'AS LIVE' PRODUCTION: Rehearsals with the presenters

Today we had the first rehearsal with the presenters. As we didn't have our contributors or models for this rehearsal, we asked Nisserin and Becca to be our stand ins. Myself and Melissa made sure everyone had the current version of the script (version 3) before we began rehearsing. Once everyone was set up within their roles, we began rehearsals. 

Myself and Melissa were out on the floor and in the gallery at different points during the day. I wanted to be on hand on the floor incase there were any issues with the script or anything that needed to be clarified about the running of the production. However, I also wanted to make sure I was on hand in the gallery so that I could keep an eye on the timings for each section. As producers, we will be in the gallery on transmission day so I want to get into good practice of being in there during rehearsals.

Part of mine and Melissa's job as producers is to communicate with the talent and keep them on board and happy with the project. At the end of the rehearsal we went over to the presenters to ask them how they felt the day went. We also used this as an opportunity to find out if they had any feedback on the script or if they wanted any vocabulary changed to suit them better. Adeline wanted one part of the Steals of the Season script changed from "black block boots from boohoo" as this was proving to be a bit of a tongue twister. I will change this on the script as well as any other feedback they provide through email. Once we had checked they were happy with the rehearsal, we escorted them to the exit.

We then went to the base room to have a de briefing. Overall I was very happy with how the rehearsal went. The script works really well and the presenters seem to be happy with it. I am happy that we got to block out all the sections and that they seem to be working how we visualised them, however, I would have liked to get a complete run through of the show which we didn't manage to do. As we have blocked through each individual section, we should be able to get a few full run throughs of the show in the next rehearsal.

Before the next rehearsal, myself and Melissa will refine the script and make the necessary changes. We will make changes to the dialogue to make it more conversational and also liaise with the production manager / assistant producer about the running order to make sure it works well with the scripted content.