Career Academy student's Hollyoaks experience!
Tuesday 15 November
As part of the Haverstock School Media Career Academy, student Mallek did his summer internship at Optomen Productions. They were so impressed with him that they helped organise some work experience for him during October half term on the set of Hollyoaks in Liverpool, also paying for his accommodation and travel for the week.
Here Mallek shares his experience.
My time on the set of Hollyoaks in Liverpool
As part of the Career Academy I was able to secure an internship at the production company - Optomen Television. Whilst I was there, I expressed that I really wanted to gain work experience in a drama rather than factual based production. As a result of this, the Managing Director at Optomen was able to contact Lime Pictures, the production company that make Hollyoaks and The Only Way is Essex. I was then given a week's placement in Liverpool on the set of Hollyoaks!
When working with the Hollyoaks team I mostly worked closely with the second and third Assistant Directors, shadowing them and acting as a runner on-set -ultimately learning about the procedures that take place day-to-day.
My responsibilities included managing the actors and working in make-up and costume. At the beginning I was given a walkie talkie, which allowed me to keep in constant contact with the team, making sure production cast and crew were aware of any changes to the schedule that may have arisen for any reason.
Once on set, I made sure that people walking around the neighbouring sets were quiet and were aware that the crew was rolling. I also helped with the sparks and camera crew should they need an extra hand carrying equipment. I got the chance to meet the artists on set and when travelling to the set with them, they were really friendly and interested in what I was doing around the site, where I was from, whether this was a career path that I definitely wanted to take. This definitely eased the process, making it seem a lot less daunting.
With regards to my experience I got the chance to hang around on the sets between and during takes, observing the process and watching what all the people were doing. Once I was familiar with the procedures I got the chance to independently manage the supporting actors (extras) ensuring that the make-up and costume crews were happy with them and that they were out of the way on set, and on time when they were required on-set. I thought that this was brilliant as I felt as I was moulding into the team and became and genuinely important aspect of the production process.
I took away a great deal of experience from my time at Lime Pictures and loved every moment of it. So much so that I have been talking to my contact at Lime and I may be given another placement there in Easter!
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