I was extremely privileged to gain this opportunity as the channel it makes programmes for and the business itself is almost completely Welsh speaking and, more often than not, will only allow Welsh speakers to work with cameramen and with general content of the production. This is due to the fact that everything both behind and in front of the camera is predominantly in Welsh, without knowing the language you are not only unable to communicate with colleagues and talent but are unable to pick up cues in dialogue or understand fully exactly what is going on in the shot without translation.
Being from England I have very little knowledge of the language and had picked up a series of podcasts for beginners to get an idea of the language and pick up some niceties so as not to come across as completely ignorant to the language.
I met up with Luke on the first day at Tinopolis and had a quick tour of the premises. The building itself contains a tv studio on the lower floor which is in use twice a day broadcasting local news and general interest, Wedi3 and Wedi7. There is also a second smaller studio for a Welsh childrens programme and an animatronics department working alongside this. There was also all the neccesary areas such as main gallery, editing suites, props, stock and lighting dept. The area I was to be operating in for the majority of my time at Tinopolis would be the camera crew dept. I was to be part of a team of cameramen and soundmen who would go out to various locations throughout the day filming short pieces to be aired on Wedi3 and Wedi7. Location shoots would also include SNG's (Satellited News Gatherings) which would be fed live through satellite in the evenings for Wedi7.
Luke, myself and our sound bloke spent the first day working on two stories, one of which was in a school and another at a writers house in Camerthenshire, both were about international Book Day. I jumped to action straight away and helped set up the tripod/sticks and asked about lighting requirements which was apparently quite impressive, woohoo!
For the following weeks everyshoot had the same sort of layout. Pick up and check equipment from the Tinopolis Office, head out to the location, set up, shoot and de-rig and go onto the next plece until it was time to pack up and head back to the office. Every location would hold a differnt challenge, from sleet to too much sun then smallest room ever to huge places with power points too far away. Whenever lighting was required Luke would tell me what he wanted and I'd get on with it, he would discuss the layout with me and I'd identify possible shots with him.
Whenever Luke was unavailable to go out on location with I would spend time in the studios observing. I found this a little tiresome as I prefer to be more involved and hands on, however previous work experience people at Tinopolis have very much taken a back seat and watched everything happen around them, therefor the staff at Tinopolis, at times, would disregard me and just leave me to watch. I would make an effort to try and get involved but unfortunately the language barrier would also get in the way, so on a few occasions I was left on a couch watching rehearsals and live shoots with a radio and no idea what was going on. However, I did manage to get upstairs to the main gallery to watch some chromakey. The gentleman I was with at the time mostly worked with graphics and computers and was continously getting green bounce back on the talents face and couldnt figure out the problem. I quickly demonstrated my skills by piping up and telling him it was lit badly and how to rectify the problem very simply by moving the talent further away from the green screen as she was too close, unfortunately that involved resetting all of the lights in a short time and the studio staff weren't up for doing that so the talent was left with a green face. In voicing my opinion and explaining such a simple fault I did gain the respect of that staff member who has since seen me around Cardiff and asked me to return. Which is nice.
All in all my time at Tinopolis was lots of fun, I feel that I came out of the experience with a lot more confidence in both areas of camera and lighting.
Luke, myself and our sound bloke spent the first day working on two stories, one of which was in a school and another at a writers house in Camerthenshire, both were about international Book Day. I jumped to action straight away and helped set up the tripod/sticks and asked about lighting requirements which was apparently quite impressive, woohoo!
For the following weeks everyshoot had the same sort of layout. Pick up and check equipment from the Tinopolis Office, head out to the location, set up, shoot and de-rig and go onto the next plece until it was time to pack up and head back to the office. Every location would hold a differnt challenge, from sleet to too much sun then smallest room ever to huge places with power points too far away. Whenever lighting was required Luke would tell me what he wanted and I'd get on with it, he would discuss the layout with me and I'd identify possible shots with him.
Whenever Luke was unavailable to go out on location with I would spend time in the studios observing. I found this a little tiresome as I prefer to be more involved and hands on, however previous work experience people at Tinopolis have very much taken a back seat and watched everything happen around them, therefor the staff at Tinopolis, at times, would disregard me and just leave me to watch. I would make an effort to try and get involved but unfortunately the language barrier would also get in the way, so on a few occasions I was left on a couch watching rehearsals and live shoots with a radio and no idea what was going on. However, I did manage to get upstairs to the main gallery to watch some chromakey. The gentleman I was with at the time mostly worked with graphics and computers and was continously getting green bounce back on the talents face and couldnt figure out the problem. I quickly demonstrated my skills by piping up and telling him it was lit badly and how to rectify the problem very simply by moving the talent further away from the green screen as she was too close, unfortunately that involved resetting all of the lights in a short time and the studio staff weren't up for doing that so the talent was left with a green face. In voicing my opinion and explaining such a simple fault I did gain the respect of that staff member who has since seen me around Cardiff and asked me to return. Which is nice.
All in all my time at Tinopolis was lots of fun, I feel that I came out of the experience with a lot more confidence in both areas of camera and lighting.
In working with Luke I really learnt the pace of the job. I was aware of how quickly a shoot can be and the time constraints involved at times but that doesnt prepare you for the real thing. I adapted very quickly though and made sure that I kept up with the pace and, at times, pleasantly suprised people at how quickly I could help de-rig. The variation of camera shots and techniques I learnt with Luke really helped develop the way I work, I've seen a huge improvement in myself with both technique on the day and end results am very pleased with how quickly I took on board all advise and made it my own.
With lighting I think confidence was really the key, i've been full of it since begining University but I took a bit more away from Tinopolis purely from seeing how quickly and easily things can be done when needed, its comforting to know that although taking time and really getting indepth with lighting is something that is hugely important at times, its still just as good to trust in your instincts, wack a light up and get the job done and having it work just as well.
I loved the pace, the environment and the staff at Tinopolis. This is most certainly a field of work I shall be trying to get into as soon as possible!!
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