What have 'The Snowman' and 'Songs of Praise' got in common?
Post categories: general
|09:00 UK time, Monday, 5 April 2010
Helen Latham, Head of Strategic Planning for BBC Workplace, went 'back to the floor' as a runner in March. To share her experiences with us Helen has written the following guest blog. I'm sure you'll agree this is a great example of how we can find out more about the needs of our customers. Thanks to Helen for her efforts.
I recently spent a weekend working as a runner for Aled Jones on 'Songs of Praise' covering the BBC's School Choir of the Year Competition 2010. The two days of production and recording took place at London's Queen Elizabeth Halls and featured six school choirs, three judges, two guest performers and three guest choirs.
My aim was to get to know our customers better and the experience was hugely enjoyable.
Call time for the runners was 8am on Saturday morning. A tightly co-ordinated team was then pulled together in extraordinarily quick time.
Clear processes, the right kit and detailed forward planning were essential, but the defining feature was a shared desire to make the show a success.
While the runners were getting organised, the set design, sound and lighting were being rigged, and the foyer and auditorium were being prepared for the arrival of around 300 participating school children, celebrities and the audience members. People and kit were everywhere.
Then the vital importance of the 'talk back' headsets became apparent. They enabled constant communication in the production team, keeping each other informed, quickly sorting out questions, checking timings and whereabouts, fixing problems and setting up workarounds there and then - no two-day SLAs here! This all made the recording as slick as possible.
My thanks go to Sue Pitt and Susan Keirby who took me on - the energy, pace and ingenuity of the production team was inspiring. And, of course, Aled Jones, who worked incredibly hard over the two days and was a pleasure to run for.
Other opportunities to shadow roles are coming up and I thoroughly recommend it.
The three shows will be broadcast in April. Visit the Songs of Praise website.
Pictured: Helen with presenter Aled Jones (Aled was of course a choirboy and covered 'Walking in the Air' from 'The Snowman' in 1982!)
Comment number 1.
At 17:09 5th Apr 2010, BluesBerry wrote:The Snowman is a children's book by Raymond Briggs.
In 1982, this book was turned into a 26-minute animated movie. It was first shown on BBC Channel 4 late on Christmas Eve in 1982. It was hugely successful.
Peter Auty, a former choirboy, is best known for being the original voice behind "Walking in the Air", the theme song to the 1982 animated film “The Snowman”. Most people think this was Aled Jones.
It was the subsequent single release, which was sung by Welsh chorister Aled Jones.
But in answer to the question: What have 'The Snowman' and 'Songs of Praise' got in common?
I would guess that that would be the participation of Aled Jones.
The story relates the adventures of a young boy and a snowman who’s come to life. In the second part of the story, the boy and the snowman fly to the North Pole, and "Walking in the Air" is the theme for this.
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