I grew up in television in the early 90s and it was the end of a different era. The process was far more time consuming and considered with film still being used and the onset of non-linear edit suites still new and not trusted. However there were some advantages. Assistants (aka paid apprentices) were commonplace. If you were shooting on film, an assistant cameraman would load and change the reels as well as focus pull. Editors still cutting on Steenbecks had assistants to sort their trims and the many cans of film. Both jobs were valued and the assistants contributed creatively to the process of filmmaking. Many of the greatest documentary cameramen and editors at the top of their trade today earned their stripes that way.
By the late 90s digibeta was the king of formats for TV and everyone edited on Avid Media Composer. The need for and extra technical pair of hands on location or in the cutting room evaporated and the era of the ‘work experience office runner’ came about. These were the group of highly motivated people who were desperate to get into the industry of television and willing to do anything to make it work. Sadly most only made tea and were not let near the hobnob of the creative process – it being far too precious to let novices near, or so the thinking went.
In the new millennium the advent of the one person team and DV shooting hit our screens. Suddenly it was possible to make documentaries for a fraction of the previous price. APs and researchers were given more responsibility than before, but the ability of the newcomers varied massively, many of them not receiving more than cursory training. Soon organisations like DV Talent sprung up to help sort the wheat from the chaff. This climate ultimately lent itself well to formatted television.
Fortunately this decade we find ourselves in a different stage of technology and it presents new opportunities for people willing to learn in the right way. There is a multitude of different ways to shoot and edit. Phone footage is often seen on screen as is the footage from the same cameras used in the highest budget feature films.
I’ve just finished a long-term series for the BBC called Protecting our Children. When it was commissioned it was one of the very first observational series to be shot on high definition. As we filmed for well over a year on a tapeless format, we couldn’t envisage managing that amount of media without an edit assistant. Jonny Doggett proved himself to be a very capable assistant and went beyond his immediate role of looking after the rushes. He landed up impressing the head of documentaries at the BBC by assembling some sequences before our main edit began. He went on to edit several three-minute films for the Open University web site and has now gone on to edit the ‘making of’ parts of a Natural World for BBC 2. It seems only a question of time before he’s cutting high quality complete programmes. By being at the heart of our production, he had intimate dealings with all the highly experienced editors during the main edit and became an invaluable part of the team.
Last week The Observer heralded Protecting our Children, saying it represented the dawn of a new era of documentary. I would say the opposite. It signals the return to quality production shot and edited in the right way. We also had the additional luxury of being able to train newcomers in what we do.
The next project I’m working on is likely to have an assistant cameraman on, as the Red Epic camera shoots at 5K and eats up memory like there’s no tomorrow and the parameters of the work flow are key to get right with so many different options. I welcome the fact of having more juniors at the heart of modern productions, as there’s finally a chance to pass down the skills that are only going to be learnt 'on the job.’ Long live the apprentice and let’s hope he/she doesn’t get fired.
Protecting our Children is on BBC2 at 9pm on Monday 13th February 2012.
The other two films in the series are still available on BBC iPlayer.
