Job Roles/My Job Roles

Camera - The job of the cameraman is for him to follow the action of the performance and to listen to the director to give out the instructions for to tell you who to follow at that time.  If you haven't been given any instructions by the director just try to follow the main characters in scene at the time.  The camera operator has to make sure also that the camera they are operating is in focus at all time.  

Sound Mixer - The sound recordists may often record the audio straight through the microphones on the camera instead on using something like H2 or using a boom.  Sometimes a separate copy will be made so that the editor has more than one option to use and the other recording may have extra audio that the camera couldn't pick up.  So if the audio on the camera didn't sound good enough you always have a back up.

Vision Mixer - The vision mixers job is to be with the director and he will have to watch the screens in front of him to see which shot is the best to use at the right time, they need to make sure they are on the actor that is active at the time, but if there isn't a person with the correct shot maybe he goes to a camera with an actor who is reacting to what is being said. 

Lighting Desk - The lighting technician is the person who will be controlling what lighting to use in the theatre.  They will control the intensity of the lights depending on what kind of scene it is.  The lights will sometimes be moved to match the patterns of the performance.

Floor Manager/Talk Back - The floor manager is in charge of the whole floor and making sure all the crew is ok and to make sure all of the equipment is ready and working to go, if something happens during the performance they have to be on the ball for example if one of the talk back systems isn't working or has ran out of batteries the floor manager has to be there to fix the problem so that nothing is missed or they haven’t missed any instructions.  

Graphics - TV graphics help the narrative depending on what type of production is so its the news and there is a special guest, they work with the producer and director so they know when to add the graphic, putting the graphic in at the right time is important you don’t want to add it as soon as you see the guest you will wait 5-10 seconds.

Director - The director is one of the biggest roles within the production it is his job to instruct the camera operator to tell them who to follow at the right time and to make sure if anything is running smoothly, he is the one that has to have the visual he has the screens to look at and if he doesn't like a certain shot or there isn’t a specific shot he was to be verbal and tell the camera operator to move to the shot that he wants.

My Job Roles 

During the production of Fame I had to do 2 job roles so that everybody got a chance to do at least 2 job roles.  The 2 job roles I had were being a camera operator and then I went on the vision mixer.

The first 20 minutes of the production I was on camera 4, this was the camera on the left hand side of the stage, it was the camera closest to the sound and lighting technicians.  Whilst I was on this camera I had a lot to do.  Originally the camera I was on was only supposed to see the action of the right hand side of the stage but it was changed and I followed the active actor at the time and I had to make sure that move the camera smoothly but not move it to fast that it looked rushed.  At times I changed from the active actor because the director told me to change and I followed my instructions, if I didn't have any instructions I stayed with the main active actor. 

Once my job was over on the camera for the next 20 minutes I was on the vision mixer and I has nervous going on the vision mixer because I had never used it before and was afraid that I would mess up.  But I had help at the beginning so that I knew what I was doing so for the first 5 minutes I was told what the best shots were to use. After the 5 minutes I was comfortable with using it.  So on the vision mixer there was A, B, C, D.  A was camera 1, B camera 2, C camera 3 and D camera 4.  So being sat next to the director I was looking at the screens to see what was coming up and from that I had choose the best shot and make sure I was choosing the shots that had the right actions at the right time and made sure I tried not to miss anything.  I found myself towards the end really comfortable using the equipment and I found myself asking the director for specific shots that weren't on the cameras.

My 20 minutes were up and I had already done my 2 job roles after being on the vision mixer I want to camera 3 which was the one in the middle as the wide shot so there was really that much to do and soon after that it was the interval.  I then had my break so every body else could get there 2 jobs done.  The last 10 minutes I went on camera 1 on the right hand side the camera had a fault on it because it was really over exposed and I couldn't seem to fix the problem and there was nothing really I could do so I still listened to instructions but after that the vision mixer didn't use that camera because it looked to bad.  

Overall I had a great time filming the production of Fame it was a great day and I learnt a new skill with the vision mixer which I didn't think I would of ever have done. 

   

Health & Safety

When working in the Media health and safety always has to be considered before starting any production.  The day we decided that we would be filming Fame, the Location/Floor manager Beth Ford went down to the Performing Arts Theatre and see assessed all the risks that could occur during filming, she also had to make sure it was safe for all the equipment we are using and make sure it was safe for all of the crew.  After she returned and told everyone about the risks, I then created a risk assessment about all the risks and had to figure out a solution to solve all of them.  I had to notice any heavy lifting, height, flammable material etc.  The risk assessment was based on the specific production which we was filming which was Fame and that you have to asses if with all the equipment in there set up like a multi cam production.

As we arrived at the theatre we had to remove to back row of chairs so that there was enough room for every piece of equipment and with moving the row of chairs it meant that there was enough room to move about without struggling.  Moving all the equipment into the theatre we had to be careful because there was some expensive equipment but also some of it is quite so you have to carry it properly because otherwise you could injury yourself.  Once everything was plugged in there were a lot of wires so we then used cable protectors and when there was no cable protectors left we used Gaffe tape, when this was done all wires were out of the way and it was safe so we wouldn’t trip up.  We had to check all equipment was working by double checking everything and we left the cameras on for half an hour to see they were fully working and make sure nothing over heated.  Once all equipment had been double checked and everything was working we spoke to the director to see if any of the cameras were in the way of the performers and once we had the all clear from the director we were ready to start filming.

When considering health and safety you have to look into every single detail because if there is one little thing it could end up ruining the production and it would have been a waste of time after all the effort that had been put in.

Once the performance had finished we had to pack everything away and we had to make sure everything was put away back in the right bags and boxes and made sure it was put in safely and that nothing got broken whilst putting the equipment away.

Floor Plan & Camera Plan

Below is the floor plan of the Performing Arts Theatre with out any cameras and which was set up by our location and floor manager Beth Ford.  With the audience only being on one side it gives more space for the actors and dancers to move around freely.

The floor plan below now includes the cameras, crane and the dolly track.  The dolly track with track across the front of the audience and the crane will get some good shot and a high a low angle.  The cameras behind the audience will cross shoot the camera on left will capture action on the right of the stage and then then the camera on the right will capture on th left of the stage.  

The floor plan below was the on we actually used, I think we couldn't rely on the dolly and crane because they could of easily been in shot a few times.  The camera on the left was used for action on the left and the right of the stage instead of just on the right using close up and midshots and that was the same as the camera on the right.  The camera in the middle was used as a wideshot to capture the dance scenes and to use if there wasnt another camera on a specific person.  We relied on that middle camera aswell for when we was switching roles.

Risk Assesment

Recce

This recce was taken by Location/Floor Manager Beth Ford

Equipment List

Proposal

Multi Cam

Production - Fame

Concept: For this multi camera production of Fame we are planning on using 4 or 5 cameras, so that we can capture as much as we can.  Using different location for all the camera will help us get multiple angles of the production so that we can capture all the main characters and the emotion of the characters.  I would film the performance without an audience present, so we could film whilst the cast are doing a dress rehearsal so that then its minimizes any risks and then there will be more space for the cameras and all of the other equipment that is needed.  We can include a dolly track and a crane so that we can get other types of shots for the performance, the only problem that could occur is that the other cameras could end up getting the crane and dolly track, to resolve this the video mixer will have to notice when they are in shot and not switch to a specific camera when the crane or dolly track is in shot.  We will be using talking back systems so that the director can communicate with all the people on the cameras, people on the cameras will not be able to talk back because we will need to microphones to pick up the audio of the performance.  As well as the cameras picking up the audio we will use a H2 recorder for back up just in case there is anything wrong with the audio on the cameras.  SSR will also put audio and music on a USB for us to use when we are ready to edit so that it is all there right away.  The intention is for it to look like it is been edited fast pace so not to stay on the same camera for to long because it would then look boring to watch it fast paced it look more up beat and will be enjoyable to watch and keep the audience intrigued.  The lighting will be already set up by the lighting technician, so the cameras will have to be set up for the lighting that will be already in place.  Having a script to revise on will help us prepare which character is talking at which time and then we will be ready for it when that specific scene happens, watching a run through before hand would help so that we can watch it visually before we actually film the production. 

Location: Hyde Clarendon Sixth Form College, Performing Arts Theatre.

Usage Rights: The performance will be put on DVDs for students and parents to purchase.

Quantity: 4/5 Sony HD cameras, Raynox Pro Semi Fish Eye conversion lens, Transtec Systems, Vision Mixer (SE-800), Gaffe Tape (Black).