Planning and Production

PLANNING & PRODUCTION

I confirm that the attached assessment is all my own work and does not include any work completed by anyone other than myself and sources have been appropriately referenced.

W/C 19/4 CHECKLIST

I made a checklist for the first week back as I wanted to make sure I got everything done and didn't forget. As I don't have much time until the deadline I want to make sure I'm working at the right speed but also not missing anything.

Email Polly for finalised list of musicals
Create template plan for each video
Contact students about filming
Test Microphones
Take pictures of behind the scenes
Research each musical in detail
Make @elliescorner instagram

BASIC VIDEO PLANNING

Due to when the musical theatre students do their auditions, I am yet to find out which musicals they will be performing. This means that I can't start fully planning my interviews yet however I have made vague plans for each video to help me when I can start fully planning.

VIDEO 1

Googles most asked questions

I will write down 15 questions on different cards about the musical.

The students will read them out and answer the questions with their own opinion.

I will record with 2 sets of students so can break up the footage a bit.

The musical will have have to be relatively well known and performed by at least 4 students.

VIDEO 3

Finish the lyric

Two students will go up against each other, I will play a part of a song and the first student to put their hand up gets to answer, if they get it wrong it goes to the student.

Songs will be from a different number of musicals so this is just general musical knowledge rather than specifically just one musical.

VIDEO 2

Would you rather?

I will come up with a number of would you rather questions to do with a musical.

The questions should leave for discussion and add an element of humour.

Number of students participating undecided.

VIDEO 4

Buzzfeed quiz

A student will take a buzzfeed quiz about musical theatre to see how they do.

They will do it on my laptop and I will record.

Film with 2/3 students and edit together.

CHANGE OF PLAN

Polly shared the final spreadsheet of musicals with me. After googling each musical on the list, I realised there wasn't enough content available to make the videos I had planned. So instead of doing specific musicals for each different video, I decided to make each video about musical theatre as a whole. This way I would be able to use a number of well known musicals to help me interview the students. This also means I can ask a wider variety of questions instead of limited to one musical.

As this change of plan was decided before the day I was supposed to be filming, I changed the date of filming to a week later, 6th May. This gives me a week extra to properly plan and meet with the students before.

5 WEEK ACTION PLAN

This plan will help me visualise how much time I have left whilst also sticking to a job checklist each week. The basic plan ,which will be in bold writing, will state key dates on which I want different tasks to be completed by. I will also add more specific jobs and tasks to be completed each week.

26/4/21 - 2/5/21

Launch of Ellie's corner instagram
Post behind the scenes content on instagram
Promote instagram on personal account.
Plan videos 1 and 2 in detail, full plan ready to film.

3/5/21 - 9/5/21

Meet with students and discuss video ideas and arrange filming.
Film videos 1 and 2
Begin editing video 1
Promote on Ellie's corner instagram page.

10/5/21 - 16/5/21

Launch of Ellie's corner on either 13th or 14th May.
Upload videos 1 and 2

17/5/21 - 23/5/21

Film videos 3 and 4
Edit videos 3 and 4

24/5/21 - 28/5/21

Upload videos 3 and 4
All work completed and submitted

VIDEO 1 PLAN

After googling the most popular questions about musical theatre (see research page), I picked out the best ones that I believed would provoke the best answers. I then wrote these down on a piece of paper, I will then read these out to students to answer. I'm going to film with two sets of two students. This way I can break up the footage and make the video more interesting. I can also use the other students answer if the other pair give a vague answer.

What is musical theatre about?
What is musical theatre definition?
Is musical theatre a sport?
Is musical theatre a good career?
Is musical theatre capitalised?
Is musical theatre dying?
Is musical theatre hard?
Why is musical theatre important?
Why is musical theatre so popular?
Why was musical theatre created?
Where did musical theatre originate?
Where is musical theatre the most popular?

VIDEO 2 PLAN

Using my research to help me, I wrote down a list of 10 questions to ask the musical theatre students. Like video 1, I'm going to record 2 pairs of students answering the same questions. Not only will this break the video up but it means I can include all the students throughout the 4 videos. This way nobody is left out and everyone gets to help promote their part in some way.

Would you rather...?

...listen to only broadway music or only Christmas music?
...attend the Grammys once in your life or the MTV music awards every year?
... perform as Elphaba or Glinda?
...see Billy Elliot or Hamilton perform in broadway?
...mean girls or legally blonde?
...marry Sam,Bill or Harry from Mamma Mia?
If you were in HSM what 'clique' would you be in?
Which school would you rather go to school of rock or Matildas?
... perform in Mamma mia or Rent?
... see 10 broadway shows a year or perform in 1 once a year?

MEETING WITH STUDENTS

I went into college on Wednesday to meet with the students and organise filming for Thursday. All fo the students were very keen to take part which made it easy as I had more than enough people. I asked them to get into pairs for filming and then sorted them for time slots for the following day. I took all their names and gave them my number incase they couldn't find the photography studio.

Film session 1 6/5/21

13:00-13:15 Amelia & Mathew

13:15-13:30 Lily & Abigail

13:30-13:45 Alfie, Lia & Margaret

13:45-14:00 Cordi & Evie

FILMING VIDEOS 1 & 2

Indy and I picked up the microphones and sound equipment from the music technicians. We then headed to the photography studio for 12:30 and began to set up. This gave us 30 mins before the first students would arrive. Indy started to take behind the scenes pictures to help me document the shoot. Whilst setting up the microphones, I discovered that only one of the microphones worked, this began to stress me out. I didn't have enough time to get a technician to help so I decided to just use the working microphone and situate it in the middle of the students.

I then began setting up the lighting, I've helped out on previous shoots in the past so I knew how to set up the lights with ease. My original plan was to just use white light but Indy suggested using colour lighting gels to give the videos a less harsh and more inviting look. This lighting is also a lot more complimenting than just white light.

I borrowed two chairs from the classroom next door and arranged them in-front of the white backdrop. I was originally just going to hold my phone whilst recording but decided on having it static. I put it on a stool and leant it against my water bottle but this was too low down. I then used a box to lift it up higher, this worked well and was the perfect level to record at.

In a test video (left), we trialed out the different levels of lighting used with the colour lighting gels. We took some test shots to see what the lighting would look like on camera. I thought the colour lighting gels looked really cool so I decided to stick with them.

Indy then changed the resolution of my phone camera to a higher quality. This helped give a more professional look to the footage.

I recorded the intros for the two videos before the students arrived as we had spare time. I didn't really practise what I was going to say so I just made it up on the spot. If I was going to do it again I would prepare however they still turned out alright.

The first set of students arrived and I set up the working microphone in-between them. I asked them which video idea they would rather do. Video 1: Googles most asked questions or Video 2: would you rather? They opted for video 2 so I started recording on the microphone and my phone. They answered the questions really well however after we finished filming I realised that it had only been 2.5 minuets. I was aiming for each video to be at least 8 minuets long so I knew to try and prompt the next set of students to give longer answers.

The rest of the shoot went extremely well and Indys behind the scenes pictures really capture that. For the rest of the interviews I managed to film for longer periods so I will have more than enough footage for editing. Everyone understood and answered the questions well and they all had a really good onscreen presence which made the interview flow perfectly.

CHANGE OF PLAN 2

After finishing filming videos 1 and 2, I realised I wouldn't have enough time to make videos 3 and 4. As I want each video to be to a high standard and not rushed, it wouldn't be possible. With the deadline being moved forward and having to film way later than I initially planned, filming and editing two more videos would mean they wouldn't be produced at the level I want them at. My final plan is to have two videos on the Ellie's corner website and extra behind the scenes pictures on my instagram page. Using the time I would have spent running about and stressing making videos 3 and 4, will now be spent promoting Ellie's corner on instagram.