“Roll titles!”
A two-hour workshop I developed for Year 9 students, aged around 13, is underway.
“Coming to you – in 5, 4, 3…”
It’s a TV News Presenting session – which requires each of the 30 participants to play a role in making one of two ‘live’ news programmes happen; and I get the feeling that this particular show is going to be a good one.
This particular session is the ninth and final one I’ve led in a week. Along with the BBC Outreach team in Bristol, I’ve been to five different Bristol schools altogether. A colleague noted that the Talent Ticket roadshow would involve 800 pupils over the week, and 25 volunteers a day. We wanted to inspire the students to apply for work experience at the BBC in Year 10, as one child from each of the schools we're visiting is guaranteed to be given the unique opportunity of spending a week at BBC Bristol.
My session isn’t the only one as the students can join two of a number of workshops designed to show them the range and variation of production roles available at the BBC. Mine is the one that requires us to arrive early in a large van with lots of heavy equipment to make up a mobile television studio and gallery!
I always start by talking to the students about the news and what they watch, listen to or read to keep up - and at every session there are those that don’t like news because they think it’s boring.
To get them thinking about news and reporting, we look at some footage from Newsround and BBC News at Six and I ask the students to think about the differences are between the two shows and how they appeal to their different target audiences.
Then we split into 2 groups, with one group making their own 7 minute episode of Newsround and the other making a 7 minute BBC News bulletin. So, I ask, “What sorts of people are needed to make this happen?” and we talk through the many people required to create a news programme – there’s more to it than presenters and camera operators. Broadcast Assistant, for example, is a good entry-level position to a broadcasting career. And essential! In News, they are the person responsible for doing the back-count of the programme to make sure it doesn’t over-run or under-run.
For this exercise, some roles are always much easier to cast than others. I often find that not many students want to do anything in front of the camera; I guess peer pressure plays a big role in the classroom. I always try to encourage them to just have a look at the script, maybe have a little go, and change their role if they really want to. I usually find there’s a few budding presenters out there to make sure we can go ahead!
Of course, things aren’t always perfect and we usually have students who are bored, unruly, or who try their best to spoil it. That doesn’t matter to the dedicated few though and I always find that the students manage to put together an interesting and engaging news bulletin. This session in Bristol is no different and I’m impressed by some great questions from the “BBC Business Correspondent”, who gave a very in-depth interview with the CEO of ‘SimplePlane’ (a low-budget airline - specially invented for this session - affected by the ash cloud). The news crew had thought about the story, the various angles and situations - and come-up with several different questions, all relevant. The Business Correspondent was firm, but polite; the CEO of 'SimplePlane' represented the company in an honourable way. I’m always sure I’m spotting future members of staff for the BBC and there’s certainly some I’ll be watching out for here!
*BBC Outreach Bristol created the Talent Ticket scheme in partnership with UWE (University of west England). The scheme encourages talented young people to pursue a career in the media by offering practical skills development opportunities, including work experience. The BBC careers road-show travelled to school involved in the scheme to give the students a short taster course of various media careers and to encourage them to apply for work experience opportunities at BBC Bristol.
