One of the workshops we had was the creation of a VT, behind the scenes video or a link to the VTs depending on the group you were. As for me I had to do a link for the VTs with Andy. We decided to use the sofa in the base room in front of a green screen that was there already, we didn't put it up, but at the same time it was quite helpful. Andy created a basic dialogue and directed mainly the whole thing, while I was doing camera and sound.

Since we the task was edit someone elses work and not yours, I had to edit of the videos from the promo team, which was a behind the scenes video. It was quite an interesting video to edit, but it lacked a lot of things which ended making it quite difficult for me to edit. The sound during interview was really really bad, I had headphone and couldn't even hear, which made me add and Expander effect to give it more +21 of gain. There was no continuity which made is hard as well as I didn't know how to cut some bits without making the video confusing. In the end I edited as good as I could, putting subtitles in the bits where you couldn't understand the audio at all and give it a bit of a nice indian music to make it a bit more enjoyable. This is the outcome of it:

In one of our production meetings we decided that there should be a ticketing system for the show to control the audience and the amount of tickets we sold. Although it is not really my job or my department to work on it, me and Helen came across with the idea of trying to find a special electronic ticketing system for the show. At this point is when I came across with Eventbrite, may I say the best website out there in my opinion for events managing. Eventbrite is the easiest and most effective solution to keep track of who buys tickets, the amount remaining, seats allocation, verification of validity and much more. The website www.eventbrite.com comes along as well with a free App for your smartphone or tablet, that will help you not only keep track of everything, but also manage attendance the day of the event. 

The first thing you need to do is create an event with date, location, name, amount of tickets, etc. Instantly you will have created an even in your account and will be able to access your dashboard which will look like this:

In here there is a variety of things you can keep a look at and manage. The main ones in our event that out Promo Producer, Aimee, will be using are:

Tickets Sold

A very simple way to have a look at the amount of tickets you have sold and the amount of tickets till available

Buyers

One good thing about this is that you can keep track of the people that bought the ticket, so the names, quantity and even the date of the purchase

In order to buy a ticket people just need to follow the link that will be given by anyone in production team and put name and email and they will automatically receive an email with all the information about the event, including google maps with how to get there and most importantly, a ticket that will look just like this

On the day of the event, the App for the iPad or even the iPhone, would be the best thing to use. The audience can bring their ticket either printed or on their smartphone. With the app you will use the Scan feature to scan the QR code that then will verify the authenticity of the ticket. If the code is valid and the person hasn't used that ticket, the confirmation will come green:

If not or the ticket has been used already, the screen will come red and let know when it was used last time:

For our set design, I wasn't able to be in meeting were Andy work on it, but I myself had an idea already of how I wanted the set to look like. 

One of my favorite shows, that as a matter of fact is very very famous in the US and other countries, is the Ellen Degeneres Show 

I love everything about this show and of course Ellen as the host is quite a character. The reason I brought this show up is because the type of set she uses is more or less the type of set that I was thinking of. Something simple, that felt like home or like a cafe, where people would feel nice to talk to, very personal and of course the use of a screen. Here is a look at her set:

As you can see not to complicated, 2 sofas (in our case would be larger sofas,) a table in the middle to put papers, cups or even flowers and a screen right in between the host as the guest. This is just the type of set I had in mind from the beginning and gladly the idea of Andy was pretty much the same one. One thing that we are trying at the moment to look into is the possibility of is some sort of platform to raise the level of the studio so it can look quite more professional. In the end and at the moment this is the concept of the studio set and the positions of the camera

This is the CV I submitted for the interview:

CV

As expected and desired, I didn't get picked as the producer of the show, but instead it was Helen Welsh, who I have worked with a couple times on Tekkers TV. After all that, we had to give 3 options for the role we would like to be on the show. In the end and after an interview, teacher Helen and Simon would be the ones who decide the team for the production. During the brief for the unit we were given the possibilities of roles that we could choose from. Here is a list of them:

For this opportunity I decided to go in order: Director, Vision Mixer and Floor Manager. Director was the thing I really wanted to do as I have done it before in the USA for about a year in a youth news channel, which as a matter of fact helped me a lot. Gladly in the end I got chosen as one if the directors of the show alongside with Andy Cox, where he would do the first part of the show and I would direct the second half of it. 

This is the presentation I prepared to propose my idea for a studio production:

Studio proposal from Chris Sarmiento


For it I also decided to be quite technical and instead of using the mouse or the keyboard to skip slides or go through with it, I used an App called Mobile Mouse. This app requires to be download for free on your computer and then there is a Lite or paid version on the App store for iOS users. I have had the paid version for a couple years now and finally got the chance of using it again. From it you read your notes on the phone, use a pointer, skip slides, play videos, control the mouse...

For more info about it you can visit:

http://mobilemouse.com

After going through a lot of possibilities for my idea to present as part of the task we were given, I decided I was going to create a game show instead of the deter show idea that that I originally had. Since I still don't know many shows here in the UK, I started looking or more like remembering shows I used to watch back at home, which should have started giving me an idea. Things like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire are my favorite type of games, but it wasn't exactly what I wanted to create, which started to make me look somewhere else. This are some of the shows I had a look at, that ended up giving me the main idea for my game:

The first one is a TV show that was aired in late 90's in Channel 4 called The Crystal Maze. What I liked about this game, was that it had the concept of giving challenges to teams and they working together to get points. Here is a video of what I had a look at

The second show I had a look at was Ant and Dec's Push The Button. The main reason i came across this show is because I had seen one of them on Britain's Got Talent (I wasn't aware both of them were there) but I wanted to have a look at another show were they starred a bit more as hosts because they were the main type of person I wanted as a host for my show. As a matter of fact the show ended up being a really example because they put as well people in groups and make them play games together with timers and quite some adrenaline and fast pace. Here is the video I had a look at

The third show is a very famous show from Venezuela called Mega Match,  that aired about 10 years ago. The game brought together 2 schools to compete against each other, where only 6 members would be actually competing and the rest of the school class was to be the audience. Another game where they were divided by teams and played against each other in a range of challenges that in the end would lead to massive challenge based on how quick they performed along the show. It was a great show and very fun to watch and although you won't understand what they saying, you can still get a look at it and by the images understand a bit of what is going on. Here is the video I had a look at

The fourth game I watched is another very famous show that is still airing in Venezuela and has been for more than 10 years. It is called The War of the Sexes and is it a girls vs boys type of game. The objective of it is very similar to the other ones which is two teams competing against each other in a series of challenges and games that are usually either very fast paced or require a lot of concentration. TV stars are the ones that star in this show, which makes it a bit more funny as you already know the people that are competing, but the show itself has a lot of drama and laugh. Here is the video I had a look at

There is a couple of other show I had a look at that were not exactly the same, but still helped to have a look at type of shows that are out there that are quite similar or are based on challenges and teams. Among them were:

Wheel Fortune

Takeshi's Castle (Originally from Japan)

Tele match (Originally from Germany)

For this unit, we were meant to come up with a show and produce it like in the real deal. The whole class would be unified into a big team that eventually will produce the idea that was chosen by the teachers. Each student was to come up with an idea for the show that was mainly viable and original. The purpose was to prepare a presentation for a the show that later will be shown to the panel, teacher Helen, Simon and Laura, who in the end would decide out of the entire class, whose idea was the most ideal one and that person was to become producer of the show.

The brief was the follow:

The project

Each student has 2 weeks to develop a detailed pitch for a 30 min Pilot show to be recorded LIVE in the studios.  

The best pitch will be given the greenlight to go into production and the whole course team will work together to produce the 30 min programme – split into two teams, to produce half of the duration each.

What we are looking for

We will not be looking for a talent show as this has recently been commissioned – we would like something really different, which can push the boundaries and challenge the group.

We are particularly interested in new ideas within the entertainment, factual  either for an adult or a younger audience.

The Idea IMPORTANT!!

• Ensure your idea is viable for a studio environment.
• It can take whatever form you want but you must be original!!
• Your idea should allow for:
• Two distinct HALVES to the programme.
• 4 x VT inserts (these are segments that are pre-recorded and edited before the programme and then slotted in).
• a set, costumes and props. (These elements will be made by Creative Arts for Film & Theatre students at UCA Rochester)
• viral marketing in order to reach your intended audience.  Also online content to support the project.
• a title sequence and credits to be produced – the titles will be specially shot 
• a studio audience
• Please avoid anything featuring children under 16, animals, dangerous equipment and no cookery programmes!
• The final programme will be uploaded to our YouTube channel and we are exploring live streaming too.

I myself didn't really want to be a producer as is not really my thing, but then after coming up with my idea I really wanted to do it for fun and to have a go at being producer which is why I tried to do a lot of research on the topic to be able to explain it very well. While trying to find an idea, my very first idea was based on a debate show (which ended being something like what was picked) but I decided to go with it because I thought people were not going to like it, as debating is not a thing for everyone and a lot of people tend to get bored. My idea was based more on a very formal debate, with two debaters along the entire show, one host in the middle and a panel of 3 people that would vote in the end which of the two debaters was the winner in the end. The debaters were to be two random people with knowledge on the topics, that at the same time has different ideas so that they would clash in a debate. The panelists on the other hand were to be people with a lot of knowledge, maybe some experts in the topic or people involved with them, so they could really judge the content of what was being debated. Sadly I didn't go with that idea because I though it would be boring, but in the end I am happy because what got picked is something similar to it, which makes me want to work on it even more. The idea of the set for that show was based on the scenario of the presidential debate in 2012 between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. 

After that I decided to go back on the game show type of program (which I believe was my mistake) but I quite liked the idea that I ended up coming with, even tho it wasn't the best. You can read about it in this post.