I found that being calm was especially important as the talkback in the gallery was open, so I was the voice in the headset of the crew members and needed to guide them through the show. Therefore, I found that if I stayed calm, they were more likely to also be calm.
It has been said that a director can stay calm by:
- Planning ahead - even if these plans change later at the last minute
- Trusting the team - I personally found that the team was vital to the production, since everyone's role was of equal value to keeping everything running smoothly
- Being afraid but staying calm on the outside and doing what needs to be done anyway
- Having a positive attitude - not everything can be controlled; the director and team just need to each do their best work
- Looking at the show in pieces and working on a segment at a time to create the whole, rather than trying to look at too much at once
(Rooney & Belli, 2013:238-9).
Organisation & planning
Keeping everything running to schedule became my priority, especially as we got closer to transmission, thus, I found this easier if I had paperwork which could show what I had planned, as then this could be distributed to the relevant people so they knew what their responsibilities were.To do this, I decided to use camera cards, floor plans, and also the script, rather than storyboards, since I only knew the layout of the set but didn't know what certain elements looked like - for example, game four changed from a set of shelves which flipped around to two screens, so these couldn't have been effectively storyboarded (Singleton-Turner, 2011:359). This was when looking at the show in segments was most useful though, as we were better able to plan details.
I used a folder to create a production book with this paperwork, similar to previous productions I have worked on, which I think worked well, since it helped me organise everything which saved time (Rea & Irving, 2015:47-8).
However, because live TV is unpredictable, these plans kept changing so it became important to keep the paperwork updated, as well as be prepared to deviate from it if necessary.
This helped me refine my ideas for the show though, as did drafting and thinking about the characters when writing my sitcom for my own programme idea. Thus, I learnt that concentrating on the initial idea and pushing to make it better helps improve the show regardless of its genre.
During transmission, the camera cards and floor plans were able to help the camera operators and I, since we all knew which shots needed to be captured, yet, many of these did change during transmission. Overall, the paperwork I created helped give the camera operators a sense of security in that they knew what they needed to film, as well as helped me communicate my aims for the show to the team.
Nonetheless, the biggest improvement I think that we could make to the shots during the show is avoiding shooting off the set, since in some shots the studio can be seen. This was mainly during the running segment because there was a lot of movement involved, as well as in some wide shots because of where the contestants were standing. However, the camera operators worked hard to reduce this where they could.
Shooting off the set can be reduced by positioning the contributors on the set where there is enough set behind them to minimise the risk of seeing any of the studio behind it. We could have reduced this especially during game three by potentially changing its position to the diagonal wall next to the presenter's entrance, because there would have been more set behind the subjects to cover the studio. However, this demonstrated how unpredictable live TV is, because we hadn't had as much shoot off during rehearsals, as the contestants positioned themselves closer to the game, and thus at a different angle, during transmission so they could see it.
Being proactive & collaborating
Whilst planning I found that collaborating with the team made it much simpler and also better, since each person specialised in their job and had the skills necessary to do it well. For example, meeting with our director of photography helped with planning shots because he knew the capabilities of each camera, and by passing these plans on to the camera operators through paperwork they were able to refine these and improve them as we went through rehearsals and they learnt what their camera could capture best from each position.
Nonetheless, I think that trusting the team worked best with the lighting because I didn't make a lighting plan, but trusted that the lighting team could use their knowledge to give the show the lighting they thought worked best, which went well since they took our brief of flat lighting and improved it by adding depth and colour because we gave them some creative license; as with the set design team with the set fitting the colours that we had initially envisioned, but them then building on this to improve it and give the set details which helped the production look the best it could.
Having a good relationship with the producer helped with this since I was then better able to understand her vision for the show and thus translate this effectively onto the screen, as well as help her brief parts of the team. This also helped us work together to solve problems as a team.
Nonetheless, I think that trusting the team worked best with the lighting because I didn't make a lighting plan, but trusted that the lighting team could use their knowledge to give the show the lighting they thought worked best, which went well since they took our brief of flat lighting and improved it by adding depth and colour because we gave them some creative license; as with the set design team with the set fitting the colours that we had initially envisioned, but them then building on this to improve it and give the set details which helped the production look the best it could.
Having a good relationship with the producer helped with this since I was then better able to understand her vision for the show and thus translate this effectively onto the screen, as well as help her brief parts of the team. This also helped us work together to solve problems as a team.
As one of the director's main responsibilities is to solve problems (Rooney & Belli, 2013:240), I found that knowing all of the crew and their responsibilities helped, as well as making sure they knew me. Even just reminding the camera operators before transmission that they could use talkback to call me to the floor during the last rehearsals if there was any problem that needed to be solved helped save time and reduce stress among the team.
From this I found that good communication was essential. Problems needed to be solved quickly, but also logically, therefore I found that it was best to consider what would be affected by the decision, and ask for suggestions from the team if necessary, as collaboration was needed to get everything prepared in time for transmission.
“A large part of the job of Directing is “knowing what to say and when to say it””
(Utterback, 2016:149).
During rehearsals and before transmission, we aimed to stay on schedule as much as possible, therefore I needed to be proactive to ensure everything that needed to be prepared was ready in time, even if I was at first hesitant about asking people for things several times - however, I learnt that even though I was hesitant, it was better to just do it, otherwise there was a risk things would stop running, which helped me hesitate less and get better at communicating with the rest of the team.
Attitude
Overall, I learnt that the key to communicating well and staying calm was having a positive attitude, and believing that if any problems happened transmission we could solve them during a VT (Rooney & Belli, 2013:239). This helped me keep up with the show, and thus ensure that I was focusing on the monitors and not missing any of the action.
I mainly found that just enjoying the show whilst concentrating on the monitors helped to ensure the shots we were cutting to covered everything the audience needed to see in that moment.
The adrenaline buzz helped with this, as it meant we could judge the tone of the show in the gallery from the reactions of the audience as well as the contestants and presenter, and thus match the shot needed to that - for example, staying close on a game as the audience were trying to see if the contestant could complete it in time (Farmer, 2018).
During this unit I thus found that keeping up with the show and believing that everyone could do their jobs well helped me keep a positive attitude and enjoy the unpredictability of live TV, as well as stay calm and organised during transmission, and use rehearsal time efficiently. I also found that through rehearsing - whether to pitch my own programme idea or going over shots during camera blocking - and drafting, ideas can be made better which is why its important to be flexible, and also give members of the team creative license to do what they think is best.
However, the main thing I learnt is that collaboration is essential to being a good director - and to producing any live show - since without a team a director couldn't coordinate, and thus pull off, a successful show which is enjoyed by an audience.
I mainly found that just enjoying the show whilst concentrating on the monitors helped to ensure the shots we were cutting to covered everything the audience needed to see in that moment.
The adrenaline buzz helped with this, as it meant we could judge the tone of the show in the gallery from the reactions of the audience as well as the contestants and presenter, and thus match the shot needed to that - for example, staying close on a game as the audience were trying to see if the contestant could complete it in time (Farmer, 2018).
During this unit I thus found that keeping up with the show and believing that everyone could do their jobs well helped me keep a positive attitude and enjoy the unpredictability of live TV, as well as stay calm and organised during transmission, and use rehearsal time efficiently. I also found that through rehearsing - whether to pitch my own programme idea or going over shots during camera blocking - and drafting, ideas can be made better which is why its important to be flexible, and also give members of the team creative license to do what they think is best.
However, the main thing I learnt is that collaboration is essential to being a good director - and to producing any live show - since without a team a director couldn't coordinate, and thus pull off, a successful show which is enjoyed by an audience.
References
Farmer, A. (2018) 'Keeping GMA's Daily Sprint on Course' In: DGA Quarterly. [online] At: https://www.dga.org/Craft/DGAQ/Categories/Television/News-Directing.aspx?IID=%7B090F3B13-E2CB-4B86-8A15-92FFCAB249C4%7D (Accessed on 11 April 2019).
Rea, P. & Irving, D. (2015) Producing and Directing the Short Film and Video. (5th ed.) London: Focal Press.
Rooney, B. & Belli, M. (2013) Directors Tell the Story: Master the Craft of Television and Film Directing. Oxon: Focal Press.
Singleton-Turner, R. (2011) Cue & Cut: A Practical Approach to Working in Multi-Camera Studios. Manchester University Press: Manchester.
Utterback, A. (2016) Studio Television Production and Directing: Concepts, Equipment, and Procedures. (2nded.) Oxon: Focal Press.
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