JACK ON THE CREW FOR QUESTION TIME - September 2008

I have always been a fan of the BBC programme Question Time, and I was keen to see exactly how it was put together. When I discovered that they were to shoot a show in Manchester, I contacted Mentorn Media, who produce the show for the BBC, to see if I could go along for work experience.

Having spoken directly to the show's Production Manger, it was agreed that I could work as an unpaid runner on the show. The experience was fantastic. My duties mainly involved dealing with the audience, taking questions from them to be asked during the show. It was great to see a real, high profile programme put together by a team who are obviously very experienced and work well together. I even opened David Dimbleby's salad box for him!

One of the most interesting things to watch was the boom operators. In the College Studio I am used to static ceiling mics and radio mics. On Question Time, a lot of the interaction comes impromtu from the studio audience, and so there were crew members (one in each corner) equipped with an approx 15ft Boom mic, which would swoop on any audience member who dared to open their mouths. Often two or three of the booms would jostle for position to get to a source first, such was the speed and efficiency of the operators.

Overall, I seemed to make a good impression on the producers, and having spoken to them since, it is likely I will get the opportunity to work as a runner for them again next time they shoot in the north west.