Second week!
I was given a quick test in the studio by Kevin to see how much I could remember from the previous session (also to see if I'd been paying attention). He quickly handed me over to the fellow who would be overseeing me for the day; Brian.
As I soon discovered, Brian doesn't work in the studio as much as other members of staff. In fact he stated that he's in only in once every six weeks...The majority of his work is done outside of the building. Brian didn't communicate as much as Kevin; I believe his lack of studio work is reflected in that, though he did make sure I knew the basics with the cameras. And he ensured I was listening into the headsets. I did expect to build and expand upon my pre-existing experience, but instead it did feel that I wasn't learning as much as the first week. It even seemed that he was aware that he wasn't the best person for minding someone who is doing work experience for multiple (and consecutive) sessions in the studio.
Despite this, I informed him of the Friday before, when BBC Leeds did a live broadcast for Children in Need outside the National Media Museum. I went to along to see how different the camera direction and operations were. One fellow was using a steadi-cam, with a full-body harness; at one point he dropped something that fell apart on the ground...Plenty of people were around to help him pick the things up (he was clearly struggling), yet nobody did. I was nearby, so I came to his aid. When I told Kevin about this, he did seem pleased.
Soon after lunch, it was time for the production meeting. Aside from content, it was very much a similar experience to last week. The fun was, again, trying to keep up with the director sheet...! That's definitely one area I want to improve and get used to (after all, it informs a camera operator what to do and when)! Directly afterwards, I had an inquiry; the Media Museum was to open the Doctor Who exhibition at the end of the week, so I asked if they'd be reporting on it. I was directed to the person who said they'd be there, and of course I saw more experience opportunity and made sure I pointed out that I'd be there too (unfortunately on the day, I don't think any of the crew recognized me...But it was fun to witness a live 'out-of-studio' broadcast on that Friday).
Back to *this* day and I went back to the studio with Brian...Jake popped in, so that he would be shown things for future reference, whilst no standing idly by on the sound desk. Alongside practising camera manouvres with him, he asked plenty of questions about the camera operations that I learned about in the first session. This also had a beneficiary advantage for me as I listened to the 'question and answer session' with Jake and Brian; not only was it a helpful recapping of information I may have forgotten, but it was also interesting to get a camera/studio breakdown from a different perspective (i.e. one not commonly based in the studio).
As 1800 drew near, we were preparing everything and there was a buzz, not just in the studio, but the entire building. I was especially excited, too! A special guest had arrived for a chat on the 1835 broadcast; Jasper Carrott! Of course the crew organised themselves so that the persons who wanted to meet him the most worked in the studio and the others (including m'self) were our best behaviour! Funnily enough, Jasper himself may have accidentally uttered a word he shouldn't have...So 'best behaviour' indeed!
As we were setting up to go live, the crew started to get worried that there was nobody to operate Camera 3...I mentioned to Brian that 'they wouldn't let me on C3, would they' and he confirmed it, but then he realised what that was showing and then pointed out that it was great that I was showing the enthusiasm!'
Overall it felt like this day was less of a learning curve than the first time, but it was still exciting to be around the studio and the staff. On future days, I hope to be able to get on camera more (and practice for rehearsals) and maybe even control during a headline. Even if it's a case of just setting up shots and helping out with the studio set up, I'd be happy to assist with a lot a this point!
AM
