*NOTE – This was reuploaded due to previous corrupt video
For my final year project I have chosen to produce a documentary on an early ‘yoof tv’ show called ‘Network 7’. The main objectives I aimed for were to document a milestone British youth television show that had previously been under documented, and to throw forward the importance of such an influential show and ask the now television giants who came from the show what they think about the state of youth television today. I went on the principle of learning about the future by looking at the past.
Where did the idea come from?
I have been asked all the way through creating this piece why I know and care about a show that came and went before I was even around, and was only aired for 2 years. Some asked in positive interest – such as Eric Harwood – and others, such as Jane Hewland, in pure confusion.
The idea stemmed from discussions with my lecturer Chris Horrie who pointed out that my work on WinchXtra last semester was very similar to the show, and told us all about it. The interest would have stopped there if the topic didn’t carry on surfacing – I noticed that Network 7 had been credited for the styling of many shows, and when lending a hand to my classmate Tate when she interviewed director Peter Lydon, he had brought up that he worked on the show. From that moment on, I wanted to delve deeper into what this apparently widely influential show was about. I discussed the idea with Chris, and he was very supportive and enthusiastic about it.
How did I get my research and contacts?
I don’t think I quite understood what a mammoth task this whole documentary was going to be, or even the types of people I was going to have to get through to get anywhere at all. It wasn’t a simple case of having to Google the show and it would all be there for me – definitely not. Information on the show was very much limited, so getting a grasp of any aspect of the show felt like a struggle. Therefore, I had to get my research whilst interviewing, which isn’t necessarily ideal.
The search for interviewees initiated in December of last year, and I started off by going through the names I could vaguely find on online databases, however it was difficult to find any contact details because they were either 1) too big of a name to just have their email address online, or 2) nowhere to be found as Network 7 was the height of their career. I believe I only achieved around a 20% success rate through this route. I got in contact with Janet Street Porter, Jane Hewland, Charlie Parsons, Sebastian Scott, Matt Forrest, Sankha Guha, Jaswinder Bancil, and a few other names, but was only successful with Matt Forrest, and semi-successful with Jane Hewland. All others either responded that they were too busy with their own deadlines – very understandable in this industry – or just didn’t reply at all.
Jane Hewland was incredibly interesting to get in contact with. She helped me with 90% of my research and understanding of the show, which I cannot fault the rawness of the source as she had a large hand in creating the show, and was therefore more than ideal to talk to. I met up with Jane in Canary Wharf, where Network 7 was filmed in Limehouse Studios. What a dream! She had the authoritative aura around her that I imagined her to have, even after all those years since the show. She was happy to answer my research questions off camera, and that was an incredible boost to my overall understanding.
Matt, on the other hand, responded to me telling me he was more than happy to meet up and do the interview. It was an incredible experience as he was the first interviewee and supplied me with incredible information. I met him at the Groucho Club in Soho, which was incredible in itself, and went on to film in a studio nearby that he had previously worked in.
As mentioned previously, I had met Peter Lydon prior to this project, and so I got back in contact with him to ask if he would like to meet up and talk to me about my project. Not only did I get fantastic footage in return, he also gave me the contact details for Damian Wayling, the graphics designer, Eric Harwood, one of the journalists, and Sankha Guha, another journalist and on screen talent. I felt like I hit the jackpot! I was able to get interviews with Damian and Sankha, but was only able to meet up for a chat in London with Eric, as he didn’t have enough time to do the interview at such late notice – three weeks before my deadline.
The formatting of the documentary itself
There was a lot of questions surrounding how I should format the documentary. My original intent was for it to be a talking heads documentary, however, due to individuals I made contact with showing a lack of interest in being on camera, I had to think of ways to boost the content. Fortunately, because I had two more interviews within the last couple of weeks of my deadline, I was able to return to my original idea of a talking heads documentary.
I consciously decided not to put myself into the documentary as I feel it would have taken away from the legitimacy of the piece. Why should I insert myself into the video when I have people who were actually there to explain and talk about it? I believe I would have been taking up valuable time with flashing my face on screen every so often, and it would have turned into quantity over quality.
The interviewees themselves progress through the different topics naturally in the documentary, and I feel this was an effective method to allow my documentary to take on. When thinking of voice over scripts or potential pieces to cameras, I felt it was forced and exactly what I dislike about TV – the forcing of fake personalities where it’s not needed. I would have encountered the same problem Network 7 did when reaching the end of the second series – it would have been cheap entertainment over valuable insight. I feel it would have been the easy way out, almost, and would have come across as me patching up holes. Why fix something that isn’t broken?
I also toyed with the idea of putting in vox pops of young adults reacting to Network 7 footage, or telling me where they get their news from. However, I decided not to put any of those elements into my piece as it didn’t fit with the idea of talking heads, and it would have taken away from the overall story each interviewee told collectively. The idea came from Charlie Brooker’s Screenwipe where he touched on yoof tv.
That could be another direction I could go in towards the end of my documentary, but not something I would want to start off with. Perhaps I am being too humble, but I don’t feel I have enough of a legitimate presence to attempt the satirical criticism Charlie Brooker can. There is only so much personality can do, and I wasn’t prepared to put this whole project into jeopardy just because I wanted to be a ‘lens licker’.
In terms of the graphics, I decided to just feature each interviewees name in the plain way the show itself did. I could have put an ‘info bar’ to further imitate the show, but that would have perhaps been too far in creating parody.
Main issues I dealt with
I was unsure at first as to what angle I was really taking, but after deciding what format I should create my documentary in, it somewhat fell into place. The more people I got to interview, the clearer it became. This was an issue in itself – getting people who were on the show to respond and be interested enough to give their input. Of course I received requests for fees and such, which made the future of my project a little hazy, but thankfully not everyone had money on their mind.
Copyright, getting the footage, and knowing how to use it was an issue, but thankfully Channel 4 and Jane Hewland were both happy with me using the footage, and Channel 4 supplied me with a DVD of one of the episodes. I feel I have used the footage under fair dealing, and that the copyright holders are happy with my use of the film and sound.
How successful really was my project, and what else could I have done?
I feel that my piece has been very successful, and I feel happy with the interviews and footage I got. If I could have gotten Jane Hewland on screen, that would have made this whole piece’s quality jump up several notches
I feel I fulfilled my objectives well in that I have documented this small chunk of TV history gold, which has never been done before, and that there was an interesting throw forward from Sankha, Matt, and Peter which then pumps the piece with relevance.
The audience I was aiming for was those who watched Network 7, and those interested in the history of television – not necessarily a certain age, but more a niche market. My piece was aimed successfully at them, more so as I didn’t feature myself in my piece as previously stated.
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