Day one was very exciting and I've returned home buzzing about the show. Within 5 minutes of getting there I met Noel and welcomed him in (and he actually asked how I was too!) I first went through safety forms and confidentiality agreements with Annelise - General Manager of the site and Amy - Reception and runner for the site. They are actually on a contract base there from around September to May so explained their jobs are quite fixed and it is unusual to get such a long contract within television.
I then got to see everything in action by being a fully fledged audience member! As I don't watch the show that often I found myself strangely hooked on the tension and story behind the contestant and enjoyed watching amongst the hardcore crazy fans. I also found myself looking for cameras and seeing how many they had operating, and looking at the lighting rig which looked quite complicated!
After watching the 1st of 3 shows they were recording that day I was with studio runner Becca. Her job does literally reflect the term 'runner'. I helped her with most of her tasks which firstly entailed of once everyone had picked a ball out of a bag to select which no. box they would get - writing it down on a sheet with all the contestants names on. We then had to quite literally run around the set to photocopy 12 of these sheets and give them to sound,lighting,editing and floor crew all before the show begins. Which she did explain sometimes is impossible. We then had to write down on the sheet which box was chosen when and the value in it and Becca had to write up a summary of the show including what happened, when, and any particular stories the contestant told which was sent to the series producer. After the show Becca's job is to then clear the studio and check everything's clean for the next recording.
After a speedy dinner I was then with George gallery runner who ensures everyone in the gallery has drinks and if they have everything they need. She then also helps out on the studio floor putting out the boxes for all the contestants. I then spent the rest of the afternoon/evening with Neil who was office runner for the day. He explained that the runners often switch jobs every week or so, and also get the opportunity to shadow a department for a day. So they will swap between studio runner, gallery runner, office runner and audience team. Neil this week is an office runner so it entails of opening post (reading crazy fan mail) and sending out application forms for contestants; checking Noel's dressing room and that he has everything he needs and tidying up the contestants room and locking up at night. I finished off the day helping Neil with clearing up the contestants room then shutting everything off in Noel's dressing room.
After speaking to the runners throughout the day they explained what a great way it was to get into the industry and meet and get the right contacts. A lot of them had other running experience on shows such as strictly come dancing but over all said you just need to be enthusiastic and willing to do any job.
Home time!
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