Danny Hewitt's Television Production Blog

In conclusion, this project has given me a real insight on what it is like to work for an employer, rather than myself. One of the biggest challenges I faced creating a video for someone else was the fact that I had to constantly think about what they wanted, even if I didn’t agree with some requests. This adds more pressure when filming as you’re ultimately recording and creating a video to please employers, and if you don’t get it right or accurate, then you would receive negative feedback that could lead to a drop in self-confidence. I have gained a lot of experience working for ACT, improving my social as well as technical skills that I will definitely take with me into future productions. This project has made me realise how important planning, time management and teamwork is to creating a successful production, and how difficult it can be without them

We planned our shoot heavily leading up to the Cambridge trip, as we learnt from our mistakes from the French production. This time we were given more detailed instructions including what exactly our client wanted from the interviews. I was very happy with this, as it meant we knew what it took to impress Amie (the client), which ultimately is the aim when creating a video for someone else. Another major difference in our favour was the fact we were given a lot more time to film the interviews. This made my role slightly easier to the French trip, as it meant I didn’t have to rush with each interviewee and could get the best answers out of them. My director role played a big part again, as I told everyone what I wanted prior to the shoot. I used my people skills to not only inform, but also motivate my team who have now formed a close bond. I have always believed in having high team morale, as I believe work gets finished quickly and accurately when everyone is pulling together as a team and enjoying it at the same time. We got to the location early so we had time to scout the place and work out where was most ideal to film the interviews. The room we were given was quite small and plain, however I asked someone to go and get us some posters so we could make the background of the frame a bit more interesting for the audience. We filmed most of the interviews before the show, which was great as it meant we didn’t have to chase after many people afterwards (when they want to go home after a busy day). We still had the director, executive director and conductor to interview after the show, so I decided to film them on stage. This gave us a very interesting background for each interview, which not only made the film more aesthetically pleasing for the viewers, but also helped to highlight the important characters in the production. One problem with doing this was the sound. Audience members were still leaving and therefore chatting amongst themselves, which in-turn created a horrible background noise when recording the after-show interviews. I checked with Chris if the sound was manageable, and we both agreed that it was easily going to be fixed in the editing process. Overall it was a very successful trip, and I am very happy with the footage we got. I believe we all worked really well as a team, and improved from the last trip due to more planning and teamwork.

If the sound on a live production is not perfect, then people will pick up on it. My mentor, Paul Brice, who has been a sound assistant for years on Sky Sports, drummed this kind of information into me. Paul made it clear to me how important timing and levels are to producing perfect sound. Paul had set up all the studio mics prior to the show, however it was my job on the day to set up the clip mics with the presenter and panelists. I did my research beforehand so I knew exactly where to place the mics to get the best quality sound possible.

 Unfortunately one of the panelists had a dress on, so I struggled to find a place to clip the mic on without it being too far away from her mouth. With the help of Paul, we managed to compromise and all the checks came in loud and clear.

 I only had two days in the sound gallery to learn all the details I needed as well as practicing the transitions between VT’s and the studio. The main aspect I learnt from Paul was the use of levels and how they affect the quality of the sound when being transmitted. I learnt that turning down the people who weren’t talking, gave the person who was talking a much cleaner output that meant the voices were a lot clearer. This meant having a great deal of concentration as the panelists, as well as the presenter, would talk at any point meaning I had to change the levels quickly in a controlled manner. I felt quite confident prior to the live show as I managed to perfect the transitions in the rehearsals beforehand; however as soon as the show started, the nerves and adrenaline kicked in, as I knew that it only took one small mistake on my part that could affect the whole show.

During the show, the nerves settled as I was performing like I was in the rehearsals, with all the levels being spot on, and the transitions working great. I ended up finishing the show with no mistakes, and Paul was very complimentary about my performance afterwards. I learnt a lot about sound after this production, mainly appreciating how difficult it is, and how vital it is to a successful show. When I work on projects in the future, I will make sure I carry out multiple checks to see if the levels are right, and whether the microphones are placed in the best position.

After finding out my job had changed to sound, I was very nervous but also intrigued as to what this role involved. I’ve worked on sound before for previous shoots, but that has always involved one type of mic (usually boom or clip mic) and with no sound mixer to control while filming. As there wasn’t long until the shoot day, I had to learn how to use all the sound equipment in a matter of days, with having only a couple of rehearsals to practice my role. The first real eye opener for me was how important sound is for a live production, and the amount of mics you have to think about at the same time.

The Politics VT shoot arrived and I felt very organised due to the preparation leading up to it. We organised the travel and times of where we were going to meet Dave the presenter, and got there early enough to set up and brief everyone. As I was the director, I took responsibility of leading everyone to the relevant locations, as well as boosting the team morale throughout the day. The shoot went great; apart from we struggled with a vox pops section due to not being able to find any young people in the pub we chose prior to the shoot. This meant we had to film that section another day in a more controlled environment. Shooting vox pops was very difficult as it meant relying on the public on the day, and the sound wasn’t great due to not being in a controlled environment. I have definitely learnt how to tackle these situations now due to this shoot, and I know that next time I shoot a vox-pops segment, I will choose a controlled location to ask them questions, and make sure my target audience is in the place I want them to be. Margate is an interesting setting, so I made sure that we got plenty of cutaway shots. These shots are always vital as it gives the editor shots to cut to, as well as helping the audience understand where the video is taking place. Dave the presenter was very good and professional, and he was very helpful as he agreed to film the same scenes multiple times as I wanted plenty of coverage.

Made a list of times and roles so my team know exactly what is going on prior to the shoot: