Working with the SARC Video Team

The idea of leaving university to head out into the real world was something that was extremely daunting to me as it occurred to me at some point over the summer that it would be my first time outside of education since I was 4 years old. This is not to say I am scared of leaving, I am excited to do something new and different but I did fear I was not ready to enter the workplace.

It was around this time I was applying for placements for my 3rd year at University. I became aware of a placement opportunity at the Sonic Arts Research Centre (SARC) at Queens University to become a member of their media team, seeing as I have attended several of my classes at SARC and knew most of the staff that worked in the building I felt that this opportunity was ideal for me as not only could I gain experience in my desired field but I could do so flexibly alongside university.

I was lucky enough to gain a spot on the SARC media team alongside 10 other class mates of mine. My role is specifically in the video team our main job as a team is to set up, record and live stream weekly concerts that take place throughout Queens. This role could not have been more perfect for me as I would be able to put some of the skills I had learned throughout my time at Queens into a real world environment. I had always loved the technical side of my course as a Broadcast Production student and had developed quite a love of music and sound throughout my time at university so the focus on concerts from a range of musicians and genres was great to me!

It is through my initial experience in the SARC video team that has taught me the importance of critical reflection. Kathleen McMillan states “reflective behaviour is regarded as a key aspect of continuing professional development” (20) In order to develop as a worker I plan to use this blog to reflect on my experiences with the SARC video team using Gibbs reflective model.

Description – My first concert was for a series of concerts titled Beethoven 251 and featured two young musicians playing both violin and piano. My role in this concert was to set up the cameras appropriately so we had the best shots and angles for both musicians as well as making sure the cameras were performing optimally, I was also given the role of vision mixer meaning I was in control of what the audience could see when the concert was being live streamed.

Feelings- I certainly felt the pressure when setting up the cameras for the live stream as well as I wanted everything to be lit perfectly and have the best angles and shots possible. The pressure only increased when I was given the role of vision mixing, something I had not done before but I tried my best to remain focused during the stream. Although I felt pressure and stress I also felt excitement as I was trying something new and actually found comfort in the fact it was the rest of the Video Teams first day so we all took these nerves and used it to become more focused and determined.

Evaluation- As the musicians took to the stage we realised we had not discusses or asked where they would be positioned, this meant all our hard work in the morning was rendered useless! As the musicians were being blocked by each other and by their music stands. Although this presented an issue as vision mixer I was able to instruct the camera operators to move and adjust their cameras accordingly in order to fix the issue and actually felt that through this process (despite the stress) we actually got better shots than we had originally.

Analysis- Overall I felt our main issue came from our general lack of experience. There was simply things we didn’t know to ask and it resulted in a bit of a rocky start. Although through this we discovered the value of working hard as a team and the value of good communication as we were able to quickly fix the issue.

Conclusion- When reflecting back on our first live stream I am proud of it as it was an important moment for me as it was the first live streamed concert I had ever done as well as my first time vision mixing. This experience has also allowed me to brush up over my camera skills that had definitely faded over the summer but the first concert and the ones that have followed have allowed me to feel confident as a camera operator and now as a vision mixer to.

Action Plan – When approaching concerts now we are a lot more considerate of the musicians placing and the fact that they frequently move on stage. We now factor this in when setting up the cameras and allow them to be in more flexible positions that can move easily if required. ‘When you are live and in vision, nothing else can be happening in your life except your story.’ [Peter Stewart, Ray Alexander 370] I found this to be true when vision mixing, especially with live streaming music. I have found that in order to produce the best stream you have to allow yourself to get into the rhythm of the music and allow the camera to match the said rhythm by doing this and seeing stronger results I was able to become much more confident in my ability which I strongly feel has improved my work in the SARC media team.

So far I have been having a very positive experience with the SARC video team, I feel that I am developing my skills and gaining more and more confidence in myself and my abilities each week. I feel I have been able to use my lack of knowledge and experience and turn those into something positive and use these mistakes to fuel my determination to make each concert better and better.

Im starting to feel less scared about leaving university to enter the workplace as I have strong experience and skills in my back pocket and this is only the beginning.

Bibliography –

Gibbs, Graham. Learning by Doing: A Guide to Teaching and Learning Methods. FEU, 1988

McMillan, Kathleen. How to Improve Your Critical Thinking & Reflective Skills. Pearson Education, 2013.

Stewart, P. and Alexander, R., 2016. Broadcast journalism. 7th ed. New York: Routledge.