Week 4 - First Day of Work

I was asked by Julia to come in at 10:00am for a 'Production Meeting' as we had a day of filming ahead of us. I actually arrived at 9:30am, and Andy and Julia were also already there so we started the meeting early. The production meeting mainly consisted of explaining what we would film, who had what responsibility, and a quick crash course on all the equpiment Eastcoast Pictures use.

We were tasked to film at a business conference/expo for local businesses, run by the Business Hive. We would interview the representatives of the various businesses and ask four questions:

• What advice do you have for anyone starting their own business?
• What do you think is the secret to being a good networker?
• If you could invite any business person to dinner, who would it be and why?
• Why is North East Lincolnshire a great place to do business?

There were also some guest speakers from larger, national companies which we were also tasked to record. My main responsibilty was to ask the questions and be the interviewer and hold the mic, but during the guest speaker's talks I could do some camera-op work too.

The footage will then be split into five 60 second videos which will then be used by the Business Hive on their website and in promotional videos.

At roughly 10:30am we had a 'Development Meeting' based on the project that Julia and I had agreed to on during the interview. I think this went really well, as I explained my idea and Julia seemed to really be excited by it too. During the meeting, we wrote down a brief series plan and episode breakdown, which I will have to work on over this upcoming week. The main crux will be brainstorming the problem and the hook in each episode. This meeting went on until 12:00pm when we had to leave for the business conference.

The conference went well, and most business owners were happy to be interviewed as it was a way of getting free promtion. We were able to get about 20 interviews in all.

The filming ran on until about 7pm. It was a great first day and I really enjoyed it.

My task for this week will be to nail down some solid ideas for the BBC 3 pitch so we can discuss it again next development meeting. I will also need to edit the footage next week to make one of the five videos.


Reflections on Week 4

As far as first days go, I think this went very well. I'm glad I didn't shy away from responsibilities and was an active participant in the crew. We got a lot of footage so the editor could select the best bits from the day. I feel like it was good experience for me to see how a producer operates too, and how to run a three man crew. I think in hindsight I should have been more actively involved in the technical aspects of the production. I did do a bit of camera operating but I could have let someone else ask the questions and I could be the one with the camera and headset to check audio levels. These cameras, while similar, are different to the ones at uni and so experience using them would be beneficial. At the same time I'm sure I will get opportunity to use them in the future over the course of the eight weeks, and I will take advantage of such opportunities.