Final Reflection:

For our studio, our last major assignment where we were put into multiple groups was assignment 2, where we produced game shows independently of each other, as opposed to The Charlie Show, where we all worked as one group to complete the production. Along with our group, the other productions for Assignment 2 helped both their respective crews, as well as me, multiple aspects key to the production of live-camera productions, and would be integral to the creation of The Charlie Show. 

Mr. Matchmaker, for example, was a great trial run on how to cater and adhere to a general storyline while utilising improv and chaos, while keeping that chaos controlled to a degree, so that the production did not go out of hand. The responses to the questions were improvised, and did devolve as the production continued, but the team managed to keep on track and hit the markers needed to continue the production and story they had laid out. Not only is this emblematic of the real live-studio industry, where production teams have to adapt to things going awry during the production, but it allowed us to prepare for The Charlie Show, where the end of the second episode relied on that kind of controlled chaos in order to seem authentic and real. 

Liar, Liar also gave us many insights to working in a studio space, many of which would later be used to produce The Charlie Show in the smoothest and best manner possible, one of which includes the ability to create different spaces and cutting between them. Liar Liar does this by having one portion of the space dedicated to the contestant area, and another to the basement, even though both are within the same studio. By positioning cameras positioned so that neither set could be seen when the other was in frame, it created two distinct areas that felt isolated from each other, and could therefore be crossed to and from, similarly to many live-studio news and talk shows.. This would come in handy when filming our final assignment, where we would end up cross-cutting between Studio A and Studio C for infomercials and studio guests, which would not have been possible without the practice from Liar, Liar and Assignment 2 as a whole. 

Both EVS and graphics were used by both productions, and both are a mainstay of the live-studio production space. Audio EVS was used in both, however the people on set were not able to hear it piped through from the control room. This gave us an opportunity to learn, however, as we rectified the issue for the voicemail on The Charlie Show. 

Both these shows helped us to streamline the process of producing The Charlie Show, as well as give us a chance to use the studio space, one of the key ideas of the studio. It also helped us experiment and try different things, which I feel is helpful for the media industry at large, if not just the live-studio production space. 

This Scene In Cinema also dabbled in experimentation in media, specifically how different elements of film production can create different meanings and interpretations for the audience. Many of the short films shown experimented with multiple different elements of cinema to create different meanings, both through mise en scene as well as sound. 

The Deal showed us the same sequence of events through different shot styles, which created a different interpretation and therefore audience connotation for each one. Some shots focused on the document being signed, omitting the faces of the two making the deal, leading to more importance on what the document being signed was, and less focus being placed on the characters themselves. In other instances, shots only focused on the characters’ faces, placing more emphasis on the impact that the deal has on them, instead of the deal itself, giving more emotional attachment to the characters instead of the literal events. It showed how different shots in cinema can lead to emphasis being placed on the different aspects of a scene.

Similarly, Jessie & George replayed the same sequence of events, only with different music, shots and therefore meaning. Through the use of mise en scene and music, the short attached different emotions and meaning to itself. In some, the meeting is seen as a meet-cute, with George being sympathetic, whereas in others, he is played much more sinisterly and distastefully. Both the shorts show how experimentation and different elements of cinema can be used and manipulated to create different meanings, therefore warping and distorting the audience’s view of the literal events through the lens of editing and film.