Alongside all the production tasks my group has been taking part in, I've been busy working on a lot of planning – and filling out a lot of paperwork! A producer's work is never done, so it seems.
First up are our inserts. These need to be 40 seconds each and reflect the tone and theme of the main body of the programme. The first insert is going to focus on the role of falconry in modern day bird of prey conservation, and the second will put a spotlight on red kites.
Insert 1 – Falconry
As a team we've been really focussing on the pre-production of Insert 1, which will be filmed at Riverside Falconry, near Newcastle. Our initial date was going to be the 6th March but I as I have a Student Ambassador duty to fulfil that day, and no-one available to cover it, I knew I wasn't going to be able to attend. I proposed that a team of four therefore went and did this shoot. The date has now been changed to an overnight trip from 7th-8th March to give the team the maximum amount of time to get the best material.
As Emily has liaised with the falconry, and sorted out accommodation and transport, it made sense to me to suggest she take the role of Field Producer. In the grand scheme of things she won't have to do much other than review the risk assessment and coordinate on the day, but it's extremely important for a team to have a definite leader. I know she is more than capable of this and I'm grateful that she's stepped up to fill this role. Also on the team are Mia Boyd, Kelsie Lofthouse and Joe Connor – 3 excellent practitioners and I have high hopes for the final result.
Regarding paperwork, I completed a production risk assessment for this shoot and sent it to Emily who felt that it was very thorough (that's what I like to hear!). Once confirmed, I sent it to the team so that they can look at it before they depart. There currently isn't a script but Mia and Phoebe are working on a list of questions to be used for interviews with members of staff.
Insert 2 – Red Kites
We've also begun some preparation for Insert 2, which will be filmed at Bellymack Hill Farm over the border in Scotland! We're going on a trip there with Cain Scrimgeour for our Tourism module on 21st March, and he says there will be plenty of time to film while we're there. This is ideal, and the farm's feeding station regularly attracts dozens of red kites so we should get plenty of material.
The basic concept for this insert is to put a spotlight on red kites and the conservation efforts that have gone into bringing them back from the brink of extinction. It's quite a topic to fit into 40 seconds, but I'm sure we'll manage it one way or another.
Mia has suggested that we get one of the Acting students to provide a voiceover for the insert – an idea I'm fully on board for. We can organise a recording session that suits them after the footage has been recorded. We don't have a script for this insert yet either, but it may be that one is put together after we collect and edit the footage when we've got an idea of the story we want to tell. I'm not too worried about it yet, and it's on my list of jobs to keep an eye on so I know I won't let it slip under the rug.
Rehearsals
Next up was rehearsal bookings. There were two rehearsals that I needed to book – one during rehearsal week, and one on a Wednesday afternoon to allow the whole crew to get some flight time in their roles (especially the poor PA...).
Rehearsal week was easy enough to set up, and we've got dedicated time in the studio for the whole of the 19th April. I'm definitely going to ask Lequane to be present for at least some of this session so we can practice with him. I don't know whether we'll be able to bring the guest in for this rehearsal but I don't think that will be a disaster.
Booking a Wednesday afternoon rehearsal ended up being a lot trickier. I looked at our timetables for the upcoming weeks, and the corresponding free slots for the TV Studio and proposed that we go for the 21st March, which was agreed and signed off on. That was before we discovered that we would be going to Bellymack. Upon discovery of this I raced back up to AV to secure the 14th March slot while it was still open. Fortunately it was and this is now in everyone's diaries. Phew!
I think it may be prudent for me to make a rehearsal schedule for these dates to ensure we have some kind of structure, and not just aimlessly messing around with the equipment.
Paperwork
Paperwork has been one of my main focuses as producer. The three main pieces of work have been the Studio Rundown, the Risk Assessments and the Production Schedule.
I delegated the Studio Rundown to Calum, who liaised with Kelsie and Mia over the set design, to come up with a coherent breakdown of the production. It's a great document, and I gave it a quick revision with the updated script before uploading it to the OneDrive. Great to have that in the bag already.
As far as I can see I will need to produce 3 risk assessments for this project. One for each of the inserts (of which Insert 1 is already completed and signed off) and one for the studio work, which I will be keeping in my production folder. The Insert 2 risk assessment is partially completed. I haven't started the studio work document yet, but I have given myself a deadline of the 12th March to ensure it is ready in time for the 14th March rehearsal.
My main labour of paperwork love is the Production Schedule. I was initially going to create a Gantt Chart to keep a track of tasks and deadlines, but I got in such a horrible muddle trying to sort it out that I abandoned it in favour of a good old-fashioned list. I made the schedule in Excel and it currently contains the following:
Tasks and Deadlines
Group A Timetable (a breakdown of the main timetable for just our sessions)
February Schedule
March Schedule
April Schedule
This is helping me to keep a track of tasks, who is completing them and when they are due in. It also helps me to get an overview of what's going on and when things are getting close – such as rehearsal dates. It's a live document so I make sure I review and update it regularly (an almost daily occurrence at the moment) and ensure that an amended copy is available on the group OneDrive. This document has actually made my life a whole lot easier and reduced a great amount of stress. It also comes with the added benefit that it's electronic, so I'm not going to constantly be chasing after pieces of paper.
Planning
We were scheduled to have a Project Planning Session this afternoon, but Ed is ill so it was cancelled (hope he's feeling better soon!). I was still prepared to meet up in a central location, but people felt it would be more productive to work from home and communicate via emails and Messenger. This was a really good call on the part of the team and I felt that we made a lot of progress as a whole.
I received an email containing the set design from Kelsie and Mia. It's excellent! The whole thing has so well thought out – I'm amazed. There's even camera movements planned out on the diagram, which I know is the result of a conversation with Calum. They've also got some ideas for props, such as throws and cushions that will match the natural theme of the programme. Another suggestion they made was prompt cards, which I think is just marvellous and will really raise the production value of the programme. I eagerly await the final result – great job, guys!
Tomorrow we'll be taking a trip to the Lake District Wildlife Park where we're going to get the chance to see some birds of prey up close. I've suggested that anyone who is interested in grabbing some footage while they're there is more than welcome to send it in as B-Roll for the inserts. There's no way we'll be able to use it all, but it's better to have too much than too little. I'm going to take my camera, that's for sure!
As for the filming of Insert 2, I tried to organise a team together but was then given a brilliant suggestion by Emily that we all be a part of the team and get lots of footage and pick from the best. What a great idea – why didn't I think of that? I felt this might be a good day to have another Field Producer, and Phoebe has agreed to do this. I've sent her a copy of the risk assessment that I've finally completed. Once I've got it all confirmed I'll be sending it round to the whole group.
Despite the session being cancelled, I managed to get my meeting in! Partway through the afternoon Isaac messaged the group chat to ask if he could get more involved in the project and what was going on with things. I asked him to meet me in the canteen so that I could go over everything with him face-to-face instead of spamming the chat and annoying everyone.
I asked him why he'd been so absent and he said this was due to health and personal reasons. I told him that it was fine but I'd appreciate being told if he was going to be absent from future sessions so that we could plan accordingly. I briefed him on the plan so far and how things were progressing. He seemed interested in getting involved in Insert 1 but as the team is already finalised for that I was sad to say that he couldn't. I was, however, able to suggest that he got involved with creating the titles as this was something he said he was interested in during the initial production meeting. He also wanted to ensure that his role as On Set Sound Technician was still open, which I was able to confirm. He left pretty satisfied with the outcome, but I'm not sure he really took on board the fact that I need to be told if he's going to be absent. I've messaged the people involved in the aspects he's going to be a part of to ask that they get him involved, and that I'm informed of any deadlines he's given so that I can assure that he meets them.
I think I may need to get some advice from one of the lecturers about how to handle him – but that's going to have to wait until after Berlin now. I'll get a report of his commitment and attendance from the others before I do anything. I am very pleased that he reached out to find out what's going on and I hope this means we'll be seeing a lot more from him.
As you can see, there's been a lot to plan, but a great deal of stuff has been sorted and I'm feeling very happy about leaving things to run themselves while I'm in Berlin. I can assure that this is a huge weight off my shoulders! I'll see you when I'm back from the continent.
Tschüss!
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