Being given the
blank canvas of an empty TV studio was an exciting offer with so many creative
possibilities to follow. For a long time I had wanted to use our chance in the
studio to do something with live acts, whether they be musicians, poets etc –
I’ve long enjoyed watching artists performing live in front of an audience but
especially with strong directing and camerawork to support them. Therefore I
feel the progression towards our circus themed variety show was something I
really enjoyed. Research reinforced my idea that a combination of strong acts,
good direction and rehearsal was key to pulling it off as I wanted, with
cameras working in tune with the acts, moving with them and not just a series
of cardboard cut-out wide shots.
However, since many circus performers
are highly-trained and highly skilled professionals, many of them were
unwilling to agree to work for a university shoot with no real budget behind
it. This was a disheartening blow at first but Victoria suggested we look at
circus schools (something I hadn’t even considered) and finally we started to
get possible contributors on board. We
also began bumping into problems with health and safety – where we’d imagined
having a whole host of acts including fire eaters and aerial acrobats we had to
begin to dial back our thinking, obviously not being able to accommodate such
acts into our studio safely.
Working on The Big Top taught me a lot about the amount of planning and organisation that goes into getting a live show running and whilst the amount wasn’t staggering for one episode, to have to keep finding acts and contributors routinely sounds nearly impossible. Obviously not getting selected to carry on was a sad moment but we got really energising feedback, reassuring us that we had a great idea and perhaps picking a different target audience could have benefitted our show greater. I think that me and Victoria worked as a strong team, we were able to come up with an idea that suited both of our interests and then continued to utilise each other’s individual strengths to benefit our idea.
Working on The Big Top taught me a lot about the amount of planning and organisation that goes into getting a live show running and whilst the amount wasn’t staggering for one episode, to have to keep finding acts and contributors routinely sounds nearly impossible. Obviously not getting selected to carry on was a sad moment but we got really energising feedback, reassuring us that we had a great idea and perhaps picking a different target audience could have benefitted our show greater. I think that me and Victoria worked as a strong team, we were able to come up with an idea that suited both of our interests and then continued to utilise each other’s individual strengths to benefit our idea.
The first few weeks
working on Steal the Style were quite tough. Everybody was a little
disheartened about not being picked and settling into our new roles and
focusing our minds on new ideas and content took a bit longer than it possibly
should have. However, once we had our first session with Del finalizing the
show’s content and clarifying confusions within the group we began to move on
as much more of a team. Del expected a high level of work from us and it pushed
us to work hard as we experienced all aspects of a studio shoot to ensure some
empathy with each other over the coming months. Over the rehearsal weeks we
slowly grew as a camera team, we learned our own movements as well as each
others and were able to eventually move around each other without having to
talk. Working in a live environment was exhilarating in a way I never imagined
it could have been – bad rehearsals only motivated us to work harder and by the
next run through we had smashed it; by the final shoot I was nervous but only
because of the eyes behind us - I had complete confidence in the team
surrounding me.
Working as camera operator during Steal the Style has presented a goal within the industry to aim towards. The opportunity was perfectly timed as I had been missing the excitement that comes from working with a live audience, one of the primary reasons I once planned to study theatre instead of television at university. Getting the chance to simulate a professional live studio showed me that live TV can offer something to me personally and creatively that pushes me to work to my best. I want to develop my camera skills as best as I can and try to understand the more technical side of cameras that has long confused me. I have also applied for a QVC summer internship as it offers extensive opportunities to further my knowledge and capabilities in working in live TV.
Working as camera operator during Steal the Style has presented a goal within the industry to aim towards. The opportunity was perfectly timed as I had been missing the excitement that comes from working with a live audience, one of the primary reasons I once planned to study theatre instead of television at university. Getting the chance to simulate a professional live studio showed me that live TV can offer something to me personally and creatively that pushes me to work to my best. I want to develop my camera skills as best as I can and try to understand the more technical side of cameras that has long confused me. I have also applied for a QVC summer internship as it offers extensive opportunities to further my knowledge and capabilities in working in live TV.
Working as the trailer
and titles producer during the pre-production of Steal the Style was a chance
for me to experience a role that had long appealed to me because it felt like
the best way to keep almost complete control over the execution of my ideas. I
was given the support of a very passionate and skilled team who were absolutely
vital to the execution of the production. My time as a producer was a very
intense education in the logistical struggles of trying to arrange shoots
against unpredictable weather and tight deadlines. I also found that the sheer
volume of information everybody was trying to keep track of and pass around was
at times overwhelming and my organisational skills were not strict enough. However,
once again I was reminded of the wonders of working with other people and show’s
assistant producer’s outstanding organisation
was able to help me keep on track of a lot of what had confused me.
Studio production is
the longest unit we have ever have and it felt like it. I’ve learned an extraordinary
amount about working in a team, taking lead and direction and effective communication
in a tense environment. Working as a camera operator has given me a direction
to head in the industry and I really feel like I’ve had the chance to
experience almost every facet of a live production.
