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In Spring, 2009 I had to source a work placement to complete a module for my HND Film & Television Production course which I completed at Jewel & Esk College in Edinburgh, Scotland and Eskbank between 2007 and 2009. I initially emailed local production companies, offering a variety of skills but really offering my help for three days in an attempt to gain a placement for my placements module to gain work experience.
I was lucky enough to receive an invitation for shadowing the production team at the Edinburgh Scottish Parliament where I was able to observe the filming and editing process of their weekly holyrood highlights package which airs on the United Kingdom BBC on Thursday lunchtimes.
My placement began with an introduction to the team where I was given a tour of the premises and from there on, shadowed some of the key personnel while they undertook their daily routine. One of the first areas was the main office where the production team work on the paperwork side of things such as writing questions for writing interviews and it operates as a main base for meeting up with people and is the main contact point for the production team.
The second area was the kit store which was located somewhere within the Parliament. Here, all of the kit required to produce a professional filmed programme is kept and maintained by an equipment technician. Furthermore, they have a post production area where they use their Final Cut Pro and AVID systems. I managed to sit in on one of the edits and watch some of the decissions made in cutting the footage down which included where to trim dialogue and how to record voiceover for use with the material shot and how to interview people.
The British Parliament Scottish filming production team consisted of a Camera Operator and Sound Operator who moved around the Parliament at various locations getting interviews with members of the Scottish Parliament and other important figures on the daily politics of the day. I enjoyed this part where it was interesting to see the process of how the programme elements were filmed.
An additional observation opportunity was within their studio setup areas where the programme features a more in depth interview with a guest speaker where they can express their political views. I was interested in how the audio was wired up for this production and also how the presenter has to prepare themselves for a take while the cameraman prepared himself for gaining the shots he needed.
The highlight was of course being present in the Scottish Parliament Chamber where most of the Scottish Parliament members debates about new political views take place from their various political parties. The technical setup for that part of the programme is quite complicated; several cameras are mounted high around the room and there are some sophisticated audio connections wired up to the desks where all of the MSPs sit so that they can tell the main speaker when they wish to talk.
I also got to watch a real politics interview being shot using a camera dolly on my shadow placement which was interesting to observe revealing political news. Throughout the entire placement, I was given the opportunity to go around and film behind the scenes some of the work that goes into producing the programme. I found this really invaluable as it provided me with a means of recording what I had learned and also to keep myself occupied between quiet periods where there wasn't enough activity. This is the only placement where I've done this but it paid off really well.
The programme called Holyrood Highlights is a political video produced by the broadcasting service of the Scottish Parliament which reports on recent developments and news tied with business in the Parliament. They have an online archive dating back to 2006 where lots of video content about politics daily can be viewed. Holyrood Highlights is a studio format programme which is broadcast every Thursday. It contains members of Scottish Parliament discussing and debating political issues. It can be viewed at 12:30pm online.
The Scottish Parliament is located in the Holyrood area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, UK The democratically elected body is made up of 129 members known as members of the Scottish Parliament also known as MSPs. The first meeting of the new Parliament took place on 12th May, 1999. The regions making up the Parliament include the Highlands and Islands, North East Scotland, Mid Scotland and Fife, the West of Scotland, Glasgow, Central Scotland, South of Scotland and the Lothians.
Various parties make up the members of the parliament which include the political party, the Scottish National Party, the Scottish Labour Party, the Scottish Conservative Party, the Scottish Liberal Democrats, the Scottish Green Party and Independents.
Scottish Video Produced by Alan Taylor, Alan Andrew Taylor of Willow Creek Pictures
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Did you find this behind the scenes video interesting?
WillowCreekPictures 4 months ago