Friday 19th March. The Final countdown!

As today was the last day Annalise was quite lenient as to what was on the schedule for me to do. I basically had the freedom to look at what I wanted to learn, as I couldn’t get any closer to the banker, or Noel. I took the opportunity to look at the editing suite and a bit of Sound. The editing suite I found fascinating as they were editing on Avid and not final cut. As this was something I had never worked on before I enjoying stepping back and watching three individual editors edit the programmes in their own way. I saw the raw footage, and they also explained how they have to edit the shows down into three separate sections in between breaks. I then saw the overall programme, and tried my hardest to get my name on the credits, it never happened. Watching the overall package was the perfect way to end a very insightful week.

Interview. Ingo Nyakairu - Head Runner

So how did you get into the tv industry?

I started by doing work experience on Deal or No Deal just to gain a bit of an insight into the industry and to gather some contacts for the future. A few months later I heard there were some runner positions going at Deal or No Deal and decided to apply. I didn’t get the job at first as I didn’t have enough experience in tv so decided to gain some more experience by applying for jobs not just in Bristol but nationwide.

What are the best and worst parts of your current job?

I have really enjoyed managing a team of runners over the course of this contract as you need to be organised and be ready at all times to solve any problem that arises. I like a challenge in life and this job has definitely had some challenging moments. I am a people person at heart so really enjoyed going on the audition tour and helping the contestant team pick new players for the upcoming shows.
There are some jobs you have to do that nobody really likes doing like making teas and coffees and general cleaning duties throughout the site but it all has to be done as you can’t really film with a filthy studio.

What has been your favorite role within the tv industry?

Last summer I was working with the celebrity booker on itunes festival for Endemol which was aired on ITV2. The job involved looking after the guests that were going to be interviewed in the show and bands that were performing over the month. There were 62 concerts in 31 days so was quite an intense month but a lot of fun.

What do you plan to do after this contract ends?

I’ve started applying for researcher roles in London as that would be the natural progression in my career. London also seems to be the city that has the most amount of shows being made so is a good place to start looking for work.

What advice would you give people coming into the industry?

Be polite to everyone, get your work done quickly and efficiently, choose a path, follow it and remember everyone is a contact for the future.

Brief Overview Of an Office Runners schedule

Runner’s Guide Deal Or No Deal
The Runner’s team on Deal or No Deal consists of 6 Runners and 1 Head Runner.

During filming weeks the team is split into two with half joining the audience team and the remaining runners being spread over Studio, Gallery and Office duties.

During Dark weeks the team is again split with their main objective being to get the site prepared for filming weeks.

Office Runner Duties:

· General cleaning duties in preparation for filming weeks.
· Make sure site is open and ready to go during filming weeks.
· Liase with Production Manager as to any jobs that need to be done.
· Clean and prepare Noel’s Room and Contestant room for each record.
· Collect Costumes, Contestant Train Tickets and general shopping that is requested to assist with records.
· Supply Lunches to Executive Producers & Series Producers.
· Reply post to general public requesting Application Forms and Noel’s signature.
· Archive Rushes that are not needed by the edit.
· Be on call at all times to assist with any urgent matters that may arise.
· Secure the site at the end of each day.

Thursday 18th March

This morning was another chance for me to get involved on the studio floor. I was first sent to help out with the camera crew and the lovely Scott, who showed me what I needed to know. I looked at various cameras including the steady cam. Because Deal or no deal is an original game, the eye line of each person on the camera has to be the same. He pointed out what the director can see, and how each camera covers a certain spot on the studio floor. I then helped out with the runners again, because the schedule was running on time it gave me the chance to interview the head runner, as I thought his journey through the media industry was quite interesting. Towards the end of the day I was with a familiar face again, the vision mixer Dan. As I was shadowing Dan he gave me the feedback from the director and the banker, i’m not allowed to say anything else about the banker but shadowing Dan was the highlight of my week.

Wednesday 17th March 2010

Finding my way round the site was a lot easier on Wednesday. I almost felt like part of the crew. My first mission was to find the gallery as I started the day shadowing the lighting crew. I bumped into Kevin Sharp, who also assisted us with the lighting for our multi cam music shoots back in Feb. He went through the basics, how to control, alter and direct the lights on cue to the show. I then watched them in action s the first recording began. As the director was close by I decided to ask him a few questions myself and ended up sitting with him for the second show. He briefly went through how he controlled the cameras and explained how it’s all about creating a story within the show, by using just the cameras. He was also attached to the mixing desk. After lunch I was back on the studio floor helping and shadowing the Floor Manager, Greg. As the show was recording he explained everything they did, it was certainly a lot faster paced! He also gave a prep talk to the contestants before they went into the studio, possibly my favourite task of the day.

Tuesday 16th March 2010

Tuesday schedule was different from what was originally planned. I spend the majority of the day shadowing the Audience team where I tried and tested different parts of this specific job. As I watched more and more recordings from different points of view I suddenly felt like I was in the film, vantage Point. As now and then I saw someone I had worked with. The jobs that the audience team had to take care of involved the taking and signing of release forms from the audience members, as well as giving them pass bands for the studio. They then had to see to the F+F of contestants and made sure they had appropriate seats in the studio. Once they were then settled in the studio, the runners then went up to the office and booked audience members for future shows. Obviously I couldn’t leave until I found a twirl and a flake bar for Noel for Wednesday’s shoots, clearly one of the hardest jobs of the day.

Monday 15th March 2010

My first Day!

It’s the first day and as usual I am looking like a rabbit in headlights, heading into the oversized fishbowl yet again. Its 11:30 and I head into reception to meet the general manager, Annalise Snell. I then go through the order of my week of work, starting with shadowing the first two runners, a studio runner and the gallery runner. As I had mentioned I had never been to a site like this before, Annalise thought it would be a good idea to put me in the audience for the first recording of the day, after getting over my star struck state from seeing Noel earlier that morning, and sorting my make-up out, I was ready for my first show. My first mentor for the day was Amy who sorted out my forms at reception. She kindly gave me a tour of the studio’s and introduced me to the main production crew for the day. After the first show was done I as assisted offset and rejoined the studio runner, Abi Seabourne, whilst the second show was recording. It was exciting to see how she managed to complete her tasks as she described that particular job as ‘racing with time’. After the second recording was over I joined the gallery runner, George James. She then showed me what it’s like to be a Gallery runner, which included tasks such as catering to the needs of the director and the vision mixer and finally collecting tapes at the end of the day.

Endemol West studios!

Active in 25 countries on five continents, Endemol is a global leader in television and audiovisual entertainment. It incorporates a number of production brands including Brighter Pictures, Cheetah Television, Initial and Zeppotron. These four specialise in a broad range of genres including factual entertainment, reality series, specialist factual, arts, live events, music entertainment, documentaries, youth shows and comedy.

Credits include Big Brother,(Channel 4; E4); Deal or No Deal, (Channel 4); Would I Lie to You? (BBC ONE); Golden Balls (ITV1); Comic Relief Does Fame Academy (BBC ONE; BBC THREE; CBBC); Ready Steady Cook (BBC TWO); Soccer Aid (ITV1; ITV2); Orange Playlist (ITV1); and Charlie Brooker’s Screen Wipe (BBC FOUR; BBC TWO)

Endemol UK has offices in London and Bristol and employs up to 1000 people at any one time.

Endemol West set up as a regional production base in 2004 and encourage local talent particuarly at entry level across production and technical grades. Facilities include 7 multi-cam studios, 4 galleries, production offices, an art/prop department, audience/contestant hold areas, green rooms/make-up, post production (via The Farm Group) including 8 avid adrenalins. Studios/facilities can be hired dependant on availability.

They are currently producing C4 blockbuster ‘Deal or No Deal’.

I have been lucky enough to get 1 week of ork experience working on the show..