I've just finished listening to Radio 4's Media Show podcast with Steve Hewlett. I listened to 2 of those shows: one that delved into the Levison enquiry and the other gave an incredibly insightful look at MediaCity's impact on indie producers and it also examined the state of BBC local radio vs commercial local. Bauer MD Dee Ford's interview was so informative, great to hear that. Also nice to hear Alex Connock featured - he gave a fantastic talk at Salford University in MCUK last Monday, very interesting look forward to how TV is adapting to the future. Got so many notes.
That's one of the very perks of being based at the heart of the Northern media landscape. Great talks and opportunities. An interesting stat that Connock mentioned in the podcast was how 90% of northern media comes from Manchester as opposed to Leeds, Newcastle etc...v interesting, Peter Salmon's piece on that podcast was inspiring too. Manchester is the place to be, so what a lucky boy I am, having a laugh every day, working hard with some great people in an enthralling place and I'm not letting the chances slide by.
You'll know if you read this blog that I've been working tirelessly on this mini documentary music video with Liam Blake with two friends of mine. The piece has been filmed by Sebastian Padget and edited by Anthony alker. Directly the result of Anthony pointing out Liam playing in Cafe Nero and then me developing a contact that bequeathed an opportunity for us. Thus, an incredible chance to put our skills to the test and for my hair to grey slightly with the relentless stress a producer endures. One of the most exhilarating projects I've been involved with and I'm so proud of what we've created.
It's also reinforced a few things. This was my first true stab at Producing something properly. The Leatherat music video for my Media Studies A2 project was a great process but imagine how good it could have been with more extensive pre-production, inc location scouting, story boarding properly, creating a shot list that could actually be followed strategically. The process was 'ad libbed' in reality, with chunks of the video being the product of spontaneous filming. Then editing was mainly done with a vague storyboard.
This project was different. I planned it thoroughly, I shot-listed, drew up a production schedule, risk assessed, detailed the locations, journeys and scene details and I used a brilliant programme called Celtx- which really has so much functionality in Pre-production, it almost makes you feel guilty if you 'don't' fill out the various planning forms. I thought I'd do it all properly, including production and post. What would be the point in doing a similar production process to the Leatherat video?- I'd learn nothing new. As it happens, I have picked up so many new skills and I feel enriched as a result of doing things properly.
Back to the reinforcement point- doing this project and producing it properly, has reinforced my deep love of Radio. Yes, I had a great time, learnt a lot and I would do it over and over again, but it doesn't ignite the same driving passion as I get when I do radio work.
However, I went with some mates to go and watch Celebrity Mastermind be filmed at the MediaCity studios the other day, I watched the production team work so professionally and with such coolness. There was not a hair out of place on any of the crew, everybody very composed and I heard the director and producers on talkback in the floor managers ridiculously loud headset and they were having a right laugh. Great vibe. Inspiring.
Very much looking forward to showing you the finished product. Tomorrow I'm at Sheffield Xmas lights delivering the DVDs to Liam and his manager, and it will be on YouTube very soon...then, it's time to implement everything I've learnt over the last couple of weeks about social media. Time to go viral!
