In the second half of the first semester of WINOL, everything became a lot more professional as each member of each team started going from strength to strength, with more ambition and greater expectations than when we started.
WEEK FIVE:
At the start of this week, we had our de-breif of the previous week and our usual meetings to organise the coming week. Among the production team, there was a lot to sort out as this was our very first test broadcast of our on-going weekly lifestyle show, at the time named Good Morning Winchester. There was a lot of preparation involved in order to get this show going, and it all culminated in this week. Our meetings for the preparations went well and we sorted out everything that needed to happen for the next day, as well as re-arranging roles for the WINOL bulletin. We decided that the graphics needed to be changed after Easter on WINOL so that everything stays new and fresh, and this way we would also be able to have different backgrounds for different camera angles.
During the features meeting, we arranged that articles would be submitted in such a regular way that it would mean the content on the website would change every 48 hours and always have fresh content. This would include a regular Film Guide from myself, which I will submit on a regular basis in order to have a new feature on the page each week.
When we filmed Good Morning Winchester, everything started by going according to plan until certain technical difficulties arose when we were filming our cocktail specialist from an angle which meant that the bottles and equipment he was using conflicted with the greenscreen and the graphics we were using. As such, when we came to film, there was very little time for rehearsals or run throughs. Eventually, though, we managed to get everything filmed and edited together with all of the correct graphics for each piece as well.
Unfortunately, after the editing was done on the piece, it was mentioned from one of the tutors that the fact we had a cocktail specialist mixing drinks on a show with "morning" in the title represented a massive OFCOM violation, and as such the pilot run of the show never made it out to air. But, as with all mistakes, everyone learned from them and knew exactly what to correct for next time so that we didnt experience the same problems again. Everything about the first show of this lifestyle series helped us learn new techniques and filming challenges, so the fact that the show didn't make it onto the website wasn't disheartening in the long run, as it meant we could all still take something away from it.
When it came time to shoot the bulletin for WINOL, I was put on Vision Mixing duty, which meant being in charge of the appearance of the green screen and moving from camera to camera or VT's whilst recording the bulletin. It was an interesting task, as it meant having to have perfect timing according to the script and taking cues from the director at the right time as well. There were a couple of mistakes that I made with it being my first time using the vision mixer, including one time that I cut to the wrong camera coming back to the studio before an OOV. Obviously, after watching this back, I noticed it and knew how to avoid it in future, learning from the mistake that I made.
Other than that, the rest of the bulletin went exceedingly well and without a hitch. In the de-brief, it was discussed how in headlines, if you see someone speaking then you should be able to hear their voice on the VT and not have it spoken over too much. We also discussed how it might be effective in future to put up written headlines with the VT headlines, making them short and punchy and helping to identify who people are in the headline shots and what is happening in the news item. We also talked about how the strongest and most affecting images should go first in the bulletin, and then carry on from that point letting the script of the piece build up from there.
WEEK SIX:
After the de-brief, we went about the meetings for the week. Our production meeting consisted of the usual organising of the roles for the bulletin this week, and the organisation of the shows that we had to do. Good Morning Winchester changed to Good Afternoon Winchester this week, so we didn't experience the same problems as last week with recording our show this week. The theme for this weeks Good Afternoon Winchester was St. Patrick's Day, and as such we went out to the local Irish pub O'Neils to film a package on the history and celebrations of St. Patrick's Day and talk about the traditional Irish drinks and food of the day.
Filming for Good Afternoon Winchester went very well, as we were more prepared after last weeks filming session for what we would have to do today and managed to film everything in good time. As well as this, we also managed to film Sportsweek around the rest of the show.
When it came to filming the bulletin for the week, I was on Autocue and was in charge of making sure the autocue was typed up and running on the prompter properly. To add to this, I also offered to help with writing the script for the bulletin as I have had a lot of experience in this area before. Filming for the bulletin went very well, except for a couple of minor technical difficulties on the final sports video, which was eventually resolved before the bulletin went onto the website.
In the bulletin de-brief, it was discussed how it is better to be saying "Hello" rather than "Good Afternoon" as it is less time specific, and how the links should bear more relevance to the actual story and the content of the packages without giving too much information away in the process. This adds flesh to the story rather than taking information out of the story during the link. Also, there should always be a local angle on the story, even in cases where the international news is so huge that it is across every medium. We decided as well that after doing news stories on tragic events in foreign countries, we can't then describe something as "total destruction" when referring to a joyride accident.
When we discussed the technical difficulties of the videos, Angus told us from his experience that hitting the wrong buttons occasionally during bulletins happens, so it is best not to let it get the best of you as it is more about how you deal with it after it has happened to resolve the situation that shows how easily you cope with these situations.
The main topic of discussion for the de-brief was over how during the rehearsals and the bulletin, the Director is the person in charge of keeping the order and giving people tasks, and not the Editor or the Presenters. Inside the Gallery and the general Studio, the Director is the person who is in charge of the running of those areas, and outside of that the Editor takes care of everything else, so it is important to remember who is in charge of what so that there is no confusion over who is telling other people what to do.
In the Monday de-brief, we discussed how the headline words should be fine tuned to be more accurate reflections of the content of the packages, and how you should be more aware of the surroundings you are in when doing pieces to camera and what they say about the package as a whole.
WEEK SEVEN:
After the Monday de-brief, we went over the work ahead for the final week before the Easter break. I was on Autocue again this week for the bulletin, and as such I thought I should help out with writing the script as well so that I could put my previous education to good use on the WINOL project as well.
The Production team this week decided to discontinue Good Afternoon Winchester until a later point in time where we could dedicate more time to it to get it to an even better standard than it already was whilst also not letting it affect the work being done on Sportsweek or WINOL. We didn't, and still do not, consider it a failed attempt in any way though. In fact, I'm under the impression that we decided to discontinue it purely on the basis that we were doing way too much for each episode that we had too much material to edit afterwards. As such, we are now focussing our efforts on making one larger episode at the end of the semester as a showcase of our various efforts and packages.
Our guest editor for the week was Maria Milano, the editor of In Style Magazine, and the bulletin went very smoothly through the rehearsals and we were on time for the majority of the day. Unfortunately, three minutes into filming the bulletin as-live, we were interrupted by a fire alarm and everyone had to evacuate the building. In light of this situation, I think it went to show how organised and prepared we were as a team that we could go straight back into the studio after the alarm stopped and went out again as-live only 10 minutes later than we otherwise would have. I think this managed to show a lot of teamwork and everyone sticking to their responsibilities well.
After the disruption of the fire alarm, the filming went very well and there were no technical difficulties at all. During the de-brief, Maria Milano had fantastic things to say about our performance on the bulletin and the general mix of news that we had going. It was mentioned that our ability to stay cool and continue on with our job after the fire alarm showed how much we were stepping up our game on the production front.
We discussed how the straps should all be in CAPS and have a larger font from now on so that it is easier to read when they flash up on the screen, and that people should film a headline shot for their packages when they are out filming so it saves them having to extract one from their package. It was also discussed how the director should make a habit of saying "Stand by for..." before counting down into whatever we are cutting to next to make sure that everyone is listening and on their marks ready to make the next transition into the studio or into a VT.
We finished this final week before Easter with the news that we had broken the original WINOL record of 553 views for the last bulletin, which was obviously cause for cheers and good vibes all round as our next bulletin will not be until after Easter.
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