Here is my year two blog!

I decided to create another blog for my second year at uni, it is found here

http://fayeminister2.wordpress.com

Evaluation

Even though I have said different parts of the evaluation in different posts, I thought I should sum up my thoughts.

I had never done any kind of studio work before so I had no idea  what it would be like and if I would like it or not. I had not worked in a group as big as the studio group so far and thought that a problem might be attendance but everyone showed up for the first few sessions so I thought that would not be a problem. It was half way through when people began to show up less but everyone knew what they were doing by the final show so it was all good! The set was done efficiently by those who wanted to film the VT’s and help with set.

We booked practices in the studio from the beginning of our module so we got to do a variety of roles before we pitched for our final role. Once we had our final roles, we could begin to practice more specific things. Bash and I did this by coming up with an improvisation for a children’s show about the new film, Toy Story 3. After our first practice, everyone who was there said they felt comfortable in their roles. When we were organised our practices went well but it sometimes took a while get started because of waiting for late comers, but the practices usually were good for everyone. This helped us be prepared for our final recording and although I was nervous before I got into the studio, once I was in there I was fine and it went well.

The help of our second year’s Jenny and Carly was so helpful. It was good just to have someone with more experience there and we valued their advice. The tutors helped us out by offering advice and when we had issues with costume, Bex helped us solve it. The lectures were easy to understand but I could not open the time-table or tasks on moodle because of the format of the file.

Overall I enjoyed this module, it was completely different to anything I have experienced in media so far. I gained valuable experience and met new people. I have learnt so much and had fun at the same time. I would like to take this module next year but it clashes with documentary which is the field I want to be in when I am older.

Module questions

• Why are studios used to make programmes when tape is so cheap and available?

Studios are well-known to the audience. They enjoy them and it works by having live parts in the studio and VTs so why change  it? Studio programmes are popular and well-known, as long as they are making money and getting viewers, they will carry on being made. Different varieties of programmes with a variety of content can be created in the studio.

•What are magazine programmes?  Why do audiences like them?

‘A television program that presents a variety of topics, usually on current events, in a format that often includes interviews and commentary’. – http://www.thefreedictionary.com/magazine+program

Magazine programs are created in a studio environment. It has VT’s which are out of the studio and normally pre-recorded. There is usually interviews, debates, demonstrations and performances. There are two kinds of magazine shows, these are specialised and general. As the name suggests, specialised is focused on a specific topic of interest and general is anything they want to put in it. Audiences like magazine programs because they are usually friendly and chatty so are relaxing to watch. The audience does not usually have to do a lot of thinking to understand the program. There is a range of magazine programmes that can fit into a certain demographics. Many would say Top Gear is for people who like cars and transport, but because of the humor it is now has a broader audience. The humor makes it easy to watch while learning about transport at the same time. The range of different items within the show keep the audience interested.

•  What are the limitations of magazine shows?  How can they be improved to ensure they continue?

Magazine shows are limited because they are based in the studio. There is only so much that you can do in a studio and it can become repetitive to the audiences. So to improve this they can have special shows like Top Gear, who do races that take place in various countries. The general programmes could do special episodes about a certain topic for something different to keep the audience interested.

•  Consider other sources of distribution for magazines type shows?

The way everything is going at the moment, the next source of distribution will be on the internet. The Tom Green Show is broadcast on the internet, it fits into the criteria of a magazine show so this step of distribution is already taking place. It is hard to choose any other way of distribution because of the equipment needed to make a show. People cannot just create a magazine show on their own like the many YouTube videos that are available. It takes more than one person and a studio to create a magazine show.

Problems and solutions

The main problem we have had as a group is attendence. With certain roles it is hard to try and fill them when the person does not show up. This problem was attempted to be solved by the directer, Kayleigh, sending messages to the whole group saying about how important it is that everyone shows up when needed. The blog has the times when we are meant to meet but our own studio time could have been posted on the facebook group to make is very clear. The floor manager, Yasmin, sent round a few texts reminding people when we have to meet. When someone didn’t show up, we would call them to see where they were.

We had a few problems with the set because when we went to put it up, there were loads of big boards that had been left in the studio. We had to just put the set over the boards and decided that it wasnt that bad. There were some boards that had pictures on which you could see through our sheets so we had to get more sheets to put underneath them. The sheets were very creased so we decided we needed to iron them. Yesterday, while everyone else was setting up the studio, I ironed all of our sheets and they look much better now! When creating our set, we had begun to put handprints in the blobs when Kat spilt all the red paint over the sheet. To solve this we decided to do handprints and splats everywhere and it turned out good!

For the VT’s we had rented out equiptment over the weekend. This was in Yasmins name and she could not carry all the equiptment by herself so a few people including myself went and helped her return all the equipment. The same thing happened with the set, because we did it at Yasmins flat it would be impossible for her to carry all the set to the studio. I helped out again with a few other members of Orange group. We were glad it was not raining!

On the day of our show, we had the problem of the sheets being creased and looking bad on the cameras. I had ironed them the day before, but they were screwed up again so we had to re-iron them! This was inconvenient but it had to be done. In many of our run throughs, we had problems with securing the childrens pictures to the set. We had tried using tape on the back to stick it down but they kept falling so i tried to staple them, but this did not work. We then decided to use black tape because it is a lot stronger, this worked out well and the pictures were well secured.

I think we were able to handle problems well as a group and our 113MC went quite smoothly.

New skills

I have learnt so much in this module! I had never worked in a studio before so had no idea on any of the roles and what they do etc. I enjoyed the inductions in the second term with Bex, it gave me more knowledge before the actual module this term. I now know about each role and what they have to do. I have become more confident about sharing my thoughts and ideas within a larger group of people. I have taken on various responsibilities and carried then out well. I had never done presenting before but the idea has always appealed to me. I enjoyed being in front of the cameras and working with Bash. We get on well which helps when presenting together. I enjoyed practising the script and improvising in relevent parts of the show. I have gained valuable experience in the studio and have tickets for live studio shows in London this month! This is for the Lenny Henry Show and The Cube, but because they are on at the same time, I have to choose which one I would prefere to go to. I am looking forward to seeing how it is run.

Our final piece

On Friday we had our final time in the studio. We had 3 hours to get a good cut of our programme by recording it onto tape. The director divided us into teams to make the set up easier;

Floor- Stuck down tight and firm
Rosie
Leanne
Mica

Set, Background and Props
Yaz
Faye
Bash

Talkback and Gallery set up
Kay
Aaron
Ebenezer

Settee and table
Andy
Alex

Lighting
Chris

Boom Mics and Sound

Kat
Abz

This was good because we all had something to work on. As soon as I got there, I went into the gallery to say hi to our helpers, Cameron and Iona. We had decided to only have one helper for the kite making because the table was quite small. We decided that Cameron should be the one to help because he is more confident. I then went to help with the set. The sheet behind the sofa needed to be stuck down at the bottom to make sure it was tight and neat. We did this with masking tape. I went behind the sheet and stuck it down at the back. I had ironed all the sheets the week before, but they had become screwed up again so they were taken down and ironed again. As soon as one sheet was ironed, we layed it on the floor for others to put up and began to iron the next sheet. Once all the set was set up, Bash and I sat on the sofa so the cameras could get their shot before we jumped in. We were told that is it time for a practice one and off we went. This one went quite well and afterwards we were told that it wasnt actually a practise one! We then began to have sound issues that took a while to sort out. We had a few problems when the autocue was forgotten about. The kids were getting bored after the first two runs, but they were being good so they could get a McDonald’s later! The penultimate shot went very well for us presenters but there were problems in the studio.  Our final one went well!

Once we had finished, Bash and I got the money left over from the set and took the children to the vending machine to buy them chocolate as a thank  you. They done very well and did everything we asked them to do. I have enjoyed working with everyone in Orange group, I have had lots of fun The kids were soo good! They enjoyed playing with the T-Rex costume after by attacking Alex, pictures are below. I am looking forward to seeing the final cut on Friday.

Orange Group

Scripting

Our production goes by a script in which the majority was written by the producer. As a presenter, the script is important to me. As we read out the script through the autocue, there were a few things we said differently and a few things we swapped around. The producer sent me the script and I edited it and sent it back with a few changes.

For the puppet show we were given the story but it was mainly narration with not a lot of speech so I went through and added various speech to break it up a bit. Bash and I have almost learnt all the script and managed to do certain parts without using the autocue. Here is the beginning of our script.

B- Hi, I’m Sally (wave)

F- Hi, I’m Joe, no wait, I’m Sally, your Joe! (wave)

B- … and welcome to The Orange Show! (jazz hands)

B- Boy, do we have an exciting show for you guys today…

F- We’ve got some truly scrumptious sandwiches, cool kicking kites, an amazing animal adventure, and a positively perfect performance!

B- Wow!! I don’t know about you Sally, but I’m SUPER excited!

F- Indeed I am Joe!
Now, are you guys getting tired of Mum alwaaaaays trying to feed you really really
boring healthy food?

B- My Mum still does!

F- Yeah? I thought so!

B- But don’t worry; today we have answer to your prayers. Healthy but
FUN food!

F- Let’s have a look at what we got up to in the kitchen…

Run through

We had a run through on Friday with all the set and costumes. We also filmed the puppet VT. I think it went well and I have a better feel of the script. This week I am going to work on learning the script off by heart as it is easy to pick up. After this run through, everyone is feeling a lot more confident. We had everything that we would use on the real show today so it gave us a good picture of what the final thing would look like. The set looked good and we just needed another white sheet to put over one of the boards because the picture was coming through. We worked well as a team to prepare everything and when we finished, we knew what worked and what needed to be changed. The sheet on the floor needed to be secured tightly because for the resersal it was quite ruffled. We also need to iron the sheets because the creases are causing shadows on the background. I took pictures and uploaded them onto our facebook group. Here are a few pictures.

Research

From the beginning of the 113 MC module, research has been an important part of creating our children’s show. We have all had to research various parts of the show to ensure that we get it looking professional with correct facts. I researched my role as presenter by watching various children TV shows to see how they acted in front of the camera and how they interacted with the children. Our research has to be incorporated into the script. When we were thinking about what puppet show to do, it was my idea to do the Hare and the Tortoise. I thought that this would be fitting for the program and has a good moral story. I watched various children’s programs to see their set and various art programs to see how they explained it to children. I researched how to make a kite but this easier version was found by Yasmin so we used this. I helped Bash learn to make the kites for the show.

For the debate, I had to research why it is better to go and play outside rather than stay in and watch TV. These are the facts i found;

• Kids play for shorter periods when TV is on in the background.
• Thirty-two percent of kids 6 and under live in homes where the TV is on all or most of the time.
• Seventy-four percent of all infants and toddlers watch TV before their second birthday.
• In 1970, the average age at which kids started watching TV was 4; today it is 4 months.
• Forty-three percent of children under age 2 watch TV every day, and 18 percent watch videos or DVDs every day.
• Kids are slower to start a task they see on-screen vs. live.
• The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no TV before age 2 — and no more than 2 hours after.”American children and adolescents spend 22 to 28 hours per week viewing television, more than any other activity except sleeping. By the age of 70 they will have spent 7 to 10 years of their lives watching TV.”
  – The Kaiser Family Foundation
• electricity
• healthy happy heart
• strengthens muscles
• more sociable
• releases endorphins which are feel good hormones which makes you feel happy, puts you in a good mood.

I will use some of these facts on the show. When we did the sandwich making, I researched various other foods that we could make but we decided to stick to traffic light sandwiches. I found this website that had quite a few good ideas for children. I researched extinction so that it is clearer to the children that the T-Rex is not in existence.

Task 3

For this task, we had to create a video explaining our role. Bash and I decided to explain our role in presenting very casually. We kept it simple and edited it on Final Cut. Here it is!

It was fun to make this and was even more fun watching it back and editing it. It was weird being in front of a handheld camera actually recording us rather than the big  studio cameras. When we had completed the editing process, we decided to practice making kites! We made different shaped kites and will have them in the background of the kite making part of the show.