We were back in the studio on Monday 18 March for the first taping of 31 Questions Season 2.
It was the first time since 17 May last year that we entered the studio with the intent of actually taping an episode, so I was a little rusty. And with some new faces on the team and a few changes to the format, it was a bit of a bumpy start.
Last year, we were fortunate enough to have the studio for 8 hours at a time, which meant we could shoot 2 episodes in one go. This year however, the fabulous RMIT University studio is in high demand, so we’re only able to get 5 hours. And that’s just not enough time to set everything up, pack everything away AND shoot two episodes. For starters, you wouldn’t do it in that order. Obviously you’d leave the packing up til the end. But my point is we’re forced to shoot just the one episode per week.
But this has turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Although it’s going to take us more weeks to finish our 8-episode schedule, we can focus more attention on each episode. There were a few times this week where something didn’t quite work as well as I thought it could, and we actually had time to go back and do it better. There were many times during season 1 where we were in a similar situation, but we had to push on because we just didn’t have the time.
It’s amazing, show business. You wait for months to find out whether it’s all going ahead. You spend weeks preparing everything and waiting to do it. Then it all happens at once and it’s all over in a flash of lights. But it’s all worth it.
Once again we’ve got an outstanding crew who are all working for free. We’ve also got a new director, Antonio Cafasso, and under his direction we’re making much better use of the studio.
We’re now using five cameras, up from just four last year. And best of all we’ve got a crane shot this season. From what I’ve seen on the monitors, it looks sensational. I don’t think there are too many opportunities in Australia, let alone the world, to have free reign in a television studio with such amazing equipment. But hey, that’s RMITV and it’s why I moved to Melbourne.
Antonio has also worked out how to “iso-record” on the important cameras, which last year we were told was “impossible”. So if crucial vision is missed during the taping due to the switcher (also Antonio, by the way) taking an alternate camera feed, we still have a back-up on a separate tape.
TV production, folks. Fascinating!
As for the content of the show, it’s mostly the same. But in a nutshell, there’s more of the stuff that worked. And less of the stuff that didn’t. We’re putting the focus on the “game” aspect of the show. And building our comedy around that. There were some things we needed to get out of our system (eg. man wearing a dress, guy getting a pie in the face, etc.) and that’s what a first season is for. But now we’ve got the rare opportunity to shoot a second season. So it’s time to step it up a notch.
We’ve changed the opening sequence. Established new running gags and jokes around the set. Expanded Sophie’s role on the show, because she’s damn talented. The scoreboard looks like a scoreboard now, instead of a whiteboard. We’ve got two new producers who are working on important things behind the scenes. New graphics (Also Antonio. Also amazing). And new theme music (which is fantastic, by the way).
We’ve also altered the rules in some of the segments. In “Word on the Street”, contestants can now buzz in anytime, rather than having to wait until the vox-pop video finishes playing. This is how this segment should be run. The only reason we did it the other way last season was because we were told (by someone no longer with the show) there was a technical reason preventing us from doing it. Antonio found a way.
With the movie quote round, renamed to “The One Where They Quote The Movies”, Anthony, Sophie and I are now acting out three group scenes, instead of three individual quotes and one group scene. Like I said, more of the stuff that worked. Less of the stuff that didn’t.
But I can assure you, it’s still the same old 31 Questions 😉
We’re also putting a greater emphasis on quality control. If there’s one thing I hate about community TV, it’s people who say: “Oh well, it’s just community TV” as if that’s an excuse for the show being crap.
I don’t believe you need a lot of money to make a good TV show or a funny TV show. Sure, money helps in the sense you can use it to hire the best people and use the best equipment. And it means you can work on the show without having to worry about how you’re going to pay your bills. But if you throw a hundred thousand dollars at a crap idea, it’s still going to be crap.
This season, I’ve allowed more back and forth with the team of writers and more rounds of drafts. I have the unique privilege of being host, head-writer AND producer. This is generally unheard of in Australian television. It basically means I have final say over what’s in the script, what I say on the show and how the show works. So I’m not wasting this power (because I may never get this opportunity again). I’m using it to make sure the show is the best, the funniest it can be.
We’ve had more production meetings and a proper table read, which we didn’t do last year. And we are going to be brutal in the editing room. Firstly, we’re hoping to shoot eight episodes but only air the best six on TV. So the weakest two shows won’t be broadcast. And the other six are going to have every aspect questioned: “Does this need to be in the show?”
I want 31 Questions to be the show RMITV is remembered for.
Thanks also to our wonderful studio audience who came down to see our first Season 2 taping. It was great to see my old friend from Adelaide, Voice-Over’s Tim Wray in the audience, as well as a few people who don’t know anyone involved with the show – just fans. That’s great. It’s a reminder the show is actually beamed “out there” where anyone can see it. The next studio audience opportunity is tomorrow night for Ep 2.
8.15PM, Level 2, Building 12 of RMIT University on fabulous Swanston Street, Melbourne. RSVP to the event of Facebook if you’d like to join us. It’s free! Oh come on, have a laugh.
Surplus David M. Green & Moderator Mugs are also available for $20.
See ya round like a record.
Kind regards,
David M. Green
Beats watching Q&A
