Ready Camera One – blog post #3 | My Mediafactory blog

Week 3 Reflection

Our final production^

By this week, we felt much more comfortable in our roles and successfully filmed our first talk show. Reflecting on Dwyer’s approach to studio production, I considered how its structured, almost formulaic nature influences both creative and technical decisions. This experience made me appreciate the balance between restriction and innovation, and how limitations in space and editing can actually push us to be more intentional in our planning, framing, and execution.

Going into our first live chat show, I felt nervous due to the limited time for planning and preparation. Since editing is not a significant part of live studio shows (Dwyer, 2019), I understood that much of the success would rely on thorough pre-production. Our biggest strength was our teamwork. We took an equal role in the planning process, discussing everything from the show’s title to the key questions we wanted to explore. Additionally, we made sure to communicate with our interviewee, Phoebe, in advance so she had time to consider her responses, preventing her from feeling put on the spot. This preparation ultimately worked in our favour, as the conversation flowed naturally despite being pre-planned.

As the director’s assistant, I really enjoyed collaborating with Sasha (our director) on camera angles, shot composition, and overall visual decisions. Having a second opinion throughout the process was invaluable, and I believe this teamwork gave us more confidence in our choices.

In terms of challenges, I think we could have done more in the pre-production stage to make our show feel more creative and distinct. Our set design was completely unplanned before arriving at the studio, which left us scrambling for props that fit our topic of concerts. With better preparation, we could have brought in additional items or even designed a logo to place on the table. Additionally, our introduction and outro could have been more unique to the show, to create a more established look. Moving forward, I want to focus on refining these elements to enhance our overall production quality.

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