As Live Production | Factual Programme Research: Top Gear

Top Gear (2002- ) is the most watched factual programme in the world and whilst it focuses on cars and not fashion, it is shot as-live in a studio and is renowned for its high-quality production values - particularly in the editing department.

**Note: I am focusing on episode 1 of season 25 with Chris Harris, Rory Reid and Matt LeBlanc.

Top Gear's studio is a large aircraft hangar, converted into a studio and shoots with a multi-camera setup, including at least one large jib.  Their open studio set-up allows for the standing audience to 'decorate' the backdrop, and allows for some interaction, such as applause, a show of hands and sometimes sharing their input on debate.

The show features a mixture of scripted PTCs and ad lib for discussion on particular cars.  The scripted PTCs, as we would expect are used to lead us between the segments and conclude on what we have seen in the VTs.

Top Gear relies heavily on its VT content as most of the show involves the presenters travelling around various parts of the world in different cars and taking part in challenges.

Editing and vision mixing:

The show begins with a short opening sequence, where we are given teaser shots of cars imposed on a 3D title, which builds up to reveal the iconic logo.  In previous seasons of Top Gear, silhouettes of the three presenters were shown in the titles before we get a brief teaser of what was to come in the show with Jeremy Clarkson providing a voiceover (we still get a teaser of what is to come, but with a PTC from Matt LeBlanc preceding a VT clip with no VO).  It can be argued that Clarkson, Hammond and May were the real substance behind Top Gear and since leaving the show, the series now seems to focus more on the car aspect of the show without relying so heavily on the personalities presenting them.  This could explain why the opening titles no longer feature the silhouettes.

In 'Steal the Style', we will need to work out how much the personalities of our presenters come through in the show and whether they are the driving force or we instead balance the show more towards fashion.

In their typical 'road trip' segments, they usually start with wide and aerial shots of the location before revealing the car and presenter.  In order to create a sense of intrigue, they may start with a shot of the presenter so that the reveal of the car is more surprising or exciting.

Every VT on Top Gear features a voiceover from the presenters, usually narrating what they are doing or to add to the story they are telling.  These come into play with the PTCs which usually lead in from the voiceovers, as if we are being brought in to the car, creating a sense of immersion as the presenters guide us from looking at the car from the outside to experiencing it from the inside.

The music used in Top Gear is always appropriate to the tone of the VT: whether they are doing something fun or information-heavy, the music always fits and adds to the atmosphere of the piece.  The editors frequently cut to the music and adjust the audio levels to beats within the footage, which is very satisfying to watch and gives a rhythmic quality to the footage.

In the 'Old to New' segment for our production, I want to utilise similar styles of editing, by cutting to the music when showing off the outfits.  Top Gear has also made use of the aspect ratio effect I wanted to use as well.

The studio interview segment 'Star in a Reasonably Fast [previously 'Priced'] Car' is ad lib, therefore the vision mixer must judge where to cut.  The vision mixing in the interview is effective in portraying the reactions of the hosts and interviewee.  I will need to do this when mixing for 'Steal the Style'.

We do not see much variety in the studio mixing, the shots are almost all split between cuts, but the VTs are brought in and out with a mix.  This is likely because the studio relies on a lot of speech rather than visuals, like the VTs, and so we likely do not see many interesting cuts in the studio so we are not distracted and can retain what the presenters are saying.  The transitions in the VTs, on the other hand, vary a lot and add work to move us from each shot and scene in a more exciting way.  The transitions in the VTs really contribute to the thrill and excitement of driving.

From watching Top Gear, I have picked up a few things to consider for our studio production and my role as VT editor and Vision Mixer:

• The transitions between shots in the studio should not distract from the content of the show - too much variety would not fit in with this.  This could be different for scripted sequences, for example, the drag act at the end of our show may be able to utilise more creative mixing.
• Interviews require a level of skill to cut at the right moment to capture reactions of the hosts and interviewees.
• The VTs will allow for more creative editing as we will have more time to produce them, but they must also be consistent with the quality of the rest of the show.
• Switching shots around can be useful to provide a 'reveal' - as we saw this with the reveal of the different vehicles in Top Gear, but this could potentially work with items of clothing in Steal the Style.