The Omni Placement!

Having already done a placement at Big Bang 2 weeks before, I have to say I wasn’t as nervous for my work experience at Omni. I think a big part of that was because it was arranged a lot more in advance than Big Bang, so I suppose I had more time to prepare for it.

I had also emailed Rachel Drummond-Hay; the producer of the company, beforehand to say hello, double check directions/ times/ dress codes, and her response was pretty relaxed, so I was looking forward to it.

Where Omni is-

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So, before working for them I wanted to do a bit of research on the company, so I knew what type of media they were in, what they like to focus on etc, and found out that Omni Productions were a very busy company!

Based in the heart of Bristol, Omni are involved in the lot; from the brief/ pitch, to the budget and schedule, to the shoot and edit.

They create a wide range of projects; from videos for the NHS and Police, to award winning dramas, and have recently had interest for more TV work, so when I arrived, I could feel the business straight away.

Here's a link to their website:

http://www.omniproductions.co.uk/

I was greeted by Rachel Drummond-Hay, who arranged the work placement with Karen, and she was very welcoming. It’s a wicked looking building- it just looks like a big warehouse on the outside, but inside was really open plan/ light, with a ping pong table in the middle of the room. Rachel gave me a tour around the place- there were two sets of 4 desks, where I met some of the workers, including Sam Hearn, one of the founders of the company- they were mainly web based.

She then showed me round the meeting room, a distribution room, the kitchen and their edit suite, which had a VO booth in. She then showed me the room she works in; another open planned, smaller room, where she shares a desk with Richard Penfold; the other founder of the company. I sat behind her on my own little desk!

So first order and job of the day- making tea! Which I really don’t mind doing as number 1, I love tea, and number 2, I think it’s a really good way to break the ice with everyone, and get chatting.

Once I finished that, Rachel started talking more about what they do here, and the projects they’re involved in at the moment. I was told about a new chef on the scene called Manu, who’s a sushi chef from Bristol (originally from France), trying to raise his profile- and Omni have been conversing with ITV’s This Morning about getting Manu on the show. The show seemed keen but sounded like they had reservations as to whether sushi was too ‘complicated’ for the viewers to watch and join in. So Rachel asked me to research into This Morning’s chefs/ the food/ what they’re like etc, something I’d imagine a researcher doing, so I was excited to be given the responsibility.

So the first thing I decided to do was to look up some of the videos that Omni had made starring Manu- showing what he does, his character etc. So I could get more of an idea as to whether he would fit into This Morning’s resident chefs, as I’ve watched the show before.

One of the short pieces filmed by Omni for Manu in Bristol.

Here’s the research I came up with for them:

Examples of Chef’s appeared on This Morning

Omar Allibhoy- Spanish Chef

(Not much on him)

Stacie Stewart- “Cook yourself think” chef;

-Steak and Ale pie with thyme suet crust

-Herb lamb shoulder

-Creamy chicken hotpot

-Stuffed Pork Belly

http://thismorning.itv.com/thismorning/tag/stacie-stewart?section=13

Rustie Lee;

-Salt fish fritters

-Left over Christmas curry

http://thismorning.itv.com/thismorning/tag/rustie-lee?section=13

Gizzi Erskine;

-Healthy fish fingers and chicken nuggets

-Steamed sea bass with asian greens

-Greek lamb shanks with tomato and orzo

-Roast pork with a spicy plum sauce

http://thismorning.itv.com/thismorning/tag/gizzi-erskine?section=13

Nancy Lam;

http://thismorning.itv.com/thismorning/tag/nancy-lam?section=13

Reza Mahammad;

-Lamb in black pepper sauce

-Chicken Dhansak

http://thismorning.itv.com/thismorning/tag/reza-mahammad?section=13

Lisa Faulkner;

-Sausages in honey and sesame seeds

-Smoked Salmon Pate

-Brie and Strawberry parcels

Her page-http://thismorning.itv.com/thismorning/tag/lisa-faulkner?section=13

(These recipes were shown on the internet- 27^th April- ITV iplayer, for street party food) http://thismorning.itv.com/thismorning/food/sausages-honey-and-sesame-seeds

Silvena Rowe;

-Chilli and mint lamb cutlets

-Rose water meringues

-Chicken Kiev

http://thismorning.itv.com/thismorning/tag/silvena-rowe?section=13

Rob Buckhaven;

-(Deals with Wine advice)

http://thismorning.itv.com/thismorning/tag/rob-buckhaven?section=13

Rosemary Shrager;

-Brandy snaps

-Coffe Crème caramel

-Sweetcorn fritters and sticky ribs

http://thismorning.itv.com/thismorning/tag/rosemary-shrager?section=13

Main Resident Chefs;

Gino D’acampo

-Salmon and Creamy leek parcels

-Gino’s Calzone

-Stuffed pasta shells/ focaccia

-Slow roasted Lamb shoulder with Garlic, (on national garlic day)

Video for it: http://thismorning.itv.com/thismorning/food/slow-roasted-lamb-shoulder-garlic

(His page) http://thismorning.itv.com/thismorning/tag/gino-dacampo?section=13

AND

Phil Vickery;

-Bloody Mary tomato soup

-Chilled Gaspacho

-Phils Rich Tea biscuit cake (Royal Wedding special)

Watch the video: http://thismorning.itv.com/thismorning/food/phils-rich-tea-biscuit-cake

His page: http://thismorning.itv.com/thismorning/tag/phil-vickery?section=13

Around May 1^st http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1isqkqdUbo (Not good quality), he shows cooking with Children, (‘your’ children at home)- showing how easy it is.. good for interaction, so family orientated. Quick and you can cook in advance and eat cold (picnics etc).

Manu- French Chef

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-fhk457Jtw&feature=related

-Specialises in Sushi- but can also do noodle dishes etc aswell. This works well with the healthy promotional side to the show, and shows how easy, cheap and fun it is to make.

Think he would fit in well. He has a vibrant and lively personality- will relate and win over female audience. He also has a good voice and expression for Television.

-Not many people know how to make sushi… He makes it seem simple/cheap/easy which fits in well with “This Morning’s” “Quick and Easy” attitude to cooking.

Overall idea and view of This Mornings Chefs/ cooking:

-Lots of Healthy/ Fresh Food

-Cold food/ perfect for picnics etc (summer related- this would work for Sushi- could be prepared beforehand).

-Low fat/ Cheap

-Simple/ Quick- matches today’s lifestyle

After lunch, I carried on with the tasks, I was quite surprised at depth people have to go into and make their research thorough, but I typed it all up and sent it to Rachel, who was happy with it, so that was the main thing.

Rachel leaves at 3 everyday to get her children, and before she left gave me some jobs to do tomorrow as she was going to be in a meeting about their new project until about 12. She also gave me the key to the car park, as at about 9, clients and a Voice Over artist were coming in to record. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but I thought I was getting responsibility straight away and it felt good to know that she could trust me after only meeting me a day.

I also went on a mission to find some bronze paper- They had won an award, and were keeping it, and wanted to print off the same thing on bronze for the client. I got it when I came back to Bath.

DAY 2

I was a bit nervous about this morning, about letting the clients in, but knew one of the other workers would be there- luckily, nearly all of them were there, and some of the clients had already arrived- I still showed them to the car park/ welcomed them and made them tea, and brought some water into the studio for them and the VO man, Dik Cadbury. And he brought his dog along!

I also met the part time receptionist/ accountant this morning Rebecca, and she was lovely- we had a conversation of how she got here, she worked for the BBC for a while, so it was exciting to hear her experiences.

So after making everyone tea, I got on with the jobs Rachel asked me to do. She was having a client over next Wednesday and asked me to ring around and reserve a hotel, for around £40, in the Clifton/ Hotwells area- which are the richest part of Bristol- It was Impossible to find anything under £60, but I wrote a few down just in case. Luckily, when she came in, she had sorted it.

So Omni’s new project is going to be an hour long programme on teen dating violence, so I was asked to do some research on it, similar to what I did yesterday.

I thought the best way to start was to watch their own award winning 20 minute film “Leaving,” which revealed a violent relationship. I thought it was really raw and realistic- I could imagine that’s what it would be like to be trapped like that- and the casting was brilliant- Johnny Harris for example, who has been in brilliant films- Black Death, This is England. And when I spoke to Rachel and Richard about it, and talked about how his character is so horrible, you hate him. And they spoke about working with him- saying he was the nicest person, really polite- it’s crazy how people can change their characters so much.

The Trailer for 'Leaving.'

So I did a lot of research, and also looked into PSHE in schools, as I think that’ll be an angle they’ll work on- to see if children are getting taught to treat everyone properly etc. I put it on my blog for them to use once I’d left, (it’s the third post down). They seemed happy with the research I’d found so far, so I was happy.

At lunch, Richard was going to get some food and asked me along, so it was a good opportunity to pick his brain about how he got here, how hard it was, and I tried to take it all in. He was lovely, and asked me what I wanted to do, where my strengths are etc, and gave me some advice for the future etc.

At the end of the day, Rachel asked me if I wanted to come back for a few days in a couple of weeks, and perhaps in the summer, when they’ll be in actual production- which I would love to do! She said what I was doing was really helpful, so I was really pleased with that, it’s always nice to know you’re doing a good job in their eyes.

A disaster with the bronze paper- I bought paper and slightly thicker, almost card, as I didn’t know which one would work- turns out neither of them did! So I had to ring around Bristol trying to find anything that would sell it. Before I left they asked me if I could drop off a microphone they had borrowed from Bower Ashton Campus, Bristol Uni. I was worried as my sense of direction is ridiculous normally, so didn’t have much faith in myself, with the Bristol one way roads!

So, what should have taken about 15 minutes, took me an hour and a half- I kept going wrong and having to turn around but I made it!! I had to apologise to the guy for being late but he just found it funny- and he gave me easier directions to get back!

DAY 3

Today is my last day, I definitely don’t feel I’ve had long enough here, but so happy to hear that Rachel wants me back for a bit longer, so I’m looking forward to that. Today I just carried on with my research- I also asked to watch their other film ‘Conviction.’

Again, another fantastic film of theirs, and I think they’ve got the commission to make an hour long documentary drama following on from it, so will definitely be watching that. Here's a link showing the film and description:

http://www.omniproductions.co.uk/portfolio/avon-and-somerset-police/

It’s a very hard hitting drama and, again, very realistic- it’s also shocking because it’s practically on your doorstep, in fact, where they said they found him attempting a suicide bomb- was where Cabot Circus is now, which is about a minute away from Omni, so makes it more shocking.

Watching that wasn’t necessarily for my research, but I watched “Leaving” yesterday and had heard them speaking about this, and wanted more of an idea of what they do.

So the last day went really smoothly- it’s a very chilled place to work, everyone worked at their own pace, but got everything done- a bit like Big Bang actually, which I definitely think suits me and my character- then again, I haven’t seen the company while their production is on, so I’m guessing it’ll be a much livelier and busy atmosphere. I did a few admin jobs for Rachel; she sent me over 3 postcodes she went to and I had to Google map them, tally up the miles and add them altogether, as she gets expenses paid by the company.

I then went to get lunch with one of the workers Darren, who works as a distributer/ marketing side of things, and we talked about how he got to where he is, what he studied at uni etc, so it’s been nice getting to know everyone.

After lunch, Richard asked me and Rachel to come in and look at this piece of work he’d been working on for a recycling company, (it was for an exhibition so would be looped to keep playing)- I was so happy that he asked me in as well to have a look- I was really interested in what sort of editing style he had, and I also thought this would be a good opportunity to show them some of my knowledge of editing/ stylistic forms etc. And it looked wicked- really epic music married with brilliant shots- they made recycling and the whole process look interesting and that’s the main thing.

So, with the day drawing to an end, I finished off my research, put it on my Blog, (you can see it- 3 posts down), before discussing with Richard what I briefly found out etc- he was specific about wanting facts/ statistics, so I made sure there were plenty of choices- they seemed happy with it, so I think I did a good job.

Overall my time here at Omni has been a very positive one- They were all so welcoming and keen to ask me questions about my course, what I was interested in etc, and I was just happy to sit back and listen about their stories- I’m very excited to go back, and hope I’ve made a good impression.

I wanted to interview Rachel for this assignment as I think her job as producer is a high, valued job and wanted to get more of an insight into that- she didn’t have time to do it in the office, so said I could come round her house one evening.

Here’s the interview (it has stretched for some reason):

The two work experiences have been different, but both have been valuable. They’ve taught me a lot about myself and how I come across to people, and how to handle situations. They’ve taught me how to get on with it, and work things out by myself if I have to and trust my instincts- and they’ve also taught me just how important doing placements is and I now know I need, and want, to get as much work experience as I can, so I’ve tried to take in as much as I could, and taken on board any advice which was given to me.