RDF FOR CHANNEL 4
SECRET LIFE OF 4,5 & 6 YEAR OLDS | Series 2
The Secret Life of 4, 5 and 6 Year Olds was a huge, award-winning success, so The Complete Camera Company were delighted to team up with RDF again to follow it up with a second series. This fixed-rig documentary received such a fantastic audience response in 2015, the pressure was on to make a great series and key to this was the collaboration between Executive Producer Teresa Watkins and The CCC Directors. To rejoin a team that had worked so well together originally was a pleasure.
One of the biggest challenges in choosing the right school to film this series is finding a location that has both a suitable indoor and outdoor area. These areas need to be connected so that the children can be filmed moving between both spaces.
This was finally found in a school in Shepherd’s Bush, and it provided the casting team with the ability to reach out to a diverse group of children. However, there was a catch… It was a listed building, and this needed to be considered throughout the planning and execution of the shoot by The Complete Camera Company.
The CCC did three site visits alongside the RDF production team, first to assess the feasibility of the shoot, then technical visits followed. The second technical recce was to confirm exactly how the fixed-rig would be powered, the cabling and the layout of our kit, the gallery location and any building work that would need to be done. The third visit was to finalise the camera positions; 27 cameras were chosen to cover the areas in which the children would be filmed. These were supported by 12 personal microphones, 10 of which would be on the children, plus 2 on the teachers, along with 12 atmospheric microphones.
A classroom close by was selected for the production gallery and the shoot dates were fixed for the 6 weeks of the summer holidays so that all the children were off school.
It took 6 days to rig the school with 10 members of The Complete Camera Company crew and it was a challenging task. The building itself was designed by architect Erno Goldfinger in 1949 and remains Grade II* listed. Apart from making very specific choices about where anything was attached or screwed in, it was important that every member of the team was extremely careful when rigging cameras on the walls. The cabling, construction and attaching of any equipment had to be dealt with delicately so that nothing was damaged. There were restrictions that would not have existed in public buildings, and The CCC needed to find solutions that would preserve the integrity of the school, while ensuring the successful capture of content.
The most important part of filming children in a school is safety, so it was vital that everything was rigged with this in mind. The children needed to be able to run around without being aware of any of the equipment, and the crew needed to ensure there was absolutely nothing in their way that could cause them any harm. 13 cameras were rigged outside, 12 cameras inside and 2 fixed cameras were used. As per Series 1, the cameras were rigged at children’s eye level; This was a specific choice made by the production team which made the content even more engaging.
The final series consisted of 6 x 60 minute programmes, and was a moving, hilarious look at childhood relationships. Huge thanks to the fantastic casting team who are undoubtedly at the core of this show’s success, and to the unwavering passion from the production team at RDF.
FACTS & FIGURES
Filmed: July/August
Aired: Winter 2016
Channel: Channel 4
Location: Shepherd’s Bush, London
Viewers: 2.44 Million
Cameras: 27
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
"...fascinating and hilarious"
The Guardian
"The Secret Life of 4 Year Olds: Adorable coleslaw moment dubbed the 'TV highlight of 2016'"
The Express
"Viewers of The Secret Life of 4 Year Olds quickly fell in love "
OK Magazine