Week 1

Daily Reflection

I want to be able to look back on what I've done each day so that I can reflect on what I could have handled better.

Day 1

Meeting and getting to know the team was important for the first day, as for this week I would be thrown in at the deep end with the as-live show coming up on Wednesday-Friday so it was important to settle in quickly. I found it difficult at first to know what to do as the team was very busy preparing for the shoot. Ebony was able to let me help her on her work which involved organising and checking off audience members and confirming their attendance for the 2 shows. 

My supervisor and the production manager Karen was able to get me involved in some creative work including making a mood-board of the set for the live show to be sent off to National Geographic. It seemed like a simple enough task and I arranged relevant images with explanations, but I wasn't happy with it. I struggled with trying to make it look professional, and I tried to ask Karen for some advice but at this time I needed to collect some prints from a print shop and Karen said that it was fine and she would sort it from my computer. When I came back however, Karen said that she had sent the mood board off to Stephen the director for me, without making any changes. I wasn't happy with how it was, but I said that it was fine and I carried on with other work that I had been asked to do. I regret not getting the mood board to where I wanted it to be. I was aware that Stephen wasn't happy with the design but I think at the time they just wanted to get it over and done with. I know now that I need to be clearer with what I plan to do with projects, as I don't want work to be sent prematurely again to the disappointment of Stephen. I think it simply would have looked better with a different colour background and text, as that would have pulled it together. I was really disappointed that I had disappointed Stephen when I hadn't finished the project, but I'll need to make sure from now on that I completely finish a project before it gets sent on to anybody and clearly communicate my plans for a task if needs be. 

The rest of the day, Ebony spent time with me, going through how work flows in the office, such as printing, scanning, and organising spreadsheets on Excel. All of the consent forms and audience emails are kept on shared Excel sheets that everyone in the team can edit, so Ebony and I were able to simultaneously work on the spreadsheet. It didn't take long to understand the sheets, and although I think I'll still need an extra hour next week to get to know the layouts of the sheets, I understand them enough to be able to work from them.

I'm mostly happy with how the day flowed. I tried my best to pick tasks up quickly and I ensured that I accepted any task that was given to me. I took notes on everything I was asked to do so that I knew I was doing it correctly and I could look back on them if needed. I learned from my mistakes that clear communication and working quickly are very important with how things are run at Renegade.

Day 2

The second day, I was able to settle in a bit quicker. As the live show was just a day away, there were a few more tasks to complete. Stephen asked me to fill a couple of pages of research on the show's guests, Ross Kemp and Rick Wakeman. It was difficult to find enough relevant information to fill an A4, particularly for Rick, but I compiled as much information as clearly as I could, so that the presenters could use it so that they would know a bit about the guests before they met them. I was happy with what I found and put together, and I used my research skills and resources to collect information as quickly as possible. I also continued to help Ebony with editing the list of VIP audience members.

Day 3

The set rig was to begin at 10.30, so I left Medway at 7.30 by train and arrived on time at the British Motor Museum in Gaydon (Warwickshire).
My first job was to help move equipment from vans into our dedicated rooms in the museum. We had the set in the main museum (pictured), a syndicate room in the business area of the museum where the gallery was to be set up, and a green room where Ross, presenters and crew members could relax and access snacks and drinks. Production designer Adrian Gee was also able to use the room for storing smaller props and building small set pieces. I worked with Adrian for most of the day, as he had the responsibility of building the set and decorating the stage within the day so he needed a lot of help. It was very hard work but I really enjoyed it and it gave me a lot of responsibility. Adrian was also great to work with and gave me a lot of guidance which helped me settle into the job quicker. I helped him to build the stage and carried the sofas onto the set. I also went around each member of the crew with a crew lanyard, a paper wristband, and a lunch voucher for them to use. This helped to get to know some members of the crew and introduce myself. This is where I was able to bring in my skills from customer service, as I had to work with a lot of people that I didn't know, which normally would make me very nervous. We had finished setting up by 5.30 and were able to go back to our hotel.

Day 4

There was still a lot of setting up to do the next morning so we arrived back at the museum at 8. The first half of the day was spent making tea and coffee, but then we were able to get stuck in with preparing the set. I helped where ever I could.
Once the set was done, I helped floor manager Becky as a stand-in, so that the cameras and lighting could be positioned and movements could be practiced. I also sat on the sofa with Tim and Fuzz to help them rehearse their script. It was fun to run through the script with them and also interesting to see how the floor manager works and what her role involved.
Once this was done, Ebony and I moved straight onto organising the audience. They had been arriving since 9am to look around the museum before the show, so a tannoy announcement was made to bring the audience to the entrance so that we could check them off of the list. It all went very smoothly and we directed them to the canteen with the help of museum staff who took the audience's coats. Once the audience was in, Stephen found me and told me to grab some audience and get them to the workshop immediately as they were about to start filming. I gathered a decent sized group of audience with the help of Ben (runner) and led them as quickly as possible to the workshop. Stephen was worried that they wouldn't make it in in time but we managed to get them all in and it turned out to be the perfect number of audience members. I sent Ben back to the museum to check if Ebony needed a hand with the rest of the audience and I stuck around with them in the workshop to ensure that the audience were okay and when they finished filming, I got them back to the museum canteen. It was then a short wait until the live show was ready for the audience to come in so I stayed with the audience in case they had any queries. We moved them to be ready to go and I ensured that an audience member who was in a wheel chair was able to get through first so that he would be able to get into a good place. I moved the rest of the audience into place and then stood back and we were able to rest for a while and watch the show. Then once the show had got going, we went to the green room to start clearing up. We got that done quickly and then was able to watch the show again. We didn't have much to do as we weren't allowed into the gallery as we didn't want to disturb them, and the rest of the crew were focused on the jobs. Nearer to the end we brought around coffee and snacks, and then moved to return coats to audience members. Then it was a case of ferrying equipment to the store room. We were able to return to the hotel by 11pm.

Day 5

We were able to head straight home from Gaydon.

On Reflection...

I was really proud of myself by the end of the week. I'd worked very hard and I'd met a lot of people and put myself out of my comfort zone. Considering that I'd never ran on a show before, I was very happy with how the week went.
I'll be glad next week to have the chance to improve on my office work as I'll have more days in the office and I didn't really get much chance to settle in this week. I want to improve on my communication skills and I'm hoping that by the end of the week I'll have a solid base of contacts to approach for more work experience. I've already met people who have asked to speak to me about opportunities, which is more than what I could ask for. I was happy with my professionalism through the week, I ensured that I was professional, kind, and happy to help with every team member. The only job that I didn't enjoy was making the tea and coffee, as there wasn't any skill involved, although I know that that is the least I can do with my job role. I think for the second shoot next week I'll be aiming to improve on my own versatility. I want to be able to help in as many areas of the production as possible, and this week I spent a lot of time having to just get to know the crew and worked mostly with a smaller group of crew such as Adrian, Karen, and Ben. I noticed during this week that I think Ebony and I need to work more independently from each other as because we know each other, there was a tendency to stick together throughout production. This was good for the most part as we were able to help each other out with jobs that definitely required more than one person. But there were times where I wish I could have worked more independently and been more focused on what I was doing rather than what we were both doing together.
In the coming week, I'll be aiming to improve on communication and versatility, and I'll be able to reflect on how that went.