TV Play (My Journey the to the 2016 Southapmton fim expo)

A while ago a friend of mine and fellow TV production student Ida Frank, won a chance to have a ten page script she made into a full film by a panel of judges at the 2016 Film Expo South. She had won two tickets and offered me to come along, mainly because I was one of the only people she knew who had a car. But with a great opportunity to meet people and gain some amazing contacts I couldn't refuse so me and Ida planned our journey to Southampton to take part in the Film Expo.

When we got there there were more people then we expected, with workshops on working with actors to film screenings to all sorts of companies involved in locations for films, items and clothing for films, and all sorts of high tech gadgets and gizmos intending to make your film look as amazing as possible.

The people were friendly and passionate about their work and what was great about the people where the fact that you can walk up to them just to say hello and end up having an hour conversation not even know as you are so invested into what they do and say.

What was really call was that one of the film screenings was a premiere of a new film called 'Never Let Go' directed by Howard J. Ford.  A film about a single mother trying to rescue her baby who was abducted  whist on holiday.

The film itself was very atmospheric in a sense that you feel the way the mother feels and you are with her throughout this journey and are rooting for her all the way till the end of the movie. The sound design was incredible and very to detail in terms of the culture of where it was filmed which was mainly in Morocco as well as Spain, the US and the UK. The shots where very high quality, but to the point where to me it seemed way to noisy and some of the shot did not stay still enough for me to take most of the film in, it was an adrenaline rush till the end.

The acting for the cast was very well put together, the directer said he wanted something unique out of the main character like a middle aged single mum as that would be the last person you would see doing an action film. But the main character (Angela Dixon) done her job and I really enjoyed her performance.

Here is the trailer for the film:






NEVER LET GO TRAILER 16x9. [Online] At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_LEoMcH4tE (Accessed on 09/03/2016)


Here is an interview with the director of the film Howard J. Ford:

 Director Howard J. Ford Interview Never Let Go Premiere. [Online] At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6m6Fwg_Bgk (Accessed on 09/03/2016)



Finally here is the final edit of the TV Play episode filmed by me and Ida:

Research and Development Journal (Cameraman Research and others)

A handy tip for any cameraman on a TV set, is to have a cue card at the ready. What is a cue card?

As it's name suggests a cue card is a helpful item to aid the camera person remembering where they are next positioned and what shot to use and where to shoot it. 

For example here is my one for our show 'Teach Em A Lesson':

I have learned many thing on our production such as the job roles involved with in the show, here a few that I have observed:

The Director:
I went for this role thinking I had what it took but when I saw what went on behind the scenes of our show I couldn't have been more wrong. The role of the director was harder then I was led on to be, the director has to not only cue the cameras but also the VTs, sound effects and music, captions and animations, the director has to take full control and cue everyone in and in time of the show while the production is happening live.


The Floor Manager:
The floor manager's job is to make sure everyone on the studio floor outside the control room is given the instructions by the director and cuing the talent, camera people, and all other on the studio floor when and how long till we are on the air and how long between each VT shown before we are to resume filming again.


The Vision Mixer:
This person's job is one of those jobs where the saying 'don't judge a book by it's cover' is truly given. It is more then just pushing some buttons, this person is under full control of the director and must listen to his/ her every command. He/ she must not only push the button to switch between preview and transmitted cameras but only activate the captions and animations when given the cue so there are a lot of things on their mind when this role in the gallery is taken.