Role Research and relevant paperwork/content

The location manager role was the primary role that I was assigned at the beginning of the live project; however, there were several other roles and tasks that I took on throughout the show; another smaller role that I took on during the show was lighting because no one had been assigned that role at the beginning. While working on the project, I also worked on the set and props, building a small part of the set and creating props, as well as taking on the responsibility of purchasing materials during the pre-production stage, working with sound, standing in and directing for a short period of time during the pre-production stage, working on the vt and creating 3d scans of the rooms.

 location manager research 

During the live project interview stage, I originally applied to do sound and be behind the scenes, but after the interview, I was given the role of location manager, which I believe was due to my previous experience. It was quite interesting to be given the role of location manager because it was not something I had done much of before and I wasn't entirely sure what I was expected to do, but I was still very excited. Because I wasn't sure what my role entailed in its entirety, I decided to do some research into it in order to do it well. For my research, I decided to watch a few YouTube videos of current location managers and what their days are like. 

First, I watched a video by film independent, in which they explain why a location manager is required. The job of a location manager is to find and secure both private and public filming locations. After going over the script with the director, location managers help decide where different types of filming should be done. Location managers usually come in as early as possible because locations help dictate the workflow of production. as having and knowing the available locations aided in dictating what order everything will be filmed in The location manager collaborates with the director and production designer to determine which locations fit the aesthetic and tone of the film; the location manager, along with the producing team, determines the logistics for each location, such as how many crew members are required and how much time is required at each location; and location managers work with a location scout to visit several different potential locations for each scene while also taking into consideration Location managers negotiate rates and prices with property owners, secure permits, provide insurance for the locations, and notify nearby neighbours about filming. ensuring that it is required at all locations and anticipating any problems before they occur.

In a video by careersited, we get a glimpse into a day in the life of a location manager. Dale Dreher discusses how he begins to build a large portfolio of different locations that he has either visited or worked on, how he takes around 600 at each location, and how dale has a lot of responsibilities as he has to take care of contracts and is in charge of hiring police officers and walking through with the fire department. In addition, he must create maps for each location. Each day is between 10 and 12 hours long, and a shoot day can last up to 15 hours. Communication and organisational abilities are required.2 lighting research 

Being a location manager 

first thing that had to be done when I was a locations manager is I had to find potential locations for the cosmic snatchers as liver production. we had moments after lectures where a large part group sat down and thought of where everything could bet shot, people had locations in mind before everything and some locations were suggester by our tutors. as the whole theme of the cosmic snatcher as live productions is off planet we needed to look into locations that look like they're not on earth or just very interacting looking. in order to find some locations I looked into the Kent film office. on the Kent film office website we found several locations that fit what we were going for locations such as caves and beaches. However these locations has some limitations that we could just not work around. the limitations being very tight spaces, as the games for the shoot need quite a bit of room I would just not be possible to fit the gear, set and crew in such as space. another issue withe the cave was the price of it, after looking deeper into it we found out that the locations is around £3000 which was just not in our budget so that idea just had to be scraped. 

Laura recommended Chatham Dockyard as a location for our project. Chatham Dockyard had previously been used by students for free, and because there were a lot of pictures of the dockyard online, we already had an idea of what the location looked like and decided to try and get hold of the location for our project. I began by calling Chatham docyard at the number listed on their website; while speaking with them, I mentioned that we are from Uca and that we have previously worked with them; however, they were only providing us with quotes that were outside of our budget. I eventually got a different contact that I could speak with, so I decided to send them an email, to my surprise I received a response quite quickly and began with trying to book a recce to see what is actually available for us to use, after a little bit of back and forth I finally managed to book in a day for the recce for 9 people inducing myself, those people included Glenn, ruby, Hev, George, joey, Heather, Elise and Vicky, we have 

When we arrived on the day of the recce, we met with Stephen, who gave us a tour of the dockyard and showed us what was available. During the recce, we went to places like slip 3, the tarred yard store, the courtyard, and a few others that were not open to the public. During the reconnaissance, I gathered all of the information we required, such as how we can get power, where we can park, and where all of the toilers are located. During the recce, I took photos of each location to help us decide what rooms we actually want, as well as scans of the rooms to determine exact dimensions and layouts. 

After the recce, it was time to decide which room we wanted to use for the shoot day. After speaking with the group and reviewing the photos, we decided that out of all the rooms we looked at, we wanted to use slip 3 and the tarred yard store for the games. We also needed a room where all the contestants and equipment could be stored during the shoot so that not everything had to be carried around the entire day, and the room that we chose for that was t We all liked the look of the courtyard out of the rooms we saw, but because it has a tin roof, it would be extremely loud if it started raining, which the cameras would pick up on. Now that we had the locations in mind, all we had to do was wait for the cast to be confirmed. Once the cast was confirmed, I contacted Stephen ignorer to get the locations booked for the two dates, but because we didn't receive a response for a while, the locations for those days were booked out or under maintenance. As a result, we had to reschedule the shoot for the 15th of March. Once the date was set, I had to create a map so that everyone would know where to go on the shoot day. On the map, I marked where all of the restrooms, shoot locations, and parking lots are.

On the day of the shoot, I had to be the first one there to direct anyone who arrived and didn't know where to go. As everyone began to arrive, I went off and began inspecting all of the locations to ensure that they were unlocked and ready to go. Once the locations were unlocked for us, we all began moving our belongings into the Edward hall room, where all of the contestants would be seated and the equipment would be stored. In the room, I quickly set up a cloth wall behind which people could change in privacy. During the setup process, I was just making sure that everyone knew where to go and that the locations were all fine and not damaged. When the shoot began, I assigned two people to be location marshals because you don't want people walking around the set during the shoot. I told the front-of-house marshals to direct people and tell them to take an alternate route so they could still see the location and not interrupt the shot. This was done flawlessly on the day, and the shoot went off without a hitch. 

As it was time to move to another set, I made sure that all the equipment was packed away and the place was left clean; all the equipment was loaded into my car because it was a long walk, especially if a tonne of things had to be carried; the shoot at the tarred yard went smoothly; and once the shoot was finished, I made sure that everything was cleared up and the place was left clean. 

Overall my roles as a location manager went smoothly however there very little hiccups like the cancelation of the date which in order made us have to get a new cast, however once the new cast was ready the rest went smoothly.

Set 

Once the set for the live show was built, the shelve that was originally planned to be there was not built due to a lack of time, so I decided to make the shelve for the love show. Mike gave me the measurements for the side of the wall and the size of the eggs that are meant to go into the shelve, and the same day I got home and started measuring out the shavelve onto a piece of plywood and started cutting out the shape and the holes for the eggs. The next day, I took the shelve to uni to make sure the size was correct and the eggs fit. The next step was to paint the shelve and install the brackets. Because I only had a few days to complete it, I began putting it up first thing in the morning of the shoot day, bringing a hand drill and a level to ensure everything looked good. Joey lent me a hand while I was mounting the shelf. 

On the same day, we drilled holes in the set to conceal any visible cables from the mounted television as otherwise it would of ruined the look of the set completely.

During the production I took on the responsibility of going out and buying things for the shoot that were necessary for example paints, googles and even batteries. batteries were necessary to buy because all of the mics that we had were battery powered and there were just not enough batteries at the studios for Bothe the rehearsals and the actually live show shoot, for that I bought several packs of rechargeable batteries which can be used for the rehearsal and also bought a few packs of non reachable batteries for the  final live show shoot so that there is a zero % chance of the battery dung on us mid shoot. 

Pre production roles 

I didn't have much to do after the vts were finished, so I kept myself busy by taking on any roles that were available at the time. One of the main roles I ended up playing was that of a stand-in contestant. This was an interesting experience for me because it was something I had never done before.

Because we had a covid outrage during rehearsal, one of the people in charge of sound counting came in, and as a result, I was setting up the clips mic for a few days. I had done clip much before, so it wasn't new to me, but setting them up in that type of environment was very interesting.

We also switched roles a lot of the days we were rehearsing, and one of those days I decided to try my hand at directing. I had never directed before, so it was a bit nerve racking, but once I got started, it went pretty smoothly and it was something I really enjoyed, though because it was my first time, I did rush a little bit when cutting some of the shots.

VT

During the production of cosmic snatcher, I also worked on all of the ads that were shot, including the cola merchants add, space eggs, and space juice adds. Most of the time, I was just helping out in any way that I could, such as coming up with ideas or setting up lights. One of the ideas I had for the advertisements was to use a turn table to display products such as coal, fire starters, space juice, and space eggs. I brought in an electric turn table, which was ideal for the advertisements. During the Space Juice commercial, I was assisting with the lighting and even holding items for the video such as the bottle for the space juice advert.

Lighting 

During the cosmic snatchers production I was also give the role of lighting as no on was assigned the role at the beginning. Im glad that I was give the role as lighting can play a big part in a production such as cosmic snatcher. during the pre production Uca has purchased a new led light for the studios the nova p300c this is a really interesting as the whole led panel is able to change colour with-ought the use of any gels. the 10x brighter than any led panel Uca has at the moment and it can also be controlled over Bluetooth via the sides link app. as we ere able to get the light quite early on it gave me a change to play about with it and see what you are able to do with it. over the mobile app the nova is able to do a lot more than just with the generic controller, things such as firework mode which cause the light to flicker and change colour, you are able to set the lights on a timer so at a certain point the colour can change, we originally decided to have someone control the nova light during the live shows changing the colour of the light slowly for an interesting effect, however when the new set was built the director decided to have the colour be a nice amber colour through.  for lighting I also set up led strips with the help of George and Kat, we set the led strips on the edge of the entire set to give it some depth and the outcome was really good and in the end it added a lot to the production.  however if done again connectors should be bought in order to connect so we would be able to use more of the strip for the set rather than just half of it. 

NFI. 2022. Location Manager: Everything You Need To Know - NFI. [online] Available at: <https://www.nfi.edu/location-manager/> [Accessed 15 April 2022].

Youtube.com. 2022. [online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R15hkuwxQB4> [Accessed 15 April 2022].

Youtube.com. 2022. [online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JOUyZ9VDqA> [Accessed 15 April 2022].

Kentfilmoffice.co.uk. 2022. - Kent Film Office. [online] Available at: <https://kentfilmoffice.co.uk> [Accessed 15 April 2022].