It’s been all go this last week, with a last minute film on The One Show on Tuesday all about the proposed new dangerous dogs regulations hot on the heals of my puppy farm film last week. This film really was very much last minute – I got a call from the reseacher at 9am and by 11.30 I was down in London talking to the director and planning how we were going to shoot the film and have it finished and edited ready for transmission in under 8 hours!
A
fter planning the script for my pieces to camera, we headed out to find some dog owners to interview in a local park. However, as soon as we got the camera out and started talking to people we found ourselves in trouble – a burly policeman asked us what we were doing and before we knew what had happened our researcher had been cautioned for trespass and the council were demanding an extortionate fee to allow us to film in the park! This seemed utterly ridiculous as we were filming a public-interest film for the BBC rather than a commercial, but the police and council authorities were adamant that we needed the correct permits – and that meant paying the fees. In the end we sorted things out (and our researcher was allowed to go!) and got on with the filming, but the bureaucracy had cost us precious time and we were rushed around the park chasing down unsuspecting dog owners until we had enough interviews to make the film.
After recording my pieces, we raced back to the One Show offices and the director started to edit the film while I started to prepare for my appearance on the live show. By now it was after 5pm and we had just under 2 hours to finish the film and be ready for transmission! In the end, as you may well have seen, it all went well and the film looked good – but it certainly was a stressful day to say the least!
As for the subject of the film, as I said on the show after the film, I welcome any new legislation that helps control dangerous dogs – provided it doesn’t overly restrict normal everyday dog owners. I think compulsory microchips and insurance can only be a good thing, but I doubt whether it will really solve the problem. And on the subject of banned breeds, I really do feel that there’s no place for fighting breeds such as the Pit Bull in our society – there are plenty of other much better adjusted breeds out there, including the Staffordshire Bull Terrier which I think is a cracking breed.
Let me know if you have any comments on what you saw…
And you can watch again at http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00rd3gh/The_One_Show_09_03_2010/
