91Èȱ¬

Thursday 16 August

I spent quite a bit of Thursday morning banging my head against a computer screen. After an hour or so, I had a quick break, and Ian banged his head against it for a little while. Then, we banged our heads against each other. Finally, Liz came in and saved us both.

The reason for our frustration? The counter-intuitiveness of the program I was using to edit the digital video I had shot at the Balloon Fiesta.

I managed to negotiate the tape deck and import my efforts with reasonable aplomb, but once my footage was sat happily in the editing suite, the problems came thick and fast.

Thankfully, Liz, our resident film expert, gave me some handy pointers, and I was soon back on track. I managed to chop up the rest of the video with relative ease, and given another hour, I'd mastered transitions and soundtracking, and we were mostly finished.

After some momentary hi-jinks with ram files and video conversion (don't ask) we managed to get the tricky fellow online. You can view it by clicking the link below.

Friday 10 August

By the virtue that Tom and I had stayed at the Fiesta 'til gone midnight on Thursday night, I managed to avoid the 5.30am start. Although I was a bit disappointed to miss out on the amazing ascent, those couple of hours in bed virtually saved my life.

Friday was another scorching day, and, resplendent in my new vest, I caught the bus up to the second day of the Fiesta.

Despite the fact it is a specialist fiesta bus, the rest of the passengers and I were dropped off what felt like about seven miles from the event. We had to slog it up the hill to make it to the balloon arena.

Whilst the hornets hadn't really reared their stingy little behinds on Thursday, the horseflies were out in force on the Friday, basking in the sunshine on the windows.

Ian and Tom favoured the squishing approach, but I was working on a slightly more humane 'cup and paper' retrieval system. "You'll change your tune once you've been bitten by one," said Ian, rubbing his arm, ruefully.

As the balloons tethered for the evening launch, Tom presented me with the mono-pod and the DV camera, and I shot around all over the Fiesta getting some shots of the balloons taking off.

I really enjoyed working with the camera, I'm hoping to edit my footage down into a couple of minutes worth of video, and get it onto the site for you to see.

Webcast done and Portakabin locked up, it was a lift down to the bus-stop and the number 49 home.

Thursday 9 August

Thursday was, to coin the cliche, a real day of two halves. Arriving at the office around midday, I had to kick my heels and get my head into some research while an almighty battle against the technical demons took place on the other side of the room.

We were planning to do a live web-cast from the Fiesta on the internet, which would be a fantastic feature if it could be orchestrated. However, there were quite a few issues that needed to be overcome before we could be on our way.

By the time 4.30pm ticked around, we (and by "we", I really mean Tom) had got the broadcast system up-and-running, and it was finally time to head to Ashton Court.

As we grabbed our bags, Ian rather too enthusiastically delighted in telling me about the
hornets that were causing bother in the 91Èȱ¬ Portakabin, and to add to the drama of the day, we pulled out of Broadcasting House straight into a humungous traffic jam.

Eventually, we got to the correct gate, where Tom's car took its second beating in as many weeks. Having already lost a chunk of rear bumper last week, this time it was the undercarriage's turn to suffer - thanks to a short, sharp argument with a nasty looking bolt in the floor.

Luckily, German engineering won through, and it was Audi 1, bolt 0 as we pulled into our parking space.

The hornet infestation seemed to be under control as we arrived in the cabin, and I grabbed a camera and shot out into the arena to snap some of the balloons that were already inflating.

The next task up was really glamorous stuff - writing "Text: Balloon + Your Message to 62000" on hundreds and hundreds of business cards, then dishing them out to everyone taking pictures of the balloons on their mobiles.

My efforts paid off though, because by the end of Thursday, we'd had one, yes one photo sent in to the MMS inbox. And no, it wasn't from me.

As it was starting to get dark when the webcam went live, we were inundated with messages it wasn't working, but as soon as the Nightglow kicked off, the stream looked fantastic.

I grabbed the digital camera and headed to the arena to get some shots of the glow, it was really exhilarating to be inside the fence, taking shots of the lit-up balloons.

You can see the best of my photos in the gallery linked below:

As the Nightglow drew to a close, Tom and I waited for the webcam transmission to end, and lugged the boxes of kit up to his (thankfully still intact) car. Miles and miles later, I was home. Bed had never seemed such a good idea.

Friday 3 August

Thursday's frenzied e-mail session caused trouble come Friday, as I had a serious number of responses to get through. The good news is though that most of the replies were extremely positive, and this means I've got loads of features which I can get started on once the Balloon Fiesta is finished.

At the moment, I'm not going to divulge exactly what is coming up; you'll just have to keep checking back to see what’s new.

Friday is fish and chips special in the canteen, but unfortunately for Tom (our knight in shining armour for the Balloon Fiesta) and I, they were all out by the time we went for lunch. I settled for the packed lunch (thank you Mum!) while Tom went for the chicken.

Luckily, there were some cracking cakes in the newsroom, which more than made up for the lack of battered goods. Cornflake cakes and coffee all round, roll on the weekend.

Thursday 2 August

Leaving the house on Thursday morning, I very almost turned back for my umbrella, but decided against it. That choice proved to be costly – by the time I got to Broadcasting House having run from the bus stop, I was soaked.

Thankfully, the expensive Dictaphone I'd borrowed from the office during the week had miraculously managed to stay dry. The same can't be said for my sandwiches, which were soggier than Worcester Cricket Club, but at least I could afford a new lunch.

Planning had already begun for the upcoming Balloon Fiesta, and on Thursday morning Lisa and I organised when I would be helping with the coverage of the event. I can't say I'm especially looking forward to the 5.30am start on Friday 10th, but I’ve been told the early morning is more than compensated by the atmosphere at the festival. I am already planning bacon butties. Many, many butties.

Most of Thursday was taken up with research for features I am planning over the rest of my placement, firing off e-mails to marketing representatives of this and project managers of that, in an attempt to get some great things together for you to read.

Thankfully, the rain had stopped by the time I left the office, so I didn't have to regret my brolly decision twice in one day. That is just too much for anyone.