161MC (CW2): Reflecting on my roles in website designing.

First off, one of the biggest achievements of our tv magazine show would have to be our website. This is because I really feel me and my three peers (+ co) really dedicated a lot of our time to it. Making sure to gain constructive feedback from each other and our respective skills instructor(s) to lecturer(s) too. I’d further say that upon using the website creator ‘wix.com’ we found its accessibility and ease of use to be extremely fluid. Further providing us with the right plug-ins and functions to really elevate our magazine show with bonus content, stickies and much more.

In terms of my role on the website, the following were taken up by me:

• Sub-editor
• Stickie(s) collator (i.e competition segment)
• Video embedder (Vt’s)
• Copy Editor

Personally, my favourite position out of these four roles would have to be ‘sub-editor’. This is because I got a voice in the creative process of the website from the colour scheme to the layout and much more. This further gave me a chance to try out different templates to pass by my peers, gaining their constructive feedback along the way. It further helped me to bring out my creative flow, considering I used ‘wix.com’ before, prior to helping my peer put together our group’s website at the start.

One other highlight of my time working on our website was that as a small group we all came together. Thus, between the three of us, we equally distributed the workload as we were  keen to work on the website itself. This prompted us to create our own facebook group which we’d feedback to each other on regarding all website happenings and general discussion regarding our project. This for me not only boosted our team morale but further gave us a chance to individually test our strengths in inserting graphics, adding in ‘social’ content, to even inserting ‘disclaimer’ pages and also an inbox widget too.

Thus, overall I would say that alongside being a presenter, my time as a sub-editor  has truly been creatively stimulating and challenging at the same time. It’s been a creative experience, which is certainly one that I’d visit again. Considering that use ‘wix.com’ for our website was so fast and easy to get to grips with, that it meant creating the website was even more enjoyable than using any other website builder (for me personally). Lastly, I’d say that the three website designers (including myself) responded to feedback very well, as we made sure to act on it straight away in order to see how things looked to start off with before constructive criticism to how it looked after we acted upon it. Therefore opening us up to try out different layouts and methods to primarily get more traffic into our site, slowly grasping our viewers (young adults +) into our site  so that they’d hopefully visit us again. We also questioned the feedback we got analytically, offering our own decisions in placing things the way we did, helping us to build a strong argument. Whilst also showing our skill and alertness in analysing each change (for the website itself).

One tip for next time, however, would be to spread awareness of the website roles a little more. This was because many didn’t have the same interest in designing our website that we started out with. Thus were happy to monitor the website as audience members rather than ‘sub-editors’ which was fine. However if we did have more people to collaborate with us, then we could have made our website even better by delegating roles out even more. Leaving us with a quicker turnover for our official tv magazine show website in the long run.

161MC (CW2) TV Module: ‘The Grand Bizarre’ Submission Take

Check out our final submission take here:

Credits:

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See the full list of rules here (including website roles):

Full roles (whole team)

Overall I am content with our final take, however, there were still a few hiccups which were not resolved. Thus, they appear in our final take, these ‘hiccups’ include too many pauses between transition slides, a sudden pause between each VT.Lastly , inconsistent lighting (making one presenter look a lot brighter than the other).

As for my team, I would say that we certainly came together as a united front on the final day of filming. Although this didn’t come easy at the start due to some heated disagreements and some clashes of personalities. We managed to put all that aside, coming through to deliver a solid 10 minute tv magazine programme (which although has its flaws), still manages to pay justice to all of our hard work. Whether that be designing the set or even learning vision mixing in the gallery. It’s fair to say that we made sure to pull our weight in the final take, going above and beyond than ever before to bring all our hard work to the screen.

Strengths of our TV Magazine show:

• Good communication
• Good use of artistic skills (for set design)
• Many hardworking individuals, who were not afraid to branch outside their comfort zone and their roles to help others out (such as myself and some of my peers).

Weaknesses of our TV magazine show:

• Clash of personalities
• Some disagreements
• Mis-communication in some situations. However resolved by final filming day in a professional and mature manner.

In conclusion, the main learning point for me was managing a group of 14 peer members, making sure all stayed on top of their duties, whilst supporting their peers in due course. I’d further say that a big highlight of this particular project was bringing my creative flare into our script and my presenter role too. This for me really stood out because although I was quite stiff at the start, I really practised and managed to pull off my role as a presenter in a relaxed yet entertaining fashion (which my team thoroughly appreciated). Furthermore, some highlights of our show would have to be the bushtucker challenge and the cocktail masterclass VT. This is because I feel like these two segments really elevated our programme in terms of us having an evening cocktail tv magazine show. I’d further say this worked due to the chemistry between our two presenters (one being myself) and our Vt correspondents who really interacted well with our presenters on the VT’s. Thus showcasing natural presence on video not to mention charisma and charm too. Further drawing in our audiences in this way through interesting topics and wacky happenings.

Furthermore, some highlights of our show would have to be the bushtucker challenge and the cocktail masterclass VT. This is because I feel like these two segments really elevated our programme in terms of us having an evening cocktail tv magazine show. I’d further say this worked due to the chemistry between our two presenters (one being myself) and our VT correspondents who really interacted well with our presenters on the VT’s. Thus showcasing their natural presence on video, not to mention charisma and charm too. Further drawing in our audiences in this way through interesting topics and wacky happenings.

Google Drive Link: All Paperwork/Content (accumulated and organised by myself):

The Grand Bizarre (GROUP 2 FOLDER)

After we’d uploaded our final take online one of our peers created a trailer for our show (via IMovie), with all the backstage footage she had collated from our live take and previous sessions too. Upon reflecting on it, I would say it looks edgy, jazzy and comedic. Further creating buzz for our show/website in a positive way.

Final Reflection: For me, this module has taught me a lot in terms of programme formats and TV studio set-ups. It’s a module which has been very challenging but also exciting too, proving to be full of surprises. Right from the start when we were introduced to it, I was very excited about it but extremely nervous.

Now I feel that this module has not only improved my confidence but has offered me a different way of thinking in terms of TV magazine show set-ups and so forth, further testing me in working with a very big team. Which although had its ups and downs, certainly added to the buzz and overall feel of our TV magazine show. It’s here that I’d like to say that the phrase “teamwork equals dreamwork”. As without a devoted and hardworking team, our show wouldn’t have come out the way it did. This is because each and every one of my team members excelled on the final take, making me extremely proud of them as the lead group organiser.

 

161MC (CW2) TV Module: The Grand Bizarre Website

Upon looking back at our website, one of my peers discussed all the feedback we got for our group’s website. The response was quite varied as we had made sufficient progress, as some things still had to be thought about and amended.

In looking at what we needed to adjust on our website, my peer and I reflected on aspects of the website we really liked and those which we could amend. We further  took up our skills tutors advice by looking at various tv magazine programme websites. For example, the website for the daytime talk show “Ellen” is very crisp and white. Now upon getting feedback a flaw of our website was that it was white on black when our skills instructor (for tv websites) pointed out that this should be changed. She said that it would be better for us to have our writing on a white background. Now although we fully appreciated her feedback we decided to keep our background and font colour, but add in some boxes (skills instructor suggestion).

The reason for this was because our show would air in the night, thus having text on a black background would reflect not only our theme of cocktails but also our time slot too. However, we felt that the suggestion of boxes could work, considering feedback was given on the width of our fonts and also the text boxes. Seeing that the writing could sometimes prove difficult to read thus had to stand out more in order to garner more attention. Finally, I thought of making the synopsis of our show more clear on our website, using a neat border or box to highlight

However, we felt that the suggestion of boxes could work, considering feedback was given on the width of our fonts and also the text boxes. Seeing that the writing could sometimes prove difficult to read thus had to stand out more in order to garner more attention. Finally, I thought of making the synopsis of our show more clear on our website, using a neat border or box to highlight all of the content of our show straight away to our audiences eye. Further thinking about amending synopsis passage as further feedback from instructor/lecturer(s) proved that we were quite vague on our website about our show.

After we’d re-thought our website amendments, we decided that it would be best to keep both pieces of feedback at hand upon editing a final draft of our website:

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After we spoke about our website, I decided to add to my groups show channel. This meant uploading all our VT’s whilst writing a short bio in the description box. Within this particular textbox I made sure to outline our target audience, whilst subtly including that our show was a night time cocktail show, one which doesn’t promote drinking to those underage etc.

Official Channel:

The Grand Bizarre (Channel)

Screen grabs

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May 16th

After making more amendments to our website, my peer and I met up to continue work on the whole site. To start off with we changed the logo layout, whilst also opting to put our social media integration at the top of our website. We then decided to elaborate on our shows synopsis (responding on the advice  given by our lecturer Mez). After this was done we added more videos to our official channel and started to embed them into our site. A white line was also inserted for our site map, in order to provide central navigation. this was so the letters/font style wouldn’t get un-noticed behind the black. Thus acted as a focal point, in order for our viewers to see the tabs upon first inspection.

May 17th

Yesterday my peer re-sent a link to our website to one of our lecturers Mez. Her latest feedback was as follows:

Upon reading her feedback I re-visited our website to see all the amendments me, Sophie and Dana had done over the last couple of weeks. Below is what our official website looks like now (with a link attached):

The Grand Bizarre (Official Website)

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Furthermore upon inspecting my group’s website, I realised that I’d go over the whole website by it’s tabs, in my other role of ‘copy editor’. Thus in this way I’d look over grammar, punctuation and spelling. Further paying close attention to the names of individuals, places and so forth and of course the use of commas and full stops too alongside my co. copy editor Dana Chis.

May 18th

Today me and my peer checked into our last feedback session with one of our lecturers (Skills). This is where we showed her our progress and managed to receive her feedback on some of the amendments we made. Upon doing so, she found that our latest layout was very fluid and consistent. However, she pointed out that the background could be amended. For example, an image could be edited in, for it to be placed in the background (i.e galaxy constellation). Further suggesting that we place the image in the corner of our site for it to gradually disperse into different colours. Further making sure that all the text stays visible with the background present.

Upon finding an image we were briefed very quickly on creative commons license. This was important for us as it outlines the usability of each photo under copyright law. Thus, we opted to source a background image (for our use) from flickr.com further amending search my ticking ‘no known copyright restrictions’ under licence. Thus, in this way, we made sure to not only abide by copyright laws but also to not use anybody else’s work and publish it as our own as this would be unfair to both parties (regarding the effects and so forth).

After this was done my peer and I contacted one of our group members to assist in background designing:

This then prompted me to act on Mez’s (lecturer) advice by adding in our own quotes to our websites ‘meet the team gallery’ (see below of before and after screen grabs):

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Going back to our websites background, our team member Liam really created some impressive stuff. After sending him the image, he managed to edit it and construct his own version of it. Below are the first edits along with the final one.

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Upon sharing Liam’s work for our background, my peers and I were very impressed with the visuals. However upon closer inspection we realised the colours to be a bit too much, thus suggested a plain black background (like before instead), for which Liam amended for us.

After seeing the amendments Liam made, all of us liked the visuals more in this particular layout. Although upon looking on each tab we realised that it was all a bit too ‘out of space-galaxy centred’. Therefore, could mislead audiences as to what ‘The Grand Bizarre’ is really about. This led us to think of alternatives such as using the stars in the corner as our background, or as my peer Sophie suggested creating small martini glass graphics surrounded by glistening stars. Which would not only represent our theme but would also spruce up our site a little more by adding more depth to our background.

To conclude, myself Dana and Sophie decided collaboratively that purple stars would work better on our site, considering the cocktail glasses may run into format issues upon it being viewed on smartphones and smaller screens. Thus, we felt the stars would not only add a touch of glamour but also keep things subtle yet eye-catching, further remaining in the right position on smaller devices.

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As you can see from the latest screen grabs, our site now looks more polished and neat. Personally, the latest edit of the background looks much more subtle and eye catching, further drawing attention to our main logo. Therefore, I can say that this version of our website is the best edit yet as we worked off all our feedback from our lecturers. Whilst further relying on other team members (such as Liam) to help us with the graphics of our site.

161MC (CW2) TV Module: Take 1/Take 2

 

Show Title Card (Liam Spittle)

After  a lot of talking, group meetings, disagreements, plans of action(s) and make ups my group came through to deliver our tv studio magazine programme. Before we started I was quite nervous to present, considering I found it hard to relax in previous practice takes. However, as soon as everything was set up (from the set to all the mics) I started to relax and come into the presenting zone. What was also good was that few of my peers arrived early to set up the cameras, in order for us to get on with it straight away. taking into account that in our rehearsals we took a long time setting up, today was a challenge for us to be on the ball and extremely quick. In placing everything around the studio, we managed to stick to my peers time schedule of 25 mins max set up time. This helped us a lot as we managed to at least get into our places at this mark. It further gave me and my other peer time to do a quick run through with our lines.

Taking into account that in our rehearsals we took a long time setting up, today was a challenge for us to be on the ball and extremely quick. In placing everything around the studio, we managed to stick to my peers time schedule of 25 mins max set up time. This helped us a lot as we managed to at least get into our places at this mark. It further gave me and my other peer time to do a quick run through with our lines.

As soon as we got cued in I started to do a few warm-ups in order to prep my voice. This worked well as I managed to ease into my lines more fluidly take after take. I’d say in the first take we took all worked well, however, our interview was incredibly short whilst the lines of the presenters (for me particular) were conveyed quite stiffly. This prompted me to gain advice from my peer who went through some more exercises with me. After this was done we took another with the extended interview which worked well. However in doing so we managed to extend our last segment (the bushtucker trail) a bit too much. Thus, upon reviewing the times of the two takes we realised we were 5-45 seconds over. This immediately fueled us all to reach the benchmark of 10 minutes.

For this, some of us met in the gallery very quickly to discuss. Upon talking one of our lecturers brought up social media and said we could use it as a filler. This then prompted me to add in an action in the bushtucker trial. As I thought of taking a selfie (for instagram) of my co-presenter, which would prolong audience engagement and also excitement too as it promotes a natural reaction from us as presenters too. After I tried this out the response was very good, however, I still felt something was missing so I tried something different on set (taking inspiration from our Amsterdam teams VT). Here,  I and Harry shared one of the bug critters together this prompted a very funny reaction even from our crew too.

Upon reaching the 10-minute mark we all were not all extremely proud but also very happy. As we not only set up in the quickest time possible for us but we also managed to reach the 10 minute mark in due time.

Highlights of our show:

• Very relaxed chemistry from both presenters (evident in our last take)
• Good communication throughout (even better than in rehearsals)
• Good use of VT’s- great transitions. Made use of pauses after transition slides effectively.

Drawbacks:

• Issues with which camera to look at (Presenter 1-me). However corrected by final take as best as possible.
• Missing website link on VT (source based). However, the problem was solved through the promotion of website and social media pages on all platforms.
• Very short interview duration. Solved: Additional response from interviewee proved successful in making up time.
• Cocktail Spillage on set. Problem dealt with effectively by some team members. Luckily liquid (water) was away from all camera’s, thus, the hazard was monitored straight away.

Images:

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161MC (CW2) TV Module: The Finish Line Is Upon Us

Title Graphic Card- Liam Spittle

This week I started to amend the website further, by working on the stickies. Particularly focusing on our ‘competition slide’. Upon viewing the page, I began to notice that the content was quite basic. Thus in order to spruce up the page, I decided to add in a mini vlog of myself. In this video, I would talk about our competition in detail. In order to give our audience a little taster of what sort of poems they could come up with. Further drawing them in by engaging them to listen to my own creation, so that they feel stimulated and motivated to enter the competition. I also re-alliterated on the ‘TV Studio’ experience, after one of my peers touched on this. Further adding a short passage on this, into my groups ‘competition’ page. Making it clear to our audience how they could get involved in our show. After this was done I started to use various social networking sites from Facebook to twitter. This proved successful as many were drawn to the idea of submitting their own short poems and riddles, due to post popularity.

Screen Grabs:

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Competition Video Vlog:

Next, I started to rehearse for our final run. This proved a little challenging, considering my screen presence was quite stiff. Thus, for this, I found that recording myself rehearse, helped me to pin-point what I was doing right and what I was doing wrong. Once we started to do a full one through, with the set I still found myself to be quite robotic in speech. I also found a few deep breaths and happy thoughts helped to boost my confidence, with laughing also contributing to a more relaxed presenter persona on screen for me personally.

After the session was over, I pinpointed once again things to watch out for (when I’d present):

• To watch out for censored language
• To talk at a steady speed but not too slowly or quickly.
• To keep track through hand signals of which camera to look into.
• To breathe and smile in every shot, in order for me to appear ‘natural’ and ‘interested’. Considering day dreaming would defer audiences to look someone else as my attention would be away from them.
• Communicating with all through mic upon each VT (if any problems with mic etc.)

In reflection adding to the website has been fun yet challenging. Considering I had to think about composition and also ‘audience viewing’. As I had to look at our competition page from not only my perspective but also the audience’s perspective too. In order for me to truly decipher the positives and negatives of the layout and integrated web content too. This also helped me to get across my personality (as a presenter). Giving the audience a taste of my on-screen presence and character type etc.

As for my studio experience, I would say it really prepped me for tomorrow. This because it gave me and my team a true idea of set-up time to camera techniques etc. This is because as the start we took extremely long to set up, thus didn’t manage to take a full take swiftly. However luckily we booked in another TV studio slot, thus, could correct ourselves from our last session pretty quickly. This proved successful as we managed to look at our recordings and correct ourselves on the way. We also came together as a team more today, as I felt we really helped each other out and made sure everything as in session towards the end of our TV studio time slot. Further, note taking our plan of action for our official TV magazine timeslot.

Another aspect of today’s filming included my chemistry with my co-presenter and my director. I would say that with both I stayed alert and committed. Making sure to bounce off my co-presenters energy whilst interacting with him more so that I didn’t appear as stiff on camera. As for the director, I’d say my communication with him was especially strong. This was beneficial for both of us as I took his feedback very well, pushing myself even more upon each take. Eventually easing into my presenter persona well. As for our interview segment, I’d say this was also done well (although proved quite timely). As far as the interviewee, however, she stayed focused and patient. Thus making me and Harry feel really relaxed upon talking with her. Further getting the same response from her (Nicole-Marathon Runner). Lastly, I’d say our first full run through at the start taught us a lot. This is because we managed to pick up on a lot of issues (i.e lighting, transition duration, set composition). Thus, by our next session, we managed to walk through all the issues from the first session. This really helped us to move forward swiftly and collaboratively to as a team. Further making us all of realizing the true importance of the phrase “Teamwork equals dream work”.

As for the director, I’d say my communication with him was especially strong. This was beneficial for both of us as I took his feedback very well, pushing myself even more upon each take. Eventually easing into my presenter persona well. As for our interview segment, I’d say this was also done well (although proved quite timely). As far as the interviewee, however, she stayed focused and patient. Thus making me and Harry feel really relaxed upon talking with her. Further getting the same response from her (Nicole-Marathon Runner). Lastly, I’d say our first full run through at the start taught us a lot. This is because we managed to pick up on a lot of issues (i.e lighting, transition duration, set composition). Thus, by our next session, we managed to walk through all the issues from the first session. This really helped us to move forward swiftly and collaboratively to as a team. Further making us all of realizing the true importance of the phrase “Teamwork equals dream work”.

For our interview segment, I’d say this was also done well (although proved quite timely). As far as our interviewee went, she stayed focused and patient. Thus making me and Harry feel really relaxed upon talking with her. Further getting the same response from her (Nicole-Marathon Runner). Lastly, I’d say our first full run through at the start taught us a lot. This is because we managed to pick up on a lot of issues (i.e lighting, transition duration, set composition). Thus, by our next session, we managed to walk through all the issues from the first session. This really helped us to move forward swiftly and collaboratively to as a team. Further making us all of realizing the true importance of the phrase “Teamwork equals dream work”.

Bibliography

Ash Patel (2016) The grand bizarre’s official competition. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uju4paGHUN8 (Accessed: 11 May 2016).

 

161MC (CW2) TV Module: Cocktail Extravaganza

 

Official TGB logo by peer member Liam Spittle

Yesterday a few of my peers came together to film our final VT. Although this particular VT was done roughly before, time was taken to re-do the footage entirely. This was due to delays and some miscommunication between peers. However leaving all of that aside, a few of us met at our VT location (Sophies Bar).

Before organizing our meeting, some were considering putting Sophie in the show as a co-presenter. However after messaging her directly, I decided that it would be best to keep her on a VT (as her role during our programme would be back -stage videographer). This decision was made within the team previously, however plans were changed throughout. Thus upon yesterday’s filming session, we thought it best to stick to a decision and go with it. Further pointing out that if she were on the show it would take up too much time, affecting our interview in the long run. As the presenters may not be able to get to know interviewee well enough because of this, causing a full ‘rush’ in  the script.

Screengrabs (conversation):

Script with Sophie as a Co-Presenter

G2 Final Final The Grand Bizarre (TV Magazine Show)

After previously being in her bar before, during the demo run of the VT filming. The three of us (me, Dana and Sophie) set up all equipment in due time, whilst checking footage run time against our final running order. This helped us to stay in time and not go over too. We also revisited the final edit of the script (after many amendments), seeing where VT would fit best.

I also made sure to liaison with our director, in order to get his own vision of what he wanted us to get from the cocktail VT upon shooting it. This proved successful as we stayed in contact with him on this. Aiding us in getting across his vision and communicating with him effectively.
Materials

G2 Grand Bizarre Very Final Edit

Upon filming, two cameras were set up in Sophies bar. One was positioned to capture close-ups of the cocktails (i.e prepping of ingredients). Whilst the other camera (with an LED light attached to its top) was placed further away. This was so that we could capture Sophie, against her ‘own made’ background (done with a blackboard and chalk-adding to the authenticity of her family cocktail bar).

As soon as filming was in session, we started to take a few takes of Sophie introducing herself to the audience. Further mentioning the mealworm tequila and also the surprise she had installed for the presenters (me and harry later). Which would lead on nicely to the bushtucker trial, upon filming live for our TV magazine programme.

We also made sure to take pictures of the final result, in order to use our own images for the cocktail section. Now although the photos (already on site) were stock photos, we decided that we would change them upon getting feedback from for our website from Mez (lecturer).

Upon reflection, filming our final VT was done effectively and fluidly. Personally, my communication with my two other peer members was strong at all times. This was because I made sure to voice clearly how the VT’s content should look (from the eye of a presenter).

One drawback I would say however would be aimed at our team ethos. This was because before our filming day commenced, a few members changed the order of things a bit too much, with the script too. Although the running order was finished (positive point), there were still many errors in our script. Now however upon finalising our Cocktail VT my two peer members and I have communicated throughout to ensure that we complete not only VT but also set (as a collaborative). Thus making ourselves available to our peer member, in order to aid her with set designing.

If we were to do another VT I would say we’d include both presenters next time. Considering one presenter was used due to his ‘interest’ in cocktails, as the other was more of a  Jack Daniels and Coke guy(as mentioned in the script). Thus, although this worked well in our script (considering  both personalities have different interests). If both presenters were used then it would prolong audience contentment and also views. As public would see both individuals in  quite a natural setting in context with our shows theme.

Cocktail Photos (from shoot):

Sex on The Beach

Margarita

Bugs (bushtucker trail plus for tequila too)

Cosmopolitan

Blackberry Lemonade

Tequila Orange anyone?

Bloody Mary (great for hangovers)

3,2,1

(May 7th 2016) Final Cocktail VT (first edit):

Upon Sophie sharing the clip with me, I noticed the bold background and the quick pace of the video. This for me was a strong point of the VT along with its content. As I felt it would grab audiences straight away , upon seeing it. Considering the making of the cocktail was done very well as it’s clear and informative. The use of our  peer’s music also worked well too, as it carried each scene along.

T0day, I continued promoting our sites. Adding content to our competition (due to my role as the Sticky Editor), plus tweeting out details for it too. I further made sure to start on our cocktail page again, by adding our own photos. This was followed by gaining feedback from my peer member, who suggested what amendments I should make to our site.

 

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161Mc (CW2) TV Module: Tweaking Site/Interview Prepping

Today, I revisited our main twitter account for our show. This is where I added more tweets, in order to carry on promoting our tv magazine show.

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Afterwards, I visited our official website and started to tweak a few things on it. This included adding more info about our show on the homepage. Whilst adding in a Stickie (Competition Slot) too. Considering one of my website roles included doing this.

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See our full website here: the grand bizarre

Upon editing the website, I began to envision viewing it as an audience member. This helped me to notice more things on it. Enabling me to question “why there are so many blank spaces” to “what if a different background were placed on website?” Thus leaving me enough time to bring up website queries in my teams next meet up.

Another thing which I worked on included coming up with some questions to ask our special guest. Upon searching my group and I found it hard to find someone available due to their exam times etc. This is because we wanted to interview a possible nutritionist for our show. Thankfully as luck would have it, one of my friends contacted someone to be our guest (who she knows). Upon her contacting her we found that she ran in a lot of marathons and new quite a bit on nutrition. This prompted me to draw up the following questions:

Interview Questions (For Marathon Runner/Nutritionist)-plus introduction.

For those at home who don’t know can you tell the audience a bit about yourself…

1. In your opinion what foods do you think surprise people as being really good for them?

2) Would you say insects are a great source of nutrition as lucky for Harry and me we’ll be trying them out?

3) Have you got your own weird and wonderful experience with food?

4) Now to finish, what’s your favorite Cocktail and your favorite dish that you like it to be accompanied with?

With these questions, I felt we could gain a better understanding of what our guest. Whilst also asking her some questions outside the box, prompting audience engagement and so forth. This could even prompt us featuring our guests twitter handle for our audiences to as her questions. Triggering more excitement and interest in our show and the educational side of weird and wonderful foods to (i.e an aspect of it).

One last thing I did was to look over our big mindmaps. This was to see how far we’ve incorporated those our ideas into our final idea. Check out all mindmaps below (constructed at the start of our TV Module):

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In reflection, today’s small session gave me a chance to look over all my groups promotion for our show. I’d say that we have done well so far, in really integrating social media into our project. From the use of stickies (Social Media Buttons), promotional photos and even tweets (personalized to our show specifically), we are beginning to hone in onto our target audience. Consisting of young adults (18+), who are avid foodies, cocktail drinkers etc. We have further implemented our audience in mind as we have opted for a later time slot for our show, due to the themes and nature of a show too as its very mature (considering we are basing our show around Cocktails).

 

161MC (CW2) TV Module: Practice Away

Today, my group came together to try out the amended script. After running over it a few times, we realized how short it was. This prompted some of my group to stay behind, in order to amend it. Enabling both presenters (including myself) to start practicing it. One thing however which was picked up by our tutor (whilst we were presenting) was how stiff me and Harry were on camera. Although this was mainly down to nerves, we made sure to keep in mind to loosen up next time. Her suggestion was for us to record ourselves presenting, followed by us looking over the footage to see how camera-friendly we actually are. This would help us to see what areas of improvement we needed to make in due time.

See final script edit here: Presenter Script (Ash and Harry) Final

Amended Programme Template: Programme Template-Running Order

In editing the script, my peer Sophie added in many fillers. This helped it to flow better as it was quite rigid. Thus, in this way, we managed to add more personality and colour to the script itself. Further allowing us to be flexible with the reactions and intros from both presenters.

Upon reflection, today’s skills session helped my group come together. We managed to not only add to our running order but also figure out what else needed to be done by next week. Upon evaluating my own performance, I would say I listened and too constructive feedback well. I further made sure to gain feedback from my peers, in order to boost team morale and team satisfaction too.

 

161MC (CW2) TV Module: Practice Makes Perfect

Today my group and I went over our ‘roles sheet’. After a full discussion, my team decided it best for me to set individual tasks for all to complete. This particular sheet proved successful as many felt this kept this in the know more, of where they needed to be with the project. I further announced that I’d update the sheet weekly and update them by directly messaging their personalised to-do lists. This further ties into my side role as a presenter, as I am also responsible for my team as the main leader of authority. Thus have to make sure that all are kept up to speed and are pushing themselves every step of the way, as it’s a team effort.

See official doc here (Template): to do lists tv broadcast mod

As a group, we took part in a test run for ou show. This led us to make some tweaks to our competition elements and also our live performance. As we managed to think of many alternatives, ticking off some of our ‘to do list’ boxes along the way.

This led me to upload my script onto the cue machine. Upon doing so I noticed many errors in my formatting and also the content. Thus, after we had done a test run, I corrected the script for us to go over ‘officially’ the next day. Whilst also revisiting our mock dummy running order too at the same time.

Check out the full sheet here: Presenter Script (Ash and Harry) Final

Very Rough Dummy Order

• Intro (35 seconds)
• History of Cocktails (SOURCE BASED VT)- 15 seconds
• Audience Interaction- Send in your own weird and wonderful creations
• Food Student: Interview (Nutrition Student)- Special Guest (2 minutes)

*Have reactions with content

• Weird and Wonderful Food (Amsterdam) (VT2)- 1 minute
• Live Performance Slot Bushtucker Trail Competition (audience to tweet in reactions live)- Create full menu, presenters to see menu. They’ll then be blindfolded and tasted food in different order. (-1 minute)
• Cocktail Master class (VT)- 30-45 seconds
• Poem submission-weird and wonderful foods Competition (-1 minute)
• Live Demo (Bushtucker Competition)

• Live Demo (Make Cocktails)

*Live Performance (Critter Bug Tasting)- Bring Cocktails on set?

*Website Competition: Submit your weird and wonderful poems

*Live Cocktails (go over make contact and set up link)- go on to website…. And here’s one we made earlier.

After the session, I created fan pages for both presenters (Myself and Harry). This was because (as a team) we felt it would be more ‘interactive’ for our audiences to get to know us before hand via our fan pages. Thus feeling more inclined to watch our show in this way. Tuning in with us for our official show on a Friday at 8pm (12th of May 2016).

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Upon reflecting, today’s studio skills session proved successful. This was because many came together and tried out various equipment. Whilst further seeing how some of our own material fitted on screen (even featuring our source based VT too). Further making me feel quite confident and proud of my group,as we began to tie everything together. Evaluating my own performance, I’d say I kept all my team informed and organized. Whilst making sure all were up to the right speed of where we are with our main tv magazine programme.

 

161MC (CW2) TV Module: Write, Discuss, Write (Extended Post)

Yesterday my team and I wrote up our plan of action for the next coming weeks:

See document here: Latest 161MC TGB SHEET

In doing so, we managed to come up with a full timetable and a to-do list too. This would ensure us completing particular tasks in a well planned time frame (with this sheet).

Note: Sheet includes amendments done after group gathering.

Upon meeting, we also thought about what was left to film. In doing so, we decided to scrap our plans to film in Coventry, Birmingham or London. The reason being that we just wouldn’t have enough time to film everything, especially if we were to change our set design.

Thus, after agreeing on this we drew in all our footage that we had accumulated already. This included our VT for Amsterdam, Source based VT and other VT (Cocktail Masterclass in progress).

After the meeting, my peer (Sophie) and I decided to go prop shopping. We had agreed that we’d write up a full budget very soon, where we’d distribute all expenses between the whole team. As we prop shopped, we bought summer glitter paper, settling on an Idea that my peer had. In which she’d coat a lip balm stick with the glitter paper, for me to use on set. Making it fit into the environment and the show in a non-random way.

Upon concluding our shopping trip we discussed our possible backup plan for the Cocktail Masterclass. Originally we had hoped to film at JJ’s, however, this did not work out. Mainly citing time constraints as an important factor in refusal (as such), plus lack of communication too (due to busy period).  Thus, we decided that we’d film a dummy version of the cocktail masterclass with myself as the subject. This would then be shown in our next team meeting where we’d feedback to all.

Another thing which my peer and I discussed then was our set. Now after the meeting that day, we’d decided that creating a set from scratch would be best.The first idea was created by another of our peers-Atanas. Atanas drew out his artistic vision (which was impressive). It included a pink waterfall and a monkey plus a snake. Upon him telling us his idea, he explained the various elements to it along the way. Although this idea was articulated well, my peer and I decided a backup idea would be best. This was because we felt the theme would restrict our programme too much as it would send out a ‘jungle message’ when that’s not what our show is about. Although if it were simply jungle centred then it would work better. But as it only fits into our show in the VT slot (at the moment) it would not, considering the main central theme is cocktails followed by weird foods (for the first episode).

However upon my peer and I visualising it and getting some feedback from her mum (who has some experience in the media industry in designing) we came up with the following (with her assistance):

Set Ideas

• Barbie and Ken
• Massive Cocktail Glass

With these particular set features, we felt it would work not only better but also work out cheaper too. This could also feed into the show’s central theme (which of course is Cocktails). However at the same time could include different topics for the show. For example, one episode could be about beaches (meaning glass could be filled with sand and pebbles), whilst another week our episode could be focused on fashion (thus glass could be filled with clothes). This would get our audience’s (young adults) attention straight away whilst keeping them excited throughout. As for the Ken and Barbie Idea (that Sophie’s mum came up with), this could add to the extravagant and bonkers nature of our show if we were able to change our time slot. As we’d have dolls within cocktail glasses in various ‘night time’ positions.

My peer and I also came up with creating our set background as a mood board. This could possibly involve us using cardboard or any other material to stick stuff on. Adding various novelties to small items which would fit into our episodes (i.e cocktails and weird food-bugs and cocktail olives etc.)

To conclude yesterday’s activities really varied as we got a lot done whilst thinking on the go at the same time. One stand out experience would have to be when Sophie taught me how to make cocktails in her bar. This was as much fun as it was challenging (due to the steadiness of my hands). Afterwards, we decided that both presenters would take part in Cocktail Masterclass (VT2). Further deciding to have me and Harry go head to head (promoting audience engagement). We’d possibly have a blackboard on the back of the bar with ‘cocktail specials’ written across the board (below neon sign). This would create more of a Cocktail Bar atmosphere, adding to the central theme of our show (alongside weird foods).

Finally, we ended our short film day by taking some small videos and stills for the website. This included me  modelling with the cocktails whilst creating a little ‘get ready’ routine for the camera too.

Sophies Bar:

Today I met with my co-presenter for our show (Harry), to go over the full script. Please see attached document for fully revised version:

Presenter Script (Ash and Harry) Final

Upon reflection, we inputed individual ideas equally. Whilst listening to each other on each creative input. This helped us to organise and plan out our script well. Further prolonging enthusiasm and team morale too.

I further advertised a post for our interview slot: