Latest News 

UoG TV Graduates head to The Gambia

UoG TV Graduates James Williams and Dan Hartfield will be heading to The Gambia with Councillor Paul Wheeldon to film a documentary about aid work in the country, including the Gloucestershire-based Alexander Edwards Trust, which works to stop the spread of malaria.

The shoot begins later this month, but James was apologetic, as it will mean that he and Dan will miss their Graduation Ceremony at Cheltenham Racecourse!

Of course we are much happier that they focus on this important work, and wish them every success on the shoot. 

The story is covered in more detail on the website ‘This is Gloucestershire’.

Holly bids goodbye to Big Brother

Holly Squelch said goodbye to Big Brother this summer, after working on the show for the past three years.

Holly has worked on the Live Team, on subsidiary show ‘Big Brother’s Little Brother’ and on the ‘Reality Team’ operating cameras hidden behind ‘mirrors’ made of one-way glass.

Holly is extremely enthusiastic about her experiences on Big Brother.  This year she worked almost every day from Launch to the wrap, but despite the hard work, she still describes it as an ‘amazing experience’, recalling the night when a storm flooded the BB House.

“The storm made the roof collapse and rain poured into the house and the camera-runs.  We had to save the equipment and evacuate the Housemates, which was actually very funny.  We all thought we were going to get home early but they called in industrial vacuums, fixed the roof, lights & hotheads in a matter of hours and had us all back in the house filming by midnight.”

In summary, she says “I have met amazing people over the years, and done some amazing things that I would never have got to do in any other industry”.

TV Students meet ‘The Freshers’

UoG TV Production students Kate Allen and Bryony Bishop have been busy over the last few weeks making an online series for MTV called ‘The Freshers’.  Presented by Tom Thurlow, ‘The Freshers’ travels to Universities across the UK to discover some of the ‘unusual’ experiences that are being had by 1st year University students.

Katie took the time to talk to us about her experiences
 

MTV ‘The Freshers’
By Kate Allen

I have just finished filming an 8 part online series for MTV.co.uk called The Freshers, where I have spent the past few weeks traveling up and down the country visiting several universities, speaking to students about a variety of subjects, including living away from home, studying and drinking.

The first two shoots we did were Manchester and Leeds, and as they were the furthest destinations we needed to travel to, the day started as early as 6am so we would arrive there by mid morning to give us a good few hours to film. A typical day would involve doing lots of vox pops with students about the chosen subject of the day, meeting a few clubs and societies to interview and film Tom attempting an activity for a part of the show. We usually found one student who really stood out amongst the rest, where Tom would use them as part of the intro/outro. We met one student in Leicester who gave Tom a piggyback to start the episode off, which took several takes to get it right due to Tom falling off (I don’t think they will make the edit though!)

For the Fresher’s Ball episode we came to our very own University of Gloucestershire. We filmed two groups of students from Park campus and Pittville campus getting ready and all glammed up in the couple hours leading up to the ball, and some parts during their time at the ball. This shoot was definitely different to the rest due to getting more up close and personal with the students.  There was a funny moment where one of the camera guys mixed up the presenter Tom with a student, dressed in the same attire with a similar hair style, and he ended up being used in the show as a Tom Thurlow ‘double’! We had filmed in Bournemouth from start of the day and came straight back to Cheltenham to film the ball, so it was a very long 18 hour day!

It’s been a fantastic few weeks working on the show, and I’m definitely going to miss my early morning car journeys and banter with the crew. The whole experience has been invaluable, and I’ve loved every single minute of it! 

Lisa becomes a ‘Supernanny’!

Controlling wild children, unruly teenagers and even dogs is all part of the job for a TV Student!  Here 3rd year TV Production student Lisa Burton tells us about some of her experiences as a 1st year on work placement.

‘Supernanny’
By Lisa Burton

During my first year at University I knew I wanted to do some work experience within the TV industry as soon as possible in order to help me with my course and more importantly to get some contacts so that when I left University I would feel comfortable knowing that I had some people in the industry I could rely on.

I didn’t predict how much I would learn from working with such a great team and how much it motivated me to work so I could work in such a fab environment again.

One of the work experience placements I undertook was for the new ‘Supernanny’ series for Channel 4 called ‘Jo Frost: Extreme Parental Guidance’. It was a two-week placement in London, the summer before my second year, so I was a little apprehensive as to what to expect.  I wasn’t told what programme I would be working on beforehand so just had to trust whatever it was I would work to my best ability!

Days working for the programme differed massively.  The team were still in the casting stages for the programme so had to follow the brief which Channel 4 set, which often changed on a daily basis. We were looking for children that had behavioural problems, not the tame version like we are used to in ‘Supernanny’ but even more extreme.

I often would go casting on the streets with researchers and producers. It would often be just be a producer and me out for the day together so having people skills and being able to impress was fundamental. I was asked to approach the general public on the streets but in a professional way that I was taught.   This experience has improved my interpersonal and communication skills. Be aware that going out with producers and researchers, you have to be alert and not let your guard down as in the end you are working.

On one day I assisted the DV Director on a recce to a single father’s home who had two young sons. The two little boys would fight all the time and were quite aggressive. Tony the cameraman went off to interview the Dad so I was left in the room with the two boys (aged 9 and 11). There were two dogs who were fighting in the corner. The two boys were a little wild to say the least; the younger one kept saying he was going to blow my head up!  The older brother had the television on full blast and so I had to tell him repeatedly to turn it down so it wouldn’t affect the sound for the interview in the other room.  I couldn’t tell him off but had to talk to him like he was my friend, which seemed to work eventually. It was a stressful time and I had to control the boys and dogs and be there for Tony if he needed an extra battery for the camera or to answer his mobile when it went off. The little boy who said he wanted to kill me seemed really sad when we left and said he wanted me to stay longer!

Another highlight of the work experience was going to an underage nightclub in Woking with one of the researchers to find a girl who was growing up too quickly for their age.  This is an example of having to get up and go when you are needed, especially as this was at night. I have been travelling to Thailand and America before and have been in some scary places, however Woking at night was a little more intimidating. The underage girls were more confident and aggressive than I would ever think a 13 year old could be. We got spat at and shouted at when we asked the girls their age. Lovely.  We went inside the club and spoke to some girls and took their details down before making a quick exit and going home.

I advise everyone to do work experience outside University because you learn so many different things that you would not be able to learn in a University environment.  I met some amazing people and it definitely gave me the confidence for my placement a few weeks later at Pathé. Get as much work experience as you can out the way before third year because believe me you’ll have plenty of work to be getting on with!