It's Sean-time!

Our first television production lecture, which took place last week, saw us first meeting the man who would be teaching us, Sean Walsh. A man whose very being says "camera, lights, action!" Decisive and straight to the point, the moment the clock hit 2'oclock (the time our lecture is supposed begin) Sean locked the doors meaning any late comers would simply miss their first lesson in television. "Programs can't ever go out late" he warned us,"we will be treating this class room as a real television studio, therefore lateness can not be tolerated." After making his point he finished with a beaming television smile and looked as if he should then say "My name's Sean Walsh, thank you and goodnight"  From that moment on I knew I was going to like Sean, and I also knew that there was no way I was ever going to let myself be late to any of his lectures.

Here's a few of the things Sean told us about television production in general and what to expect from television if we choose it as one of our preferred subjects:

• When filming always ask for the persons name and how it's spelt, get this all on camera.
• From Christmas onwards if you decide to take TV you will be expected to create a unit dairy detailing what you did, what you learnt and how you could have improved your work.
• All work is marked by Sean and also by a person not connected to the course. It is important to remember this person will not know you or your personality, therefore you must be clear and concise with your work so that they fully understand it
• TV terms:

 B-roll: Secondary material (eg,shots of buildings and scenery)

A-roll: Interviews, reporter pieces etc

P2C: Piece to camera (standupper)

Soc: Sign off (standard out que)

• Always be aware of lighting and what effect it is having on the shot.
• Rule of thirds: dividing the shot into 9 parts
• Fill the frame (F.T.F)
• Don't put the person you're interviewing right in the middle of the shot, put them slightly to one side.
• 1st year will comprise of: making packages, GVs (general shots), B-roll, vox pops (voice of the people) interviews with accredited sources, p2c, graphics
• You will never loose marks for being creative even if the idea doesn't work out
• The most important element of television is the audience
• TV is for people, about people

Our task in the lesson was to go out and interview people on campus about the recent royal engagement. Teams decided, risk assessment forms filled out (finally) and recording equipment picked up we headed out: young journalists full of enthusiasm and optimism. This, however didn't last very long as we quickly established that firstly, hardly anyone likes being filmed, and secondly that the nations interest in the royals appears to have wained since Charlie boy and Di tied the knot. So after many a "Errr...I dunno" and a "They're getting married?" and even, strangely enough, one "Don't point that thing at me!"we returned back to the class room with few bits of footage that we could actually use. 

This said, similar to Sean's previous door locking stunt, the exercise taught us a tough lesson: that television is most certainly not always glamourous and that TV may be "for people about people"but people can't half be unhelpful in the making process!