F - AS LIVE - CONTENT/PRODUCTION ROLE RESEARCH
Developing Our Pitch
Within this blog post I will be discussing our pitch and how we came to develop it through research.
Our Initial Idea
When we had been given the brief for the Unit, Myself and Sydney knew we wanted to work together straight away, we have always been told to focus on something we're passionate about and with both mine and Sydneys taste in Television being the same, we knew we wanted to work together.
We first focused on what makes an 'As Live' television show, I wanted to be sure I had a clear understanding of what an As Live production was.
When looking into the definition of 'As Live' I came across a definition from The Free Dictionary website. It stated:
'(Broadcasting) (of a performance for a television programme) performed as though live but broadcast after a short delay to allow for the editing of mistakes, bad language, etc' (Collins English Dictionary, 2020)
Although this is defined as Television that is delayed slightly for any mistakes but still aired Live, when discussing our pitches with Jonathan Glazier, who is teaching us within this unit, he also gave the example of As Live being a show that has moments that cannot be re-recorded.
I found this really interesting as I hadn't looked at this in that way before. Jonathan gave the example of the Great British Bake Off, it's seen as an As Live programme because they wouldn't be able to do retakes as the authenticity of the programme would be lost. For example, if someone dropped their cake, they wouldn't be able to recreate that if the camera operator missed it, therefore it is shot 'As Live'.
After this research, it has allowed me to see that actually, we can take lots of different approaches into which genre we would like to shoot.
Initial Ideas.
-Game Show
-Talk Show
-Magazine Style Show
As I mentioned, me and Sydney wanted to look into an idea that we would both be passionate about, as we both like Reality programmes like Just Tattoo Of Us and Your Face Of Mine, we knew we wanted to look into a show within this category.
Our Idea and Pitch
Our idea is based on a game show that follows the relationship of two friends as they go through each round which is based on each subject of friendship, like Trust, Loyalty and Betrayal, the aim of our game show is to build a prize pot based on the 'Ultimate Test' of friendship. More information regarding the show will be within the pitch shown below.
The reason we felt this was a great idea to be pitched was because our target audience of 18-34 year olds, would fit this perfectly. When looking into and developing our idea, I began researching how to develop an idea based on a target audience and what sort of television shows our popular with our demographic.
Love Island
Within an article on 'Profilic London' called 'Everything those in the marketing sector need to know about this year's Love Island' I found some interesting points regarding the target audience and why the show is so successful for this reason. I felt this would be beneficial for our own commissioned show as we have a similar target audience, so it was good to see how this could impact our own show and which tips for marketing the show would be useful.
Within the article it discusses that Love Island on average has '4.3m TV Viewers. A further 1.4m viewers watched on Non-TV devices, taking the total average audience up to a great 5.7m viewers.' (Peachy, J)
The article also goes on to discuss how every night the social media storm for Love Island and its going's on is missive on Twitter, regularly taking the #1 trending spot on twitter. This also ties in with the target audience of Love Island as we can now see that its transferable and evidenced through the hype through twitter, which also has a similar target audience.
'The core target audience for Love Island is millennials - 16 - 34 year old's, an audience who regularly consume content on various devices' As this is also the demographic for our show, however slightly larger, it was interesting to see how people are engaged through different platforms which brings more revenue and viewers to the show.
The article closes with how 'the show certainly has the power to engage and influence an audience of aspirational millennials, who religiously engage with the programme night after night.'
How this influenced our target audience.
From this research it has taught me to look at the bigger picture, we hadn't thought about how different platforms can be incorporated to boost the importance of the target audience. I believe Love Island is so successful because it's based on the reality of people finding love, it allows viewers to be nosey into other peoples relationships and make judgement on people who put their lives out their on television.
As our show 'The Ultimate Test' is based on the relationship of friends which will continuously have tension built as we go through the rounds, with one final big question at the end to determine who wins the money, I feel this has a similar connection to Love Island as it allows the viewers to make judgment and has a reality aspect to it like Love Island, but also is a game show.
After this research, I feel we're going in the right direction with our pitch, as we can see from love island with a similar target audience, the factors of the show has tension, reality and also the ability to get people talking. I feel we are achieving this by working on rounds that will test a couples friendship and also realise some gossip into their lives, which means nosey people like my selves, can make judgement.
I have learnt from this however, that we need to ensure we are looking into working across all platforms for branding and marketing, using Twitter and other platforms that our successful with the same target audience, like Love Island do, will impact and help the ratings and also branding. We have now decided to create a specific Hashtag that will be on screen at all times, promoted through the scripts and have a segments for twitter involvement so that we can have this cross over for the target audience.
Our Pitch
The Pitch
I felt the pitch went well, although I was really nervous. I think me and Sydney were worried we wouldn't get our idea across, even though we had rehearsed and knew our idea like the back of hand. We were given feedback about our idea, and was told it would be a good idea and that the panel would want to watch it. They advised the tension of the show would create good television and they also thought it was perfect for the target audience, which was great as it allowed me to see that my research had been useful into how to market and brand to our target audience.
We were however questioned on the £10,000 prize pot and how we would fundraise for this, I think there was miscommunication here as we used that due to the fact although this was going to be a professional show, this was for our university course and that actors or friends may be playing the contestants and would understand this was not real prize money. We were also asked about the integrity of the show which I completely understood, as we are wanting to build tension and test relationships between two contestants, we would need the correct after care and procedure to ensure that no one is actually hurt or impacted by the television show.
After instances that have come from Love Island and other reality shows, I completely got this part. If our show was to be commissioned obviously we would need to have a vigorous vetting process to ensure that the contestants were aware of what was going to happen and the type of game show it was. I was really grateful for this feedback as this is something that was so important to us to and that we maybe hadn't thought of before.
Job Roles
When we were going for job roles, I knew it was important for me to go for something I want to do as my career, which is being a Camera Operator and DOP. Luckily, I interviewed for the job role and this is the one I got, which I was really happy with.
Although, I have worked as a camera operator on other jobs and through our University units and work experience, I haven't worked on a Studio production. I have however been on set as a Stand In and runner, so I'm aware of how a studio production is conducted from them aspects.
I wanted to ensure I understood what this job role would entail, so I definitely needed to look into this specifically related to studio camera ops.
I firstly wanted to take a look at active jobs that were available so I could see what the industry was expecting from a Camera Operator, which was harder to find then I expected. I did however decide to look at what a generic description of the job would entail.
Within the description it described camera operators 'are responsible for operating a variety of technical equipment including single and multiple portable cameras, remote-control and electronic cameras, cranes and mobile mountings.' (Target Jobs, 2021)
Other responsibilities may include:
-Assembling and setting up equipment
-Following Camera Scripts
-Responding quickly to directions
-Liaising with lighting and technical staff
I feel this is going to be a really great job for me to have considering I love working on the camera and also feel I would be able to complete the tasks above once we begin rehearsing and I can start putting research into practice. I'm also aware this can be a demanding job physically being on your feet all day, trailing cables and lifting equipment. However, I am really excited to get stuck in. I am nervous however in regards to following directions quickly, I have never used a talkback system before and actively had directions given to me while I am also focusing on my shots, while also being under pressure. I am however really looking forward getting into production, so I can see how this is going to go and I can relieve my nerves with practicing and workshops.
I wanted to also look into how shots within a studio production work. Although, as we have not gone into rehearsals yet, I'm unsure on what I will be covering, I have written within my report about the research I have conducted into the shots that similar magazine shows like our commissioned show use and how I can practice this. You can see this within my report.
Researcher
I was also given the role of Researcher, which meant I would need to help with the development of the show and provide research to help the producers decide what they would like to include.
So that I could also ensure I knew what this job may entail, I also looked into the job aspects of a researcher role.
It was advised within the site that the role can be 'demanding yet rewarding'. (Target Jobs, 2021)
It also advises the job may hold the following responsibilities.
-Conducting Interviews
-Gathering and Fact Checking
-Booking Production Equipment and Staff
-Presenting Facts and Figures
-Organizing Meetings
After our first production meeting in which we were delivered our job roles, it was clear that my job role would be similar to what the list below advises. I was really looking forward to this as I haven't done this job role before and I like the thought of being given direction by the producers, to be able to then go and produce research that would be key for them to put the show together.
Although, I will be discussing this within my report in more detail. Below I will be showing the documents produced and speaking a little bit about each one. As I have mentioned, please take a look within my report to see in detail how I took on my job roles.
My first direction from the producers was to start the process for hiring presenters. I have used Mandy on many occasions to hire presenters and actors previously, so I knew this would be the best way to look for people for our show Trending.
I started by detailing the job role and the fact we needed two presenters, a main host and also a secondary presenter. I wanted to ensure that I kept the job role clear and precise so it was engaging and to the point. Personally, I wouldn't be engaged with a job description that was too long. I also needed to ensure it was clear it was a student production and it would be brilliant for a show reel but was unfortunately not a paid job.
Once I had created the ads, I then sent them to the producers so I could get them signed of to ensure that they were exactly what they were after, apart from a date change which I had got wrong as unfortunately due to Covid we were unsure of dates at the time, it was signed off and good to go. I then posted the ad on Mandy and created a sheet so I could stay organised for each applicant.
I read within the article before when researching what sort of tasks mat occur within your researching position, it mentioned to keep organised to keep on top of things. As from production meetings I can tell there is a lot of work to do, I wanted to ensure I kept on top of things and was organised so I met the deadlines for the producers as I didn't want to let anyone down.
Once potential presenters started applying, as I mentioned, I began organising them into a document that I could update so the producers could take a look when they wanted without needing to do any of the work. I know how much they had to do, so I wanted to make the document clear with the applicants previous history in presenting, opening message, age and profession, so they could quickly take a look without needing to look for any information and wasting time. You can see the document below.
We then conducted the interviews over Zoom which was my next job role, I liased with the applicants through mandy conducting times and ensuring everyone was ready and okay for the interviews. I wanted to always ensure my emails were professional yet welcoming and friendly. I have spoken more and provided evidence of this within my report.
Once we had moved onto the next stage, I was then looking into researching ideas for the game show. I wanted again to over provide the producers with information so they didn't have to waste time looking or asking for anything as they have so much already to do and this was my job role. I started by producing a powerpoint so I could provide information about the questions and answers surrounding the game show and also some information about the answer given. You will see some examples below.
Referencing
as-live. 2021. Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014. (Online) Available at https://www.thefreedictionary.com/as-live. (Accessed on 17/03/2021)
Peachy, J. (2019) Marketing and Audience of Love Island (Online) At: https://www.prolificlondon.co.uk/features/2019/08/everything-those-marketing-sector-need-know-about-years-love-island#:~:text=The%20core%20target%20audience%20for,to%20truly%20engage%20effectively%20with. (Accessed on 17/03/2020)
Target Jobs (2021) Camera Operator Job Description At: https://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-advice/job-descriptions/278291-camera-operator-job description#:~:text=They%20are%20responsible%20for%20operating,planning%2C%20preparing%20and%20rehearsing%20scenes (Accessed on 17/03/2020)
Target Jobs (2021) Programme Researcher Job Description At: https://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-advice/job-descriptions/278213-programme-researcher-job-descriptio(Accessed on 17/03/2020)
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