Behind the scenes!

This weekend we were given the opportunity to see behind the scenes in Aardman animations, and the BBC programme Andy's Wild Adventures. This gave us the chance to see how a programme is made and the work that goes in to get each shot.

On Friday we got to meet the crew that filmed Andys Wilds adventures. We were introduced to John Miller who is the director, by the set designer Keith who was the one that arranged for us to join them for half a day. Whilst on the course we have seen how a director works on location but not in studio so it was interesting to see. The shoot we were there for was the filming of Marine Iguanas. Andy who is the presenter of the show had to do a lot of takes when using props that didn't seem to work, get sprayed by a water pistol to represent iguanas spraying him and put his hand in a tank of water to give a realistic representation of picking up seaweed from the water bed. It was interesting to see how much green screen was used, and even the props for him to walk on or touch were green. Whilst filming they put the backdrop that would be on in post production on the screens so the actor could see where he would be placed. Storyboards were used to help define what shots had been done, and computers were in the studio to play back the recorded material. All of this showed the organisation that had gone into the production to get the shots in time.

On saturday, we got a quick tour of one of the smaller Aardman studios. It was empty because no one was working, which meant we got to see the sets and where they make the characters without disturbing filming. Paul, who works in advertising there gave us the tour. She showed us the ship they had built to make the new film The Pirates In an adventure with Scientists. This ship was bigger than I expected, it's very hard to work out the size ratio of the props, it was a lot taller than us and width ways again taller than us. She showed us the details that go into making the set, from carpets painted green to represent grass, props made for everything you can imagine from bread rolls to clothes on a washing line. The one thing that surprised me was the amount of lighting they used for each sets, Paul explained that they had to use so much light because they needed to light small sets and characters to prevent harsh shadows.

The weekend has opened my eyes more to the professional environment of the studio, as this is something we haven't really covered yet on our course.

Table dancing diaries

As I previously mentioned I managed to get hold of Sophie who is the assistant producer from 'Table dancing diaries' (BBC3, TwoFour) who was willing to chat to me on the phone and give our group some advice.

Whilst I was in London I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to speak to Sophie in person as we had already organised a visit to the TwoFour office in London. It was a really useful conversation as she made us aware of the problems they had to face such as strippers being unreliable at times due to busy schedules. This didn't surprise me but something that did surprise me was the little amount of people from that club that had put themselves forward, secrets have a big list of lap dancers on their books and only 5 put themselves forward. We also got to ask an important question about how to gain contributors trust whilst working on difficult projects. At first, I was a bit overwhelmed because they had been back and forth with lawyers and the company to gain the trust of the club owners and we only have 5 weeks. But with all the advice and help that Sophie has given us, the best bit of advice was that it is definitely do- able...so fingers crossed!!

Crunch time- screening!

Just had our first crit screening, at first I was nervous having to show our 3 minute wonder especially as we had to stand up at the front of the cinema whilst it was played and feedback was given.

The feedback was better than I expected, the problems we now have to face before the final screening are things we knew or very small in comparison to the rest of work put in. It was very useful having Jeremy Gibson give feedback as it gave us a chance to have more feedback from someone else in the industry.

Also many thanks to him for being a guest lecture at the University, it allowed us the chance to hear about a programme that took Jeremy 7 years to deliver, Windfarm Wars. Hearing about the problems you can face whilst creating programmes and being able to ask questions about the industry has really helped.

To see Jeremy's blog about the show Windfarm Wars go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tv/2011/05/windfarm-wars.shtml

Time to edit!

Countdown to our first crit screening is approaching and in 3 days we have Jeremy Gibson who used to be head of documentaries for the BBC come to give us feedback.

I don't know whether I feel frightened or excited...a bit of mixed emotions!! But very worth while!

The editing process has been going well, Melissa is very effective. I had a slight panic due to being a little bit behind other groups but my confidence is back after seeing how much she has done in such little time and how good the quality is. Still some fine tuning but definitely got a structure starting to form.

I still don't understand how editors can edit for such long periods of time, the edit suite is starting to send me slightly crazy!!

That's a wrap!

Final day of shooting has approached and the footage is all in the bag.

Throughout this process of getting the shots needed for the script, I have learnt alot. Not just about how to shoot in certain situations but I have become more aware of why we are making this documentary.

The 2012 Olympics is approaching and swimming is more than just a life skill, its something to do for fitness and fun and brings people a lot confidence. I feel that our documentary fits the 'why now?' question as it will challenge the statistic of  '1 in 5 children can't swim in the UK' and not everyone may have known this before, bringing awareness to the audience.

To find out more about how to get involved go to:-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sportrelief/bigsplash/ 

Radio appeal

When it comes to finding contributors, it's not always that easy.

Our group took a different approach and decided to get into contact with BBC Radio Cornwall to help our search. James, our producer, got in contact with the station and we managed to get a phone in slot between 2pm-3pm. Alice, our director spoke on the phone, which was aired live on the station.

Hopefully we will have some interest.

To hear the show again go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00lr4mt and its about 2:41:23 in. Catch it before it can't be heard.