#TVFUTURES

Rhiannon Chislett

Published 1st March 2014

by Rhiannon Chislett Issue 86 - February 2014

Since I last wrote we have accomplished a lot more work within our projects. In December we submitted our 20-minute documentary about local traditional businesses, which has resulted in achieving distinction grades and we have also progressed dramatically with our IPTV project.
Before Christmas we were tackling the preproduction work for our IPTV unit, locating and securing suitable acts to work with and becoming familiar and competent with the studio equipment. Since then weve had our first act in and I think it went really well. Our first act to come in was Lauren Bannon, a solo artist who plays guitar and piano I had been in contact with Lauren for a few months, getting to know a bit about her and her music so I was quite excited when she finally got the chance to come in and perform for us. On the day, however, we had a few minor problems as our director was double-booked on a documentary shoot in London. Not wanting to cancel an important filming date I improvised and made sure all the studio camera crew had their individual shot list and gave the vision mixer a good range of shots to work with. Overall though, I think the whole performance and shoot went really well. Im looking forward to getting the two other acts in so we can work with them as well and see the final product. As a small group of only six students, our lecturers were impressed with the way we pulled together to build and light an interesting, contemporary set and we were very pleased with both the sound and picture quality at the end of the session.

Apart from our IPTV unit we are currently also working on a new assignment, our first major corporate video for an external client. We were approached by John Allan, director of management training consultancy, Forevue International, to produce a couple of short pilot training videos introducing VUCA, a relatively new management philosophy which is gaining popularity with large organisations in the US and UK. This is our first experience of working with actors and a script which has to be adhered to verbally, but within which we have some creative visual license.

For the first session we spent a couple of hours experimenting with lighting and office layout, setting up the equipment and working through some possible shots. We wanted to use the opportunity to get some real-world experience with the college jib and tracking dolly, (we are hoping to acquire a slider in the near future) and this presented us with a number of challenges in the restricted space available. The availability of office space, client and acting talent meant working evenings but we all wanted to enhance our skills and knowledge with working on a drama, which most of us havent experienced before. The first evening was a steep learning curve, establishing working relationships and rehearsing everyone into their roles and the clients expectations. However, the shoot was completed to everyones satisfaction a day ahead of schedule... now its just a matter of post! The next scenario will be filmed in a few weeks and has a much bigger cast which is both a daunting and exciting prospect at the same time. Our client seemed very happy with events so far and the actors were complimentary about our attitude and ability so were more confident about corporate now.

Apart from these two production projects, we have a new lecturer at college who is taking us through Maya, the 3D software. Ive never really been too keen on learning 3D before but after just a few sessions Im really enjoying it and I can see Im progressing quickly creating my fictional world... Im hoping to develop these skills during my final few months at the College and see how much I can achieve within that time.
However much I get out of these assignments, there is no substitute for real work experience. Im still actively seeking short placements or a few days experience in any kind of professional media environment to help build a more accurate picture of the industry before I graduate... so if you have opportunities available...

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