Behind the Scenes: Filming at Learning with Experts Antiques

This week we thought we’d give you a sneak preview on what goes on behind the scenes on filming days at Learning with Experts.

On Monday we filmed on location, with expert and Antiques Roadshow regular Marc Allum. Marc’s running two antiques and collectibles courses with Learning with Experts aimed at the global market for enthusiasts or beginners who would like to understand more about buying Art & Antiques for Interior Design and collecting Art & Antiques as an Investment.

One of the first things that struck me about Marc (and Lisa his wife – who is also an expert in her own right) is that they are terribly likeable, accessible and interesting– as well as being incredibly knowledgeable all manner of subjects.

We started off going through notes and scripts, and then having a general discussion about the course topics and potential assignments. This was followed by many cups of tea, makeup, and setting up of cameras and lighting.

More tea please Marc..

After an hour or so we got down to the business of filming. It’s more challenging for the expert than just standing up and giving a lecture, (nearly all our tutors give us this feedback), but most find it rewarding and interesting tapping into the different skillset needed to be able to talk directly to camera for a digital audience.

Perhaps this is because you’re either reading from autocues or adlibbing consistently for our Learning with Experts classroom recordings, which can be harder on the brain.

It’s also quite different from TV work – where you rarely talk directly to camera. Trevor our production lead and director does a fantastic job of putting people at ease though and really blending he equipment into the background, so we’re quickly underway and motoring through the lectures.

Getting ‘mic’ed up’ by Trevor..

Marc was a complete natural, and we raced through the first section, having some inevitable ‘outakes’ and laughs which we’ll share at some stage when we do our bloopers reel.

Once we’d got into the subjects in depth though, both courses Marc gave us some fascinating and current insights into the world of antiques and art. With the changing economic climate since ‘Brexit’, it was even more intriguing to hear advice from an expert on what the markets are doing across different sectors and countries in the antiques world (and you will hear more from Marc on that in the classrooms on the courses).

But back to the subject in hand – I wanted to share with you a little peak into what happens behind the scenes on filming days at Learning with Experts.

So the first thing is – expect the unexpected!

We had some animal friends in the form of dogs Masie and Coco joining us, and several times our very sensitive sound equipment began to pick up the gentle snores of Masie who had made herself rather comfortable next to Mark who was recording.

Poor Masie – we had to relegate her to her own bed in the end. I felt a bit bad about that, so took this photo of her to include in our blog - just thought I would share that with you, - the one thing you can guarantee with filming is that it’s always fun!

On a more serious note though, part of the reason we like filming on location, especially with our antiques experts, is that it gives our experts the freedom of expression to discuss objects within their own environments.

Marc was very compelling to listen to, with a story around every object I looked at. At one point I moved slightly the earn/jug you can see in the middle of this photo (next to Nefertiti, who I loved – beautiful lines!).

I remember remarking – ooh that was lighter than I expected, and without a hint of caution he just plopped into conversation that it was a 2500 BC greek urn. Glad I didn’t drop that one then…

Notes: Marc Allum’s courses Buying Art & Antiques for Interior Design and Art & Antiques as an Investment are available now, with a limit on 20 people per course. Please book in advance to secure a place.

Some mid century collectibles we encountered during our lunch break..

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