Working to a Brief Evaluation The project for the Working to the Brief unit was to work with a client in order to make a production. Our client, Thomas Dennison White who was representative of Thomas Tallis School, set year 13 BTEC Level 3 Media class to take part in the fashion show which is a big programme that runs every year collaborating work with media, art and music students. The client specifically asked us to film and broadcast using a multicamera setup the fashion show live online for home viewers, and project the footage on the back wall behind the catwalk for the audience of family and friends. To start with, we had practice performances in the studio in order to get a feel of what role we wanted to partake in the actual performance. After 10 hours of practicing live with a model, I felt that my strongest skill that I could contribute to the performance was camera operating.This is because I could react quickly to the director’s instructions in a efficient manner, therefore keeping the camera movement smooth. For example, a colleague would play the role of a director and give orders of a camera angle on to a specific area of a model. Our client Tom Dennison White allocated 5 seconds for the camera operators to hear and execute the command before the camera goes live on the screen. It was challenging for majority of the class and often the camera movements were not very smooth. Whilst some colleagues decided they did not like the role of the camera operator, I continued practicing under timed conditions until I met the 5 seconds every single time in a smooth manner. As a result, every time my camera had an order from the director it efficiently responded allowing a smooth transition. As a result of many hours practicing, the role I particularly contributed to the live production on the first night of the fashion show was the camera operator. During the live shows, my camera would positioned at the highest point of the show which gave me the responsibility of covering all the long wide angle shots. I think I held a pivotal role as this shot was the most unique of all 3 camera positions as it could capture the whole scenery from an audience's point of view, rather than limited to the side of the stage as the other cameras. Someone is needed to operate the camera to capture the most interesting things on stage which the side camera’s cannot capture as easily. Thanks to the practice from the sessions in the broadcast studio, I knew I was capable of reacting efficiently to orders. Since my camera was at such a high position, a lot of zooming and accuracy is required to fulfil the directors command. The practice in the studio had prepared me well for these commands, thus played a crucial role in understanding the brief requirements which helped me achieve the outcome of it. Since I was mainly experienced with filming with DSLR’s, I was used to having more than one shot with more time to get it right, ultimately creating a relaxed atmosphere. In contrast broadcasting live events opposes this relaxed atmosphere, therefore really challenged me on the night of the fashion show. Reflecting on the experience after filming the first night, I feel it has improved my ability to perform well on a task which involves timed multitasking as I had to maintain concentration of orders whilst filming in a smooth manner. Prior to this project, I was not very efficient with multi-tasking especially under timed pressure, as my usually my experience was with SLR camera’s, however I definitely feel a lot more able to perform under pressure and command regardless of multi-tasking. As well as this, I believe this project has strengthened my professionalism with camera’s and has given me an outcome from my client as I have noticed how quicker and efficient I am with my SLR now as compared to
past experiences. After practice we arranged production meetings for the project which was vital everyone attended. They played a vital role of letting all individuals know about our progression towards the actual fashion show, and what is needed to be completed next. Therefore we could keep track of each individuals tasks of pre production work that was allocated individually. For example, there was some tasks which would require a lot of time such as the shot list, whereas other pre production tasks such as location recce would not take so much time. Therefore the production meetings allowed everyone to keep track of progress, and allocate more work to those who have finished their original shorter task such as a location recce. This helped out colleagues in finishing the longer tasks such as the shot list which took two people to complete as it was required detailed information. As a result the production meetings helped our team to effectively communicate to each other outside of our social tables within the class, helping us to keep organised thus playing a vital role for the team. We found working to an agreed timescale really does help organise things better then just to do it spontaneous, as well as this it also helped us manage our time with the project and make sure we as a team are on top of our jobs in order to please the client.Through effective communication, we achieved working to a timescale. Through our multiple production meetings, I learnt it can be very difficult to get a desired role when it comes down to allocating. When the first production meeting was held, our predominate aim was to decide roles. During the meeting everyone was talking over each other to get the dominant voice for their desired roles, whilst quieter classmates did not try compete. For example, whereas quieter classmates did have a desired role, they did not get the chance to project their voice over louder classmates who also had the desired role in mind. This ended up chaotic, and made the task a lot more difficult. To overcome this problem, we soon realised organising a chair for the meeting enabled the group to communicate more effectively. Personally I think choosing a leader in the meeting was a good move as it allowed less irrelevant conversations between friends to occur. As well as this, it gave a flow to the meeting and helped everyone address each other in a more professional manner exemplifying the importance of leadership skills and communication skills . Due to this decision of having a chair, it left classmates a lot happier with their decided final role. Our first production meetings was somewhat tense as we as a team did not listen enough to take majority point of opinions through, however by our third meeting our chemistry and relationship grew stronger. It grew stronger as we all had been allocated mixed responsibilities, therefore had to communicate with those who share similar responsibilities. This meant working with new people in the class during problem solving, for example I needed to ask each individual for their contact details for the call sheet in case we needed to contact them in an emergency out of school hours. This form of communication helped me get used to working with new people. What worked really well was the organisation of the class, as usually everyone will segregate into friendship groups, however the team meeting brought the whole class together for the first time since we started the course. This has taught me a valuable lesson in life that you will not always get to choose who you work with, but as a team we did best for the situation which we were in to play with peoples strengths which I believe I have done. I think my professional teamwork skills have improved through these brief descriptions, as I had to deal with my classmates in a professional manner, despite the temptation to bring up irrelevant general conversation. I have
learnt not to get friendship effect your progression with a client who has specifically asked for something. If I was to complete this project again I would straight away offer to become chair, and get everyone to respond with their desired role and two roles they do not mind doing as well on a piece of paper so no one is competing vocally for positions. I would then put the results in a tally, and distribute the rolls accordingly with popularity and preference. A mutual agreement can then be made as a class, leaving everyone satisfied with the role. Our knowledge with multicam facilities before starting the unit was fairly poor, however thanks to the multiple amount of hours in the studio practicing live shows our knowledge grew significantly, with our actual roles and roles of others. I learnt many different types of cables such as the XLR which is the cable associated with balanced audio interconnection which forms the standard for professional sounding audio. I did not have such knowledge before, however I am now aware that there are different forms of XLR cables with pins varying from 2-9, and what they are used for. As well as this, I also learnt a lot about cables which link to my camera such as firewires which is the interface standard for high speed communications and component video cables which connect from the camera to a screen which provide the audio, colour and visuals. Practice from the studio has helped me understand wires which I see on a day to day basis, therefore has given me valuable knowledge for later on in life if I am to come across such cables again. Since my role was a cameraman, the function of a tally light and talkback was vital to keep me on top of my shots. The role of the tally light allows me to know when my shot is live, or queued to go on live. This gives me a good clear indication of what to do thanks to the vibrant led light which contrasts to the darkness we had to work with.The talkback further helps me clarify the shots required for the next cue. This enables me to listen to orders straight from the director to achieve agreed outcomes which will be a helpful skill for later life. As well as this, it also has a button to let me speak to the director and other camera operators if I have any problems. An example of a problem that I came across was members of audience alternating positions and getting in the way of the tripod movement due to lack of available space in the hall. A model for the fashion show almost tripped on a wire as I was setting up the camera. Due to this incidence, it was crucial that all the connections from the camera to the talk back to the mixing desk were working and positioned in a way that it will not be a hazard to the general public. To overcome this health and safety issue, I took responsibility and used the talk back to communicate to the floor manager and told him that we have a health and safety constraint which may cause an accident, and will need some hazard tape to make sure the area is safe. Due to effective communication via the talkbacks, this situation was dealt with safely and quickly. The wires and areas of camera movement were taped down with hazard tape, making the potential hazards clearly visible to the public thereby ensuring no one trips over them again. This has made me aware of the health and safety issues that need to be taken into consideration prior to set up in an event that involves the public. If I were to do this project again, I would not only use hazard tape, but make huge visible warning signs about tripping over wires and electrical equipment. I would place these posters at the point of entry of the audience, and where the camera’s with dolly’s are situated. Although more than one person speaking through the talkback is disruptive and diverts attention to those on the receiving line, I had to take responsibility to interrupt and tell everyone to not put
my camera live as I had to adjust. When the director had told me to get capture a close up of the singer as it would cut well from Danny’s longshot, a member of the audience stood up therefore was blocking the shot. As a result, I pressed the ‘call’ on the talkback which calls all individuals connected and warned them I could not execute such angle due to members of the audience standing up. I had personally worried I would be disruptive, however my actions benefited the team and helped run a smoother transition live from camera to camera. I learnt a valuable lesson about speaking up and communicating effectively with a team if a problem occurs that can affect the project regardless if it may seem somewhat disruptive. This situation also helped develop my understanding of leadership qualities, as I took control of a situation, and did what I thought was best for the team. I think this kind of innate skill is required in working in the industry, with clients, as problems will arise all the time, but independent thinking will be necessary to complete the job given. Due to multiple rehearsals I do not think I would have interrupted as I normally am reluctant to distract others. However through practice in rehearsals I learnt that in big projects everyone is very focused on their role therefore equal amounts of concentration is not given to roles of others as it is not their priority, especially in time pressured situations. Therefore I have learnt it is perfectly acceptable to interrupt others from their work, if you think it will effect the overall performance of the project, in which my case it would have effected the quality of the broadcast. Since the client specifically asked for a multicamera setup, a lot of team work and preparation was needed to ensure a fluent playback. Before the set up our team was responsible for bringing all the equipment in and setting up the three cameras and its components. At first, everyone had rushed off to get the equipment needed and no one was specifically keeping track of what needs to be brought and what is already there. Due to the lack of organisation in not having a tracked checklist, more talk backs were brought then needed, but not enough tally lights were there to accompany the talk backs. I realised that this method was not efficient enough and was just wasting time. For this reason, me and a colleague named Ben decided to print out the checklist of equipment, but only one copy so it is easier to see what needs to be brought. We then gave specific instructions to individuals on what to bring, and what is already here. As a result, this method worked a lot more efficiently and caused less confusion. I have realised how important it is to take responsibility of situations where there is no organisation. This I found is particularly important when there is a large group carrying out the same task, as it is relatively easy to be confused as no one had a specific enough task to be carried out. This is where I believe informal briefs can be a disadvantage if no one has taken the responsibility to make a organised routine for colleagues to follow and keep track of progress. I think this particular experience has been eye opening for me if I am ever employed by a large company with many employees, as a similar sort of problem could occur. However, with the way I had dealt with this situation, I am now informed about what to do straight away and take responsibility if there is not specific enough instructions. Instead, this time I will be able to react to the situation quickly, leaving no colleagues wasting time repeating tasks which have already been done simply due to miscommunication and no organisation. Although preparing and executing the fashion show was pressuring, our successful team work enabled us to strive throughout it. We used an online streamer called Ustream and advertised it through twitter feeds and gained positive opinions. My camera assistant Ben commented how our “teamwork was on point” and how we “made the fashion show”. One tweet to @tallisvma
from @billyrowlinson an ex student who achieved Distinctions last year commented: “@TallisVMA Caught the last 5 mins of the live feed! Awesome stuff!!!!!!” And Miss Shackley our current media teacher said she could not wait for the next one as it was “brilliant” with “amazing shots from the film crew”. Personally, I think the amount of work we put in reflects this positive feedback and agree with the comments. This was also agreed by our client and head teachers, who specifically congratulated the “media department” for their “hard work” and contribution to the fashion show. And finally, my client Thomas Dennison White commented “Sagar took everything in his stride and was an exceptional camera operator being very proactive and creative in his shot variation”. As a result of this feedback, I feel as if I have given everything I can to contribute to my role As great as it would have been if we managed to actually get the live feed on TV, there were multiple restraints that would have stopped us from doing so. The lighting was far too dark, which would not have been as visible on TV. A vector scope would have had to been used as it is a waveform monitor that checks the amount of black and white within a picture, and is usually used when television and films go to exhibition. It is tested by quality control which is the process of checking whether the colours and the sound are legal to be displayed on tv or cinema. In the case of our production where the location was quite dark, the footage would have been too black which would have been illegal to display on TV i.e failed a QC test. Therefore, the programme would need to be pre-recorded and edited later using a vectorscope in order to make sure the footage was legal. As well as this legal issue, we also had used a lot of copyright music which would be very expensive to cover financially as we had no budget whatsoever or time to ask for such permission from big artists and companies. And a lot of the models were underage and would need parental consent and numerous legal paperworks in order for underage performers to be broadcasted on national television. Regardless, I still believe the performance would receive positive criticism from TV critics too. The fact that we managed to fulfill the requirements of the client and met the brief in a way that was appealing to the audience I think was the ultimate group achievement of this project. It was not only a good insight into the broadcast industry, it also gave me a valuable learning experience which I will take on with me and use for later life. My teamwork,communication and leadership skills were tested and improved over the entire project through making mistakes, correcting them and taking valuable knowledge from them on what to do next time. I can now apply this knowledge to other things in life such as jobs and future projects with a large group of people. As well as this, I now feel more confident in being able to work under pressure, and my knowledge within the broadcast industry has expanded and I now know exactly how much planning and preparation it takes to cover a show with multiple cameras.