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Dollshouse Embroidery
Kits
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News at Six
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[Reproduced from an article in the
Dolls House World magazine, issue 89 Feb 2000] [Originally screened on
19 August 1999]
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Face to face with a television cameraman
Janet Granger comes up smiling but she's not swapping her stitches for
the small screen just yet
Have you ever wondered what
it's like to appear on television? For most people, it's something that
they wonder about, but my husband Chris and I recently got the chance to
find out what it was really like. We had recently moved (both house and
embroidery kit business) from Essex to the Peak District, and felt that
a bit of publicity wouldn't come amiss. So we contacted our local
Business Link Centre, and got put in touch with the local newspaper The
Sentinel which ran a feature on us and 'the amazing world of
miniatures'. The article appeared in
colour and a lot of interest was generated, but it was what happened as
a result of the article that was really amazing.
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 Picture printed in The
Sentinel
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| A couple of days later the phone rang, and
when Chris answered it, he calmly took the message, held out the phone
to me, and said: "it's Central Television News for you."
Someone had seen the feature in the local paper and thought that it
would make a fun item (you know, that always appears at the end of the
news). They had no idea about miniatures at all, and seemed bemused by
the thought of a bunch of grown-ups owning dolls houses. However they
were still keen to do an item on our business, so we made an appointment
for them to come down the next day, a Tuesday. Now we aren't
particularly houseproud (too busy for that) so we spent the next few
hours tidying up, moving my dolls house downstairs (as the light is
better there), and replacing all the miniatures in it.
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The television crew were due to arrive at
2pm on Tuesday but at 1pm we had a phone call. Apparently there was a
demonstration over male calves being uneconomic to take to abattoirs
that had suddenly become news-worthy (cows are very big news here), so
the appointment was postponed until the Wednesday "No, of course we
don't mind." Wednesday morning, we were less edgy because by now we
expected it to go wrong, and it did. Calves were now being abandoned at
an animal rescue sanctuary - much bigger news than 'miniaturist couple
escape from Essex to Staffordshire' so the interview was postponed for
another day.
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| Thursday morning, we carried on with
packing orders, assuming that by now the television company would be
losing interest too. But at 2pm prompt the doorbell rang and a very
young female reporter asked us if the cameraman had arrived yet. The
reality dawned that we would actually have to be filmed, saying sensible
things and moving about, stuff like that. I suddenly remembered that I
don't like having my photo taken, let alone appearing on film. Bit late
now though. We hastily explained to the reporter that we are a full-time
manufacturing business, and just happen to be in the field of
miniatures.
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We could hear her musing to herself that it
might be fun to film us playing with the dolls house, or whatever it is
that we do. She was insistent that one of us should be filmed stitching
(despite the fact that we only ever get the time to stitch while at
shows, when we are nowhere near our computers). Chris nominated me, but
I nominated Chris, and as the idea of a man stitching seemed a much more
outlandish thing to film, I won, and Chris had to go first. You'd think
it would be easy being interviewed, wouldn't you? They ask you things
and you reply while somebody else films it. Unfortunately it wasn't like
that.
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"Right then, in a minute I'm going
to ask you if it is easy to sew and you're going to say that yes, it is,
and then explain how to do it, while the cameraman films you stitching
as you talk. Try to remember to smile. Don't look at the camera, look at
me. Keep it brief but not too brief, about twenty seconds will be fine.
Oh, and look relaxed."Actually Chris managed it really well, and
only I could tell that he was tense (because his Cornish accent comes
out more then).
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| When it was my turn, I had to explain, in
the strict twenty second time limit, how I started the business and why
and what my customers tend to be like, and how I see the business
expanding in the near future. By the time the reporter had finished
asking the question, I had forgotten what the beginning had been. She
kept saying things like, "fine, but shall we try that one more
time?" I then had to be filmed packing kits, which is difficult to
concentrate on when you have a cameraman lying on the table in front of
you, saying: "Just pretend I'm not here." When they eventually
finished filming us, they turned their attention to the stitched models,
and took about two hours filming extreme close-ups of the carpets,
footstools and needlework stands.
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| After three hours of filming, we realised
that they were starting to pack up, and talking amongst themselves about
how bad the traffic would be on the run back to Birmingham. Just as they
were leaving, the reporter asked if she could use our phone to contact
the music library back at the television centre, to book some 'relevant
background music'. We overheard her asking for "something Upstairs
Downstairs-y parlour music, posh and victorian". We had no idea how
the item would turn out, or even when it would be broadcast, as it was
obviously a 'filler' item, so could be postponed (the story of our
life!) at any time.
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After avidly watching the Six o'clock News
for the next three days we were still stunned when they eventually
showed it. It had been edited really well - the parlour music background
was just right, the interviews were mercifully brief. I actually sounded
like I was making sense (although I never realised my Essex accent was
THAT strong!), and the close-ups of the stitched models came out really
classy. Five minutes after the item went on air the phone started
ringing. The interest that one and a half minutes on television can do
was incredible. If we get the nerve, we might even risk it again one
day.
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