Licensed to shoot
A freelance TV producer and director has added another credit to her name thanks to a unique project designed to boost skills of those working in the broadcast, film, video and multimedia.
Amy Walker is used to calling the shots when it comes to making programmes and bringing them to our screens. Although she has been working in the industry since 1997, and has freelanced as a producer/director in factual and entertainment programming for the past six years, she was happy to call for some extra help when it came to adding another string to her bow.
Amy is one of 700 London-based freelancers who have recently developed their professional skills with the help of subsidised training through the Skillset Freelance Training Project.
The project has provided places on a range of courses in animation, broadcast and interactive media, which are delivered by BBC Academy, 01zero-one, Escape Studios, Soho Editors and VET. With fees reduced by up to 80%, the project is backed by funding from the European Social Fund and the Learning and Skills Council in London.
With the help of the project, Amy took up a place on the ‘PD150 Operations and Shooting' course run by BBC Academy at Elstree. The four-day course provided a thorough grounding in the use of the popular Sony PD150 DV camcorder.
"On the types of production that I'm involved in, the trend is increasingly towards people shooting their own stuff, or at least being able to help out in that area," says Amy.
"Although I'd done a small bit of shooting in the past, I'd generally always worked with crews, so I wanted to do the course to give me some confidence and learn some real skills with the camera."
The course involved a mixture of seminars, demonstrations and practical exercises. As well as examining the principles behind good picture and sound, it also covered composition, shot sizes, continuity and editing.
"I thought the course was really brilliant because it didn't just teach us to operate the camera," Walker adds. "It also covered editing so we had to try and cut the stuff we'd shot and that was very useful. It taught me, for example, the very simple fact that you need to hold your shots for long enough to have ‘handles'. Because I'm so economical with things I kept turning off the camera and when we came to cut stuff there wasn't enough room on the end of my shots. There were lots of things that I could see demonstrated straight away.
"I also liked the time it gave you on the equipment. I'd done a half day on camera before with one of the independent companies I'd worked for but that didn't give you the hands-on chance that you need really. I feel very strongly that one of the most important things in terms of learning is the ability to just keep practising. There were only eight of us on the BBC course and two tutors, so the ratio was great."
In common with many freelancers, Amy is only too aware that finding both the time and the money to develop her skills can be an uphill struggle.
"I think for freelancers accessing training can be a bit of a nightmare. I wasn't working at the time I got the chance to go on the course. Having that huge discount was such a brilliant opportunity. I certainly wouldn't have been able to afford it if I'd had to pay the full fee."
Since finishing the course, Amy is already seeing the benefits of her new camera skills. "I did a development job directly afterwards and then I worked on the ITV series Trinny & Susannah Undress, where I shot the first interviews with the contributors. I wouldn't have had the confidence to do that before the course.
Notes to Editors
Skillset is the Sector Skills Council (SSC) for Creative Media which comprises TV, film, radio, interactive media, animation, computer games, facilities, photo imaging and publishing. SSCs are licensed by the UK Government and by Ministers in the devolved administrations to tackle the skills and productivity challenge by sector. They are independent, UK-wide organisations, are employer-led, and actively involve trade unions, professional bodies and other stakeholders in the industry.