MED4114 TV Location Production Skills | Week 3 | Learning Diary

This week we looked at recording sound. Before testing out recording sound, we looked at why it is important. 

It’s important to plan ahead for sound when filming, because clear audio is crucial. A recce should be carried out before filming, so that background noise can be identified and the location can be assessed. What kind of microphone that should be used for filming can also be thought about.

When using a boom mic, the left over wire should be wrapped around the pole, to minimise tripping hazard. Before using the boom mic it should checked that there is a battery inside. The sound operator should hold the boom mic out of shot, but still hold it in close enough to the contributors so that it can pick up audio.

A personal mic is a small mic that is clipped onto a contributors clothing, with the wire going underneath their clothes, so that it is not visible to the viewer.  Personal mics can be wireless, where the battery pack wirelessly connects to the receiver connected to the camera, or wired, where the wire connected to the microphone is connected to the camera as well. When using a personal mic it is important that it is facing down, so that there is not a popping noise picked up. The actual mic itself should not be under the contributor’s clothes, as this will pick up rustling. When using different mics together, the tracks should be split. When disconnecting the wire from the camera, it should be done correctly by pressing the button and pulling at the same time, so that they do not break.

When setting up audio, the settings have to be correct. The channel switches have to be set to manual, and the audio levels have to be around -18dB. By learning about how and why to use audio equipment helps us to achieve learning objective 1.

We also looked at basic paperwork needed for TV production on location. The two we looked at were a risk assessment and a storyboard. A storyboard can help to plan out each scene of the sequence. It can help each member of the production team know what the director is trying to capture. On the storyboard there are squares (or a ‘TV screen”) for drawing a shot from the scene, with space for a description below. The storyboard should include details of camera moves and sounds, shot sizes and angles. I think that storyboards will help me when it comes to making my individual film and also the group film, because I like to be organised and know what I am doing. It will also let me map out the visual of my “script” and help me to convey mood. I’ll also be able to look out for jump cuts, crossing the line and continuity.

A risk assessment is a document that looks at the moral, legal and financial issues of health safety and assesses whether risks can happen to the crew and the general public. When doing a risk assessment you think about is anything bad likely to happen, how bad, what can be done so it is less likely, and who is responsible for this action. When thinking about health and safety in the professional environment, it will be very important to carry out a risk assessment, as there are laws that require it. I’m glad that we went through how to do the risk assessment, as it can be slightly confusing.

By looking at this basic pre production paperwork, it helps us to achieve learning objective 3. By practising the paperwork, I will be able to produce professional written documentation, which is part of learning objective 3.

At the end of the seminar we were set our directed study, which was to film our individual film, which is worth 20% of our overall marks. I want to wait a little while before filming this, as I want to plan it properly and develop my learning further beforehand. Filming my rushes now could be beneficial in a way that I could learn a lot from it now, but because it is an assessment I would like to have stronger skills before completing it. I do know however that I shouldn’t leave it too late, because there could be problems with my footage meaning I would have to reshoot, and I have to edit the rushes into a sequence as well.  

In terms of my future goals, I would like to be able to know what type of mic to use when it comes to my group assessment, and be able to carry out a risk assessment and complete a storyboard successfully.


_________________________________________________________________________________

*Module learning objectives:

1. Use key technical equipment on location to originate televisual material and use non-linear digital editing equipment to organise and manipulate televisual material
2. Exercise editorial judgment and an awareness of the professional practices, and the language and grammar of the medium to produce a short television package
3. Taking a specialised production role, work as a team to research, originate and organise televisual material, organise technical facilities, work to deadlines, produce professional documentation where appropriate and respond creatively to a brief
4. To be able to critically evaluate the relative success of their practical work, and role within the production