Coming into this practical exercise I felt rather confident that our preparative work would see us receive our desired result. With a clear understanding of what was required of us to produce our planned aesthetic, we were able to come prepared with our EVS footage, Graphics, music and set design plan. Having planned a solid 3 round structure with two contestants, a judge and a leading host, I anticipated this to run smoothly. Upon viewing the final result of what we produced, I was rather satisfied with the outcome, considering the particular challenges we faced in the control room. My experience in the control room saw some confusion among myself, fellow control room members and those on the floor. From this experience I realised that there were a few gaps in our preparation.
My experience as the vision switcher on this show was quite challenging, as communication amongst the different roles in the control room was hindered by lack of consideration for the control room process. Our production saw the utilisation of stings and graphics that were sent to the onset screen. This worked well, however we would have seen a much better result if we devised a more rigid plan for those in the control room. This would have ensured that there were no awkward delays or quick switches between cameras, due to confusion and sporadic decision making.
Having to consider many things at once, myself, the evs operator, gfx operator, sound room operators and director found ourselves becoming confused due to a lack of synchronisation amongst each other, and with personnel on the floor. Due to the absence of a written plan that specified when to que graphics, evs footage and sound, we found ourselves unsure when to throw to particular visuals. Due to this, we were basing our cues off the timing of the talent. In turn, this affected the overall flow as talent was waiting for cues from the floor manager, who was in communication with us.
Upon reflection on this experience, I think we did well to produce a final result that maintained a clear structure. Considering we had some difficulties backstage due to a lack of consideration for the execution of technical elements, I think we did well to find solutions in a live setting. Understanding that the nature of live television requires you to think on the fly, our production would have benefited from having a more solid understanding of the duration of each sting and a concise plan for cutting to the judge and host at the beginning and end of each round. However, understanding that the nature and concept of our show was strongly based around improvisation, it was harder to anticipate the exact timing of things. Next time it would be wise to spend more time working out to swiftly manage all visual and audio assets beforehand and place more consideration on the technical execution of the show. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this exercise. Having a more complex format to manage, I feel like I received many positive takeaways from the trial and error in this experience.