Filming the London Buskers

In Westminster with Steph (left)
 and Amber (middle) on the 3rd.

It is a bit of a sad state of affairs that I have not been blogging in almost a month, but the real world has thankfully provided entertainment with constant editing, writing, location filming and the upcoming celebration of Christmas. Oh yes, welcome to December. Besides, I bet nobody missed me.

The heavy equipment
required a rather bulky
 trolley that survived
many knocks and tube
 journeys...

In the past week, on the 3rd and 8th of December, my university trio and I made trips to London to shoot an eight-minute documentary all about "The Hidden World of Busking". Judging by the public perception of busking, you might think that amateur musicians simply turn up at a London Underground train station at their leisure and find a quiet spot near a warm radiator to perform some of their choice tunes for an assortment of 2p coins flicked from the hands of a passively sympathetic commuter on his way to The City to lose the country even more money.

But rather than beggars or homeless people who happen to own instruments, many legal buskers are professionals that simply want to perform in public for the enjoyment - a part-time job, as one performer I interviewed described.

No piece of television set in
 London is complete without
 a shot of Big Ben...

The process in which a busker can legally earn one of the few marked busking spots is apparently filled with red-tape, strictly issued licences and X-Factor-style auditions in which hopefuls perform on a disused platform for the amusement of Mayor of London Boris Johnson's committee. Presumably the rejects are then ejected onto the track or something. Still, there might be something to be said for regulations and keeping track of who is where and when. It perhaps avoids competitive buskers "owning" certain spots or prevents dangerous set-ups right next to platforms. The purpose of our documentary was to delve deeper into this 'politics' of busking, hopefully without treading on too many toes.

Interviewing a busker above an
 underground station with TAV on
sound.

Rather than spend an excessive amount of money on train transport, our project manager Steph Usher opted to travel by coach, National Express, a new experience for me. Though far cheaper, the 7:00am departure time from Southampton and the late return at the end of our second shoot did make for long, tiring days with little time for me to butter my well-packed lunch box bread with peanut butter. Besides, certain members of the team had a quick nap on the coaches, at least when the vehicle wasn't in "party-mode" with bright blue LED lights!

Steph and her purchase in the
absurdly vibrant M&M World store
 during a break in filming.

What really got up our noses, however, was travelling and filming on the underground constantly, and though my eight year old self utterly loved spending all day in the endless winding ceramic and metal tunnels with plenty of time to soak up signs, insignia, and the exceptionally cool invention of trains, the fumes and dust got so much that Michael at one stage sneezed soot onto his face, rather amusingly. 

At the Earl's Court TARDIS with
Amber, my companion.

I also bought a Big Ben figurine souvenir.

In terms of what we filmed, Steph had set up interviews with several current buskers, a former busker whom we filmed in a rather quaint Hackney public garden and a city official who was to provide the local authorities' stance on busking. Sadly we were unable to make the latter interview due to getting hideously lost on a bus, but the rest of our appointments were successful. It was important that our documentary also had cut-away shots of the city and interesting locations to use in between scenes, and though the weather (and presence of ever-annoying camera zebras) caused some of these to be overexposed, we gathered plenty of material, including several songs played by the buskers we had interviewed.

With a permit to shoot in the Underground,
we took advantage and visited several
 marked busking spots.

In summary, though our documentary currently lacks an edit, we're otherwise doing well and I'm sure our excellent editor, Michael Tav will be cracking on with one early in the new year. Steph has been brilliant in arranging the logistics and interviews, Amber has become a pro at pull focus shots... and me? Well I've done a bit of everything. An interview, lots of camera work, some sound recording, route planning... bits and bobs. Call me a jack of all trades! No, call me The Doctor. Wait... no...