Planning

Planning

My cooking show needs a name to give this sense of a long running show. The Name has to link to a food theme but I am not going to include the chef's name in the title as I am currently finding the chef. I believe as This one show that I am going to shoot has no context then it would be a good idea to have the name link with that 'episodes' theme. The idea of a quick to make hot meal is what I am going for. 

Possible ideas :

Kitchen Cabinet meals - The idea with this name is that you are able to find the everyday ingredients in your own kitchen cabinet and make them right away.

Quick Kitchen - Idea that it is made in a manor that is perfect time for those who are busy.

Quick kitchen as a title appeals to me as it is very simplistic and well memorable.

For the meal the best thing to do would be to get someone who is capable of cooking a meal and that can demonstrate how to make it in a simple and comprehensive way.

Planning document for shoot  v1

v2

Audio set-up

For audio I believe the best thing to have on my chef is a radio mic. The issue with using a boom microphone on the camera Is that the ambient noises as well as the noises of cooking tools and food will be combined with the dialogue so it may be unclear at points and they will not be able to be split apart so gaining audio in one section will heighten the ambience as well. By using a radio mic there will be clear dialogue and then the audience feels more engaged as it is clearer. I can then alter the audio without it effecting the sound in the background. So at points where dialogue is very important for explaining how to create the meal then I could add audio gain or lower the gain on the other microphones.

Treatment

Show fades in to a medium shot of the chef straight on, talking to the camera about what he is going to make. 

When he talks about the ingredients he is going to use it will cut to a medium close up of all the ingredients and the chef will point at what is what as he lists them.

Cut back to the straight on shot and the chef will begin explaining when this meal is perfect for and how easy it is to make.

The second camera is introduced here and it cuts to the medium shot to the chef which is left of the centre to him. (Second camera being used for medium shot and close ups).

The third camera will be a Go-pro mounted above the hob to have a top down view on the food as well as the prep. It will allow you to see ingredients In the pans so you can see the process of the food cooking easier.

Character Breakdown

The characters in my cooking show will be the Chef and the food tester. These are the only two people needed otherwise it will be overloaded and will become possibly a chat show.

Visual elements

For the lighting I am going to use additional Lighting so I can have my chef be very clear in the frame.

L.E.D,  DADO, REDHEAD 

Kelvin -273°C = 0° kelvin

Warm candle 1000K - orange/red

Cool blue sky 10,000K - White

Camera Movement

With camera movement, Some cameras will be locked for example the Go-pro doing the top down shot. Camera 1 will be moving with the chef. If they were to move along the kitchen then the camera will track them. Camera 1 is the main tool for the chef to talk to so the camera needs to have them in the centre of the frame. Camera 2 which is focusing on the ingredients and then will interchange to a medium close up so you can see the chefs hands during prep. The close-up on the ingredients allows you to see what exactly is being used to create the meal. It can also capture a really good quality shot of the cutting of ingredients. 

Editing

The pace of my edit is going to be at the rate shown on BBC Saturday Kitchen as my chef will convey a lot of information for those that aren't great cooks and need that extra help.

Setting

I am going to be setting the cooking show In a Kitchen. It's clearly appropriate as it where meals are made so I am going to use the hob as well as the other areas of the kitchen for ingredients and prep. This kitchen will have a variation of ingredients around it, Some not linked to that of the meal, But It just adds to that sense of a cook with knowledge and a sensible kitchen. 

Props, Costume

For my Chef's attire I believe the best clothing would be smart-casual. It wouldn't be appropriate to wear a chef's attire (Chef White's) as it then gives the audience this sense that the meal is being made by a professional so they then put off as they feel like they will not be able to make it due to their cooking experience. I will keep it like that of Saturday kitchen and Jamie Oliver. 

For props there are certain items that I can scatter in the shot, possibly a knife block or other kitchen instruments to give it a more homely feel. Ingredients, Saucepans, Pans, Plates, utensils etc.

Sound

For sound I am going to be capturing the audio from the chef with a radio microphone stated before why. With the sounds of food prep I have watched several cooking shows for research and the sounds of the pan sizzling and other aspects of the cooking is very prominent however when cutting ingredients for prep it doesn't have to be very prominent. Due to this I am going to use the audio from the radio mic or possibly add Foley to make it more clear. It is possible to find FX online to add. It will give the production more aspects so things don't feel left out. Foley is a good addition to the sound as it will be hard to capture the sound with enhancing the audio gain and then the ambience would be clear which would cause issues. Or I could place a Microphone as close to the cooking without it being in frame.

Constraints / Limitations

A possible problem would be if something was to occur during the cooking and it was to be cooked incorrectly however the person cooking has experience so the chance of it occurring is very low. The room is also in use so it will need to be quieter for my recording which means waiting for a while but it allows me to run through what will happen during the show and setting it up.

Budget

This shoot is a one day shoot and will not last multiple days so the hiring of equipment will be for only a day. The equipment that I would have to hire is 3 camera's ( 2 Studio camera and a Go-pro), 2 tripods, Radio microphone, Microphones. The additional costs of ingredients, gas, electricity isn't being accounted for.

For the other costs there would be the cost of the ingredients. The ingredients cost Approx £6.

The price for travel is £0 due to the college providing passes that allow free travel.

Tripods cost on average £30 to hire for a day. Total for tripods = £60

The price of camera's of standard that I will be using are on average £130. Total for Camera's = £260

The Price for average Go-pro is £30 So for a daily hire it would be £30.

For a Radio Microphone the Price is £25 for a daily hire - £25

For a recorder of the standard the college provides it would be £12 for a daily hire. Both the Studio camera's will have recorder for backup audio and then the audio will pick up certain things easier - £24

Total - Approx. £399

Dry Hire

With the Dry hire they would only provide the space to film, However it would mean having to pay for the gas during cooking. I believe that the cons on this shoot outweigh the pros.

Wet Hire

This hire for me would work better as the head of hospitality is allowing me to use the Kitchen for free. I am not being charged by the use of the stove (gas) so This ''Venue'' is providing these additional costs for me.

Equipment list

Shown above the equipment I need is - 3 Camera's ( 2 studio, 1 Go-Pro )
                                                               2 Tripods
                                                               1 Go-pro stand / Sticky suction surface
                                                               3 SD Cards
                                                               1 Radio microphone
                                                               2 Microphones
                                                               Other Additional items for cooking - ingredients

Audience    (Demographic)

For my audience I am aware that I am going to be aiming for the ages of 17-23. This is due to the percentage of viewers on the network Channel 4. I am going to be creating this cooking show as if it is going to be shown on that network. The lifestyle of the audience is aiming towards students. They may be in accommodation and they will have spare time to devote to cooking.

Change in idea for how my cooking show will run October 31st 

For my cooking show I am not going to include the section where there are guests that try the food as I feel like the audience doesn't need validation as there is a professionally trained chef cooking the food. This idea of the food trying was taken from BBC Saturday kitchen but in that show the food is given to celebrity figures so I believe the show aims to interview these people and talk about what they have going on. However my show is going to be closer to that of Jamie Olivers 15 minute meals where is is quite simple in explaining how the meal is made. The thing that I am going to take from BBC Saturday kitchen is having longer times spent on one shot where usually the pace of Jamie Oliver's show is very fast it will be hard to have my chef do this if they haven't tried a quick explanation before. My show will have cuts that skip over time but it will be very hidden and not make you feel like you have missed a step. The idea is to keep the audience feeling that they can follow the steps and not feel rushed. The idea of keeping shots held for longer will work better for me as I do not have as good of production as Jamie Olivers set with an many camera's so If I was to cut a lot then it would mean it would become obvious I do not have a lot of different shots. The difference with Saturday kitchen is that they do not have a lot of camera's and they hold shots for longer.

Meeting Jonathan Boyall

Jonathan Boyall is The head of the hospitality course here at college and he was very helpful in allowing me to get ready for this cooking show. I am going to get a recipe that Jamie Oliver has provided in a 15 minute meal basis. There are several recipes on the Jamie Oliver website that I can take from. The amount of pasta recipes is very large so I can select which one depending on the difficulty of the recipe and how appetising it looks (shown below). 

The ingredients will have to be sourced by myself otherwise it would mean that ordering the ingredients in will take a large amount of time and I do not have a week spare to wait. I will therefore select a dish that doesn't require too many ingredients and that also is affordable for both me as well as the students that this dish will be intended for. I now have the contact of a cook to help me with the process of cooking. He is going to choose a student that will be able to cook with finesse and give a comfortable informational dialogue to the audience.

Selected meal

This meal is a perfect thing to cook as it is very aesthetically appetising and can be made within 15 minutes. on the difficulty scale it is super easy to make so the chance of having a problem during the cooking isn't going to happen. Although the chef is trained I don't want to have multiple sections of cooking going on with a lot of ingredients that would fill the table and create this need for the cameras to be constantly changing shot when there are only 3 cameras with a limited amount of space. With the pasta being cooked that can be on in the background as the sauce is being made. As there are two elements to the cooking it allows for more content and therefore less time waiting for the food to be cooked.

Planning documents

Location Recce