Episode 3 Wrap Up

We tried out a lot of new ideas for the Episode 3 and 4 shoot. Here are the ones that seemed to work well:

1.      We set up the studio the evening before.
2.      We made a detailed schedule for every activity we planned for that day
3.      Pieter kept a running log of our actual times so we could compare them with our schedule to see where              we needed to improve
4.      We shot two episodes instead of one so we could get the most out of Kevin’s availability
5.      We assigned Lori Stage Manager duties, which made her the single point of contact for the camera and                 sound crew
6.      We had 2 sound engineers, one to work in the control room and one in the studio for setup and                                 equipment changes
7.      We built breaks and a lunch period for the crew into our schedule—the union have would have loved that!

 Here are the ideas we still need to try out:
1.      Have a data taker write down the highlights of our guests’ comments so we can be better equipped to                  write the Host’s closing remarks
2.      Have 2 shifts of crew rather than asking them to commit to a seven or eight hour shift
3.      Use lower, more comfortable chairs for the Host and guests
4.      Have a production assistant work with the Director to record information on each capture file (subject,                 take, etc.)

Post production had a few improvements as well:
1.      Most transition times are shorter
2.      Song titles appear at the beginning of each performance rather than being introduced by Kevin
3.      Credits are a little more complete
4.      All audio has been “normalized” to -1 db

We’re still tweaking the sound, lighting, camera angles, and furniture, to get the most out of the DMA studio and equipment.

The viewership for Episode 3 has been much lower than the previous episodes. Have we saturated Facebook? Has the novelty worn off? Have we made some mistake or left something out in getting the word out? Lori is doing some in-depth analysis to try and figure it out.

In summary, Episode 3 represents a quantum leap in our procedures, processes, and the overall “look” of the show. In Episode 4, we made some further post production improvements, but Episode 3 represents the biggest change so far.