We're into the last week of our production now. I meant to write up this blog a lot earlier, but I ended up getting swept away by the huge variety of other things that I just need to get done (like a 2,000 word report and a promotional event at Tullie House). But better late than never, right? And it means I can give you a REALLY up-to-date picture of where our group is at.
Recording the Voiceover
So this was the thing that I had definitely been the most worried about. A voiceover was a bold suggestion from the start, especially as none of us has ever attempted to record one professionally before. But it fits our model of doing a nature show, as Springwatch often has VTs that are just made up of footage about one bird species accompanied by a voiceover. It was certainly a challenge worth facing, and it's going to pay dividends in our final production.
On Thursday morning I met Mia and Bradley (our voiceover artist) just before 10am to go up to Brian Brooks' office – it was very kind of Bradley to agree to do this as it was his birthday! We had to wait a minute whilst he sorted out his previous student, but we were soon in the recording studio – which was in a room off the same corridor which I must have walked past several times and never noticed before. Useful information to have.
Brian got to work setting everything up and explaining to us how the process would work. The amount of equipment in there was amazing, and the sound-proofing was also impressive – although dead acoustics always weird me out a bit. It was as Brian was asking us about exporting that I realised that I hadn't got a memory stick with me so I hurried back to my flat to get one.
By the time I got back they'd practically finished the first version of the voiceover (we prepared two so Calum could choose which one fitted with his edit the best). Brian was able to do this nifty thing whereby he could take out bits of slightly dodgy audio and replace them with new recordings. This allowed us to get virtually flawless audio, despite there being a few fumbles in multiple recordings – what a wonderful program Pro Tools is!
The final product was soon complete and it sounded grand! I'm delighted to have such a professional-sounding voiceover – it just raises the production value of our whole piece. I don't know if any other students reached out to use the recording studio but if not that's their loss! I handed the memory stick of final clips over to Calum so that he could work his editing magic on our second insert.
Final Rehearsal
Our final rehearsal for this production was on Friday 20th April, just 10 days before the final production. The first thing we did was dress the set, but you can read more about that in my previous blog.
We then moved onto camera movements and PA timings in an attempt to match up shots with what I need to call out during the production. We've mostly managed to solve the problem of counting down in the VTs by me setting my timer when the insert stops and using that. This has come with an additional problem which is that I find it difficult to reset my timer and concentrate on the next shots. I also still haven't cracked what to call when I do this – I could do with finding some examples of people doing this role but with all the things I do between now and Monday I'm not sure I'll manage it.
Lequane arrived so we began to practice with him so he could get used to the set and the movements for him. Unfortunately we couldn't get either of our guests in as they are both busy on Friday afternoons. Someone had the great idea of taking an empty Pringles tube and balancing some sunglasses on the top as a stand-in. While this didn't give us a better idea of timings it was very amusing and gave some much needed comic relief to the rehearsal. Even Nigel came in and had a bit of a giggle at that.
We decided to have a bit of a break before returning to a couple more rehearsals, which did everyone a favour. Calum decided that we'd do a maximum of 3 more run-throughs otherwise we'd run the risk of it being over-rehearsed, which was a good call on his part.
These rehearsals went pretty well and I think we're almost there with the final production. The camera crew clearly know what they're doing, the sound is great and those of us in the Gallery are really getting the hang of our roles. This production is going to be really great, I can tell!
Insert 2 – Bellymack Hill Farm
Insert 2 is now complete! This was sorted out in good time as well because we were able to use it in our rehearsals, and we could practice the timings a lot better with that. You can check the completed insert out below. The music and script match up really well and I'm delighted with how it looks.
Chasing Up
There have just been a few final things that have needed chasing up before we can officially say that we're ready to go.
Exhibition board angles – I popped into woodwork on Monday to pass on the details of the blocks that we'd need and Alison said that should be fine and that she'd be available on the 30th to help us put it together
Micromedia player – Emily has been working very hard at this and has come up with some great collages of bird pictures. They look fabulous! We thought we'd only be able to use one on the screen, but Calum came up with a great alternative for those, which I'll come onto in a second. I'm pretty sure the micromedia player needs an SD card so I'll make sure that one of those is available for the 30th
End titles cards – Ed said that we needed to put together some titles cards just to review who's been involved in the production. Calum has put this together and he's used the other collages to add some visual interest. He also used the opening titles music to give it some proper closure.
Paperwork – on Monday Ed revealed that we'd also need to hand over some paperwork ahead of the production. This included a 2-column script, a shot list, a risk assessment and a call sheet for the day. I've already done a risk assessment, and we've been working off a 2 column script for a while now. Calum was already in the process of sorting out shot lists so all that remained for me to do was to write up the call sheet
And with that, I've crossed off all of the final tasks – I've just this minute given the set pieces their last coat of paint. That means we're officially ready to go live on Monday. Some final tweaks will take place on the day, of course, but we're done. I'm so happy that we're ready in advance, and I'm delighted at how well things have come together.
Here's to the final production of Bird's-Eye View – I'll see you on the other side!
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