TRANSITIONS UNIT: DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY STATEMENT

Lighting
Through my adaptation of Jessica Jones. I want the lighting to flow with the mood of the scene. After discussing with Cinematographer, George Burt, about his Feature Film 'Redwood' and how he wanted the lighting to set the tone for the film and add to the horror and fear, I knew I needed this effect. After viewing the original clip, the lighting is a mixture of warm street light flooding through the windows and doorways, not filling the room but giving us light enough to see the emotions of the characters. The lighting here doesn't flow with the emotions and more sets the time of day for the scene, being a night. The lighting never really changes apart from the light coming off Jessica's laptop at the end of the scene:

I wanted the lighting to follow with the mood of the script. Such as George Burt discussed as in Redwood, the lighting sets the mood and fear of the film. Lee Thomas also discussed how his choice of lighting for his short film 'Cropped' also works with the tone of the film. When it starts and everyone is in the car, we're in a nice bright and sunny field, everyone is happy and getting on with the day. When things start to turn odd and the aliens are seen and scare the characters, the lighting has gone dark and and added more mystery to the scene as well as shown the change of tone for the characters. Although, Lee explains that you would expect to see Aliens at night as it's a classic tradition for Si-Fi films but he also wanted the tone to be consistent with the mood of the characters.
From this, I've chosen to have the lighting as moonlight flooding through the windows, as to work with the mood that Jessica is feeling. Her brothers ashes are smashed on the floor, her flat has been smashed up (all be it by her) and she currently feels broken.
The idea of the moonlight is to give that feeling of her wanting to be hidden. Little colour in the scene to bring out the sadness that she feels and the trails of light through the window and onto the floor of the broken urn, representing her broken state but also helping to establish the time of day (night time). Later, adding in the tungsten to bring out colour to the scene as the mood has changed and Jessica has gotten her confidence back. With this, I wanted a lighting change to represent this and bring that confidence to life. As we would finally see full detail in her face. With this and her change of mood it brings up the scene more.

TRANSITIONS UNIT: LIGHTING STYLE & CHOSEN KIT

Lighting
Lighting for this project was almost my main focus with the remake. How to make the lighting different and my own style while trying to keep the same emotions of the original proved difficult as I haven't really done any low light shooting before. During my research into the art of lighting I looked into Film Riot a large amount and found the video below very helpful:

This showed me what I could do with the lights I use and how I can manipulate them. The way I styled my lighting actually came from watching Horror films. The Woman in Black was the main film which gave me the idea for the lighting in this scene. Moonlight is such a classic style of films for lights, especially at night. The scene below is one that made me consider moonlight:

It gives a very cold and upsetting feel to the scene. Mixed in with the emotions that Jessica feels at the beginning of the scene helps to really deliver the sadness that she feels. With this and the lighting techniques I leant from other cinematographers such as Lee Thomas and George Burt, I chose to have the lighting flowing through the windows. With a main key light on one side to bring out Jessica's face and a fill light central to the window so that it looks like moon light shining through. To work with the mood change later on I decided to have Jessica turn on a desk lamp. Giving us a warmer light but keeping the original there so we get a change in mood but no big changes are needed. 

TRANSITIONS UNIT: SCRIPT BREAKDOWN & STYLE OF SHOOTING

Above is the final draft of the script prepared by Victoria. From this, I took this and broke down the script. Changes had been made to the scene from the original so the scene worked on its own and also as it was now set in the UK (Making it more original rather than a copy). With this in mind I went on to break down how I felt the scene should be filmed.

Page 1

First thing I took from this script was it was all set at night. This is needed to keep in mind for lighting later on but made a note of it. First 2 scenes are new to the script. First takes place outside, whats written is Malcolm walking down the street to his flat. Reading this, I was taken back to the scene in Shaun of the Dead where Simon Pegg walks to the shop:

All done in one take, the scene isn't boring as the sound design brings up the mood and tells the audience enough as well as what they can see within the scene. Now, all this shot would be is Malcolm walking but in the script it also says "he can hear crashing, banging and swearing". After discussing with Jemma, she said she wanted to build the sound design up through this scene rather than show the violence that Jessica has. With this I decided on one single take for the opening scene where we can see Malcolm as a character and slowly bring in Jessica. 

Scene 2, I went with a simple wide shot for the opening as we just need to see Malcolm enter the flat and then we finally get the reveal of Jessica. "She's visibly drunk with a whiskey bottle in her hand. Her families ashes are scattered on the floor amongst various other spirit bottles" this already describes our character but I had to think of a way to show the audience this before Malcolm enters the room. So I decided to have a slide shot to reveal the room and then Jessica. With then close ups of things around the room to give details to what has happened. 

By the time Malcolm starts to clear up the ashes, I want to have a pull focus of the two characters. Keeping it again as one shot but with both in frame and focus goes between them. On a personal level I've always like this and I think this is a good way to go between the characters without having the harsh cuts. 

TRANSITIONS UNIT: LOCATION RECCE

With the choice of location for Jessica Jones. Myself and Victoria worked together on choosing this, having in mind whether we had access and also whether it suited the production. Originally, we were considering using the basement at my student house as this would give us that dingy and horrible sort of vibe which you want from Jessica's flat. However, another group took this location before us.

Victoria changed the script and adapted it so that Jessica and Malcolm would now be living together, meaning he could come in and out of the flat easily. With this in mind, we looked into using Victoria's living room. Photos of this are below:

From a visual point of view, I think this location is actually better. For lighting, the windows are much larger so the room is more easy to fill. The room is actually larger (if we remove the sofas) so there's more room to shoot and also we are able to make this look like a small studio flat. As well as the hallway outside looking like a block of flats hallway. Plus the street outside for us to use for the opening scene.

The set will need to be dressed and changed to look more like a flat as well as making it look like it's been "trashed". This will work well though. What's good here (refer to photo 1) is that there is an old fire place in this room which could be where the ashes are smashed as you can't be sure an urn would actually smash on a carpet floor.

TRANSITIONS UNIT: THE PITCH

Above is our pitch for our Transitions Unit. When we pitched this, Victoria was off sick so only myself and Jemma pitched the idea for the remake. We split the pitch up for presenting it and also had Victoria's comments at hand for her slides. 

Through the pitch we explained why we had chosen this show and it's current popularity, as well as its connection to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. One of the main points we wanted to get across straight away was the fact we have don't have a Director for this project. We explained the way around this which was that the script, actors and Locations will be sorted by our Producer, Victoria and the style, tone and look of the remake will be decided by me.

Victoria's notes had us explain that the role of a Producer is difficult but challenging. In regards to the script, we didn't have any notes but from the feedback, Simon explained that we would need to make the remake our own. Not just do the same as the original programme. With regards to my section of the pitch...
I had already begun to look into the style of filming for Jessica Jones. Often with handheld camera movement like in Daredevil with dark colours but mixing in with that purple tone that we see through the posters and style of the pitch. I wanted to change this. I wanted the camera to work with the emotion of the scene. With the beginning being very steady and stabilised shots, then speeding up and more movement coming towards the end of the scene where the emotions of the scene change.

I also looked into what sort of camera I wanted to use. I want to have moon light rather than street lights to being forward the sadness that Jessica feels as well as the over all mood of the scene. With this in mind I knew I would be using very low amounts of light and for that I looked into using one of the Sony A7 lines of Mirrorless DSLR cameras as they are currently the best cameras on the market for low light and gives a nice, greyish sort of look (examples of which I showed in the presentation).

Jemma explained what it was she wanted to achieve through the edit, working off the style that I was intending with the cinematography but also taking her own toll on the project through the sound design to build up tension and mood. 

TRANSITIONS UNIT: JESSICA JONES CLIP (REVIEWING THE STYLE OF FILMING)

Above is the chosen clip that we're going to recreate. The scene comes from Episode 1 of Jessica Jones Season 2. It's a simple scene, 1 location, 2 actors, only a few props and not a huge amount of dialogue. This allows us all to have a lot to do in our roles. 

Cinematography

Throughout this scene, we have a very simple lighting style. Dark and dim, mixing well with the emotions of the scene. As well as working for the setting which is in an apartment in New York City, so we see both hallway light and street light flooding into the room, allowing us to see what's going on and not needing a light to be switched on within the scene. We get a very faint light on Jessica at the opening and throughout this sort of cold and dark feeling, working well as Jessica is broken in this scene from her families ashes being on the floor. We only see Jessica as portrait until Malcolm starts to clean up the ashes, then we finally see all her face and all the emotions which follows. 

The scene is very locked off shots in regards to the camera. One shot being very low down and having both Jessica and the ashes in shot, reminding the viewers of why she's sad and keeping them as one of the main focus. The majority of the shots are singles, not having both characters in shots and just focusing on their dialogue. All the shots are either locked off on tripods or in a stabiliser as we can see very small movement from the camera towards the end of the scene. 

I feel with this, I could really experiment with this scene and try some techniques I've never tried before. 

TRANSITIONS UNIT: CHOSEN ADAPTATION AND TEAM

I've now gotten into a team for Transitions Unit.

Myself - I'm the Director of Photography. I've chosen this role due to my love of cameras and I've tried to learn as much as possible in the camera and lighting department. I took on the role of DOP seriously with my Fictional Adaptation unit where I made my film 'Ribbons' in regards to the style of shooting and the choice of lighting.

Victoria Simmonds - She is our Producer. Victoria has a keen interest in both research and is very detailed with paperwork. She was the Assistant Producer for our Studio Production 'Steal the Style' and has helped with researching and developing a documentary with one of our tutors through the course. Victoria is also involved with Producing a video outside of the course.

Jemma Simmonds - Jemma is our Editor. Jemma has always expressed a love for editing and has edited all her own projects. She's never had a chance to focus on the role specifically and has often had to double up on a role. She's currently involved in a music video I am developing and coming onboard as the Editor for that as well.

This is our entire crew which does leave us with a slight issue... we have no Director.

As the rest of the students in our year have already gotten into groups, we found that no one was left who wanted to take on the role of Director. Speaking with our Tutor Simon, we asked how we could go about doing this unit without one. He explained that we could go forward and recreate a scene from something, as long as there was very little Direction required in the scene. Meaning we can't do anything over the top and experimental. We would require a scene with simple dialogue and movements for the actors so that one of us could do basic Directing but not stepping out of our chosen role.

Chosen Adaptation
When discussing what we wanted to recreate. We agreed we wanted something current and popular but we would also require something with only 1 or 2 characters as to keep it simple and require little Direction. I wanted something which could challenge me, cinematography wise. With this, we finally chose to recreate a very popular TV Show. Jessica Jones. This programme is about a Private Investigator who has super powers due to an accident when she was younger.

The Programme is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and runs alongside the other 4 hero series; Daredevil, The Punisher, Luke Cage and Iron Fist. Jessica is an alcoholic and quite broken woman due to the villain 'Killgrave'. A lot of the scenes in Jessica Jones will be her alone or her and her friend Malcolm. With the release of Season 2, only recently coming out, we thought this would be ideal. The cinematography through this programme I've always loved. Very nitty, gritty and handheld film making with very dark lighting to bring out the darkness of the characters and to work with the locations.

TRANSITIONS UNIT: BRIEFING & CHOSEN ROLE

We've now been briefed on our new unit. 'Transitions'. This unit is set in prepare us for the transition into our Third year, where we won't work in different roles as we have done in the previous 2 years. We will specialise and focus on one role throughout our final year of the course on our final project. 

To prepare us, we must choose an existing piece of material (Television Based) and remake it in our own chosen role. Not focusing on anything unless it falls into our role. The roles put forward were:

- Director 

- Director of Photography (D.O.P)

- Producer

- Editor

- Screen Writer

We were briefed on this unit as Studio Production was still happening, so I already had one role as a Studio Director. Before Studio Production I was fixed on focusing on being a D.O.P, So for this unit I chose to stick with it to see if it really was what I wanted to do. The remake only has to be between 2-3 minutes and a website also has to be produced to publish all our work as this is also required for our final project next year. 

TRANSITIONS UNIT: DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY (ROLE RESEARCH)

A Director of Photography is the person in charge of how the film/production will look visually. With this being my chosen role, I wanted to look into what this role will involve as well as reflect on previous experiences that I've had on being a Director of Photography. Using Creative Skillset as my main form of research into what is needed for the role.

In regards to a Film/Production with many different departments, the Director of Photography is key to the Head of Departments in Film and Television Production and one of the most creative roles as they will be involved with lighting, camera, sound, 1st & 2nd Assistant Directors as well as grips, sparks and continuity department. But their main job is to read the screenplay and visually bring it to life working closely with the Director. They give the production a unique look and style. 

To get this look they will use Lighting, Camera, Lens's and also have a say in the Edit with the grade. As well as working with the costume, production design and hair and make-up departments to ensure that this look is being achieved and follows the Directors creative vision for the production. However, the visual style of the production won't only be decided by the DOP. The DOP will read the script and then meet with the Director to discuss what the style should be. The DOP will also go along on location recces and have a say in the choosing of a location to which they will then carry out technical test runs on the location in preparation for the shoot.

A Director of Photography will also be in charge of choosing the equipment used for the production and work closely with the Producer to ensure the choice of kit fits within their allotted budget and they may also have a say in the crew chosen for the camera department as they will be the leader for the camera department.

The DOP can sometimes double up as the camera operator as well as the head of the camera department. However, this can be a choice between the DOP themselves or the Producer and whether they want that.

I found all this on Creative Skillset and as a Student DOP I've done a fair few of these tasks. I was the DOP for a third year Documentary which was filmed out in Spain and during this I worked with the Director/Producer to choose the kit which we would use. I also was involved with choosing where the interviews for the Documentary would take place. As well as filming all the footage as well.

However, other projects I have had to double up on Directing and DOP but never been able to focus purely on this. I have been lucky enough to work under some Director of Photography and for further inspiration into how I could achieve this role and my chosen adaptation I'll research into some.

(Information gained from: http://creativeskillset.org/creative_industries/film/job_roles/759_director_of_photography)

STUDIO PRODUCTION: EVALUATION

Throughout this production I have grown both my confidence and my technical skills as the Studio Director.

Pitching - Arch Roomies
With the pitching of ideas. I feel I worked very well with Simon to create the idea for 'Arch Roomies'. It was a very creative and original idea, which hadn't been pitched at the Studios before. I did extensive research into the current issues with housing to ensure we had back-up  evidence as to why this is relevant in our current day and age. As well, as putting together the Pitch itself and ensuring that our branding was consistent throughout the pitch and we were clear on our target audience. My delivery of the pitch was clear and confident. I had learnt and reviewed the pitch until I knew it off by heart.

My weaknesses during the pitch would be the set design for 'Arch Roomies'. Simon and I made the set far too complicated and this brought down our chances of having the idea chosen for Studio Production. Had we had a simpler set, we could have maybe been chosen. My script for Arch Roomies wasn't very strong either as it was a first draft, had I started the script earlier and really developed it, this could have made a huge difference to whether or not our idea got chosen.

Pre-Production - Steal the Style
During the Pre-Production stage, I worked very closely with my co-director George Lock to plan through visually, how we were going to bring Steal the Style to life. I was hugely involved in the audition process and the choice of our Presenters at the end of the auditions. I also communicated with our Drag Queen Sapphire Stonee and Oliver Lewis (before he sadly had to leave the production) as well as Bonnie our DIY seller, I either Skype interviewed them or met them in person to not only interview and ensure they were right for the project, but to see what sort of person they were and ensure they had a clear line of communication with the Director from the very beginning.
I worked closely with the Producers throughout Pre-Production to ensure they were aware of my choices for how I wanted each of my sections to work through. As well as updating them on my choices of cameras and shots and giving my input into the script. With the VT department, I was regularly keeping up to date with their process and also the ideas and styles for the VT's. This was the same with Promos department. For graphics, I was often green lighting graphics as our graphics creator would come to me for my sections and the graphics needed there.
I was also involved in putting together the budget estimation for the show which was a difficulty for me due to my learning difficulties but it's something I managed to do and it improved my numeracy skills hugely which I would need as a Director. My planning for the cameras was done in advance to ensure we had them all ready for the blocking and rehearsals and was regularly updated if any changes were made. My research into Studio Directors was a huge benefit for me as it allowed me to think ahead to what I may have to deal with, in regards to the high levels of stress that this role brings, this research allowed me to look into ways to deal with stress and techniques to calm myself down if I did become stressed.

I would argue that my weaknesses for Pre-Production would involve not looking into the other roles until the Production stage, I wasn't made aware of how important it was to work together as a team and really communicate until we were in the Studio and this caused issues with the Pre-Production stage in terms of organising the budget, finding the contacts we needed and getting the Presenter Applications from Jack Whitely.

Production - Steal the Style
During the rehearsals for Steal the Style, I over came my initial panic of the high level of work which I feel is a huge strength for this unit. I could have crumpled under the stress of leading so many departments and cutting the show together but I stepped back, looked at the situation and calmed down and then learnt from Del and George Lock, from this I became far more confident and I found the job much easier to do. Working with 5 cameras was difficult and I found it hard to follow the script and watch all the cameras while listening to what was send. My strength here was finding my own way of working and rather than reading the script, I learnt it. Back to back so I knew every section of the show and what is said in each section. Then using my camera plans, I could work through the show much easier and found it easier to cut the show.
My communication throughout the production stage was excellent. When we had issues with too many people talking on talk back I resolved this by having one line of communication to the floor which was the Floor Manager. Cameras were instructed to tilt there camera up and down in response to questions from the gallery which worked much better. Throughout the production stage, I made changes to my camera plans and the layout of my sections as they were needed and this greatly benefitted the final programme.

Blocking the sections was a huge benefit as well as it allowed me to work through the sections and think how it could be done effectivly and easily. The Round-Up's blocking was one of my best strengths as I blocked through the sections and used the amount of cameras we had to my advantage. Having each camera on one section:

Camera 1 - Audience
Camera 2 - Wide shot of entire set (ending shot)
Camera 3 - Catwalk (models and Bonnie)
Camera 4 - Presenters
Camera 5 - Sapphire Stonee
This made the round up much easier to film and worked very well for the final production.

During the Production stage was when Oliver left the project. When this happened, I didn't panic and stress. I communicated with my team and we came together and all looked for a new Drag Queen. Once Sapphire had been found, I Skype called her to learn what I needed and ensure we had her onboard with the project.
During the rid day, I ensured that I was at the studios for 8am, ready to meet the CAFT team and Lighting department and to ensure that they had one of the Directors on sight ready to assist and feedback with any issues or questions they may have had. When directing my section of the Live Show, I communicated well, worked with the Vision Mixer and P.A to ensure it was cut professionally and kept to time and at the end of the programme we hit or 30 minute broadcast target.

My Weaknesses for Production would be my terminology use. During the blocking I would continually say 'cue 2' or 'cue 4' for the camera shots and because of this, it was confusing the floor crew as 'Cue' is only used for music beds and cueing talent. I was unorganised with arranging the photos for Bonnie's interview, I should have had this sorted weeks in advance so that we could have had more rehearsal time with them. As well as this, my feedback, as well as the other Production Teams, was very slow for the CAFT Team and because of this we made them start a week later on the set, had we not had a fantastic Design team, we could have ended up with no set to which we may have had no show.

Overall, this programme was a huge success and a grate joy to be a part of and Direct. 

STUDIO PRODUCTION: TX DAY

Today was our TX Day. Prior to the call time (9am). Myself and Jemma Cotterell ensured that our talents dressing rooms were set up and ready. We had one of the design team in early to continue working on little parts of the set (touch up on some paint, etc.) and we ensured we had clear signs up for studio entrance and the location of the dressing rooms. Cameras had been left set up after yesterdays rehearsal and the gallery was set up and ready.

Our issue with today was that people arrived late, some crew members didn't turn up until 9:15am and we were aiming to run our first rehearsal at 9:30am-10am. Our models were in late due to the traffic which we couldn't avoid. Alfie and Adeline were straight into make-up when arriving and we went out our Sound Assistant to get everyone set up with mics. Bonnie arrived as did Sapphire so they were set ready. We couldn't start rehearsals until 9:40am due to late arrivers and poorly managed set up. Cameras weren't balanced and set in time but this didn't effect the Live Show.

The rehearsal had some issues, mics coming up late due to Aimeé not being able to see the monitors and which Presenter was about to talk. Cues were missed as we had issues with in-ear talk back. Camera operators had some shaky footage and we also had communication issues with crew either not listening or not paying attention.

Adeline and Alfie were off script now and using the cue cards provided. The photo to the left is the cue cards we had printed for them, we wanted the branding to be consistent throughout this programme so we used the logo with a very faint pink as the background. We then printed what our presenters needed onto the back. As the rehearsals went on, Alfie and Adeline used their cue cards less and less, constantly remembering more and becoming much more relaxed while Presenting.

George and I did change a couple of shots during the rehearsal, this was due to the Steal the Style sign on the set. We found the wide shots looked much better if framed to have the sign in the framing, only a couple of these shots were changed to this however. Another shot which was changed was the final shot of the programme. George Wing (camera 2 operator) asked if we could go right to the centre of the room so the set was right in the middle and then do a tilt up to the lights, when we tried this in the programme and had everyone smiling and waving, it worked so much better than the locked off shot did.

Practicing with the lighting, we had to cue the lighting department to bring up the lighting for Fashion Fails on the audience and also for the Drag Queen performance, as they hadn't been supplied a script and also didn't have time to learn it, they explained it's easier for me and George to cue them in.

With the in ear talk back for the Presenters, we learnt we really had to watch where the Presenters were looking as we would start on camera 1 but them change to another camera and the Presenters wouldn't be looking into the correct camera.

STUDIO PRODUCTION: RIG DAY

With the Rig Day, this is where our Set arrives and our Lighting Team come in and set up the lighting. Jo Clark had requested either me or George be at the Studios for the beginning of the set up, 8am, so that the Set crew had one of the Directors to help with the set up and to talk to if they were unsure on something. As well as Set Design beginning, it allowed me to talk to Jon (lighting) prior to them setting up and to ask if there was anything in the lighting plan I had made which wasn't possible. Talking to him, he explained that we have the Par cans and asked if they should be red of blue, I requested a blue light be placed above and the par cans be red as I felt this would give a much better effect, bit of mystery and build up the atmosphere.

While the Set was being rigged and the lighting being set up. We got the crew to come down and set up, ready for the minute we were able to go and rehearse. Unfortunately, Crew members were late and this got held back. During the set rig I had to assist with the positioning of the catwalk for how we want to shoot it and I also was made aware that in the soft area, we aren't able to move the cameras too far to the left as you will be able to see through the set.

Completed set is below:

Once the set was in, I could clearly see the show coming together. it was the right colour and feel for the show. The detail in the Soft area with the magazines, shelving and photos on the wall was perfect and just added to the atmosphere. Lighting was still being set up throughout the day but this didn't stop us from rehearsing.

Bonnie came in for this rehearsal but was only available until 2pm. From this, I had her sit with Alfie and Adeline and talk through the questions, as well as find out as much about her as they needed to. I was between the base room and the studios so I didn't have a huge amount of time to sit and block with her till we were in the studios. During this rehearsal, Jemma informed us that our Model Helen had dropped out of the programme. But, Jemma had quickly found a replacement called Sonia who was coming in for the rehearsal today. Sapphire Stonee wasn't available for this rehearsal, which we had been made aware of so we organised a stand-in.

When blocking through with the set, it went really well. Although we still didn't have lighting as they were still rigging, we could already see more life coming into the programme. We were also able to frame up our shots and finalise the positions as we knew where the set was going to be now.

With rehearsing, Old to New worked really well, with the section running smoothly and at a steady pace. The run through of DIY with Bonnie was really good as we could finally see what she was like on camera and she was came, chilled and confident. Rehearsing with her really helped as when we were filming her singles we found the issue that Gary had spoken about with the little gap in the set.

STUDIO PRODUCTION: FOURTH REHEARSAL

Starting off today's rehearsal, Myself, George Lock and Jemma arrived at the Studios and taped out the entire set to scale, using the set plan supplied by Set Design, so that our contributors could get used to using the space. We mostly needed this for the Catwalk.

Today's rehearsal was set as a Dress Rehearsal and we only have 2 contributors who aren't in the rehearsal today (due to family commitments) which are Helen (one of the female models) and Bonnie, however Stand-Ins have been arranged for these so the rehearsal can continue. All VT's, Photos and graphics have been made ready for this rehearsal and our Drag Queen came in, in full make-up and outfit.

The final run through of the day was recorded by VT. No sound was recorded as our Sound Operator, Aimeé still isn't in the sound studio. But, it's allowed us to look back and see our run through and what needs improving.

Through the beginning of the rehearsal, we did a full run through of the show which did have many mistakes. One of our Presenters said 'crap' when they forgot their lines which we had to sort straight away as this CANNOT happen in the live show as this is a pre-watershed show and looks highly unprofessional. George and I did struggle to get the timing for the graphics correct and also the animation of the graphics didn't run well as the machine is rather old. We agreed to have them as stills and fade them in and out.

We had printed off some draft cue cards for the Presenters to use to see what sections we need them on cue cards for, we knew that we'd need them on cue cards for Styles of the Season and for the interviews as they'll need the questions for their contributors. However, I requested that they learn the intro, Old to New (as it's a short section) and then the outro. Adeline and Alfie said they would try and do it but couldn't say whether or not they could get this done 100% as the script has changed so often and we had to hold off sending them the script over the Easter Holidays due to Oliver dropping out and the script needing changes.

With Old to New and the split screen, the main issue we had here was the framing, this happened in all the rehearsals as well as in the one recorded. The framing for the wide didn't look very nice BUT this wasn't helped by Kevin being directed to the very edge of the catwalk, after a quick chat with him at the end of the rehearsals he was aware to go to the centre of the catwalk and not right to the edge or the side of the catwalk. Graphics Producer, Simon Lawrence, asked if I wanted a graphic with the price and shop for the Dad Shoes as we've had it with Styles of the Season and also in Old to New VT, Whenever we've shown clothing, we've told the viewers where they can buy the clothes.

STUDIO PRODUCTION: VT COMPLETION & REVIEW

Before the next rehearsal, Me, George and the Producers reviewed all the VT's ready for the rehearsal.

Title Sequence
The title sequence for the opening of the show is a comical and lively sequence. Like the trailer, it has one of the Presenters 'Stealing' their style (messing with the shows name) and then we see both the Presenters walking down a corridor and then into the TV Studios. The idea for this is we mix from the title sequence and into the studio where we would see the Presenters enter the set through the catwalk.

The title sequence works perfectly for the programme. You've instantly got some comedy with the Presenters taking the mannequin and then being in the lift with the cheesy and classic lift music in there. Tone and style is right and at the end with the logo coming up we can easily mix into the show.

STUDIO PRODUCTION: FINAL SCRIPT

Final Script

Version 4 & the final version of the script weren't hugely different. With Oliver dropping out, the script obviously had to be updated and also there was a lot of feedback coming from the Presenters which needed to be added to the script. Changing over to Sapphire, the Producers added in new questions and I requested that the questions be kept simple and allow Sapphire to talk and sell herself. This was all sorted nice and quickly. A few questions were changed in DIY to ensure we focused on the Independent selling against High Street Selling.

With the feedback from Adeline and Alfie, Adeline explained that the introduction was too complicated. Helen had requested that we have the intro as the introduction as to who is the Fashion expert as we need to learn who our presenters are. Adeline was given a large amount of dialogue which she was struggling to learn and requested that it be changed to "Now after 6 years of modelling on catwalks and magazines, I consider myself quite the Fashion Expert, but Alfie here, he needs all the help me can get" so it's short, simple and gets the information across.

Old to New had a few changes, one of the lines which talks about the reason they're called "Dad Trainers" was removed as it was very cheesy and unneeded. Also, the model doesn't give their opinion of the shoes now as it's a nice and short section which doesn't need too much detail, we're showing one of the current trends and then leading into our Old to New VT. 

STUDIO PRODUCTION: LIGHTING PLAN AND SOUND SCRIPT

Lighting

After discussing with Becca and Jordan when I was learning the responsibilities for being the Studio Director, they both explained that Lighting was an issue due to the lack of communication with the Lighting Department in previous years. Our Lighting Technician this year is Jon Hodge, a freelance lighting man. Jon came into the Studio during one of our rehearsals to talk to me and George and discuss what we can do with lighting. When we arrived, we had taped out the set on the floor with masking tape, in order to rehearse with some form of set. We walked Jon through the set and explained this show was basic lighting, not much changed and no flashes or anything apart from the Drag Queen performance.

Jon agreed with us to flood the soft and hard area. With some back lights on the walls and he then suggested to cross light the catwalk with 4 lights, I asked if it would be possible to add in 2 extra lights with the catwalk and have those geld with a red and blue for some atmosphere with the performance. Jon asked if we would like any Par Cans on the floor, down the catwalk to add more to the show as well. 

Once we had agreed the lighting with Jon, I went away and read up on lighting plans with the book 'Lighting for Television - An Eight Part Guide'. From this I found examples of Studio Lighting Plans:

STUDIO PRODUCTION: DRAG QUEEN DROP OUT

At the beginning of the holidays, we had a huge issue which was Oliver, our Drag Queen, had to drop out of the project due to commitments with Education, which left us in a very difficult situation of trying to find someone new. After contacting Felix, she unfortunately had new commitments and couldn't help with the project so myself, Producers, Production Manager and Laura Dagger (Locations Manager) all came together and emailed and called as many different locations, clubs and groups that we could find aiming to find ourselves a new Drag Queen.

Laura ended up finding us a young man called Conor Mckie, 19 year old from Kent who is a Drag Queen. His stage name is 'Sapphire Stonee'. After looking on their Facebook page, their look was ideal.  Lots of colour and over the top make up and nails, she had an ideal look. Laura told us that Sapphire was very keen to come onboard with the project as well.

Also looking on her Facebook page, we found a video of one of her performances which was brilliant. Lots of energy and even the splits (will have to check if she can do that in the studios however.)

Sapphire performance

Once we had contacted her and I'd spoken over Skype we agreed for us to come onboard with the programme. She's made her own outfits and also salvaged, only been doing Drag for a short amount of time but has been styling for years. She can also do the dress rehearsal on the 10th April and the TX date. 

We also received the song which had been produced for this section. Jemma Cotterell mixed it together to make it into a 1 minute performance piece. Below is the edited song:

STUDIO PRODUCTION: THIRD REHEARSAL

In today's session, we continued to block through the sections of the show. My main aims today was the block through the round up and work through the graphics and split screen (Old to New).

With George Lock's section of the show, he begun to struggle with Steals of the Season as now we've introduced cueing in the stings, graphics, lower thirds and music which is a lot to work through especially while trying to shoot through the section. We finally blocked through Fashion Fails as well, trying out the handheld footage which didn't work well as first as there wasn't clear communication between the Director and the Lead Camera as when they were clear to take the camera to handheld, so there were block throughs where the camera would suddenly rock all over as they were setting up. However, this was adjusted and mended as we went onward.

With my section of the show, Old to New ran nice and smoothly, I tried cutting to singles of the Presenters as it went through but found it worked better just sticking to a 2 shot until the model enters. Split screen worked fine for this section as well and works with the camera plans I set up.

DIY I had our stand in for Bonnie sitting there ready during the Presenters PTC into this section and the model set up during the Old to New VT as well, the camera shots worked here. Del suggested not having Bonnie come in until after her VT as she isn't needed to be seen by the audience till then. Working through the rehearsal, we also had the dress now for Bonnie's interview. Photos haven't been sent over yet though. Del and the Producers questioned why we are having the dress on set as our Stand-in wasn't talking about the dress and it's a waste of a shot. I explained this is simply because the Stand-In doesn't know about the dress so she won't talk as much about it, whereas when Bonnie is in she will have plenty to talk about.

We had someone as a stand-in for our Drag Queen and tried to block through their performance. This didn't work though due to the fact we still don't know what the performance will be and how it will look. Blocking through the round up again, it went much smoother this time and all worked apart from the end shot I got from Camera 2 (wide of entire set).

This may have been because we don't have our set in yet, but I just didn't feel like it was working as an end shot. Although I did learn from this rehearsal that I want the round-up much more lively and energetic as just standing and clapping was boring to watch. 

One of the main issues we've had through rehearsals that was addressed today, was TalkBack. We've had countless issues with Camera department talking and interrupting Floor Managers on TalkBack and it got to the point we've now requested that only Floor Managers talk to the gallery and camera answer by tilting their camera. Also, the mannequin from Bonnies section wasn't removed when needed, which is during our Drag Queen's performance. 

STUDIO PRODUCTION: PRODUCTION MEETING 4

In today's Production Meeting we were updated on all departments.

Scripting
Helen sat with Melissa, Katie, George and Myself and talked through the script. Helen explained that the content for the second half of the show is very fun and energetic but we aren't getting this from the first section of the script (Steals of the Season) as it's very information based and it just needs to have a bit more energy and life into it. Helen also explained that the title "Steals of the Season" sounds like it'll be about deals and cheap clothing due to the word 'steal' and this isn't what we get in the section, so the Producers have renamed it to Styles of the Season.

With the DIY Section, Helen wanted the VT to be the introduction to Bonnie, where we learn more about her and she wants to top making in the studio, I contacted Bonnie and asked and she explained that just the foundations of the vest took her half an hour and we only have 2-3 minutes in the interview. I explained this to Helen and she suggested that we talk about the difference with buying from independent sellers.

The script needs updating ASAP and sending to the presenters.

VT's
Helen has said that the Presenter challenge isn't light hearted and energetic like the rest of the programme and pick ups are needed.
Old to New has been filmed and is at the fine edit stage.
The online fails VT needs an expert in there as we've already got the case study but we need an expert to explain the legal laws behind purchasing online.
DIY VT hasn't been filmed yet, it's getting filmed next week.

STUDIO PRODUCTION: SCRIPT UPDATES (V3)

Script V3

With the third Version of the script, the main section which had changes was Steals of the Season. With my half of the show. I ended up changing sections such as DIY and Mystery Guest to "As Directed" in the camera shot sections as Del explained this is the easiest way to do it as I'm not fixed to shots. So the camera operators are aware that they will need to really listen for my Directions with the shooting. I had also found out from Bonnie that she will be wearing the vest top that she makes in the VT when she does the studio interview so it's something else to talk about in the interview. We also added in that we have photos going up on the screen, which will be the 3 photos below:

My choice for these three was we have a good mixture of different things for Bonnie to talk about.

As well as this, Melissa and Katie edited some of the questions for the interview with Oliver and I changed the camera shots to 'As Directed'. There wasn't a huge amount of changes made to this script, but after talking to Alfie and Adeline about how much they have to learn from the script, we made the choice to get cue cards made for them after the next rehearsal as we go into the easter break then. 

STUDIO PRODUCTION: CAMERA PLANS AND SHOTS

As I struggled to Direct and use a script, I found a way to keep organised with the show and still have a plan for my cameras and shots.

I learnt the script for my entire half. Reading over and over till I knew it like the back of my hand and made sure I knew all the out words which would signal me to roll a VT/Sting. Once doing this, I remembered that me and George had done basic camera plans for the Mock-up of Steals of the Season to know where the cameras would go and move. After sitting with Del and discussing, I found that my cameras don't have to move much in my half of the show as it's more interview based. So, I wrote up 4 camera plans for the programme, one for each section:

Old to New
This section is actually very simple and short to shoot. Alfie and Adeline would be centre of the set (Hard Area), Camera 3 would be my 2 shot of the Presenters, this being the main camera used for this section, I have camera 3 as a 3 shot of the presenters and the catwalk to get the model when they enter onto the set. I have camera 4 as a single on Alfie, now this is my main choice for cameras. I needed a 'safety shot' for the sections, I chose to have this as the presenters 2 shots and this is all done through camera 4, In DIY, Mystery Guest and Round-up, Camera 4 is my 2 shot of the Presenters (as they're in the soft area for this sections). My split screen cameras will be cameras 2, getting the close up on the shoes and camera 5 getting my wide of the model to the right of frame. In my head this will work much better and will make the other 2 sections much easier.

DIY
With DIY, we move over to the Soft area. I kept camera 4 as my 2 shot of the Presenters and this is the main camera used until the VT plays, due to not showing Bonnie in the Studio until after the VT has played. Camera 3 is another 3 shot, getting the Presenters and Bonnie in shot (this is my safety shot for the section) I had camera 3 as Single for the Presenters, changing between the Presenters when the next one starts speaking. Camera 5 is my single for Bonnie and camera 2 is a 2 shot, since we're going to be having the mannequin next to Bonnie with her Dress on there so I've had both Bonnie and the Dress in shot for this one. Moving and setting up for this shot will work much better.

Mystery Guest
Towards the end of the DIY Section, I have camera 1, 3 and 2 reposition ready for the reveal of our Drag Queen. Camera 4 staying as the 2 shot of the presenters and camera 5 staying as the single where Bonnie was sat, ready for the interview. For our Drag Queen's performance, I have camera 1 on a wide single, the safety shot for this section which I can always cut back to. This is dead centre and the opening to the performance. Camera 3 is set for close ups and tilts up and down and camera 2 is set for close ups and mid shots.
For the interview, I have camera 1 panning over with Oliver as he walks over to the soft area, then 3 moving as a single of the Presenters. George Lock opens the show with a wide shot of the set and I've decided to end the show with this. So, when camera 2 has finished with the performance, they de-rig and move to the back of the audience and set up for an extreme wide shot of the entire set and audience.

Round-Up
The round up was getting more and more complicated for me when blocking it through. When talking to Del, he suggested bringing Bonnie on through the catwalk and keeping Oliver on the couch after the interview, so we shoot the catwalk, the soft area and also I decided I wanted a pan of the audience as we have audience participation. I've planned this so that each camera has one section of the round up to film. Camera 4 is our 2 shot of the Presenters, camera 3 is a wide of the catwalk, very centre where we'll get the models and Bonnie, Camera 5 is our single of Oliver sat down, camera 1 pans for the entire audience and camera 2 is the end of the show with a wide shot of the entire set and then we roll to the Credits.

This plan of the cameras will help me much more as I can take a quick look and get back to Directing without needing to find my place in a script again.

STUDIO PRODUCTION: SECOND REHEARSAL

In today's session we continued blocking through the sections. Starting with George in the morning, we practiced through with some of the rough cut VT's and also with a title sequence we found on the data base of the Maidstone TV Studios. Working through George's sections, even though we didn't have the stings, VT's or Graphics, Del still wanted us to cue them and get used to saying "Stand by VT, roll VT". We found that Steals of the Season was still running over and taking a lot of time, almost 10 minutes of our show was just that section.

We have now purchased the mannequin and also shot the Presenter Challenge VT, so we were able to practice the reveal of the outfit and how we would have the Fashion Fails Section afterwards. We still didn't manage to get a full run through of the show as we struggled to block through the sections. Del also suggested and helped us reposition our camera department so that they would be able to shoot better shots and work better with the space we had.

When I began blocking through my sections, Old to New went fine, still a bit rough but the structure is there, however I did mess up using the split screen. When watching the section, I think I can shoot that entire section with a 2 Shot while the presenters speak, go to a 3 shot when the model walks on, over to a split screen when the model is on the catwalk and then back to a 2 shot to end the section and roll the VT. However, I will need to practice this.
When practicing the change over to DIY, my camera department were explaining that the positioning wasn't working for them, this is when Del stepped in and moved our cameras around to help. When needed, I often found I preferred to go onto the Floor and block through rather than work from the gallery and I found it easier to communicate to the entire crew rather than to the floor manager and then have them block it out. DIY worked as well as it could as we didn't have Bonnie here. This went the same for the Drag Queen section. For the performance, I wanted it shot very fast paced but we couldn't practice this as we didn't have the song for them or the Drag Queen in the rehearsal either, I practiced as best as I could, I had all the cameras on the catwalk for the performance and this caused me a lot of issues when it came time to move to the interview.

Finally, I blocked through the Round-up at the end. I knew I wanted this to be lively and fun and we wanted all the contributors back on the set. I split the set into 3 sections for it. Models on the catwalk, Drag Queen in the hard area and Bonnie back on the catwalk. My choice for this was because the models used the catwalk the most, Bonnie is only ever seen in the soft area and our Drag Queen was the big reveal of the show so I thought they would have the middle and the main attention. Our Presenters would stand up and introduce everyone as they are shown.
Blocking the timing for this went VERY bad, trying to cue everyone wasn't going great and it didn't seem to flow, once we'd finally blocked it I still wasn't happy, it didn't seem to flow and work together.

STUDIO PRODUCTION: DIY - BONNIE

George Nicholls found us an Etsy Seller, who was willing to both come on the show and also allow a VT to be made about her, for that section. The idea for the DIY section is to show the audience how
you can make your own clothes and then looking into what clothes this seller has made and how they're business is going in comparison to High Street Stores. Our contact is Bonnie Arpino, she's 40 years old and has been making clothes for over 6 years. She sells on Etsy, her website is below:

FreshAirAndButtons

What worried me slightly when I saw Bonnie's sight, was that it was almost all Baby Clothes and our show is targeting towards adults and their Fashion that they can wear. But, before panicking, myself and Connor Deemer talked to her over the phone. Bonnie explained that she started off making baby clothes but she is soon going to be launching her adult range and this will have it's own page, she has made plenty of clothes for adults and it's actually this that she wants to promote through the show. 

I asked Bonnie why she began making clothes and she explained that she went off from work to have a child and later, her son was diagnosed as Autistic and she wasn't able to return to work. So she began making dresses. Below is some examples of her work:

I arranged to go and meet Bonnie for a coffee so that she could meet me and know someone from the crew for when she comes into the Studios. When meeting Bonnie, I asked her what sort of clothes she would like to have shown on our show. Bonnie explained that we could use any of the photos on her Instagram, while talking about the clothes she's made, Bonnie told me that she had made a 1950's style dress out of Halloween Material for a wedding, she still has this and it sounds far too good to show in a photo, so I asked if we could bring it into the studio for the interview, thinking that we have this on the mannequin from the Presenter Challenge reveal next to Bonnie and we can then talk about it. 

STUDIO PRODUCTION: SET MEETING

Once Set Design had visited the Studio and been sent over how we wanted the set structured. They came in to show us the design they had thought of and asked for feedback.

This is the layout and sort of the colour scheme they were going to use. Although, the final design was going to be a model which they put together and brought to the Studios to show us:

The idea they had gone with, was a sort of attic style Studio, as in this was made in someones house. They had the catwalk as a plain and simple White as it didn't need to draw attention and they wanted the logo on a wall to the right of the set which I thought would be brilliant in the shots. Catwalk, Hard Area and our soft area are clearly there and from what they've told us, we'll have plenty of room. 

The colour scheme works with our show, very light and colourful colours, whites, reads and pinks. I also loved how they'd added in so much detail to the soft area so this really stands out and on camera will probably look like a different location. The way they've designed it, you wouldn't tell this was a full set unless we did a wide shot.

Our main issue with the set was the colour of the couches, I really don't like the colours of them and neither did George or our Producers. However, with the budget they have, they told us that the only way we could get new couches was to purchase them ourselves or arrange to have covers made for them.

STUDIO PRODUCTION: FIRST REHEARSAL

Today was our first rehearsal with our Presenters, a script and show full structure to the show. Although, we didn't have any contributors, we did have stand ins organised for this rehearsal.

Del walked me through Directing the Vision Mixer, Explaining the 2 screens in the Gallery, Preview and Transmission. The preview lets us preview the shot and the Transmission is what is going out live. We were told the following for setting up and cutting to a shot:

- Stand-by ___, Cut to _____
- Stand-by VT, Roll VT
- Stand-by Graphics, Animate (bring up), Fade (take away)
- Stand-by _____ (sound effect), Cue _____ (Sound effect)
- Lights up (saying the correct section for the lighting team which will be in the script)
- Cue Presenters (Presenters can begin speaking)

Del also explained that in TV, we don't say Wide, Mid and close up shots, we say 2 Shot (both presenters in the shot), single (single person), Tight single (close up shot), 3 shot (3 people in the shot) and we work it from there. Del said the only time we should say 'Cue' is when cueing the Presenters. For this rehearsal, we didn't have TalkBack for the Presenters so our Floor Managers were cueing them in and out. We ran through as much of George's section as we could, all the while I was watching and taking notes, simply because if George goes sick, I will have to Direct the entire show. Through the rehearsal we were making notes about graphics needed, lower thirds for the Presenters and also the graphics that will have the prices for the clothes on them for Steal the Style. We only just got through Steals of the Season and we then took for lunch and came back, Del then explained we were going to swap and start from Old to New so I could get some practice in this section.

Working with the script, I found this incredibly difficult. I missed cues, timings and found cutting and reading the script incredibly difficult. I made more mistakes than good choices as well with this run through. I found it all too much to deal with and had to take a break for a moment. Del then suggested that we watch him and how he did it.
Del didn't look at the script, he continually asked the P.A. for counts and how long was left on the section. He listened to the presenters rather than follow the script and watched every camera for the next shot. Once watching this, I tried cutting by watching and listening rather than reading the script. I found this much more helpful as I could see what was going on and could follow with the action rather than trying to stick to what we had written down. Although I still didn't get through more than 2 sections, this is a huge step forward for me and I am now starting to see what the best way for me to work is.

During my blocking, Del suggested having a split screen for the Dad shoes, as this adds a little extra to Old to New and is often used in Studio Production (Example to the left from Celebrity Juice). The idea is having a single of the model showing their entire body and then a single, tight shot on the 'Dad Shoes'. Talking to the Producers, they want this section cut down and have the shoes coming out on the model, rather than having 3-4 different pairs.