Paranormal Part 1; Cake gate

Working on a paranormal show has given me some of my best TV experiences as a runner, I have explored derelict buildings tested night vision goggles, travelled to areas of the UK I would never have gone to and met some interesting people.

My first time working on this show myself and Dimmock had travelled down to London. I would be the camera and sound runner and Dimmock was the green room Runner.

Yvonne's Wine

Dimmock had it easy all she had to do was make sure Yvonnes wine was cold and topped up. My job was fairly easy too keep the camera and sound people topped up with tea and cable bash one of the pedestal cameras.

Rehearsals went well and everyday before the live show I got to play with the cameras and do the rehearsal instead of the camera man, I was loving it. We had another runner who was floor running and their job was to help out the floor managers that was until “cake gate”.... 

Before Health and safety gone mad

During the middle of the shoot it was a cast members birthday and so during the show a cake was to be presented to them, this was the days before health and safety gone mad and we could actually light the candles as long as we had a bucket of sand, fire extinguishers of every kind and a full fire station on standby. 

Rehearsals had gone well the runner was to step forward to the aisle, camera 1 would turn to them camera three hold shot of cast member and everyone else wides of the audience and presenter. Round of applause and Que. the cake. Runner walks forward and presents it. Easy or so it would seem.

Cake

“And 5,4,3,2,1 we are live” ... “welcome back now its a very special day today....” floor managers pushes the runner and cake into place in the aisle. cameras turn to positions. Audience applause... director shouts over talkback.. Que. the Cake........ and........ Nothing...... Que. the cake...........still nothing the runner isn't moving the audience are looking round as they have been clapping for a while and nothing has happened. Que. the f**king Cake screams the director, all around the room the floor manager, assistant floor manager, the camera assistants, the sound men and me are all waving the runner on frantically.

Eventually they step forward with the cake and down the aisle the audience applause increases when they finally see the cake and its over just like that....

Never again was a cake brought on for any celebration during the subsequent shows I worked on, and the next day Dimmock was the floor runner.

"I think I saw you on TV!"

The dreaded words you dont want to hear as someone who works behind the camera is "I think I saw you on TV last night!"....

Hiding behind Lord Seb Coe

If you are it means you were either not doing your job right or the director made a mistake and cut to the wrong camera. This is the main worry on a live programme when you do your upmost not to be seen. All crew mostly wear black to blend into the background and most of your time is spent avoiding being seen rather than making the programme. I am forever spending my time diving to the ground hiding behind the audience or behind the scenery. This week Lord Seb Coe became my human shield on a BBC debate.

This was an unusual day as we were given crew tops when we arrived that were white. White is not a good TV colour. It glows on most backgrounds and adds a halo around you, and all TV environments are filthy.

Wet Paint

The equipment is dirty the floor is dirty and there is wet paint and dust everywhere. After picking up the camera I had black streaks down my nice white top. All I did was pick it up! During rehearsals you plan out your shots and where and where you cant fit. At the same time the set team are touching up the set covering over marks and moving the set after lighting and cameras point out gaps or symmetry errors. so stepping backwards I walk into a screen that wasn't there originally and has just been painted I now have a nice blue line down my back. Now if I was wearing black this would have been fine as you wouldn't really be able to see it, but white shows up everything and now I look like I'm part of the set team not the camera department! As the show starts I'm onto my third crew top and the Unit Manager is beginning to think I'm stockpiling them or something to sell on.

Wide Shot

So you do your upmost to avoid being seen and still someone says they have seen you... on a live show at some point this is inevitable as things happen and people don't stop on the mark they where supposed too, someone says something different that throws the action somewhere unexpected or you are simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. But on a pre recorded programme its very unusual. This means that there has been a mistake and to cover it they have cut to a wide shot, this is usually a camera on a lock off at the back of the room, an unmanned camera just there as a back up. Sometimes they use this out of context to cover up a jolt, or a boom that slips in, or a shadow, and you can see yourself in a wide when you know at that point you were somewhere else entirely.