We caught up with Lainey & Toby, two students at Exhall Grange school, who were part of our Employment film production team. We found out all about what their roles involved, and what happened behind the scenes…
What production roles did you do?
Toby: We got involved in a few different production roles. We did some camera work & positioning behind the scenes, and we got involved with directing on the day. We also decided on what the script was going to be during the brainstorming sessions, before filming even began.
What kind of film did you want to make?
Toby: We wanted it to help young people going into work. So, to show the difference between the start and end of how someone might feel knowing about employability and finding a job.
What did you both think about getting a job before you started filming?
Lainey: I’ve been here for 13 years out of my 15 alive, so leaving here is going to feel so weird. For employability I’m anxious and stuff, I’ll be honest. But I’m gonna go to college first after school.
Toby: I do some work already and have already looked around, but I also have my own businesses at home. I’ve got a car valeting business and then I do technology bits on the side, like buying, selling and repairing, that sort of thing, for some income.
We also do quite a lot in school about employability in Year 11 and 12, so it was good to make this film. I’ve always had quite a good view on it
“If you’re not happy you can go somewhere else. You’re not ever fixed in anything, and people can be really accepting.”
Toby
Has this film changed any plans you had?
Toby: I still want to go down my own route, but it has given me a good insight into how a job would be, and that it’s not that bad being in an employed job!
Do you have any worries about getting a job?
Toby: Not as much anymore, no. I think a job will be as inclusive for me as much for anyone else. There’s no reason it wouldn’t, and what Megan showed is that she’s in a job and it has fully included her.
Did making the film boost your confidence in any way?
Lainey: Yes, definitely, working around the cameras was good for giving me more confidence. I’ve even switched from taking history to media studies because of how much I enjoyed making the film!
Toby: Yeah, I liked doing that sort of work, planning it before and seeing it come along so well. That boosted my confidence, showing the progression of how we started. There’s an order in creating a film that I really enjoyed.
What did you like most about being behind the scenes?
Lainey: I’m into things like YouTube and I have my own channel. So getting the chance to be able to do video and get experience in hi-tech was good fun. Moving the tripod around, making sure we had the right shot… it was all exciting. Plus, I could use my YouTube experience to help with ideas for grabbing people’s attention quickly.
What did Megan say that’s stayed in your mind the most?
Toby: I think it’s showing that she’s been through a lot of different jobs and she felt supported. And just showing that in general, it can be done.
She moved around a lot, so it shows that if you’re not happy you can go somewhere else. You’re not ever fixed in anything, and people can be really accepting.
Who do you hope the film reaches?
Toby: Those who have a lack of confidence and aren’t sure about the future. It would be good if it helps those people. I hope it helps people my sort of age who are moving on or thinking about moving on in the future.
Lainey: It’s hard to know sometimes what’s going on, where you could go, or be questioning things about jobs and work. So we hope this film helps.
Did anything funny happen whilst filming?
Toby: Yeah, there’s a bit where Sam and Ethan are going into the room to meet Megan, and they couldn’t get the knock on the door right! They kept messing it up because it didn’t look natural at first, it looked scripted. And they’re banging on a door that has a ‘no touch zone’ sign! It was funny!
Lainey: Yeah I think they struggled because it wasn’t a natural thing to think about how to open a door, you usually just do it! The interview was natural because they were themselves, and just filmed as it was going.
Toby: The interview questions were scripted, but the answers weren’t at all, they were natural. It was all the littlest scenes that actually took a lot of time because they were hard to make look natural – like walking into a room! But with the bigger scenes, we actually filmed them first-time around.
Was anyone nervous making the film?
Lainey: I think everyone that day was a little, yes, but you don’t see the nervousness in the final film. When they’re asking the questions and Megan is answering, it was just like a natural chat. It felt relaxed because Megan was giving her answers as she thought of them.
Did anything change on the day from your original brainstorming and planning?
Toby: No, not really. We had such a good idea of what we were going to do.
Lainey: We’d written everything down, and had hoped to talk to an employer, but it was never a certain thing.
Toby: But it’s about people’s experiences getting a job, not how you treat people as an employer, so I don’t think there would have been much of a benefit having an employer’s input. Maybe for another film in the future!
Has it helped your confidence moving on to college and jobs?
Lainey: Yes, because now I know that businesses may be more accepting. After hearing Megan’s strategies if she’s having a bad day, I think they’ll accept me and be happy to have me. But maybe we’ll set up our own media company!
Toby: Yeah, and my business can do all the tech for you!
What are your main takeaways from being in the production team?
Toby: I felt really listened to. Matt the director always asked my opinion and he’d change a shot if I asked. And we had a really good group of people.
Lainey: That was the key.
Toby: Yeah, it all worked really well.
