Have you ever wondered what happens behind the scenes of a Live TV program? Geopop was curious to find out, and so he did a tour behind the scenes of the X Factorone of the largest and most followed television productions in Italy. For those who aren’t following it, in each episode of the musical talent show – broadcast every Thursday since October 24th on Sky – 12 contestants take to the stage to compete by performing live, guided by the 4 judges (Manuel Agnelli, Jake la Furia, Paola Iezzi and Achille Lauro) who support them during the competition. During each episode one or more contestants are eliminated, until the last episode in which the winner is elected.
In this video we would like to show you everything you can’t see. Behind the theater a “citadel” is created which contains all the creative departments of the program (rehearsal room, tailoring, creative and production offices and much more), but also what happens in the studio, but which the cameras don’t film: the changes on stage in just a few moments, the play of lights, the music, and everything that makes this program unique.
The world behind the scenes: who and what is behind the scenes of the X Factor
Behind the theater that hosts the contestants, judges and audience of the X Factor there is a microworld, the “citadel”. We are talking about a set of containers that house the many departments that work 24 hours a day for the seven weeks of the edition. Oh yes, because at the end of each episode the planning of the next episode begins immediately!
Every performance starts from here, and precisely from artistic direction. Maria met Laccio, who together with Shake holds the strings of the artistic direction and who told us that what we see does not arise by chance. The creativity behind the performances arises from the judges’ assignments, and is like tailoring work for each song. The ideas of the artistic direction then involve all the other creative units in cascade.
In fact, we move on to tailoringled by costume designer Maria Sabato, who told us how for each episode dozens of costumes are prepared based on the requests of the specific episode. We must think that these are not banal clothes, but real stage costumes and it is not always easy to find some details necessary for a particular performance. Just think, Sabato’s team produces from 20 to 100 dresses for the same episode, and for the last episode they even double!
The props, or the scenography. Under the direction of set designer Paola Spreafico, the different elements that will define the performance of each performance are created for each episode.
For this reason, a “Rundown” is drawn up, i.e. a schedule per second Where everything that happens during a performance is marked in extremely precise times to be followed during The Live“.
What happens on stage: between coordination and backline
We have finally arrived in the studio, that is, the theater where the Lives are recorded. We spoke with the stage director, Alessandro Voltolin, who explained to us how and how many departments work together within the theater so that everything works perfectly. There are many technical directions to coordinate: lights, automation, music, special effects. During rehearsals, all the actions of each director are established to the second.
But who manages what we will see on TV? Because, as we know, there are a lot of cameras, but we see some specifics shots. The director Luigi Antonini is keeping the strings together. Outside the theater an OB-VAN is used, i.e. a technical van in which a video control room is installed. During the live performances, the director and technicians manage the shots that will be broadcast. As he explained in the video, Antonini chooses every single shot and therefore what to convey of a performance or whatever happens on stage. Each decision is prepared based on the climate to be conveyed (sad, strong, rock, romantic moments, etc.). There is also a lot of attention on the faces of the judges and their micro-expressions: it is also a choice to show faces that disagree or are enthusiastic during certain moments.
In short, as you have seen there is a lot of work behind a production as large as that of The X Factor. We hope you enjoyed the tour behind the scenes, see you next time!
