Diary of a Prep Technician Trainee

Hello my name is Belle and I was a Trainee at VI Rental, through Wildscreen’s Environmental Storytellers Programme. Cinematography has always been something I have been naturally drawn to. During my studies I have found that gaining professional experience within the film and TV industry particularly difficult and rare. when I saw the opportunity to complete an internship at VI Rental, I knew it was a major step towards my career and jumped at the chance. From the very beginning I felt incredible welcomed and supported, even through the interview process, everyone was super friendly and ensured that this program was purely to assist me in my learning.

During my first week at VI Rental, I was introduced to the team and began getting a better understanding of how a professional camera rental house operates. Initially I was very nervous starting my journey here. Walking into a professional environment surrounded by people with so much industry knowledge and experience was intimidating. However, those nerves immediately disappeared with every morning greeted with friendly conversations about my weekend and interests – alongside the best coffee!

What was my Role?

My role during my traineeship was to assist and shadow the team within the VI Rental house. Providing me with an insight into the entire process of preparing equipment for productions. I was able to learn how everything worked from the very beginning, when clients book their kit, through to the final checks before the equipment is sent out on the job.

One of my main responsibilities was checking in camera kits and making sure each component was accountable. This included checking on each individual piece of equipment, learning the names, function and purpose of everything that goes into the mechanics of the kit.

I would then go through the equipment, carefully checking and testing every component to make sure everything was working to the highest standard ready for the next job. This gave me the opportunity to spend countless hours with cameras, lenses and so much more that I had never seen before. Learning how each system works has provided me with confidence and opened my eyes to the decision and reason that goes behind choosing the right kit for the shoot.

Highlights

A true highlight during my time at VI was being able to go out on location to assist filming and live cutting at HMS Raleigh. This experience was something that I had never done before and gave me a chance to develop my practical skills on location. I helped set up the cameras ready for the parade, connecting them to the station we had positioned discreetly. I was able to use three cameras to cut between throughout the parade that was being streamed live onto YouTube. This required me to quickly plan and select the next shot, while communicating over headsets to the person with the roaming camera.

Overall, apart from being an amazing experience where I was able to learn so much, it was also a great day out, seeing the parade and being a part of such a lovely team.

Words of encouragement

Something that I learnt very quickly during my time at VI, and something that I would say to a future trainee is, don’t be afraid to ask questions. In fact, ask as many as you can think of. When I was stuck, asking for help, this is where I learnt some many new things.

The whole team were so friendly and constantly offered their help. Because of this, not only did it make my time here so enjoyable, but it meant that I was able to take the full advantage of this opportunity and grow so much over the months!

These Traineeships are kindly supported by the John Lewis Partnership Foundation Employability Fund, the programme aims to break down barriers and open up access to careers in environmental storytelling – helping new voices shape the stories our planet needs.

ENVIRONMENTAL STORYTELLERS PROGRAMME 
The Wildscreen Environmental Storytellers Programme is kindly supported by the John Lewis Partnership Foundation, we are working with organisations to diversify natural world storytelling and support young people to take their first steps within the industry. 

To check for current traineeships available click here!

For more information on the programme read here!