The Big BANG Work Placment!

DAY 1

Monday 18^th April:

This wasn’t my original Placement; I was lucky enough to be offered another company work experience from Karen Cooper, so thought it would definitely benefit me to do so. And I’m glad I did.

Big Bang Post Production, a Bristol based Company, is split into two houses on St Pauls Road.

The main house (No 1), is where the Production Managers/ Technical Support were situated. The Building had 8 edit suites, which get rented out to people editing their programme.

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For example there was an editor and director from the BBC editing their new programme based on Wolves; the follow up to BBC1’s “Lost Land of the Tiger,” showed in January this year. There was also an editor and producer for “Secret Millionaire” currently editing also, so I found it a fantastic opportunity to ask as many questions as I could, within reason, to get a better insight into the ‘real world’ of Media.

The second building, (No 14), was situated on the other side of the road, and was used for Post Production roles after the initial edits been done, i.e. “Online Editing” takes place here. This is where the employees of Big Bang worked, not including the production managers. They had separate rooms for sound and vision along with a whole floor upstairs dedicated to colour correction, known as the ‘Base light’ room.

I actually never really understood what an ‘online’ editor was when I saw them in the credits; I thought it was for editing a version of the programme online. But in fact I found out that the edited footage that was created at the main house, was then sent over to Number 14, and split- so all of the sound went downstairs into the Sound rooms with the sound engineers. And the Pictures went upstairs to FCP. I didn’t realise but they then tweak/ alter/ add sound fx etc, onto the already ‘finished’ edit- it’s sent up to Base light to correct any colouring, and then finally put back together again and distributed. I honestly had no idea that’s what happened and it was fascinating to watch and understand.

Big Bang have produced shows such as:

-Deadly 60

-Time Shift

-The One Show (the videos shown within the programme)

-Secret Millionaire

Big Bang do a lot of animal documentaries

My role for this week was to be a runner, along side 3 others. When I initially arrived, I must admit I was nervous, and apprehensive about what everyone would be like, as I knew it was quite a small company so everyone would be quite close. But as soon as I got there, all my nerves went. I met Naomi who arranged the whole thing for me, with Karen, and she was lovely. I also met Jenny; w

ho’s been a runner for Big Bang for over 6 months.

Jobs within the role were pretty simple, so I made sure I did everything well to make a good impression- anyone can make a cup of tea, I wanted to impress. I shadowed Jenny for the first day to get my bearings, and make sure I was doing things correctly.

My hours were 10-4, so when I arrived I went around No 14 and made tea and toast for whoever wanted it. Jenny then ran me through everything- that at 11am, we head over to the Main House and do the ‘tea run,’ for all the edit suites- These were the priority as they were the clients.

The 11’o clock run also involved taking lunch orders, and we would have to go anywhere they wanted. However, it was such a nice day, all of them wanted a break in the sun, and away from the tedious editing. After lunch there was another tea run (1pm), and again and 4pm. I didn’t mind at all, in fact I really enjoyed it as it gave me such a great chance to talk to everyone and get to know them better- they could be possible contacts.

When we weren’t doing tea runs, we generally cleaned/ got specific requirements if one of the rooms rang down, and also went to and from the BBC Bristol, which was just down the road. Anything they needed/ or were sending to Big Bang, we had to retrieve it.

So after my first day here, I’m happy and glad I took on an extra Work Experience, I think I’ll get a lot out of this- even though it’s just “running,” I think everyone has to start somewhere, and the people in the edit suites are all working- freelance/ BBC- I could meet some influential people here.

DAY 2

Tuesday 19^th April:

My second day at Big Bang today, and everyone was just as welcoming and friendly as yesterday. No14 is so relaxed; everyone does things in their own pace, the dress codes very relaxed, they all just seem really close. They obviously still do the work in time and don’t slack, but it just seems stress-free.

So today I arrived, and straight away was sent to the Back gate (BBC’s back entrance- security), with 12 big tapes of archive footage of Planet Earth to give back. Big Bang borrows a lot of footage etc to use for their programmes, archives etc from years ago, or even fairly recent documentaries.

With archive, I knew you could ask to borrow footage from years ago for your programme, for example a war programme- they would use archive from the 40’s. But I had no idea you could use archive from recent programmes for your projects. For example if you’re editing a documentary about Whales- you could borrow footage from Lonely Planet.

The Base Light room, where Colour Correction takes place for these programmes.

I then just got back and was asked to collect a laptop from the technical support, (the main house), and bring it back to the BBC, so went straight back, along with letters to post.

When I returned I met a guy called Scott, who had had some work experience with Big Bang a couple of weeks before me, and was called back to help out for a few days as one of the other runners were on holiday. This was exciting for me as I thought if I made a good enough impression they could possibly ask me back one day.

Scott had just graduated from Bournemouth University and has got a months’ contract working for the BBC in May- I think he has night shifts watching life footage on birds and filming any bits that look good or interesting. He also told me about his final project for his third year- he’s a keen diver and managed to get some work experience as an underwater videographer in Thailand- amazing!

At 11am I was asked to do the tea run by myself- I know that doesn’t sound like much of an achievement but I think it shows they trust me. Again, it was another beautiful day so no one ordered lunch, so it was nice and easy.

Everyone seems to recognise my face, and know my name already, which is nice. The clients have introd

uced themselves to me and they all seemed interested in what I do and why/ how long I’m here for. I got to speak to Jon and Rowan in more depth today, (the people behind BBC’s Lost Land of the Tiger, and felt so bad when I told them I hadn’t seen it. I told myself I’d watch it tonight.

When they asked me what I studied at Uni, they seemed pretty impressed by the sounds of the course and how practical it is. The other 3 runners, not really including Scott, aren’t interested in the practical side of things- Emma is trying to get a job at Bristol Uni researching Science, and Jenny wants to be in PR. So I don’t think the clients really expected me to understand and respond to what they were talking about technically, and seemed surprised when I talked back to them about my ideas and thoughts about their work. For example I was asking the sound technician what his role is and what happens with the sound, and when he explained, I could reply back with “So you add all the Foleys/ sound fx, make sure the levels are equal” etc.

It was exciting to know also that the majority of the editors use Final Cut, although one of the editors said ‘Avid’ was better and quicker. However, did tell me the price of it and I think it’ll be a few years until I can afford that!

One of the workers- Pete- Sound Mixer.

It’s been really good so far- a lot of two-ing and fro-ing but I like it, it breaks up the day and makes it interesting. I asked Naomi if I could perhaps sit in on one of the edits/ sound design/ visual design, as I’d love to get a proper look.

DAY 3

Wednesday 20^th April:

I had a nightmare driving through Bristol today- the roads were so busy and I couldn’t find a parking space, and seeing someone getting towed away, I didn’t want to risk parking just anywhere. I ran into Big Bang and asked Jenny if she knows anywhere else to park, and said I could park right outside the main house, which was a bit embarrassing as everyone’s got nice grown up cars and I’ve got a messy old mini! But as soon as I parked, I saw Jon, one of the editors, (secret millionaire), outside and compliment it straight away, and talked about how he used to have one. So that was a good start.

It’s been a slightly more relaxed day so far. I made tea for all the workers at No14, before going over to do the 11am tea run with Scott. I spoke to him about his final year project, (Thailand UnderWater Documentary)- I watched it last night so just discussed what it was like, how did he find the work experience etc.

Scotts final project:

I met Sarah today, who, along with Naomi, organised the whole thing. She’s No14’s boss basically, and a project manager for the company. She’s lovely, we spoke for a while about my course, what I do, what I want to do etc- I mentioned that I’d love to come back at some point, and she seemed really keen, so she’s keeping my details.

I also spoke to Mike and Alex in Edit 6 for a while today as well, (I hope I’m not bothering everyone with my endless questions, I was just really interested!) They’re editing a documentary about censorship – they were editing some BBC footage for the archive and we got into a conversation about how they chose the right stuff, and cut it down. It’s so interesting listening to professionals, it gets me really excited to get in there and start working.

I spoke to Rowan and Pete in Edit 5 today also- They’re doing a documentary about the Wolf being re-introduced into the wild in North America, (it’ll be out next January, so I’ll definitely be watching that). I had a discussion with them about the editing process, they said with documentaries like this, it’s about filming as much good footage as possible, the art’s in the editing, and finding the story- I think it’s a real art, as I’m doing a ‘Mockumentary’ for my individual project, which has a documentary format, and it’s so hard trying to get your head around the amount of footage to look through, and somehow find an interesting story without missing anything out. It’s a challenge though, and I feel more confident after speaking to these people who make a living from it.

DAY 4

Thursday 21^st April:

Today’s my last day in Big Bang, as it’s Bank Holiday tomorrow. I’m a bit sad actually, as I think 4 days isn’t enough- you’re just getting into the swing of things, getting your bearings, recognising and building a rapport with people, and you’ve got to leave. But I have expressed my want to come back and they’ve said I really fit in here, so hopefully something will come up again.

When I came into No14 today, I saw they recording sign was on, which was exciting, it meant someone was doing a voice over for one of their programmes, a man was recording for The One Show.

So then the day panned out the same as before, 11am tea run, where I spoke to Rowan and Pete about their programme that aired in January; Lost Land of the Tiger. I hadn’t watched it, so came home last night saying to myself I’d watch the first one- ended up watching all 3 hour long programmes- they were brilliant, and I really focused on the editing side of it so I could talk about it today with the two of them. It probably sounds a bit sad, but it was so exciting watching the credits at the end, and seeing that you’re working with 2/3rds of the people right now. The sound editors/ visual mixers from No14 were all on there as well.

Here's the beginning of the first episode:

I did a few more runs to the Back Gate before getting lunch. I parked outside the Main House again, and Esther, one of the production managers, came up to me (I thought I’d done something wrong!!), and said she thought my car had a flat tyre- GREAT!

I went outside to have a look; Jon was out there from Edit 3, saying it looked like a slow puncture. Rob then came out, Producer from Secret Millionaire, and went to his car and came back with a car pump! It was so nice of him, he pumped it back up, and said I needed to get it fixed straight away as it was dangerous… he then went on to say ‘I don’t want to sound like your dad, but you should think about getting a new car- these are death traps.’ He told me he used to have 2 old minis, and he had a crash in one of them, and said they ‘shrivel up like sardine tins.’

I really wouldn’t have noticed the slow puncture, and it took 4/5 professionals to point it out to me! I went to a garage after 4 and, they were right, there was a massive nail going straight through it!

At the beginning of the week, I was so nervous about meeting everyone- I thought everyone would be stressed, not very friendly as they’d have deadlines to meet, but it was the exact opposite, and the car situation just proved that to me- the fact that the producer from a big TV programme stopped what he was doing to help me. Everyone was so friendly, and working for a small company is definitely appealing to me. I’ve learnt a lot- I was never dreading being a runner, as I know that’s what you’ve got to do to climb the ladder, everyone’s done it before, and actually, I love making tea so that wasn’t a problem! But I’ve had such a great time.

The Website:

http://www.bigbangpost.com/

If I could change anything, I would have loved to sit in, in one of the edits- any edit or process would have been brilliant, but towards the end of the week, deadlines were creeping in, and I think everyone was just getting on with it. I spoke to the editors/ producers/ directors and learnt through them instead, I was even cheeky enough to write my email address on bits of paper- I gave it to Rowan, (BBC Director), and he gave me his, and Jon and Rob, (Secret Millionaire). I understand they work for massive companies so I think work experience will be handled differently- probably through online applications, but the fact that I have these contacts at all, are a step up to where I want to be.

I was going to try and interview someone, and brought my SLR in to take photos of the interview- but the last day was really busy, and I felt I didn’t want to bother anyone more than I had done already! If I could have interviewed anyone, I would have interviewed Pete or Ben, who are the Sound Technicians over in No14- I also would have interviewed Jon or Rob, who are working for different companies and had hired out one of the rooms in Big Bang. I would have just asked them how they got here, what was the process like, had you always wanted to do this, etc. Just to get a better insight into the working world.

All in all, a very successful first experience of working in the real world! I’m looking forward to my second placement now, Omni Productions, again in Bristol.