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9112 OU6 - Filming with the BBC
When I arrived at the OU the practice was that every OUBS course had videos, in theory about the subject, produced by the BBC. We were not allowed to use anyone outside the BBC to produce these. In any case the BBC then had very good facilities locally. At that stage, indeed, on campus at the OU it had one of the largest studios outside of London. Gradually, over the next decade though, the BBC withdrew large parts of this support. First of all it shut down the studio -- since modernising it would have cost too much -- and then it gradually moved to the idea of 'producer choice'. This meant that they commissioned most of the material on the open market, and expected us to do the same. For a long while, though, we still had our own dedicated BBC producers and staff; and all the editing facilities still were on-campus
Having the BBC make our videos was a great idea, and the documentaries produced were superb. Indeed, the outside world thought that the documentaries were at the heart of the OU teaching methods. In fact, they represented relatively little of the academic content. Eventually we reckoned they produced something like 5 percent of the academic content but cost something like 50 percent of the overall (set-up) cost. Even so, they were great in terms of marketing, since they portrayed a very professional image for the OU -- which enjoyed significant airtime; to air them, on BBC2 in particular.
This filming was led by a core team which comprised a producer and a production assistant. These were the ones that I, as course team chair, worked with for more than two years. When we were on location the numbers escalated, so that a minimum crew would comprise myself, as the academic, a producer, a production assistant, a camera operator, a sound-man and often an assistant cameraman who hiked the equipment around. In addition to these, of course we had the drivers who moved us around. In the UK all of these tended to come from the Open University BBC group. Overseas it was very different, since we hired local cameramen.
My main experience with the BBC was, of course, on B885. We started in the United Kingdom, where we filmed segments with the Rover group - as part of the technology block. This was interesting, though we only ever penetrated as far as their design studios.
Our next venture was into Europe, to film segments about the television industry. For this, and much the rest of the filming, I shared the material with a course in social sciences; led by my compatriot Richard who was chair of that course
The most interesting of the UK filming, though, came with filming a case study at ASDA. This was when ASDA was starting its climb to be one of the UK’s biggest supermarket chains. Via my contacts, I had managed to get the requisite access agreed with the marketing director, and to film in his staff in their annual planning process. It meant that we went behind the scenes at their head office and also in a number of their stores. It was a fascinating story. Not long afterwards, however, most of management team were removed; as a new CEO was brought in who was very good at handling the City – and hence massaging their all-important share price! This led to their later takeover by Walmart.
Our first port of call in Europe was the European Commission. This, at the beginning of the 1990s, was when the familiar three legged building -- the Berleymont -- was the headquarters of the EEC, as it then was. The building was later on shut down and covered in plastic, since it turned out to be full of asbestos. Mind you, the European Commission (EC) is nothing if not professional. They had their own television studio in-house -- with a full three camera set up -- so that we didn't need to take in our own crew. What is more, within a matter of minutes of the interview finishing, the tape was sent down the line to the BBC in London. The interview was with one of the Commissioners. The most impressive aspect, though, was the two interpreters. Before the commissioner started speaking they literally didn't know in what language he would be speaking -- he was fluent in English, Italian, French, and German. In fact he spoke in his own language, Italian, but the interpreters clicked into place in what seemed like a millisecond; and were translating from Italian, as recorded on our tapes (which didn't even need to be edited), at high speed.
From Brussels we flew down to Cannes. The event at Cannes was the industry film and television show. This is not the same as the one where all the starlets parade along the beach. But it is very much an industry convention where everyone sells products to each other. The conference centre in Cannes is one my least favourite buildings. It's even worse when you get into exhibition hall of the convention itself. It is full to the brim with stands, with narrow rows between them and a ceiling by which is barely seven feet high. Accordingly, it was not easy to get good shots of what was going on, it was like shooting in your back bedroom, and we used very little of the footage.
Even so, the buzz was marvellous. There was no real celebrities around, though I was planning to see a small press conference with Muhammad Ali. Unfortunately I travelled up in the lift with him, and I was so horrified by what Parkinson's disease had done to him -- he was a shambling wreck of a man -- that I couldn't face attending this press conference.
The main thing, working with the BBC, is that you live well. So we ate at a number of very good restaurants. Above all though we ate at Roger Vergé's restaurant. However, we couldn't get into his best restaurant, the Moulin, since you had to book several months in advance for that. But we did manage to get into his second restaurant, the Almanderie. The food was superb, though the portions were minute -- since it was at the time when (as cuisine minceur) you were supposed to have a lot to small, exquisite dishes. But it really was a superb culinary experience.
The highlight came, though, when we were allowed to film the Warner Brothers party at the end of the conference. This was in the suite which had an enormous balcony overlooking the Croisette. It was full of the most glamorous television people, though there were few stars that I recognised -- though my colleagues said that there were several soap stars there. I enjoyed myself directing the film crew in their work. If you can imagine anything more attractive, at an industry bash, than having a BBC crew to film you, then you get some idea of the atmosphere. Everyone preened themselves to be on television. I remember, in particular, a couple who looked like they had the best days of a B film career behind them, preening themselves ready for a last appearance on celluloid. Unfortunately I couldn't persuade the crew to actually film them, and as we swept by I have rarely seen such a despondent looking reaction
The food was reasonable, but I ate far too many quail eggs - it must have been about 20-30, and felt rather the worse for wear afterwards.
The real benefit of these jaunts was, though, the people we interviewed. I especially remember the senior management of Toyota, whose common-sense view of the business world was more than refreshing. But there was also Howard Stringer of CBS, whose take on the future of television was so incisive. Indeed, I also remember subsequently interviewing the (Conservative) Home Office minister responsible for television in the UK. Our interview lasted a bare 10 minutes, but he then interrogated us for another hour – until our producer got up and said he had another appointment! The most fascinating aspect of this was that, at the time, the minister was conducting a review of the BBC’s charter, and – as it was obvious that we knew more than him on the subject – he was picking our brains as to what he should do! It was not the only time my views potentially had such an impact, much the same happened with UNESCO, but this time he was posing the questions (in effect) to a team from the very BBC he was supposed to be regulating!
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