We arrived at 9am (well before the other school!), after a trip full of competitive gaming and sleeping. After having some time to get to know the volunteers and log in to our personal iPads, we did some team building and ice-breaking exercises; organising cards into a certain pattern (The Green team of Sophie, Edd, Ollie, Dan, Shaun, Stephen and Phoebe won), organising students into a line by birth date (mostly successful) and a rock-paper-scissors tournament (congratulations Maya!). This was followed by our Q&A session with Jeremy Darroch, the CEO of Sky. He told us about what he was doing in terms of careers when he was 16/17, and what Sky has to offer in the way of media progression and the future of the company. This insight into such a big business really opened our eyes into the many possibilities we can get out of the media, not just at Sky, but everywhere. Jeremy was very down-to-earth, and very humble, which was good as it shows that someone not born into wealth can make it to the top. He enjoys his job a lot, and we really appreciated his time with us.
Next was the tour of Sky Studios. This was mostly of Sky Sports, but it showed all the studios and galleries that Sky would use for production of anything. We got to have a look in the largest studio which was being changed over from a football show the night before, to a formula one show for the weekend. There was lights hanging from overhead, each light costing less money than expected, at only £200 per light. However, the cameras were much more expensive at over £200,000 for one camera – not on my Christmas list just yet! Next we looked at the production centre, which was monitored 24 hours a day. It was full of footage from Sky channels, all being monitored for sound errors and video errors. If anything goes wrong, it can all be fixed quickly by this team of specialists. We then got to look into the studio where Sky Sports News is filmed, and just as we were leaving, boxer Ricky Hatton appeared, causing great excitement!
Next, came the interactive Wall. This was new to Sky Academy, only opened by Prince Charles two days before our visit. The wall featured some news clips, some interesting statistics on the business, a look at what sky has to offer in the way of products and television standards, but one of the most interesting parts was the chance to have a go on an Oculus Rift. These are virtual reality goggles, and the view we got was of a 360 camera angle of the "Got to Dance" studio. There were a few minor injuries, bumping into walls due to the realism of the 3D environment... The wall also featured QI codes, which could be scanned and then it would provide a short 5 minute video on the certain field next to the QI code. These were really effectively produced, with the questions being targeted directly to us as an audience, giving an insight into the field of careers and the media.
We walked back to the studios for lunch, and got a small break for food and pool before heading back to the lab. We then took part in our media challenge. The two schools present had the chance to mix, and really get stuck in to the practical part of the day. Teams of three or four had the chance to pick a part of Sky's TV production (Sport, News or Entertainment) and worked a team to create a solution to a problem. These planning tasks were real problems faced by Sky staff every day; where they take months to work out solutions, we only had an hour and a half! We then got to present our ideas, some ideas were funny (For example, the naming of a news story about a roof collapsing "Roof!") but some sounded really true to what someone working at Sky might create. We then took a look back at ourselves, and what actions we were going to take after our day at the Sky Careers lab.
To summarise, the day was a very informative look into the possibility of Media careers in any Media based business. The trip was very worthwhile, and everyone that got to go is very appreciative and thankful for the time and effort put in by everyone at the careers lab, and at Sky for letting us look into the world of Sky Academy's Careers Lab.
-Sophie, Year 12