Description
Our original game show, Mr Matchmaker, is a witty, satirical, and endearingly cheesy take on the vintage dating shows that graced live television in the 60s and 70s. Unlike today’s highly produced and elaborate dating shows such as The Bachelor and Love Island, Mr Matchmaker takes its inspiration from a classic get-to-know-you style; with a single sought-after bachelorette, and hidden bachelors, competing for her heart (and a date) in a flirtatious question and answer game format. Given the time period from which this genre of dating show arose, the style, tone, and social assumptions are undeniably dated, and hence Mr Matchmaker takes a playful approach to making fun of these old tropes and expectations, and ultimately aims to highlight their inherent ridiculousness!
As our second production assignment, Mr Matchmaker required a step-up in both technical and creative skills. The pre-production process involved research, scripting, creating original graphics, sourcing cast members, planning the stage layout and using our practical class time to practise any under-developed skills that caused errors in our first assignment. The live recording of Mr Matchmaker was a highly enjoyable endeavour, allowing us to bring to life our vision of a humorous, light-hearted program, that pokes fun at a significant moment in television history. Being a large increase in scope from our previous class productions, Mr Matchmaker certainly presented difficulties, and although we were not able to perfect every element of our production, we learnt valuable skills in managing unforeseen difficulties without interruption, managing a larger cast and crew, and taking on roles we had not yet explored; thus developing our confidence and proficiency in the studio space.
Overall, producing Mr Matchmaker as a group provided us with invaluable learning opportunities that contributed heavily to the success of our whole-class production later in the semester. We were able to explore many of our unconventional creative concepts, which prompted a sense of freedom with which to approach the multi-camera mode of television production, and a sense of success in our ambitious undertaking, inspiring us to aim even higher in our next project. Above all, we had a lot of fun while producing this show, which is unmistakable in the final product, so we truly hope all viewers enjoy our very own, Mr Matchmaker!
Credits:
Director: Maya Rajan
DA: Aileen Chen
Writers: Sabrina Phillips Brash and Elizabeth Fouldes
Floor Manager: Fraser Rochford
EVS: Simon Tran
Graphics: Erika Zhang
Vision Switcher: Tessa Remsu
Autocue Operator: Sabrina Phillips Brash
Talent: Vivian Dobbie-Glazier, Connor Lee, Max Meaden, Emman Noorazman, Mia Simmons
