I worked on a show called Matriarch, which picks up on the studies of the work of the Dr Jane Goodall Institute, and follows the lives of female chimpanzees in Gombe, Tanzania. This was an amazing show to work on, for I saw how observational and retrospective storytelling can be interwoven to create a compelling and captivating story. I was very well supported throughout my placement by the team and therefore experienced a variety of different elements to pre-production.

My first week began with watching sizzles and logging key moments from relevant archive films. This provided me with the background to the show and informed all my work going forward. I created broad research documents to demonstrate my knowledge and ability to work independently. I was then shown how to be distill relevant information into fact files and how to determine if things can be translated to telling a visual story, which a key factor for filming wildlife.

In my second week, I helped to transcribe recorded contributor interviews. This allowed me to understand the described characters, and more widely, how remote interviews with producers are conducted. I really enjoyed listening to the amazing stories of contributors that would soon be brought to life on the screen. As well as this, I made a chimp behaviour log, compiled from weekly reports sent from Gombe, which informed the director of behaviours likely to be filmed in the lead up to the first shoot.

During my final week, I helped more on the production management side, specifically with sourcing items from shoot packing lists and identifying what needed to be ordered. This gave me a true insight into essential preparations that go into filming in a remote location for a long period of time, where you need enough consumables to sustain a filming team.

My overall placement highlights included the opportunity to sit in on a production meeting. Here, I was able to observe the process of rolling out a show press release, as well as the intricacies of shoot preparation and task delegation. I also thoroughly enjoyed contributing to a development brainstorming session, where I was encouraged to suggest creative ideas for the show, and I felt like a valued member of the team.

I left the BBC NHU with a fresh wave of inspiration and confidence to pursue a career down the editorial route of factual documentary making. I enjoyed working in a fast-paced working environment, and it affirmed to me that I would like to be involved in telling visual stories that lift unheard voices and push creative boundaries. I am very excited to now take the next steps in making this a reality!