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!!
Monday, 20 February 2012
Welcome to London..
For the last couple of days everything's been a tad hectic! Over night uncomfortable coaches and long walks from place to place but it was all worth it with the opportunities we were given.
I missed the first day of the three day London trip. Instead, I headed down on the wednesday evening to stay for a couple of days.
Thursday was really interesting because we met Morgan Matthews, who is directing Britain in a Day. Whilst visiting him in his office we were lucky enough to be shown the rough cut of the programme and give him constructive criticism. I must admit, this wasn't easy at first when your picking apart a Bafta winning directors work but he was really open and wanted as much feedback as possible.
Friday was probably my best day out of the two, even though both events were brilliant opportunities that I didn't want to miss. We got to work with the development team in the TwoFour office in London. They split us into two groups and worked with us to pitch an idea for a certain slot. It helped to contextualise a certain type of audience to a certain type of show. From the beginning, coming up with an imaginary character called Jane felt odd, but by the end of the brainstorm it helped as you started to think what Jane would like to watch. Her hobbies we had created helped to pick the genre of the show. Overall, an amazing couple of days!!!
Here's our group pitching at TwoFour
I missed the first day of the three day London trip. Instead, I headed down on the wednesday evening to stay for a couple of days.
Thursday was really interesting because we met Morgan Matthews, who is directing Britain in a Day. Whilst visiting him in his office we were lucky enough to be shown the rough cut of the programme and give him constructive criticism. I must admit, this wasn't easy at first when your picking apart a Bafta winning directors work but he was really open and wanted as much feedback as possible.
Friday was probably my best day out of the two, even though both events were brilliant opportunities that I didn't want to miss. We got to work with the development team in the TwoFour office in London. They split us into two groups and worked with us to pitch an idea for a certain slot. It helped to contextualise a certain type of audience to a certain type of show. From the beginning, coming up with an imaginary character called Jane felt odd, but by the end of the brainstorm it helped as you started to think what Jane would like to watch. Her hobbies we had created helped to pick the genre of the show. Overall, an amazing couple of days!!!
Here's our group pitching at TwoFour
Wednesday, 15 February 2012
Ring round!
Your probably wondering how we're doing for contributors for the stripping project...well...
after having meetings for the project 'young and pissed' we are all feeling confident about finding bars, restaurants and people that drink to be part of our documentary. My worries are around 'Stripping for the kids'!
Researching around the subject is easy but after calling many most seem to not answer their phones, which makes it more tense for the director and I. Some however, are polite to say they're not interested, and on one occasion one lady was very rude but I think that's expected when asking a huge amount for such a difficult topic. But there is a silver lining, Rachel from Platinum Club in Bristol sounded intrigued and seems to really like the idea so we shall see!
On the plus side, I managed to get in contact with the assistant producer from 'Table dancing diaries' BBC3, TwoFour, who is happy to talk to me about the series and has always mentioned this to the director who is also willing to help with advice. Just looking forward to asking some questions when it comes to gaining trust, tackling a difficult topic and about whether they had access prior to filming.
Here's a link to information about 'table dancing diaries'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01b1y1n
after having meetings for the project 'young and pissed' we are all feeling confident about finding bars, restaurants and people that drink to be part of our documentary. My worries are around 'Stripping for the kids'!
Researching around the subject is easy but after calling many most seem to not answer their phones, which makes it more tense for the director and I. Some however, are polite to say they're not interested, and on one occasion one lady was very rude but I think that's expected when asking a huge amount for such a difficult topic. But there is a silver lining, Rachel from Platinum Club in Bristol sounded intrigued and seems to really like the idea so we shall see!
On the plus side, I managed to get in contact with the assistant producer from 'Table dancing diaries' BBC3, TwoFour, who is happy to talk to me about the series and has always mentioned this to the director who is also willing to help with advice. Just looking forward to asking some questions when it comes to gaining trust, tackling a difficult topic and about whether they had access prior to filming.
Here's a link to information about 'table dancing diaries'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01b1y1n
Friday, 10 February 2012
New module, new projects!
New module started with a great result back from our previous documentary, looking forward to starting the next projects!
This time round we are asked to work on two productions, working on one was hard enough, trying to organise ourselves and work in difficult situations. But this time we're stepping it up, always ready for a new challenge.
In continuation with improving my camera skills, I've taken on the role of camera operator for a project called 'Young and Pissed' , yes I will be filming drunk people! This again will push my boundaries as you see on programmes like 'Party Paramedics' CH 4 and 'Sun, Sex and Suspicious parents' BBC3, filming people that are drunk isn't easy. This will require me to use hand held techniques and on camera lighting for night filming as well as avoiding violence and vomit.
The hardest role I've taken, which is new to me, is to be the producer on a project called 'Stripping for the kids'. This was influenced by the programme 'Table dancing diaries' BBC3 by TwoFour. This is the most challenging subject matter to tackle so we shall see if we can find some contributors!! wish me good luck!
This time round we are asked to work on two productions, working on one was hard enough, trying to organise ourselves and work in difficult situations. But this time we're stepping it up, always ready for a new challenge.
In continuation with improving my camera skills, I've taken on the role of camera operator for a project called 'Young and Pissed' , yes I will be filming drunk people! This again will push my boundaries as you see on programmes like 'Party Paramedics' CH 4 and 'Sun, Sex and Suspicious parents' BBC3, filming people that are drunk isn't easy. This will require me to use hand held techniques and on camera lighting for night filming as well as avoiding violence and vomit.
The hardest role I've taken, which is new to me, is to be the producer on a project called 'Stripping for the kids'. This was influenced by the programme 'Table dancing diaries' BBC3 by TwoFour. This is the most challenging subject matter to tackle so we shall see if we can find some contributors!! wish me good luck!
Saturday, 14 January 2012
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
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
Monday, 9 January 2012
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!!
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!!
Monday, 2 January 2012
Christmas over- upbeat spirit regained!
Before we broke up for Christmas the relief of having the filming finally done had come. As much as I have enjoyed the filming we have come across some difficulties such as filming children, filming a very fast swimmer from underwater and the most emotional interview I have done at such an early time within the course. I couldn't have asked for Christmas to come sooner and definitely needed some time to refuel.
Now back at Uni and after much rest and eating my bodyweight in turkey, stuffing and mince pies I'm ready to get back to work.
Looking forward to seeing the footage come together and working as a group in the editing process.
Now back at Uni and after much rest and eating my bodyweight in turkey, stuffing and mince pies I'm ready to get back to work.
Looking forward to seeing the footage come together and working as a group in the editing process.
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