Mock Interview (Part 2)

In this PowerPoint I discuss my BBC TV show Idea, that I will pitch at the end of January. This show could potentially get funding and air on TV, so I wanted to make sure I discussed my ideas and created a pilot episode. This will help my client gain a better understanding of the show. After they get a better look of the show, they will be able to decide on whether or not they want to invest in it. Psychographics : My audience is most likely to mixture of mainstreamers and suceeders. This is because these are the types of people who are most likely to watch my product.

My Show from ElliotDaroczy

Here is my pilot episode

This will help David Longworth get a better idea of what I am trying to create, and how long it will be. Hopefully, he will grasp a deeper understanding of the flow I'm going for.

MY BBC MOCK INTERVIEW

Here is my mock interview, I was interviewed by BBC Employee David Longworth, and it was recorded on Teams by Sally. If the video is a bit choppy then I apologise, but it wasn't filmed by me. 

The show I pitched is called Anonymous Discussions, and it’s show where I discuss topics such as what’s going on in the world, drama, and interesting stories. I showed David my presentation that contained all my information and resources about the show. For example, I discuss my idea, the character stills I plan to use, and my target audience. I want my show to be on BBC Three, so I explained that my show is aimed at young people. As well as explaining the concept of my product, I also explained how my show complies the BBC’s main rules such as inform, educate, and entertain. The BBC is also politically neutral, and I wanted to make sure David knew that my show wouldn’t have any political biases. I then showed him my pilot episode, unfortunately he couldn’t hear the audio due to the Teams call not allowing that to be shared, but he did get to see what I was going for. It was still helpful for him to see it.

I touched on the fact this interview was done over Microsoft Teams, so I was limited with what I could show. At least I got to present my idea to him, because it is valuable experience. After the presentation, David presented me with a few questions. He asked me “how will we make this more TV orientated”? In which I said that we could improve the animation, introduce special guests, and touch on more serious topics. He was impressed with my knowledge on social media, and he praised me for that. Next, he confronted me on the game play in the background, I explained that the game play was just for the prototype, and we could use backgrounds and presenters in the final product. Finally, he asked me how my show would interact with an audience, in which I suggested we do segments like Russell Howard’s playground politics. We could ask people questions about the topics, and even have a live audience. David was impressed with the way I answered the questions and gave me praise. He was impressed with my presentation and said that I put a lot of thought into it.

My Feedback

So, after I uploaded my interview with David Longworth, I reached out to some peers for feedback. I wanted to get some honest opinions about my performance and how I could improve in the future. That said, I put together a Google forms sheet to get some responses. The reason why I'm using forms over a focus group is because I don't want to bother people who are getting work done. The form requires a lot less time to answer, and that's more convenient for people.

I sent my video and feedback form to multiple people on Teams, after this I awaited their responses. I made sure to make it clear that I wanted to hear their honest opinions. I wanted to make sure I specified that this feedback was optional, I didn't want to bother people who were busy.

The first question I asked was whether it was professional. Thankfully, all six people said yes and that is really reassuring. I am happy to know that I spent my time well, and didn't come across as rude or disingenuous. There was no responses for the second part of that question, because no one answered no.

Next I asked whether my idea was clear enough, I want to make sure I wasn't putting across an unclear plan. The responses I received where positive, and everyone said I was clear. I was complimented on my pilot episode, which is nice to hear because I put time into that. I was also praised for my research, as well as my content ideas. It nice to know someone even listed what I was talking about doing, and that was funny stories, and news.

Lastly, I asked my audience whether my presentation was informative. To my surprise everyone said yes, and that was really reassuring. I thought maybe the pilot episodes audio not playing would raise a few eye brows, but everyone seems fine. I guess that was only because we recorded it on Teams. However, someone did tell me that interview flowed freely and it wasn't forced. This is exactly what I was going for, I don't want to sound robotic. A lot of people become timid when they're on camera, but I am experienced enough to not fall into that trap.

Conclusion

As a whole, this was a really good experience, that presented me with an opportunity to speak to David Longworth. Since I am going for a BBC apprenticeship, this is good experience. I also gained experience on how to handle an interview, this will helpful in later life. However, if I where to do this again I would record the interview myself, because Teams can be a bit choppy at times. But, that was out of my control.

I really enjoyed creating my pilot episode, and all though I couldn't show it in full, it was still valuable experience that developed my technical skill. I also used the BBC research from my last year, to help give me a better understanding of the company. It's good to see that last years research came to good use. The feedback I received was really helpful, and I was even praised by David himself when doing my interview. 

This was a helpful experience, that I will use to strengthen my interview techniques in the future.