The Apprentice

When you turn up for any filming job the one thing you’re looking for is a bit of visual variety.

Sometimes it takes a bit of imagination to come up with the shots you need to make the film interesting, while at other times they’re just there on a plate. A recent job for the Orkney Construction Training Group (OCTG) was a perfect example of the latter.

Dale Groundwater from Eoin Harcus Joinery

The construction sector is a videographer’s dream. Whether you turn up on-site or in the workshop there’s just so much going on it’s sometimes hard to know what to focus on.

OCTG commissioned us to make a series of short films for social media, aimed at encouraging young folk to consider a career in construction, through taking on an apprenticeship. A longer film was also produced, which will be used primarily for showing during school visits. It’s clearly a very timely initiative; at the recent launch event for the films (which was very well-attended) we were told that the average age of those in the sector is now fifty-five. Given how business appears to be booming, getting the right young people into the industry is a big challenge.

Ross Kennedy, time-served stonemason with Historic Environment Scotland

Thankfully the group came up with fantastic ambassadors for the trades. Each of them was either a current or past apprentice, and they all spoke incredibly well about the experience and what they were getting, or had got, from it.

The response to the films so far has been fantastic, and while we enjoy promoting all sorts of local products and services through our work, there’s something particularly satisfying about being involved in an initiative that may encourage young, local folk to look at a range of careers that can be hugely rewarding.

Fraser Dowell from local builders RS Rendall training at Orkney College

And it’s interesting too that the variety that made the project so interesting to work on visually is reflected in the variety of skills and day-to-day work that the apprentices experience.

Find the Orkney Construction Training Group on Facebook to see the films.