Reel Talk- Evaluation

Throughout the production of Reel Talk, there was a great deal of planning and idea generating to get an idea that we were actually confident to go through with. After a while of thinking what our show could be, we decided on it being based around Film and TV as this is what we found to be more interesting

There were many pros throughout this project. Firstly, as my role of production manager, I feel that I was effective by getting our group to communicate to generate their thoughts on what we should include in our show. By setting a ‘WhatsApp’ group chat, we managed to talk to each other easily which got thing done sooner. This chat helped with not only pre-production, but during production too because while some crew members were in the studio planning and wanted other crew members to see it, they would just post a message in our chat, proving it be extremely helpful.

Overall, the class or the “crew” worked very effectively together as we all stuck to our roles and getting specific things done with those roles. For example, the camera operators all stuck to creating shot lists and floor plans, the set designers created mood-boards and floor plans of the studio to show where all the props will go, the lighting crew were in the studio often, experimenting with different lighting tones and colours and they reported back to all of us often, and so on. Personally, I stuck to the pre-production such as the risk assessment and location reconnaissance whereas the floor manager of the show, who I worked closely with throughout the project, created the call sheet and production schedule. By working like this, we had pre-production work done sooner than expected.

However there were times during the planning stage that some ideas got changed around and in the end, there were quite a few aspects of the show that was different to the original plot we had planned. For example we struggled coming with ideas for the VTs and plans changed a lot for those. For example, our VT titled, In The Spotlight, was originally going to be based on three Mexican directors, for this VT, we were going to film one of our teachers reading information about them and use her voiceover over a montage of their clips from the movies, pictures of them, etc. However we decided to change this over completely to an interview with a Film and Television lecturer from Solent University about the impact of streaming platforms and services on broadcasted television. I was in the group to create this VT and we had to write approximately 10 questions for him to answer. Overall, this VT proved being a lot more effective than the previous one that was going to be filmed due it being easier and it seemed very professional in addition to it suiting our show more. Another VT we struggled with was the Reel List, which was originally going to have a presenter counting down the best movies and TV shows, however we recorded this whole segment and found out that the audio was not working, therefore we just decided to re-record the audio and just use a voiceover and compile videos and images and create a montage with a voiceover. However, luckily these changes were for the best instead of the opposite as it all worked out smoothly.

Another issue that I would’ve wanted to change would be getting the script to the hosts sooner, as we only got it to them 2 days before the show instead of getting it to them at least 4 days before. Despite our hosts being very compatible in addition to them comprehending the idea of the show, they did read a lot from the script on the day of filming, meaning that it looked somewhat unprofessional, however it was best for them to know what to say instead of them getting lines wrong or forgetting what they have to say, etc.

However, overall, the production of Reel Talk went very well due to the fact that everyone carried out their roles on the day making the day a great deal less stressful due to the fact that we all stuck to our own roles, however we still helped each other where need be, making the show a success

In regards to my own work, I believe that I stuck to my role well, I mainly focussed on the logistics on the show and ensured that everything came together the way we wanted/ planned. I did my job by sourcing the props we needed, getting the crew together, meeting the hosts and explaining to them what the show is going to be set on, working on the pre-production, directing a VT and overall ensuring the show was going to according to plan. However I do think I could’ve been more effective when filming but the floor manager had everything going to plan.

My peers stated that they thought I was effective as a production manager and fulfilled my role by being organised and ready to fix any issues that we had.