Success Stories:
Knock First and Rule Partner for a High-Paced Teen Hit
By Rule Broadcast Systems “Knock First” and Rule Broadcast Partner for a High-Paced Teen Hit
By Erin Trahan
Maybe you’ve seen the sleek, silver Airstream “Knock First” trailer trekking from Roxbury, out to the Cape, or parked in your neighbor’s yard in Salem. Hard to miss, it travels with a crew of nearly 100, a camera truck, an art truck, generators and an on-the-fly (but well-disguised) production studio.
Boston-based Scout Productions, producers of the Bravo hit “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” (and the Academy Award documentary feature nominee The Fog of War) is producing two thirty-minute shows of “Knock First” a week in and around greater Boston. The program matches teens with hip, young designers for a friend-filled, parentless, 48-hour whirlwind of room re-design.
In its first week, “Knock First” delivered triple digit increases among teen viewers age 12-17, according to its host network ABC Family. This success prompted an extended production season and further opportunity for Boston media crew and supporting businesses to show their stuff. According to producer C. Fitz, the show benefits from its Boston backdrop, “Boston has a lot to offer, great kids, locations and suburbs of all different flavor. We’ve been in every nook,” she says.
Using local vendors was a priority and Fitz enthusiastically names Rule Broadcast as a significant contributor to the show’s success. Fitz explains how she, co-executive producer Liz Nealon, Rule Broadcast founder and president, John Rule and Rule’s director of sales Tom Talbot, teamed up to create, from the ground up, “a huge post machine that could handle shooting two shows a week, figuring all that out on a cable show budget.” Rule’s leadership and insight influenced technology used for both production and post production. “Knock First” post supervisor Brian Smith raves about Rule’s respect for the demands of delivering two shows a week. And Fitz is convinced that Rule offers all the equipment, and perhaps more importantly, the responsiveness, that no other rental house—anywhere does, under one roof.
One roof that posed a particular challenge was the Airstream trailer/party bus. The Airstream is the show’s unique offering, its interior lined with the signature “KF” lime, orange, and sky blue “colors that pop.” Camera assistant Pat Kelly needed a strategy for shooting inside the narrow vehicle. Contemplating the limited space and challenging angles, he scribbled his thoughts in pencil and crayon, brought it to Rule, and less than a week later Rule devised a plan that was both innovative and within budget.
Viewers can take a virtual tour of the results on the “Knock First” website, complete with Airstream floor plan and bird’s eye views from each of four lipstick cameras. One lipstick hides behind the mirror of the Airstream’s coyly curtained “confessional.” Another lipstick captures the teen and friends in the “lounge,” where the teens “chill-ax” (chill and relax) while playing video games and listening to music; two other lipsticks follow the action and reactions in the “design center”—the place where the plans for the new digs are unveiled. In addition to a network of wireless mics, other recording devices are strategically placed in the vehicle’s ceiling and walls, out of the cameras’ sights.
“Our sound is better than other similar shows largely because of John,” says Fitz. Whereas other reality shows may only have one boom and the talent mic’d, “KF” wanted to record as many as eight conversations at one time. The all-wireless mic system relays sound to an on-location mixer, and to one busy sound editor.
Fitz reports few difficulties but even on the days when her team is stumped, they trust their first call to Rule. “If something goes wrong, their reaction time is immediate,” says Fitz. “Rule has solved any problem as well as helped me find better ways to shoot the show equipment-wise. They’ve been our partners in anything we want to try, and helped develop technology no one has seen before,” she acknowledges.
Forecasting the need to efficiently manage a huge amount of media in post, Rule encouraged “Knock First” to use Avid Technology’s Unity LANshare EX, which houses all their media (with little physical space) and can be accessed simultaneously by the editing and graphics teams. Similar to a network server, Smith thinks this set-up is the single most influential technology suggested by Rule. “We couldn’t produce ‘Knock First’ without it,” he says. Moreover, they couldn’t have deployed the system without Rule’s outstanding customer service. Smith recalls that Rule technicians were on site about 20-30 hours a week the first month, accommodating their needs to have work done at odd hours in order to get the show out the door. Word spread about the success of the system and Scout’s New York division incorporated it into the workflow for “Queer Eye.”
“Having one vendor to source all of our needs eliminates a lot of difficulty,” explains Smith. He echoes the thoughts of fellow crew who are able to focus on creativity and “amping up” the lives of local teens instead of dealing with the details of equipment. “They set me up with a sports car. I just maintain,” laughs Kelly.
When the first and only test shoot arrived, the thermometer surged past 100 degrees. Fitz marvels at how John Rule came out in a suit, “smiling all along.” “You felt supported,” she recalls in earnest. “We wouldn’t have pulled off that day without our collaboration with Rule.” And of their ongoing collaboration? Fitz affirms: “It’s proving to Scout we can do shows of this caliber without leaving New England.”
“Knock First” airs weekdays on ABC Family at 5:30 pm. To tour the Airstream, visit http://abcfamily.go.com/daytime/knockfirst/.
