Contextualising Statement:
During the holidays, after New Year, Media Production students came into university for three ‘studio days.’ In groups of around twelve we had to create and film a topical magazine show exactly 10 minutes long. It had to be suitable for a primetime, pre-watershed audience; feature two studio hosts, at least one correspondent, one live interview (with somebody outside the department), an opening sequence and end credits. There would be no editing after the allocated two hour studio slot.
It was a daunting task. I think the whole group was a bit stunned by what was expected of us. But most of us had worked together in the studio before and made a good team. I was nominated to direct, as I had done it once before, and for some reason nobody else wanted the job. Directing is a special interest of mine, so I was nervous but happy. Before our studio time I worked on research and found our studio guest.
Bamford (2012) says most director’s creative work “[…] will be done beforehand because all he has time for in the studio is to put it into effect.” In retrospect I should have paid more heed to this and ensured we all spent at least two pre-studio hours going over the script, rehearsing and making sure we were all clear what we were doing. I should have had my shooting script annotated and gone through it with the crew before the clock started running. Instead we discovered there weren’t enough scripts to go around and wasted rehearsal time trying and failing to print more. We needed to do more sound checks, as sound quality on one of the VTs and the studio mics turned out to be a serious issue. We also had to work through the break I’d assigned because we were behind schedule.
In spite of these problems the crew worked well as a team. I feel I managed to assert my “[…] authority with confidence but without throwing [my] weight around.” (Bamford 2012) I kept calm, communicated clearly, was firm but polite and friendly with the crew, and made sure that things did get done, and didn’t panic when things went wrong. Our producer had done and excellent and dedicated job bringing the show together and writing the script, I just had to focus on keeping us afloat until the end. Although the VTs had some technical issues they were entertaining, and our studio guest gave a great interview about youth homelessness. After my previous directing experience, I made sure I used the correct wording for cuts between cameras and going to VTs. Although there were some awkward and clumsy moments I feel that I’ve improved in this area.
There is a great sense of achievement that we managed to create and record a TV show in three days, even in the bleary and hungover depths of January. I loved working with the crew and was unexpectedly not afraid to take charge. I feel I gained and learned a lot from the experience, and the many mistakes I and others made. I look forward to building on and greatly expanding this knowledge moving forwards.
Bibliography:
Bamford, N. (2012) Directing Television: A Professional Survival Guide. London, Bloomsbury.
BBC Academy (2018) Guide to a TV Studio [Internet]. Available from http://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/production/television/directing [Accessed 24th May 2018]