My Hectic 2 weeks

The lack of posting over the past two weeks is pretty much due to the fact I've been running around the west of the country, visiting family and getting work experience on shoots/ being a runner. 

My first shoot had a 4:30 start and a drive from Cardiff to Bath, once arriving at Bath we went straight to thermae spa, by this time it was 6am. 

Basically our aim for the day was to shoot parts of an educational video for an Australian production company. We would be conducting 2 interviews and various shots of the interior and exterior of the spa, and areas of Bath. Finally finishing at 2:30, a very pleasant shoot.

It was great experience seeing how the camera man and director communicated, which gave the director shots of exactly what he needed in the right style.

My Second shoot I was a runner, in Blackburn, which was for RDF television filming Dickinsons Real Deals. The team this time was massive with 8 camera men 4 sound recordists, 4 directors, various experts in antiques, loggers and many more. 

There were 7 other runners and we basically had to ensure that the day ran smoothly. Making sure that there were public placed in the shot, and stayed there for continuity reasons. Getting the public who had bought any antiques in to a queue, calling batches of numbers through, to make sure that there was a manageable amount of the public in the offline areas. And most importantly keeping the crew refreshed with copious amounts of tea and coffee! Finishing at 6 it was a great shoot, when it got quiet in the area I worked in I was able to go and watch the filming and see how 2 camera men work with 1 director. I was thrilled to meet loads of the crew especially a couple of loggers who were aiming high with their future careers, directors sound recordists and multiple cameramen. An amazing experience, which was greatly appreciated. 

My third shoot was in monkey world. I was shadowing a camera man and producer/ director, whilst they interviewed keepers. This however was only a small part of the day. Most of it consisted of getting shots of orang-utans in their enclosure. 

                           - Now these orang-utans were rescued from people who were mistreating them, not just in england but over the world, and also from zoos where their original parents had rejected them, the people at monkey world had taken them out of those environments to put them back into a nurturing environments. 

As well as seeing the orang-utans, we shot an interview in the Lemur enclosure, which was to say the least interesting. There was one particular Lemur called Kaya (may have a different spelling forgive me), who was very friendly and attempted to climb everything, including myself the tripod and the camera man, she also decided to scent mark some the equipment. Charming. 

The important thing with this shoot was to get shots which would convey the story of each particular Lemur, orang-utan etc etc. Aa well as this the shots would try and convey their personalities, i.e. catching any spontaneous cheeky behaviour, brief or prolonged interaction with others etc.

I know I said this was 2 weeks but in between each shoot would be a day of travelling and catching up on much needed sleep, and spending time with my little brothers. 

As well as the west coast I spent time at the beginning of July seeing my friends in Colchester, London and Peterborough which was lovely!


     - Pictures of all of this to come!