What a day! It all started around a week ago when I was told that my application to become a Production Assistant for GoThinkBig.co.uk - a group which help young people aged 16-24 start out on the career ladder, was successful.
Today (Tuesday 6th November) I headed up to the ITN Studios in London to help film a short video for GoThinkBig called "Packed Lunch with ...". Starting back in January 2013, Go Think Big started "Packed Lunch with ...", a short video every month or so with an industry "know it all" who shares their industry experience with GoThinkBig's lucky users. Todays Packed Lunch interview was with ITN's Chief Executive John Hardie who was going to be asked questions by 12 lucky media industry enthusiasts.
At 10:30am I met at ITN with GTB's Video Web Producer - Daniel Orton who also introduced me to the other lucky production assistant for the day.
From 10:30am-11:40am we set up the room in which the interview was going to be held. This included setting up the cameras and equipment, the seating area for the interviewee and interviewers, the back drop and experimenting with camera shots that we would use later on.
At 12:30pm the 12 members of the audience turned up and were given an exclusive tour of the ITN offices by Managing Editor of ITV News - Robin Elias. I was lucky enough to go with them and experience it too. I found out about some of the particular job roles that the journalists have and why they are so important. We were also lucky enough to learn more about the presenters, from the presenters themselves - Steve Scott and Alastair Stewart.
Steve Scott is a Sports Editor for ITV News and presents other ITV News programmes regularly. He has also covered events such as the 2012 London Olympics. He told us a little about his job and journalism and what a usual day consists of for him in the ITN offices. As I said we were also lucky enough to bump into ITV News presenter - Alastair Stewart (OBE) who presents the news at 1:30pm and co presents ITV News at 6:30pm. He told us about how he never had plans on becoming a news presenter but his dream job was to become an MP before hand. It was all extremely interesting.
The tour also consisted of looking over the shoulders of the Graphics team who create the special effects for the News room itself and the making of the broadcast. It was incredible to see the work that they put in and was amazing to find out that all of their news broadcasts are shot in front of a green screen and what you believe to be a background is just completely chroma-keyed in.
As if this wasn't enough we also got the chance to look in on a current edit in the editing suites of a broadcast which was due to air in 33 minutes and had to be completed on time. The team consisted of a journalist and editor who then worked together to create the short one minute or so story.
At 1:00pm it was time to start the interview with John Hardie himself. I had the part of a production assistant, which meant I had the great opportunity to help film the interview with a Canon 650D. My job was to film from a different angle to the others and come up with creative shots for part of the video that will be made for the GTB website to help inspire others.
John stated that working for ITN has been the best and most important organisation he has ever worked for. He also said that you should never be put off a job thats not your dream job, because it may be a great stepping stone and may lead to somewhere you never knew it could. As well as this he also said that you should show your passion for a job and stick with it, being confident and always believing in yourself. He believes they are the key factors to getting a job in your dream career.
At 2:00pm, it was a wrap and the whole thing was over. I have to say, I really did have a great day and I've walked away with a much more open mind and an even more positive attitude to the industry and the career path I'd like to take.
The whole Production Assistant opportunity has also helped my team working skills as I was able work with others who I have never met before. It was also great to work with a different camera (Canon 650D), although only slightly different to the one I own - the Canon 600D.
I'd like to thank GoThinkBig for the opportunity and I will definitely be applying for more of their incredible experiences in the future. As I said they are a site who help 16-24 year olds take their first steps on the media career ladder. Their main partner is O2 but they are also partnered with other companies including: Kiss, Empire, FHM, Heat, MTV, Channel 4, ITV, Q Magazine and many more.
If you have the desire to work for any of the companies mentioned or even want to find out more about GoThinkBig and their opportunities check out their website ... www.gothinkbig.co.uk/
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