http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KineBP2gbXY
If you only watch C31 Melbourne & Geelong when 31 Questions is on, you wouldn’t realise they actually run our promo constantly for the other 23 and a half hours of the day.
Lucky it’s fantastic.
Kind regards,
David M. Green
Pro-promo.
31 Questions S2E02 aired on C31 Melbourne & Geelong on Saturday 3 August 2013. Could we have conjured a more “game showy” picture than the one in the above YouTube preview image?
If so, I’d like to see it.
Anthony McCormack did a sensational job editing/booty-shaking this one. And I love his Don Bradman gag. Sequentially, this was actually the third episode we shot for this season, and from memory there were quite a lot of problems that night. So it’s good to see it wasn’t a complete write-off (like the first two!).
Other 31Q things…
Thursday evening marked my first time on Melbourne radio station 3AW. I had a chat with Philip Brady, Simon Owens and John Blackman about the show (mainly mine, not so much theirs). Both John and Simon have made appearances on 31 Questions. Their episodes are coming up in the next few weeks.
Amazingly in this media-saturated modern world of ours, the 3AW webcam video of my interview was on YouTube within minutes. Saves me uploading the audio myself. Check it out (stay watching right til the end to see some innovative signaling from the panel operator):
Here’s an interesting bit of news. I was about to reveal it on 3AW before getting sidetracked, but in our upcoming fifth episode – which was actually the sixth one we taped and will air in Melbourne on August 24 – not only is that the episode John Blackman makes an appearance, but the dude contestant that week is Rohan Zorz, who just Monday entered the Big Brother house as a “latecomer” contestant on Channel Nine!?!
I find this all very bizarre. Usually Big Brother contestants appear on game shows AFTER they’re kicked out of the house.
Read Rohan’s profile on the Big Brother website (if you dare visit a reality television website).
Unfortunately, a cursory glance at the #BBAU tweets shows a general hatred of Rohan. Exactly how this legion of teenage girls with anti-Rohan agendas will affect 31 Questions is yet to be fully understood.
And lastly, due to repeated requests for fabulous 31 Questions merchandise, I’ve set up an online store on Big Cartel. Check out our NEW 31 Questions 31-Stop Shop!
At the moment, we’ve got the classic DMG mug for sale for the reduced price of $20. We’re working on some new designs, so keep checking to see what we’ve got in stock. All proceeds will go towards the future of 31 Questions (there’s already been talk of a third season 😉 ).
See you Saturday for Ep 3.
Kind regards,
David M. Green
Still not going to watch Big Brother.
Losing the master tape for our second episode turned out to be the best thing that’s happened to us during the course of making 31 Questions Season 2. Tired and irritated, we went back into the studio with an audience one more time on 13 May 2013 to re-shoot the lost episode. It could not have gone better.
Allow me to give you a quick tour of the set:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clnyyD-_btI
I used the best questions and material from our first two episodes to make a kind of “super episode”. And as it was the absolute last chance for the foreseeable future to see a taping live, we had a fantastic crowd. Much better than the one we’d had when we taped it the first time round. Damn Comedy Festival.
As we were re-using questions, this did mean we’d need some fresh contestants. And Declan and Lisa were fantastic.
I’d felt a little disconnected from the show the last couple of weeks and I was concerned about my performance. The original plan was to get rough edits of the episodes done before taping the next one. But once again, logistical issues prevented that from working as efficiently as we’d like.
Though plenty of people were telling me “hey, you were great” (#humblebrag), the only way I know how to access my on-camera performance is by watching the footage back myself. Anthony managed to get a couple of short clips from the raw footage up on a private YouTube link the night before, so I could at least check out some of it.
It’s amazing how bad habits can creep in if you don’t continually self-evaluate. And just like my golf swing, I think my posture had gradually degraded over the course of the season. But I fixed it for this episode. I think.
And that’s the beauty of this redux. Undoubtedly our finest episode will be the first one that goes to air, and – if the YouTube views for Season 1 are anything to go by – quite possibly the only episode a lot of people will watch. Better it be the best one.
There was a bit of TV magic in the studio that night. We were given an absolute gift from above during the “Complexity” round. We’d done this round during the Episode 2 taping, and it was quite well received the first time, so we kept it exactly the same for the re-shoot. A lot of the “gag rounds” are still legitimate game show rounds, where actual points are fairly and squarely earned. Not this round. It’s essentially a sketch.
The gag is the round is so complicated, it doesn’t make any sense. So at the start, Anthony reveals a huge rule book and insists on reading all the rules. He also pulls out a brand new candle. We were planning on doing a jump cut to simulate the passage of time, and come back to Anthony reading from the END of the book and the big candle has burnt all the way down.
But to set this up, Anthony actually had to light the candle first on camera. He’s really dragging it out, and I’m telling him to hurry up. But when it was time to actually light the candle, Anthony for the life of him just could not light the thing.
The audience was starting to giggle, and after about a minute, Anthony finally got the candle burning. But it was the tiniest flame. And after about 10 seconds, a line of smoke streamed from the wick, indicating the flame had gone out. The audience just lost it. You could not have scripted it.
And I’m there looking irritated, but all the while thinking, “Oh thank you. Thank you God.”
I’ve now seen the rough cuts for all the episodes. They’re all pretty good. A couple of them are amazing. Of course, I am extremely biased.
This week, we did something that most community TV shows don’t bother to do: We had a dedicated studio date just for pick-up shots. And I’ll tell you why most shows don’t do this: Because it’s a pain in the arse. But we really want 31 Questions to be the poster child of low budget television. So we knew we had to do it.
After going through the rough cuts, Anthony and I compiled a list of 15-20 things that would benefit from being re-shot. They were mostly due to audio problems, but there were also a few bits of footage that we just didn’t have, even on the iso-recordings, eg. shots of the score board at critical times.
So we went back in the studio on Monday May 27 with a skeleton crew (not actual skeletons) and set up half the set. We were also planning on shooting some prize footage for our “prizes” at the start of each episode (this is a Season 2 addition). But the pick-ups took longer than we thought, as is usually the case with making TV. So we’re still not done yet. But we’re close. So, so close.
We’re currently exploring options to shoot this prize footage outside the heavily in-demand RMITV studio.
Our first episode of Season 2 is due to air on Channel 31 Melbourne & Geelong at 8.30PM, Saturday July 20. TVS Sydney, 31 Digital Brisbane, 44 Adelaide and Face Television New Zealand have all said they’re keen to air Season 2.
We’re still waiting to hear back from WestTV Perth. I’ll have air dates for all of these cities & NZ soon. But they’ll be on YouTube shortly after they air in Melbourne.
Subscribe to the 31 Questions YouTube Channel, if you haven’t already.
We’ve just about reached the end of the “production” stage of 31 Questions Season 2. We got off to a shaky start, but there’s some real magic this year. I’m proud of my team. I’m proud of how we got it done. And I’ll be proud of the finished product.
I don’t know about you, but 31 Questions is the kind of TV show I actually want to watch.
Kind regards,
David M. Green
Content maker.
Monday May 6, same bat studio, we taped our 31 Questions season finale. It was a slightly bizarre finale because it wasn’t our final taping. We were back on May 13 to re-shoot the season opening episode. But we treated Ep 8 like it was our last, farewell speeches, balloons and all.
My Mum even flew over from Adelaide to join the studio audience. She’s been watching on YouTube and 44 Adelaide but she’d never seen the show live before. She reportedly said the show was “very nice”.
This is probably the only photo I have of me and Mum where I’m the one wearing the most make up.
I’ve always said you don’t need money to make a great TV show. Assuming you can find a crew who are willing to work for free. And using the equipment is free. And you don’t mind eating rice. And you know someone who can get you a lot of free rice.
Have I told you about this great crew we got?
Every week they come in, set up and operate the equipment required to make a television show. They do an outstanding job. And they do it all for free.
Like Matt Dunham, the undisputed master of lighting:
And leading the studio crew this season are producers Jess May and Riyana Kasmawan, with the outstanding direction of Antonio Cafasso.
They’re doing things to make this show I don’t even know about or understand.
They’re all right in my book.
…which is why I gave them the attention they deserve at the rundown meeting prior to shooting.
Have I told you about our studio audience?
They’re the wonderful people who’ve braved the cold week after week to come sit in the adequately comfortable RMITV chairs and watch low budget game show television in the glorious standard definition of real life
And the last couple of shows, we’ve had some really lovely people come along. They laugh. They clap. They eat all the lollies. Some of them have even come to more tapings than some of our crew members. Spot Michael Doyle:
And again:
At the season finale, fan Mayumi Nobetsu popped by. She couldn’t stay for the studio audience, but she gave Anthony, Sophie and me bouquets of flowers because it was our last show!
I was very touched, though also not quite sure what to do with them, as I am currently not a vase owner. This was the flower situation one week later:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1clLXvFybs
As for the actual show taping part of the night, I can’t remember much. It’s all a bit of a blur. Here are some photos:
Did I mention Channel 31 Melbourne & Geelong have given us our time slot?
Debuting Saturday 20 July 2013, 31 Questions Season 2 will air at the upgraded time of 8.30PM Saturdays for at least 6 weeks (possibly 7 – I’ll keep you updated).
That’s 90 minutes earlier than last year’s time slot! We peaked at 22,500 viewers when we were on at 10PM. I wonder what our ratings will be like this year…
I’ve also contacted the other TV stations that aired Season 1. So far, TVS Sydney, 44 Adelaide and Face Television New Zealand have all said they’re keen to broadcast our second season soon after the episodes air in Melbourne. But we’ll also be uploading the episodes to YouTube straight after they air on Channel 31.
Still waiting to hear back from West TV Perth and 31 Digital Brisbane.
Have I told you about Dean Watson? That’s him on the right, next to Antonio:
As one of the writers, Dean’s written hundreds of questions for the show. He’s also been a producer for Season 2, and has done a lot of work behind the scenes, organising our new logo, sending out press releases and looking into sponsorship.
By the way, we have yet to find a sponsor for the show. We’re allowed to sell a small amount of television advertising on Channel 31. If you’re interested in sponsoring 31 Questions, give us an email: 31questions@davidmgreen.com and we can talk.
A great finale for a great season. In fact, it was by far the best season finale this season.
So much so, Anthony gave the audience one of his trademarked Italian-style hand gestures where the fingers explode from the mouth:
We were back in the studio on May 13 to re-shoot the episode we lost to a tape malfunction a few weeks ago. And that really was our final taping for the year. I’ll tell you all about it when the photos arrive.
Have I told you about photographer James Sablinskis?
He’s absolutely sensational.
Kind regards,
David M. Green
I didn’t think I’d live this long.
A wise man once told me breakfast time last Friday that the 6th episode is usually when a TV show hits its stride. He was proved right once again with OUR 6th episode, which was laid down on tape Monday, 22 April 2013.
We were honoured to have veteran TV and radio performer JOHN BLACKMAN in the studio, who I fondly remember from a childhood spent watching “Hey, Hey It’s Saturday!” and my teenage years listening to the breakfast show on Adelaide’s Triple M (on the rare occasion I woke up before 9am).
DMG Fun Fact! I did actually have my clock radio defaulted to Triple M circa 2002 (when chart music started not doing it for me any more) until 2007 when “Get This” was taken off the air. Except for that period in 2003/04 during that weird format switch with SAFM. But that’s another rant.
John popped up several times throughout the episode. He also brought Dicky Knee and I got to do some schtick with him! It’s quite bizarre being on the OTHER SIDE of Dicky Knee. I have a whole new level of respect and sympathy for Daryl Somers, who really was just at the mercy of John Blackman.
We also had a huge studio audience turnout this week. Maybe 30 people (including my sister Hannah all the way from Adelaide!). And a couple of dozen people in that little RMITV studio makes for a great atmosphere.
John Blackman, what a pro. And what an absolute pleasure to work with. We had his segments roughly scripted, but there was room to ad lib and go with the flow. He added a bunch of extra gags on the fly. Just wonderful. The way television should be.
Have I thanked Antonio for setting this one up? I haven’t? Does the question count as a thank you? Urgh… Big thanks to our fabulous director and media industry player Antonio Cafasso for arranging for Mr Blackman’s 31Q cameo!
And, unbelievably, John Blackman had such a great time on 31 Questions he actually called 3AW on his drive home and gave us a plug! He even called me a “honey”.
At least I think that’s what he said…
Hear for yourself, audio courtesy of 3AW:
[display_podcast]
Bruce Mansfield on 31 Questions next… what do you think?
Aside from Mr Blackman, the rest of the show went splendidly. Two more upstanding contestants. Great crowd. Great crew. Gags aplenty. Flushing things down the toilet (literally). You know, the usual.
That’s most of the team down there. Best in community television.
Reminder, you can join us in the studio this Monday 29 April for our next taping!
Join the event on Facebook, or materialise 8.30PM:
Studio A, Level 2, Building 12
RMIT University
on Melbourne’s fabulous Swanston Street
(near the corner of Franklin Street)
See you there, then and who!
Kind regards,
David M. Green
Honey to work with.