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.

STUDIO AUDITION: DRAG ACT INTERVIEWS

Victoria Simmonds took the lead in finding our Drag Queen for the show, so that Jack (Casting) could focus on sorting our models and Warm up act for the show. Victoria gained 2 applications by Drag Queens and wrote up 2 character profiles for them with examples of their Styles and Outfits:

After speaking to the Producers, we agreed that we wanted a Drag Queen who not only gave an amazing performance, but also either made their own outfits OR at the least put together their own style, so that it links in from the DIY section.

Oliver:

Oliver has a very dark look from his photos, however the black dress in the photos of him is one that he's apparently made. During his Skype interview, I found that Oliver does Singing, Lip syncing, dancing and visual make-up as part of his performance. Oliver explained that he self taught himself all of this via the internet and a few tutorials and never knew where to start off but has built up his act since the age of 10 (starting making clothes at age 15). He also uses his Drag in school for his Art studies and recently went on Britain's Got Talent and made it right through past the judges but had to leave due to Education commitments. Oliver has an amazing story to talk about and his Fashion really stands out. He showed me the Dress in the photo over Skype and confirmed he had made it, he also makes all his accessories for his performances as well.

Felix Le Freak:

Felix was also excellent. He has a much more bright and colourful look to his style which could be better for the show as it would work with the colour scheme. Watching the videos linked into this profile, he does excellent lip syncing and really works a crowd which we need for the show during the performance.  I also Skype Interviewed Felix and he kindly Skyped me in full Drag so I could see his style. He explained that he does original songs for performances as well and would be happy to sort one for 1 minute. Felix salvages his outfits from Charity Shops, both for his performance and his everyday clothes. He explained that the reason he chooses to salvage is because it's better for the environment, he loves to "make treasure out of trash" and also the price is better. Felix has only been doing Drag of 18 months however. 

When trying to choose between these 2 Drag Queens (which was difficult), I tried to visualise and see who would bring the most to the show. Both are amazing and would be great for us, but I felt that Olivers style was more unique and out there and also he has far more experience and also makes his own clothes so it would link better after the DIY section. Oliver explained he would book the time off school and we would have him for the 10th, 18th and 19th April.

STUDIO PRODUCTION: SCRIPT V1 & 2 + BLOCKING

The First version of the script there was many changes we had to make straight away. When looking through this script however, I began making the camera notes down on the script in pen rather than on the online document, incase I needed to change them. In Steals of the Season the Presenters would talk about the styles and trends and I noted that we'd have to see photos up on screen for this. Visually the audience need to see it. I also noted that presenter 1 has far too much dialogue and it needs to be balanced. Main issue we found is that it hadn't been matched with the running order so we weren't able to have the correct timings with this script and also the Mystery Guest section hadn't been completed as we haven't chosen our Drag Queen yet (currently in the process).

STUDIO PRODUCTION: BUDGET ORGANISATION

Since I've been working through getting the Presenters and working through what we need for each section, I helped Jemma to put together a Budget estimation. Since Creative Skill set states one of the roles of a Director as "have budgeting and financial skills" and since I'm aware of what we will need in the show it made sense.

Expenses:
This is what we HAVE to pay towards without question. Since we can't afford to pay our Presenters or our contributors then we will need to pay their travel and food. Alfie may be  driving to the locations from London but this hasn't been confirmed yet so we're estimating with train costs, Adeline is from Maidstone so we can arrange for one of our crew to pick her up.
We will require them for:
- 4 x Rehearsals
- 1 x Transmutation
- 1 x Promo Shoot day
- 1 x VT Shoot Day plus £30 for presenter challenge (changed from £60 to make it a harder challenge)  

A train from London Victoria to Maidstone East is £24.90. With all 7 days we require that's £373.50 for Alfie's travel. The models for Steals of the Season haven't been confirmed yet but we can assume that they will be coming from London as well.

We have agreed to allocate £8 per person for food for each day they are needed.

Our Drag Queen (2 applications have come through) are both coming from near London and would drive to the show. Jemma worked out that we would need them for 2 rehearsals and 1 Transmutation and that their travel would cost £60 per day so £180 for all 3 days.

STUDIO PRODUCTION: PRESENTER AUDITIONS

One of my main roles as Director is to choose the Presenters for the programme. As the models will only be used for 1 or 2 sections and for the VTs, we left choosing those to Casting and VT team. However, since the Presenters will literally be our entire show, Myself and George took on the role of casting the main 2.

VT did update their ideas and told us that for the VTs we no longer need another presenter as they will use one of the main ones.

Applications
Jack Whitely sent out an application for the roles of Presenters, for the male we received 6 Applications. Female we only received 2. However, my friend Adeline Close has done both Modelling and Acting for over 6 years, she's even modelled for bug companies such as Vogue in Australia. While living in the UK she isn't currently working on anything so asked if she'd be interested and she agreed. We also had another female presenter gain interest and another male during the lead up.

I Skype Interviewed everyone who applied to save them traveling but went to meet Adeline with George Lock for a coffee and a short interview as she's based in Maidstone. Once I had interviewed everyone I narrowed it down to the best ones. One of our Female presenters which we had short listed dropped out due to work commitments so the only female applicant we had was Adeline. The finalised applicants are below: