Aliens, night-watches and stars!

In a whirlwind of activity we have now shot the ‘Mutilation: The Unthinkable Truth’ documentary! The travelling is a bit ridiculous and poor James, camera-operator, must feel like he has driven forever but it is done and we were delighted in that all the contributors were pleased with the experience and are not likely to send extra-terrestrial beings after us!

I had, unfortunately, missed the reccie back in May because I had attended a fantastic networking day with the BBC4 Controller Richard Klein which had been a real insight into the way Controllers select ideas for their channel but, anyway, it had actually proved to be an advantage that I had not attended the reccie because Phil Hoyle, founder of the Animal Pathology Field Unit, (The APFU) had been pleased to have a new person to discuss his research, theories and evidence with.

The Hoyle family were an absolute treat to work with and although I had been concerned that maybe Carol and Jason, (Phil’s wife and son) would not be on camera they agreed and really added another level of depth and perspective on the Phil’s story and search for the ‘truth about aliens.’

In a sense, the greatest problem for us as a crew was sifting through the sheer volume of information and selecting the best bits we needed and although if I am completely honest I do feel that a few tricks were missed, on the whole the project has made a subject that is quite multi-faceted and in-depth into something entertaining and understandable so I am delighted by that.

On reflection, I do wish we had more time to reccie the other contributors, for example, Matt Sanders the APFU photographer was great at interview and it would have been good to have gleamed more information from him.  Additionally, I feel that perhaps sometimes the focus was a little Phil-centric but on the whole the whole crew has left with a positive impression of the experience and it will be fantastic to see this in the edit suite.

Work Experience Fortnight!

Well, I have had a really busy two weeks, in the first week I was given the opportunity to work in the development department at Twofour in London which was a really fantastic experience because I had neither worked with a team of development producers before nor had I been part of an office of professional programme makers so this was a great insight into working practice and ideas generation.

I had a lot of research to do that week which I really enjoyed also I was able to participate in a brainstorming session for a new programme and contribute ideas for talent and titles for shows that Twofour are currently developing. Additionally, getting the chance to talk to the development team about the programmes we’re making on the course was a real bonus and I am returning to uni with lots of ideas and a much more realistic view of the TV industry as a whole.

Immediately, after this I attended a networking event in London with the Royal Television Society which was superb. I was really nervous to be faced with meeting five commissioners at the top of their game, as well as Theo from Dragon’s Den, but they were all really accommodating and friendly in answering my questions and letting me hang around for a bit! (Never have I wished to be more knowledgeable in my entire life!)

Then to round the fortnight off I did four days of casting for Twofour which involved travelling all around Cornwall and handing out leaflets to get people interested in participating in a show for the Discovery Channel. Then, I also did a day working on the Hotel Inspector at the Meudon Hotel which I loved and I can promise is going to be an absolutely fantastic episode when it airs in mid-August. (Do watch because I was nearly crying with laughter at a couple of points and the hotel owners are absolute gems anyway. :D)

So busy time for me but a bit disappointing in that I did unfortunately miss filming with the BMX team at the Birmingham BMX World Championships but I am really excited to see their footage and to getting shooting for the two documentaries.