This week the Media Production Show 2018 took place in London, bringing together creative industries, across multiple genres of television, feature films, documentaries, commercials, music videos, corporate films and more.
We were proud to host two packed-out sessions at the show: The High-End TV Boom, and Directing National Theatre Live. If you weren’t able to make it on Wednesday to see the sessions, you can catch up with all the live-tweets below.
Our first session of the day was The High End TV Boom.
We're in position for our #MPS2018 panel on the High-End TV Boom, starting at 11am at the Keynote Theatre. Follow #DUKBoom for the live tweets! pic.twitter.com/A1avROw8f7
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
And we're off! Our panellists today are @phililowthorpe, @jblakeson, @jimmystrong and @MetinHuseyin. Our moderator is @AdamsLaura. #DUKBoom
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
Philippa Lowthorpe is an award-winning film and television director. She is the first, and the only woman, to have won a BAFTA for Best Director at the BAFTA Television Awards. Her credits include Three Girls, The Crown, Call The Midwife, Jamaica Inn and the feature film, Swallows and Amazons.
J Blakeson is a film director and screenwriter. His feature debut was The Disappearance of Alice Creed, a highly acclaimed kidnap thriller which he wrote and directed. In 2015 J directed The 5th Wave for Columbia Pictures/Sony. In 2017 J directed Gunpowder – a three-part drama mini-series for Kudos productions, BBC One and HBO.
Metin Hüseyin is a Turkish-British television and film director. Hüseyin was BAFTA nominated for his debut film, Tight Trousers, and the series Common as Muck. His credits also include the BAFTA award-winning drama The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, as well as Merlin, Shameless, and Fortitude.
James Strong is a television and film director, best known for his work on Broadchurch, for which he received a Best Director BAFTA nomination, and which won Best Drama Series at BAFTA in 2014. Most recently, he directed and executive produced Liar for ITV and AMC and is currently directing Vanity Fair for ITV and Amazon Studios.
Laura Adams is Head of Member Services at Directors UK and oversees the events and career development offered by the organisation. For over nine years, Laura worked as a film and events programmer at the BFI. Previously on the board of Birds Eye View, Laura is currently on the advisory panel for the London Comedy Film Festival, the F-Rated Brains Trust, and the advisory and editorial panel for Salome magazine for emerging women writers.
Laura introduces the panel and asks how they got into directing High End TV. #DUKBoom
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
Philippa: I think High End is a spurious name - sure it's nomenclature for a tax bracket, but it's also essentially a term for high quality isn't it? #DUKBoom
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
Metin: You know you're making high end from the number of seats you start seeing at video village. #DUKBoom
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
J: There's a pressure, even in high end, to make something that looks twice as expensive as its budget. #DUKBoom
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
Laura asks James how much creative control you have in high end. #DUKBoom
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
James: It depends who you work with, but you tend to have more time in advance of shooting your first block, in order to make the necessary strategic decisions. #DUKBoom
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
Laura points out that as lead director on Call the Midwife Philippa set an overall tone - as she did on Three Girls. #DUKBoom
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
Philippa: That's what I love, creating a world and making those in-depth strategic decisions. I don't really have the experience of hopping onto a project and off again. #DUKBoom
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
It's very exciting to be able to tell a story over a real episodes, like a novel. The stories you can tell in high end are fabulous. #DUKBoom
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
The panellists share their experiences of snobbery from the world of Film towards TV productions. There is a sense that it's in the wane now, though it still exists to some extent. #DUKBoom
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
#DUKBoom pic.twitter.com/uSZOB955Kb
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
Metin: We use fewer lights, but the stuff that comes behind the camera is a lot bigger on digital. That makes it slower on location, for example. The digital shooting however is flexible, you can just use two or three cameras. #DUKBoom
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
The conversation moved to who the panel looked to have in place first when they were about start a series.
Philippa: For me it's the casting director, the DoP and your location manager - you just want an excellent team around you. #DUKBoom
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
And how they began their careers.
Philippa: I was lucky enough to work with people who were willing to give women a chance, there were no female directors around when I started out. #DUKBoom
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
J: I accidentally became a screenwriter for 8 years, and made short films alongside on digital. The momentum didn't build, so I wrote something I could make on a low budget just with my friends. Fortunately, a studio took an interest. #DUKBoom
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
J Blakeson's first feature was The Disappearence of Alice Creed with Gemma Arterton. #DUKBoom
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
Over to the audience for questions. #DUKBoom
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
The panel were asked about the creative implications of incorporating new technology.
J: It's always tempting to use the latest toy at the moment - there's a lot of drone shots at the moment, for example. At the end of the day, it's just about getting it as close as possible to the image you have in your head.#DUKBoom
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
Metin: We use fewer lights, but the stuff that comes behind the camera is a lot bigger on digital. That makes it slower on location, for example. The digital shooting however is flexible, you can just use two or three cameras. #DUKBoom
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
Philippa: I don't think I'm very technological - I've never been taught that stuff! I'm more about working with actors, and I like to be visual. #DUKBoom
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
Philippa: I don't think I'm very technological - I've never been taught that stuff! I'm more about working with actors, and I like to be visual. #DUKBoom
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
An audience member asks about the creative power of the writer in high end. #DUKBoom
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
James: In many ways it's a great thing to keep the writers involved as a creative voice, and often they quite rightly will take the Executive Producer credit. It's quite an American system. #DUKboom
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
Philippa: Peter Morgan is the producer on The Crown and his creativity was a real force. It's always important to have great collaborators, and it was great to have him in the cutting room. #DUKBoom
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
The panel were asked when they bring FX into the production.
J: As early as possible and also it's important to have them on set as much as possible, so they know the ins and outs of what we need. #DUKBoom
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
Metin: I've found on American shows that there's a director's budget and showrunner's budget - my advice for FX companies is to make friends with the showrunner. #DUKBoom
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
And that's a wrap! Thank you so much to everyone who came along. Thank you too to our panellists @phililowthorpe, @jblakeson, @jimmystrong, @MetinHuseyin, and moderator @AdamsLaura for a great discussion. #DUKboom
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
Thanks @Directors_UK Great discussion with some nice insights from these 'High End' Directors today at @mediaprodshow pic.twitter.com/H7hGVzw5AV
— Lorne Guy (@lorneguy) June 13, 2018
In the afternoon, multi-camera director Tim Van Someren spoke to MPS attendees about his experience directing live theatre.
Nearly time for our afternoon #MPS2018 session, "Filming National Theatre Live" with @timvansomeren. Follow #DUKTheatre for the live tweets! pic.twitter.com/CZ50Kazb2w
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
Tim van Someren is one of the UK’s leading multi-camera directors, specialising in directing live music, live theatre, special events, and TV entertainment formats. With over 20 years of experience, he has filmed artists including Paul McCartney, Pearl Jam, PJ Harvey and The Police. Most recently he has been filming productions for The National Theatre, The Donmar Warehouse, the BBC and others. His credits include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Sienna Miller, Danny Boyle’s Frankenstein, Sir Kenneth Branagh’s Macbeth, as well as the acclaimed revivals of Follies and Amadeus. Tim has won numerous awards including the Prix Italia, the Rose D’Or, a Grierson and an RTS, and he has been nominated for a BAFTA, a Broadcast Award, a D&AD and a Cannes Media Lion.
And we're off! Tim starts by pointing out Alan Howard in the audience, who gave Tim his first job at MTV when he was 19. #DUKTheatre
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
Tim shows a clip of him "winging it" while directing a One Direction performance. #DUKTheatre
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
Tim: We're making it up as it goes along, but everyone has a set role to play. Scripted performances like theatre, however, are very different. #DUKTheatre
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
#DUKTheatre pic.twitter.com/aY7bDoijNY
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
Tim: The first question you need to ask yourself when directing a live broadcast is what you want to replicate for your audience. How far do you take it - do you broadcast it in black and white? In one shot? #DUKTheatre
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
Tim shows us an effective camera plot for a traditional theatre performance - but this can obstruct views. To handle this the National Theatre among other places sells clearly-identified filmed performances at a discount. #DUKTheatre
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
When you think about it, camera-scripting for these broadcasts is just backwards editing. #DUKTheatre
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
We watch a clip from a broadcast of Amadeus Tim directed, alongside a script marked with camera queues. #DUKTheatre
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
We watch a clip from a broadcast of Amadeus Tim directed, alongside a script marked with camera queues. #DUKTheatre
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
Tim: Once you've got your camera coverage you can start doing more - you can start using the visual grammar of TV drama. Pick ups and mirror-shots, for example. #DUKTheatre
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
On a normal TV drama set those kinds of shot are simple, but with multi camera these involve a reccie a week in advance with right staff. #DUKTheatre
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
#DUKTheatre pic.twitter.com/jLMzId0L1h
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
Tim: You can really get into the nitty gritty in this line of work. If you're not a bit of a nerd, this might not be for you! #DUKTheatre
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
You get very led by dialogue, because lines are often your cut points. But acting is also about reacting, and you have to really plan to capture that. #DUKTheatre
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
Remember that you have to work with the play's director too, it's their thing and you are at their beck and call.They can really help you on a story too. #DUKTheatre
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
Theatre lighting looks terrible on camera, and on screen (with close ups) wigs hair and makeup are even more important. These are just some extra things to consider! #DUKTheatre
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
You have to think about the audience at all times, you are dictating what they see! #DUKTheatre
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
And that's a wrap! Thank you so much to @timvansomeren for a fascinating talk, and thank you to everyone who came along! #DUKTheatre
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 13, 2018
That was a brilliant session from @timvansomeren about directing live theatre. Thanks to @Directors_UK for organising. https://t.co/jv3MweXh1w
— Steve Smith (@dirstevesmith) June 13, 2018
Thank you to all of our panellists, and to everyone who attended our sessions, or just popped by our booth to say hello. We hope you enjoyed the day as much as we did.
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