WORKSHOPS - TV NEWS

During our TV News unit, we were offered the opportunity to engage in different workshops that helped develop some of the skills that we might need when creating our news package.

Unreal Engine

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend the workshop that covered the use of Unreal Engine. I am, however, familiar with the processes of virtual production after taking an interest in it earlier this year. As a keen gamer, I was familiar with Unreal Engine and have often watched landscapes and demonstrations on Youtube of the software in action, recreating remarkably lifelike places, as well as people within MetaHuman. I was first made aware of its ventures into the realms of the Film and TV industries after the release of 'The Mandalorian' on Disney Plus, which shot a huge amount of the series using a virtual production set.

Having visited the virtual production space at Garden Studios, I was blown away by the technology and the exciting prospects that it holds for future productions. The ability to cycle (live) through day and night, well as the ability to download- and make alterations to assets from a near-infinite library of items was staggering. There are very few restrictions to what is achievable when using virtual production, and as it continues to develop, those restrictions that do exist will begin to be overcome. LiDAR scanning, for instance, is now becoming available on a commercial scale, with iPhones and iPads now having the basic ability to produce some impressive scans of environments and spaces, this perhaps means that in the not-so-distant future, virtual production techniques can be adopted by amateur filmmakers to great effect.

The parallax was also something that I found really impressive, helping to layer an extra sense of immersion within the space and it was interesting to see how this worked as the camera tracked from side to side, the background adjusting to every movement. I'm yet to try Unreal as yet, but it is something that I intend to get some experience in using as I believe that its the natural evolution from the green screen and that as the technology becomes more refined/affordable, a great deal more productions will begin to use it.

Green screen

I had never used a green screen prior to this workshop but was familiar with how it worked. It was interesting to see how the visuals could be mixed live and layered, with a background, foreground, and the presenter/subject sandwiched between the two and it's something that I think has the potential to be a lot of fun. As well as fun, it also enables (when done well) a believable final product that is a lot more affordable than virtual production, as well as simpler to execute. When done badly, however, it can have a negative impact and often films with the overwhelming use of green screens are criticised for poor visual effects. Green screen performance has also come under fire from Actors recently, too, with Christian Bale calling his experience of filming the new Thor film "The definition of monotony.' You can find an example below of a very simple green screen video I made using Adobe Stock footage. Using the Ultra-Key effect in Premiere, I used the colour picker to select the correct shade of green to remove it and added an additional layer as the background. The green screen was a worthwhile area to learn about as it is hugely prominent in film and TV production, however, with our chosen aesthetic and an emphasis on authenticity, we thought it was more suitable to find a real location to create our production in. However, I do intend to adopt the use of green screen in future projects so what I've learned from the workshop was valuable an no doubt applicable to future projects.

Gillingham FC

I enjoyed the workshop at Gillingham FC as I felt that it more closely resembled some of the features of real production and also brought challenges with it that had to be overcome. Working within a tight timeframe made it more important to carefully choose which shots to take and how best to craft a narrative with only what's on hand- no props, no performers. It also forced me to build some familiarity with using a tripod, which will of course lead to better practice and becoming more comfortable with the use of one will make me more likely to use it in future projects. It was also the first time that I'd used our new Blackmagic camera, so I was interested to explore this and what it could do. I tried some shoulder-mounted shots (exhausting) as well as the usual tripod shots to offer some variety in the edit. The experience of using the Blackmagic was no doubt an improvement compared to the SONY XDCAM, although as a first year Uni student coming in to see the SONY felt amazing at the time, it's only when you get a new tool that you realise the insufficiencies of the last! The design of the Blackmagic was much more ergonomic and the options to alter settings were accessible even when using for the first time.  Our Director created this edit from our time at Gillingham:

Why 'the mandalorian' uses virtual sets over Green Screen | Movies Insider (2020) YouTube. Insider. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ufp8weYYDE8&t=45s (Accessed: October 30, 2022).