Production Process
The first thing we did was assign job roles to each member of the group, the job roles included pr production, the actual production itself (filming etc), and the editing that has been done in post production. Pre production involved the majority of the paper work such as call sheets, recce sheets and risk assessments as well as storyboards. Every team member took at least one of the jobs within pre production, this helped give everyone a lighter workload and therefor made the production a more streamline. The roles I took on included the following;
- Filming
- Call sheets
- Foley artist
- Lighting
- Location Scouting for the Nail Bar
- Mood-board
- Risk Management Plans
Key Decisions
Location and casting are the main two critical decisions that had to be made in pre production, here I mainly helped with the location scouting for the Nail Bar, which was the main location that we needed and would be the most difficult to get. After ringing around a few places in the city we managed to short list the ones that offered us a location, then we made our choice after visiting them. While filming we had to decide on costumes in order to fit in with the character profiles and the genre of the episode. When editing there were key decisions including what clips should be used in what order and how we could show the genre of the episode through the use of the title sequence.
Changes
The main change while filming was the lighting equipment that we used. This was all because of problems when filming the clips for the title sequence as we had some problems with the lights and the green screen. Location changes were also made when filming due to original ideas not being able to be carried out with the locations that were available to us. This caused us to have to change the structure of that scene slightly but after careful consideration we all managed to work together and come up with a solution that was up to a standard that was equal to the original plan. We also had issues with the sound as when we came to edit we noticed that there seemed to be a hissing sound throughout and some parts were quieter than others. People within the group then used Adobe Audition in order to correct the sound as best as we could.
Quality
The initial quality of the audio wasn't to an adequate standard which resulted in members of the group working on Adobe Audition to make it to an acceptable standard. We ensured that the only cameras we used were the 4k or the Sony HD’s in order to get the best possible visual quality with the equipment we had available. On the majority of the filming sessions, we had a 3 camera set up in order to get each camera angle that are accurate to the conventions of a soap opera, also this saves time as it means we only have to run through the scene a few times instead of changing the camera positions and re-filming each perspective individually.
Comparison
Our original intentions did reflect the outcome of the programme just as we expected. However, it did take a few re-films to achieve the product we intended to create. The script and storyboard both followed the end product, with a few minor adjustments due to complications when filming, and I feel that the episode is to a high standard and looks professional for TV.
Target Audience
The actors tried their best to stick to their character profiles and tried to add accents where possible in order to stay within the predominantly Yorkshire target audience. Also the themes presented throughout the episode and the way they are presented cause it to be suitable for the younger woman target audience that we originally had. Also, we thought that the use of the location of the nail bar would appeal more to our target audience as it was a proper nail bar, therefore looking more realistic. The show is going to be aired in the late evening, after the watershed therefore meaning that the script had to comply to that.
Areas for Improvement
I feel that if we were to create another episode, we would have to ensure that camera quality was to the best standard, especially when it comes to sound as we had quite a few problems in post production. I think that the strengths from creating this product have been the organisation and the following the ideas from pre production clearly in order to create a high standard production. We all worked together to create the final product and I believe it has been very successful overall. We have put many hours into editing the episodes to ensure that they have ended up being of high quality and follow the generic conventions of a TV show. I think that the main weakness has been the sound quality and ensuring each section has the same levels. However since using Adobe Audition, this problem has been overcome.
