Week 7 TVP107

This week in the studio my roles were Talent and Camera operator. Acting as the host for the news item was fun and think I'm getting more comfortable in front of the camera each time I'm in front of it but I am still most comfortable behind the camera as i was this week. I thought I performed reasonably well as Camera Operator as I have not done that role in months. Even though I wasn't required to perform anything too difficult I got all the shots the Director was asking for and other then maybe getting a bit too close to what I was filming had no problems at all with camera operating. I think once again the group as a whole performed well especially my other two camera operators and everyone is showing confidence at their respective roles.
Since my last blog post allot has been happening on the road to W!cked. My Christmas show had a production meeting at Gelatisimo's on Monday and nearly the whole crew turned up which was really pleasing and everyone got to meet each other and the actors and designers and people got a chance to read my script. A variety of topics from costumes to set design to lighting ideas was discussed and everyone seemed keen to be and get involved with the show.
The following night we had our first run through and now even though the set has been changed so allot of what we did is now obsolete we had nearly everyone turn up and at least had a rough run threw of how the show was going to be and the actors got to practice their lines which is very good also. Pete the Director of my show met up with the designers a few days after to sort out the set designs so next time we practice we can do it properly.
Kate as my Production Manager has been fabulous and has booked the studio for every Tuesday night leading up to the live performance and as we have had one run threw already I have spoken to her about giving our next Tuesday rehearsal to another show and let therm practice while giving ourselves the night to film the dream sequences with the actors instead. This still means we are being productive while also giving others a chance to practice so i think it works out well for everyone.
I plan on ringing Marta Dai Primary again in the next couple of days to sought out issues such as time and if the kids can come for a practice run. other bits of organising that I've had to do in the last few days is organising with the Pre-school here at the University to use their dole house for the dreams sequences and they were very helpful and willing which was really nice of them.
Other things on the road to W!cked that I have been keeping busy with is the practice run in the studio with the BBQ show which was really successful and have to give mention to Mark as Director. My role for that show is Stagehand and my fellow Stagehand and I kept on top of everything and have our roles under control.
I was also Camera Operator for an insert which we filmed today and that was a very organised very shoot. Arriving at the "Handstand Factory" my Director and Sound Technician were there along with the talent and the handstand man we were going to be filming. After making sure my camera was on right settings and talking about what shots we were going to do and what was going to be performed we started shooting and everything went according to plan with some really good shots being taken and everyone working well together we finished without any problems.
So far everything is going very well with all my roles for W!cked and am looking forward to the live show experience and to witness all the hardwork that has gone in from everyone to see the end product.

Week 6 TVP107

The first week back from the break in the studio and my roles were stagehand and talent. We were doing short news pieces with a cooking segment. As I have been stagehand many times before performing this role has become second nature and everything went well as did the whole group today with everybody performing their roles very comfortably and there was a confident relaxed atmosphere as everyone returned to the studio. Cleaning and packing up after we finish shooting is even becoming quicker and more organised and everyone as a whole looks to be quite comfortable in the studio roles presented to them.
On the road to W!cked this week i wrote up a rough script and I think it turned out really well even though I will have to wait to the practice rehersal's to see if it works. I have also been to a producers meeting with Camilla and the other producers about scripts and how they are to be set out so I will have to organise my script again into the proper format but that shouldn't be a problem.
I have come up with an idea that im really excited about for the show and that is short dream sequences for the hosts in which they will dream of their faveorite Christmas present which should add a different and hopefully funny elemant to the show. I got the idea while watching the TV show "Scrubs" and think that if we do it properly will be really funny. I am waiting to speak to Marta Dai again just to go over a few details like buses and the children's arrival and departure times but as the kids are on school holidays I will have to wait til school is back before I can contact them again. I have met and spoke to Pete about organising a team production meeting for my whole crew for gelatisimo on Monday so everyone can meet each other and know who is doing what role and what is expected from each crew member as well as a chance for everyone to meet the actors and designers. Pete and I also spoke at length about the dream sequences and he was really for the idea so I was also happy with that and have nothing but praise for Pete as my Director.
For my other role as Lighting Supervisor I have done my scissor lift licence which will be a major help as well as been looking at different sites on the Internet such as http://www.andrew-whitehurst.net/3point.html,http://www.videomaker.com/article/9736/ for different ideas and helpful hints.

Week 5 TVP107

This first week of holidays I have been into the studio twice with Marcus and once with Jason and they have both been really big learning curves. The first time Marcus and I did allot of work with the lighting with him showing me how to direct the lights and which way they are facing as well as how to turn them on using the pole thingy. Marcus also showed me how to plug them in to the different sockets with the connections and size sockets.
We also had a go in the control room using the special effects where I learnt a few new things and became more familiar overall with the control desk.
Alot of time was spent in the sound room as well just finding out different sounds that are on there. When Pat took Jason, Marcus and I in there a few days later it was even a better learning experience with Pat showing us how to route better and explained allot things so I understood how things worked better. Pat also explained how to set up for different things like bands which I would not have had any idea how to do before but would now at least know what needs to be done and how to do it.
Pat also explained how to incorporate special effects from the computer onto the TV screen or things such as inserts and how to move them around the screen and such forth which i had no idea how to do before where as now I have some idea and with a little more practice should have a full understanding and how to do it properly.
I have also contac ted the cook from Delicious cafe restraunt and he has agreed to be the cook for the cooking segtment for the show which is really good news.

Week 4 TVP107

This week the class split up into two separate groups and were taught more about lighting by Bruce and sound by Pat. I found these classes to be invaluable as I learnt much more about lighting and most notably the lighting up on the grid in the studio which is really good as I am lighting supervisor one of the weeks for "w!cked". I learnt lots of handy little things like chucking in as many colour lights is never a problem and good for filling in space and also having colour lighting as back lights is another handy hint I learnt from the class. Also other little things like girls needing softer lighting and actually being shown this was good and handy to know for "w!cked" and for the future.
The sound "lecture" was also very helpful in explaining different things about patching, and also the control desk which I am still not that familiar with but after that lesson I at least knew routing a little clearer and how to put sound out to the floor as well as how to use the computer instead of the control desk which seems allot simpler.
On the road to "w!cked" I have been in contact with the Marter Dei primary school to sing a Christmas song to finish my Christmas show and although they haven't confirmed anything they did seem to be very interested which is very good after the Universities choir fell through. I still have not contacted the Chef's I'm after but have the phone number of one of them which is at least a start. I have also been to meetings at Camillas discussing ideas for w!cked and script ideas.
I am planning on booking the studio out during the holidays to get myself more accustomed to the studio and better at everything really. In particular I am going to try and work with the lighting to help with my role as lighting supervisor in "w!cked".

Week 3 TVP107

My roles for the new drill segments were boom operator and stage hand. This was my first time operating the boom and found it to be enjoyable and I think I got the hang of it rather quickly. I found standing instead of sitting on the ergonomic chair far more comfortable for I felt allot safer and also felt I had more control. I think I performed the task well by being able to keep the mic out of shot and out of the way as well as pointing it in the right direction and and keeping it at a good distance from the talent. The booms shadow never got into shot either which was handled by keeping the extension arm at the right angles and elevating the boom to the highest point. The whole group seemed to work really well together during the run through when I was Boom Operator with the camera operators and stage hands maneuvering round the floor from the different shots with no hassles whilst getting the required shots. the talent was also very good with Marcus and Lauren putting on quite a cooking show.
I have been Stagehand many times before and even by myself so am fully aware of what is required even though there was allot more quick maneuvering during these drills. My fellow Stagehand Rod and myself due to the way the cameras were positioned were given a difficult task with the different maneuvers of the cameras and due to quick hands and feet and even crawling on the ground I think we did quite well. There was one point where we had to stop because cameras couldn't get around each other due to them being blocked in but there was nothing that either of us could do as it was the positioning of the cameras and the tasks they were designated. After this was sorted out by the Director and camera operators everything went according to plan even though I think some shots the Director was calling were not getting done by the camera operators. Overall a much much better and focused group performance to the last one.
On the road to "w!cked" I have been running around trying to find a guest chef for my midnight snack segment which will be a healthy snack for kids to leave out for Santa. I have 3 possibles that I know of that would be good for the show and they are Mic an English Chef who works at the Cafe Delish and I know him from the pub and he is very charismatic which would be good for the show, my 2nd choice is a girl named Bianca who has won apprentice chef of the year 2 years in a row and another really good chef who I have in mind is Bec who works at the Astor and also would be fantastic to get on the show. I'm yet to get in contact with them but shouldn't be long and they all would be valuable assets to my show.
Pete my director and I have also been having various meetings about different ideas for the show and what we can do to make it special. Pete has also been discussing with me about how to set up sound for the choir and even though we have different ideas about how to do it I appreciate his advice and knowledge but have decided that in the end I'm going to let Jake who is the sound supervisor for my show to have the final say on how he wants the choir sound to be done.

Week 2 TVP107

For the last time we did "Hello Riverina" and all I can say it was one of our forgettable performances. Nothing seemed to go smoothly from the floor to the control room and ecspecially myself in tapes. I had done tapes before and had no problems at all. To start with the settings on the VTR's were on the wrong setting and I didnt pick it up even though I knew something was wrong because the times on the tapes kept changing and going out of time. other things such as mishearing calls from Director and fast forwarding to the wrong insert and then makeing the rest of the crew wait while I had to rewind back to the correct Insert. Even though i know how to do tapes properly and comfertably next time to ensure that these problems dont occur again is get into studio earlier as i arrived only bout 10 minutes before allocated time when maybe 15 minutes would have gave me more time to prepare. Other ways to improve my performance would have been to speak up when I think something is wrong and relax a bit more.
It seemed my flatness wasnt alone as our group as a whole just didnt seem to spark as the floor didnt seem to be quite on the Directors mark when it came to them getting the shots he wanted. Even with our taped segment the vision mixing sent black to screen instead of intro which didnt seem to far out with the rest of what was happening. In the end I can honestly say as a group i think we were all rightfully dissapointed with our performance, myself ecspecially.
On the road to "Wicked" my Christmas show is coming along nicely. Pete (who is my Director and Producer for the 1st insert on my show) and I went driveing for 4 hours the other day to try and locate this reindeer farm and after much knocking on doors and driveing down dirt roads we finally found the farm and spoke to the man running it and got everything organised. The next thing on my to-do list is to get in contact with this choir for my show. I have organised the actor for Petes insert but would like to and need to find out the other actors for my show to be able to organise things a bit more specifically.

Week 1 TVP107

This week during our revisit to "Hello Riverina" my allocated job was Stage Hand. Myself and the rest of my group seemed more comfertable and confident then I can ever remember us being even though it was our first time back in the studio in over qa few weeks. I was the lone Stage Hand today and had a enjoyable time doing it and thought I performed good in the situation of being the only stage hand. I was ontop of the situation throughout the rehersals and the taped show flipping over both sets of cards when they had to be and keeping the cables out of the camera operaters way other then the mix up on the first run through when camera one's cable went under itself while I was over with the cards but with help from the Floor Manager that never happened again and was the only blur of an overly good and comfertable performance. The Floor Manager was good in offering to help hold cables if I was busy somewhere else which really helped with the situation. The whole floor seemed relaxed and worked well together with the cameras adding more creative shots each time we practiced and the talent becoming more enthusiastic with a very good performance by Jackson as News Reader. As i was given head phones I could here what was going on everywhere and Mark as Director done an extremely good job and was in control the whole team getting the shots and performances and respect of all those working for him showing that you can be respectful and plesant to your crew and recieve good energised performances. The Tapes and Sound guys seemed to be ontop of their jobs from what I could gather from my view even and I think it was the best most confident "Hello Riverina" I have been apart of.
In the build up to "Wicked" I have been to a couple of Producer meetings which I found to be helpful as Camilla explained about what we were required to do as producers and also listened and helped with our ideas. My show has been Christmas themed which I asked Camilla about the day I found out I was Producer which has been good as it opens it up creatively about what I can do which is why I asked that I could do a Christmas show in the first place. From these meetings there has been some good and bad points with my idea about having one of my inserts being classic christmas cartoons such as bugs bunny not being allowed due to copyright reasons being dissapointing but understandable. The good points from these meetings is that Camilla is confident with my ideas that I present such as a reindeer insert and possibly a christmas carol or song to finish my show.
Another one of my jobs during the "wicked" shows is Lighting supervisor and I am excited about it as I have never had much experience with lighting but am keen to learne about it and have booked out the studio and watched Marcus and Mike set up and demonstrate different lighting effects which was helpful.
Overall im very enthused about whats happenign with "Wicked" and looking forward to working on it more.