Sonia's Television Blog

Today we had a very exciting workshop with Del, it was our first go at working in a real Studio Production atmosphere. We all had a go at different jobs such as Floor Managin, Sound, Directing, VT, Talent etc. We also had a go at playing around in the gallery and seeing what it takes to be a vocal Director. We all had a go and realised that when we go live all of us tone our voices down and really start to focus very strongly on what to say and what shot to play live. I had so much fun during this workshop but found out that most of the jobs are very difficult! Escpecially my own, being a floor manager comes with many different responsibilities. I realised that i had to really nail my 'Floor Manager' hand signals. I also found it difficult to manage the talent, Del told me that i had to be nexto each camera when live so that the talent can look at you and the correct camera. Me and George both decided to take care of one talent each - i would be in charge of Adeline and Georg...

I have started to research a few charity shops around Rochester that would fit our VT style , i will be visiting most of these charity shops to see what exactly they have for sale that would suit our VT Presenter on a night out. Rochester Charity Shops: 1.      Oxfam – 25-29 High St, Rochester ME1 1LN – 01634 814790 – A really good range for all shoppers, they have a funky trendy boutique and sell a wide range of clothing. Alongside separate men’s clothing and women’s. – They have a great range of VINTAGE clothing. 2.      Emmaus – 215-217 High St, Rochester ME1 1HG – 01634 814195 – A charity shops that revolves around helping homeless people, not only do they sell clothes but they also provide many other services for the public. 3.      Branardos – 94-96 High St, Rochester ME1 1JT – 01634 831843 – They sell a smaller range of clothing but they also focus on vintage styles but mostly on handm...

Fashion Fails – Internet Shopping Websites I have actually experiences these issues in the past with ‘Online Shopping’ you can never be sure if what you order is what you will actually get. I have researched a few websites that have this issue and how could we possibly stop them? The first website that has caught my eye is ‘Zaful’ . This online store describes itself as ‘Trendy women’s fashion’ it started off with just bikini sales but developed into clothing also – I have noticed this online store getting more and more attention due to Youtuber sponsorships, Zaful sent Bikinis and clothing for free to popular Youtubers to review them. This is where some of their stuff really came differently to what was show online. Most of their bikinis are VERY small when ordered in a Medium or Small, ‘It would fit a child’ one Youtuber mentioned while reviewing the clothing off the site. You cannot tell a lot from their pictures either, there is no description of mate...

We had a few workshops were Del introduced us to how cameras actually work, we learnt a lot of camera skills within a live setting. He thought us how to properly pann a camera and how to focus a long shot into an MCU. It was very diffiult to focus on a small detailed object from far away, but it was great practice. Del wanted to see if we can set up all the equipment properly, since we have had many workshops we knew what we were doing. Everyone took a camera and began to set up their own equipment, we did the white balance, iris etc.  After every had set up their cameras Del told us to take turns into learning different camera skills that the industry standards are. In a live production all cameras are allinged near each-other to insure all the cameras look the same. We also learnt about the grey colour chart, all cameras look at the darkest black and the whitest white, making sure all cameras look the same.  On that board there were different images and colour m...

- 30% Production role critical analysis (2000 words) - Crucially it should include research into studio production and the specific professional role you have undertaken, and how that research informed your actual role and the production. - Think of this as a piece of writing which teaches the reader about your role and uses the experience of this production as anecdotal evidence to illustrate typical tasks, issues, and skills. - Explaining to the reader what we are doing, teaching the reader from scratch - learning outcomes. - Researching the role! - Show the reader that you can critically evaluate your own work and that you understand professional approaches and context through a focus on academic referencing throughout. - Research 'Floor Managers' NOW - Thus you will demonstrate and evidence that all decisions and critical reflections are informed by research and development. - Deliver in a report style, it is a document that allows us to see now just what you have d...

Today we got split into our A/B groups and had a workshop with Del who was very informative and helpful. I feel very fortunate to have Del teach us everything he knows, today he taught us about being a professional camera operator and it is NOT an easy job! The main thing that was difficult was focusing while an object is moving in an extreme close up, but after a few tries, everyone started to get the hang of it. He explained to us that when we go in for a camera op job we are meant to understand all of the director's technical terminologies. He also mentioned that it can't take us too long to set up our cameras because this runs into the show's time, and we could possibly not get booked again! There are A LOT of terminologies that directors specifically use to communicate with their camera operators but these are some of the important ones we should always remember.  Camera Direction/Movement: READY Next camera to be cut (live) to program out STANDBY Next c...

Steals of the Season Summer 2018   Reesearching what is currently in style and what could be the IN during 2018 summertime!   Women Tennis Skirts - For sure bringing back the ‘Tennis Skirts’? – these are both comfortable and a fashion statement! – These skirts thrived from the 1900’s until around 2013 where EVERY Instagram blogger posted about them. I feel like they could make a comeback. Lace Tank Tops – These have been everywhere on Social Media, everyone has been wearing them and buying them off every online website (Missguided, Boohoo, Wish etc.) Many have been wearing these braless even in the winter – this just shows it will be a great fashion style in the Summer. Fishnets – Everyone pairs jeans with fishnets, they just go great together. But what if they are worn without jeans or an under layer? This could be something that could be seen in summer 2018. Embroidery!!! – This for SURE will be the trend this summer! Everyo...

After our pitches we waited until around 4pm to see which idea got commission, this was 'Steal the syle' which means Katie and Melissa ended up being producers. After their idea got commissioned we had interviews held to see what role we each would get for the entire studio production. While in the interview I wanted to see what role I could get, I wanted to either go for 'Vision Mixer' or 'Casting Researcher' but both Jo and Helen thought I could manage as a VT Researcher and Floor Manager because of my outgoing personality. We also got split into 2 groups because there is so many of us we all have to do 1 part of the show and the other person the other half. I was excited to see that I was chosen as a 'Floor Manager, VT researcher'. After our pitches we waited until around 4pm to see which idea got commission, this was 'Steal the syle' which means Katie and Melissa ended up being producers. After their idea got commissioned we had interviews ...

VT's We have started to set ourselves tasks to plan out our 4 VT's that will play during the live production. Because we are slip into 2 groups everyone has their own area to research i am in charge of 'Steal the style' and 'Fashion fails'. VT's can be used during anytime of the show, they always help to provide more in depth information for our live production. These external content wouldn't be allowed to be show in the studio while we are live. VT's really show a variety of key information for the audience, it can introduce a round or a packge (which is what we are doing) VT should always have the same approach within a production and genre should always stay the same. We can't have a fashion chat show and show a VT that was filmed in thorpe park? It wouldn't make sense and it would confuse our audience. VT's usually run for less than 2 minutes and depending on the show run 2-4 times during the entire production, for our productio...

Tim Burton - Edward Scissorhands scene. Open up the film and we can instantly tell it's a Tim Burton movie Gothic style, dark tones, and styles  He emphasizes more with the monster than the hero Tim Burton depends on a lot of people, works with the same people  Thomas Shatz - Treats genre as an intellectual concept rather than just as an industry term alone. Genre - types of films which filmmakers and audiences recognize by their familiar iconographic, narrative conventions. E.g Iron man trilogy Iconography - Setting, staging, costume, props, stars. Visual codes to create narrative! Style - cinematography, lighting, music, editing, style. Narrative/Structure - A narrative system, film genre can be examined in terms of structure. Genre aims to please audiences and maximize profits, using formulas that seem to work based on repetition and expectations to entertain in a different way. Thor - what genre, hybrid? It is a comic book adaptation. The 80s style ...

What is production managment?  Well, production managment is very important we have to focus on organisation and be a team. We ahve to be aware of castig and talen ensuring all content is on schedule and appropriate for all time slots.  Production managers have to take care of; Leading a prodcutin team Keeping a schedule on top Organising a budget  Project managment Call sheets Keeping the latest technology and tech specs Risk Assesments  Noting all stages of the production Health and Safety Managing all cast and crew There could also be production mistakes such as; Not knowing the production Not being a team player Being a know it all Not delegating Not sharing key information Being on your phone  Not caring what others do Leaving the production to the last minute Working in an unsafe enviroment Swearing on set We have to follow the productions do's and dont's; Sticking to the schedule Call sheets to be followed Release forms...