The Natural Theatre Company Interview

So, on my last day working with The Natural Theatre Company I was able to shoot a sneaky interview with two people who work within the company, Mark and Jackie. The interviews tells us about Mark and Jackie's backgrounds, what they do within the company and how the company makes money!

Apologies the poor framing and handheld wobbles!

Enjoy!

DAY FIVE - The Naturals

My last day working with The Natural Theatre Company
For my last day I met Mark at 10.30am all ready to be put to work. On Saturday the Youth Theatre (run by The Naturals) will be travelling up to Stratford for Shakespeare's birthday celebrations and to combine forces with the Royal Shakespeare Company. In preparation for this some costumes needed to be collected from Bristol Costume services. Myself and Mark went along to Bristol to pick these up. The Bristol Costume services was something I have never seen before, an absolutely humungous warehouse containing thousands and thousands of costumes used for all sorts of shows. It literally had every costume you could think of (http://www.bristolcostumeservices.com/Bristolcostume/Home.html).

We loaded up the van with what we needed and then headed back to Bath. We then unloaded the van into the props & costumes room at The Naturals. A quick break for lunch and then I was back with Mark and Jackie sorting out what else needed to packed and prepared for Saturday. In between helping them, I managed to capture a little bit of video and some snaps of them working and packing the props. I also managed a quick interview with Mark and Jackie before we had to pack up the van again with everything all ready for Saturday morning.

Once we had finished loading the van and getting everything prepared for Saturday, Mark and I sat down and discussed the week, a debrief. He was really happy with the work I had done for him and we agreed I would continue to finish the summer schools poster I had made.

Overall I have had an enjoyable week, I have liked the flexibility and freedom of what I have been doing. I have learnt a lot about responsibilities and carrying out tasks in good time. I left on the note that if there is anything else Mark would like me to create/do for the company, then to just send me an e-mail and I would be more than willing to help.

DAY FOUR - The Naturals

"Another day in the office"
Today I have spent my time researching Youth Theatres and Theatre Schools. I have produced another database for the company to use which shows a vast list of names, e-mails and numbers for The Natural Theatre Company to use.
The plan was to show the rest of the team the posters I made and gather some feedback and suggested changes. Unfortunately most of the team were not in today due to family illness and days off, but I got to show Ralph (the companies boss). He really liked them and we talked through which one looked most effective. We decided the one with the Cone Heads on was good as that image is a well known image. I had also e-mailed them to Mark who thought a more obvious young picture was perhaps needed. I will be seeing Mark tomorrow to discuss the posters properly.

Overall a nice day as I didn't have to be out in the rain!

DAY THREE - The Naturals

So my third day of working with the Natural Theatre Company consisted of hiding myself away to focus on finalising the NEETs flyer, and designing and creating the Summer Schools poster.
The changes for the flyer suggested by Mark have been made, and the Summer School poster has been sent on to Mark also. Tomorrow I will show it to the rest of the team and see what changes they think should be made. I came up with three slightly different looks for it (below)

I look forward to some feedback tomorrow!

DAY TWO - The Naturals

So for my second day working with The Natural Theatre Company my job was to design a flyer for the NEETs (not in employment, education or training) courses that are going to be on offer. I had already talked though with Mark the key things that needed to be featured, for example, contact details, website, what skills can be gained etc, and that it should be a double sided postcard size. So I went away and came up with a couple different designs to choose from. Both Mark and I agreed on which one was the best (below).

(Above - Front

Below - Back)

The changes I am going to make are to the font, as in some parts it is unclear which letter is used. I am also going to be changing the 'gain skills such as' to make it sound more friendly and chatty. Also, a phone number needs to be added and possibly the Facebook and Twitter sites as well.

My second day working for the Natural Theatre Company was again very enjoyable as I got to focus on making this flyer. At the end of the day we discussed what tomorrow will bring:
- Making the necessary changes to this flyer
- Starting to design the Summer Schools poster

I look forward to it!

DAY ONE - The Naturals

So I had been communicating with Mark Bishop (education co-ordinator & performer at the Natural Theatre Company) about a possible work placement opportunity:

Hi Mark, 

I am e-mailing you regarding a possible work placement for one week in April. Your e-mail was passed onto me by Karen Cooper, who contacted you on my behalf.  

I am currently in my second year studying Creative Media Practice, within this I have been involved with many different projects and started to build up my skills in a variety of rolls. From camera operating, film editing, organisation, researching and print design. I am now looking to further develop my skills within a professional environment. 

I have a passion for theatre, whether it be musicals, stage shows or street theatre, which is why I would love the chance to come and experience work within The Natural Theatre Company. I have always been involved in theatre, from GCSE & A Level Drama and Theatre studies to attending Stage Coach Theatre Arts School, and even regularly attending shows and concerts. 

I would be very grateful for the chance to work with you,  

I have attached my current CV (PDF and .doc) and would be very grateful to hear from you. 

Many thanks

Emma Chandler  

Mark agreed to meet up with me and we discussed what I could do for the company. We came up with a variety of different jobs: 

Interview the NYT for some nice quotes for the website.

Create a flier for the Summer Schools.

Create a flier for our NEET Course.

Research Drama School and Uni contacts and Disability Companies to build up our database.

So today was my first day of a one week placement with the Natural Theatre Company (http://www.naturaltheatre.co.uk/). 

I started at 10.30am, but was a little early so got to know some of the team over a cup of tea before I started working. Mark arrived shortly after me and after a quick chat we discussed a possible schedule. We talked through what he would like me to do, and what I would like to do for the company. We decided that today I could focus on developing a database for disabled theatre groups all over the country. I got settled in an empty office and started this database right away. I used Excel and created an extensive list for Mark to use when contacting theatre groups. 

At around 1.30pm I had a meeting with Mark to go through what he wanted for the NEET Course flier,  he sent me through some images and logos to use for when I start designing it. We agreed it would be a postcard sized flier with minimal information but the rest was up to me. I will begin working on this tomorrow. 

So after our meeting I had a quick lunch break and then got back to the database. I finished it at 5pm, sent it through to Mark and by that time it was time to go home!

I really enjoyed my first day, I felt really welcome and useful. Lets see what tomorrow brings!