Filming at BBC South East interview with Abbie McCarthy

The interview at the BBC Radio Kent with Abbie McCarthy proved to be successful and we were finished rather quickly, fully showing how we were able to efficiently if we put all focus into getting our shoot done.

Abbie McCarthy gave us a good interview with answers that were both insightful of her position on the live independent band scene and her opinions about it as well as giving us some good footage to use for our documentary. She did seem very passionate about the opinions she was giving and let us know, after shooting had finished, that she is truly worried about the state of the live music industry as a whole because it is something that is both important to her personally and her job.

The interview area inside the BBC radio Kent was very interesting. Firstly, we were asked to wait in a sitting room for Abbie McCarthy. From here we could see the radio presenter recording live in his booth with two other workers sat in a different room next to his, sorting through the various calls that would come through and even engaging in conversation with the radio presenter whilst on air. WE were escorted upstairs by Abbie when she  arrived to an office area where there were a large number of people answering calls, presumably on business with the BBC. I did wonder whether this would effect the sound quality with the talking in the background but fortunately this was not a problem. The interview space looked very professional and would allow viewers to recognize that Abbie is someone who has a profession in the business that we are tackling.

Despite this, I thought we we could have perhaps dress the area around Abbie a little better for the interview. We were on a time constraint because Abbie has do do an interview of her own shortly afterwards elsewhere but I think more time could have been spent on this. As it is, the footage shows Abbie sat on one of the chairs with a railing behind her and a mostly blank blue wall, with the exception of a few pieces of paper and a small poster for an event pinned to the wall. I think this works ok but I feel that we could have moved some of the events posters into a position nearer to Abbie which would have made it easier to catch the eye of the viewer and immediately let the viewer know what area of work she is in.

I was appointed as the sound monitor. Unfortunately, the shotgun microphone wouldn't sit in its cradle properly so we had someone hold the microphone in a position just out of sight of the camera. Overall, I was happy with the sound. There were a few noise in the background such a person taking a call in the offices and someone typing on their computer plus the faint sound of traffic from outside. However, these were very minor and can be easily drowned out during the editing process. Most importantly, Abbie's voice was clear and easy to understand, meaning we were able to get the information that we needed.