For our fourth show this semester, it was a little bit of a different experience for me on taping day. Earlier in the week, I had been approached by Prof. Marra and Prof. Scatterday asking if I would be willing to go on set and produce there. Since Prof. Trinone is going to begin teaching MPB in the spring, she had to learn the control room and how to train student producers and directors. That meant letting my assistant producer, Harley, take over boothing the show, and instead, running the floor and managing the studio.
At first, I was hesitant about the change because I had been in the control room for the last three shows, but I decided to roll with it. On show day, I was in the studio and from the jump, I felt 100% better than when I would be sitting at the desk. There is a certain level of calmness and chill on the set, not to mention it feels like a morgue (in temperature) in the studio compared to the stuffy control room, which is not enjoyable at all. I was able to help streamline the talent and even help in a “crisis” situation.
During the first taping, Patrick’s IFB crashed out. I knew something was wrong when I heard Prof. Marra say in my headset that Sean needed to have me get Patrick looking at camera three. Normally, Patrick is very good at direction and requires minimal attention. Griffin and I looked at each other in a very confused way before looking at Patrick, who was waving his hands around and making all these faces. Once we went into a package with mics being cut, Patrick let us know that his IFB sounded like the “Atlantic Ocean in my ear.”
It has taught me a lot about my own personality and work habits, some of which I have to shift around and others which are strong. Aniessa Gallo
On the spot, Griffin and I worked to ensure that we would cue Patrick in. I oversaw cueing Patrick while Griffin took control of everything else. My headset only lets me hear Sean, our director for show four, and Griffin, so I couldn’t hear Harley, who was in the control room producing, cue the anchors in. Most of the time, I was guessing for Patrick’s cues and listening to them counting down in the control room. To the naked eye, nobody would have ever guessed that Patrick was flying blind.
Once he got his IFB fixed in between takes, everything was smooth for the rest
of the day. By the end of the tapings, I was in an amazing mood. Being on set was
more helpful to me as a producer because I was able to see exactly what was always
going on. I could make sure the talent was looking at the right cameras, give them
feedback right there, and adjust as necessary. Plus, I think that my intentions
get lost over the mic so actually being in the studio to adjust and encourage came
across a lot better.
Some other things I did before show four was hit the field with some reporters. First, I tagged along with Brian and Sean to film some shots for show four and five. This was my first time in the field all semester and I had a blast. Brian had some unique ideas for his shots and while Sean was there to be the videographer, I just sat back and helped when necessary. I played the roll of hairdresser that morning though because Brian’s hair just would not sit nicely, and I knew that would be one thing that was looked at during feedback. However, I really didn’t mind because it gave me a chance to be with my classmates and see the processes that went into filming.
Next, I filmed with Andrew for the boulder bash event that was happening at the Rec Center. That was another fun event, and I had a lot of fun just gathering b-roll and helping Andrew film his interviews. Though my one mishap was that I didn’t pause three seconds after ending his Facebook Live and it was blurry shoes in the final shot. With this, there wasn’t a lot of variety to what was happening, so we were forced to find creative shots to gather.
Overall, this was probably the most fun I’ve had all semester. It has taught me a lot about my own personality and work habits, some of which I have to shift around and others which are strong.