathering props and costumes for filming of promotional materials.

• Assisting in set dressing on the days of filming, silent acting in the promotional trailer and acting as camera operator and sound technician during both shoots.

• Editing the promotional trailer and opening titles in Final Cut Pro and Adobe After Effects.

• Organising the costume, location, equipment and schedule of a photoshoot for the two main characters/hosts of the studio production.

• Acting as photographer and editor for the photoshoot, creating a promotional poster in Adobe Photoshop.

Approaching the role of Promotions Producer, I found the job to be best described as ‘promoting television shows on air with the aim of enticing viewers to watch programs … and tell a story which excites, entices and intrigues a viewer to sample or try a show’ (Holmes, 2013). Alongside this, I found many useful tools and advice when researching how to approach promotional material. Such as ‘The next time you see a great commercial, dissect it. Ask yourself why it hit you so hard. What captured your attention? What resonated with you?’ (Berman, 2012:116) and ‘Marketers want to get inside the mind of these consumers so they can position the brand in a way that singles them out and specifically targets them.’ (Berman, 2012:116). Both of which made me question the ways in which to target the productions audience of ten to twelve year olds through aesthetical appearance, filming style, costume, scripting and GFX.

When planning the promotional trailer, it proved to be extremely helpful to conduct research into CBBC’s children’s television programme trailers – as ‘Teach ‘Em A Lesson’ is a production based on this particular channel’s programming. When deciding on the overall style of the trailer, POV (point of view) was found to be an effective camera technique for giving the audience a first person experience alongside being commonly used in children’s television, as found in CBBC’s ‘Dixi’ trailer (Dixi 3 Trailer, 2016). Similarly, when studying these trailers, the use of an actor or presenter looking directly into the camera to address the audience (known as breaking the fourth wall) was commonly used in CBBC, including a chart show trailer that had the presenters lip sync a song into the camera (CBBC Chart Show, 2015). Therefore, the effective combination of these styles and techniques were used for the promotional trailer.

Meanwhile, research into how to approach both the opening titles and poster content was solely focused on school-based video materials. The features of the opening titles included…

• Focusing on a bored student in class, beginning to daydream. Featuring a GFX dream transition effect, both inspired by a school-girl based music video (Baby One More Time, 1998).

• The overall theme of the opening titles, being conformity and rules along with the strict and Victorian age persona of the teacher were inspired by a second famous music video based around school life (Another Brick In The Wall, 1982).

The end result of the opening titles proved to fit with this overall theme along with the old-fashioned yet satirical style of the studio production. Similarly, the inspiration from the above sources allowed for me to approach the promotional poster with the same vintage and classic school appearance, heavily featuring a large blackboard, chalk text and a Victorian-dressed presenter (James Percy-Smith), while still remaining appealing to the viewer’s eye, coinciding with the production’s appearance (see fig. 3.).

Fig. 3. Promotional Poster (2016)

Using the creative methodologies of researching promotions as a whole, children’s television promotional material and school-based promotional material, along with actively taking part on screen in the trailer, acting as camera and sound technician during all filming and being hands on with creatively editing all promotional material in Final Cut Pro, Adobe After Effects and Adobe Photoshop, This proved to provide an end result that accurately promotes the overall tone, themes and content of ‘Teach ‘Em A Lesson’. 

Live Television

‘Live TV and radio offers something that on demand never can; a shared real time experience. And the excitement that comes with the knowledge that no one … know[s] exactly what’ll happen next’ (BBC Podcasts) – I found this to be true when both actively working on an as-live show and when researching and analysing a pre-recorded production and a live broadcast production.

When comparing the pre-recorded studio production ‘Are You Smarter Than A 10 Year Old?’ to the live production ‘The Last Leg’, I found that the most noticeable difference in the two formats was the pacing of vision mixing. When analysing this alongside my own experience in rehearsals of vision mixing, I found that this was most likely due to the pre-recorded show (10 Year Old, 2008) having the ability to cut between shots as much as the director likes, while the live show (The Last Leg, 2013) was heavily based on live reaction shots between the hosts, guests and audience. Similarly, I found this to be the case when vision mixing ‘Teach ‘Em A Lesson’ due to the Director focusing on reaction shots and unexpected actions from the contestants, making our studio production’s style extremely relatable to my research found on professional live television.

When comparing ‘Teach ‘Em A Lesson’ to a professional live show such as ‘The Last Leg’, I found the following distinct similarities…

• A 30 second long opening titles VT to allow for the crew and audience to be prepared for the opening shot. For example, preparing the audience to applause.

• VT’s within the show allowing time for the hosts to take their next marker on the set, such as moving from standing to sat in their seats without wasting time seeing this on camera.

• Cutting to reaction shots and shots that anticipate what the host or guest will do next.

• Short delays in cutting to VT’s and GFX such as lower thirds, reminding the viewer that the programme is live.

While only noticing a small amount of dissimilarities such as GFX with the word “Live” and live Tweets from the public. Concluding that the end result of our studio production was shot, directed, produced, and vision mixed in an incredibly similar style and technique to that of professional live broadcast productions.

In view of this, it could be seen that this professional work experience within studio productions and live television could allow for future career opportunities, as it is said that ‘In addition to academic qualifications and training, employers are looking for skills and experience … Don’t wait until you are qualified to begin building your portfolio (Creative Skill Set). Meaning that this unit has allowed me to develop my skill set and portfolio to a new extent and entirely new area of television production, giving me a higher chance of professionally vision mixing and promotions producing in the future.

Critical Reflections

When beginning the unit, I had no prior in-depth knowledge of vision mixing and extremely little experience in promotions producing. However, due to extensive research into both job roles along with a great deal of planning, organisation and rehearsals of the live production, my knowledge and skill set in both areas great improved.

I experienced extremely minor mistakes during the live recording of the show, such as cutting a VT to transmission with the wrong transition. Which I personally feel is a great accomplishment from the beginning of the unit, having made plenty of mistake early on. I have learnt a great deal on how to operate a vision mixing desk, the attitude to approach the role with and the job as a whole.

I feel that the promotional trailer and opening titles could have been of higher quality with more time to cast professional actors and gain access to aesthetically pleasing locations, although the end results were favoured by the Producer nonetheless. Alongside my experience and successes in being a Vision Mixer, I am most content with the final result of the promotional poster. I feel that it perfectly captures the appearance and ideologies of the production, is clearly aimed at the target audience and aesthetically pleasing.

To reflect overall, the areas that I would like to improve on are gaining even further experience in vision mixing and making higher quality promotional videos in my career path. While the areas that I feel taught me a lot and went successfully are the amount that I learnt about my job roles, the team work and communication between the Studio Director and myself along with the DOP and myself, and the clean end result of the production,

Conclusion

As an incredibly small production team of eleven, the entire process of the unit went extremely smoothly even though the crew members were taking on more than one role during pre-production and production stages. While the programme’s quality could have been improved on through a higher budget or more lively contestants, there were many factors that made the production successful. Including effective communication between the entire crew, meeting deadlines, an understanding of each other’s job roles and an overall enthusiasm for the unit. I have learnt a great deal about what it takes to make a studio production not only work, but be appear as professional, organised and entertaining.

Appendix 1: Promotional Trailer Script by Megan McLellan-Waters

Appendix 2: Opening Titles Script by Megan McLellan-Waters

Illustrations List:

Figure 1. Brown, Del (2016) My Vision Mixing Desk [Photograph; Maidstone Studios Vision Mixing Desk] At: https://twitter.com/delbrowntv (Accessed on 16.04.16)

Figure 2. McLellan-Waters, M. (2016) My Studio Script [Photograph] In possession of: The author: Maidstone.

Figure 3. McLellan-Waters, M. (2016) Promotional Poster [Poster] In possession of: The author: Maidstone.

Bibliography:

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