A month in the life of our intern

I started at Limehouse on 1st June, and to be totally honest, I was terrified at the start. I feel like at the beginning of any job, the cold sweat of imposter syndrome creeps up on us all. I know very few people who've got internships or work experience in this industry, and even fewer who’ve been lucky enough to secure placement years.  I go on social media every day and am blasted with pessimistic commentary about the job market, the drying up of entry-level jobs and the fear of being a NEET (Not in education, employment or training). The rise of AI has only added to the doom spell that young people have been cast under online.  It makes me all the more grateful and resilient as a Production and Post-production assistant.  

Saying all this, I have never felt any pressure from the Limehouse team. From the moment I walked into the office that first day, everyone was positive and happy to see me, which I truly appreciate. I met most of the team in my first meeting that day, learning about the variety of roles that make up Limehouse. They took the time to give me one-on-one meetings to explain exactly what their role involves, like development or design (roles I’ve admittedly never really considered before). Even things I do know, like editing on Premiere Pro, became a whole new fascinating lesson on how to achieve the quality of film that wins awards. 

A part of my acclimation to this job has been learning the professional examples of things I thought I knew. I’ve had a lot of experience with production due to my experience with the Leeds Student Television Society, such as creating call sheets for shoots. However, the refined version Limehouse produces is very different to our scribbled-on pieces of paper that get posted on an Instagram chat. It’s to be expected, and the beauty of doing a placement year is that the refining of details that I’ve been able to witness make a production run smoothly, are things I can bring back to uni when I return for my final year. 

On my first day, I was asked if I wanted to go on a shoot in the coming weeks, and I immediately jumped at the opportunity. Nervous as I was, this was the absolute dream, and to be honest, I didn’t think in a million years I’d be able to go on one within my first month of being there. That’s one of the great things about working for a smaller company: you actually get to feel like you’re a part of it, that your work means something and is making a difference.  

The shoot was based in Bristol, so we travelled the night before to be up early and excited for the next day. Adam and Shirley made sure I felt comfortable and ready for my first big shoot, even taking me to my favourite restaurant chain, where I introduced Shirley to the awesomeness of baos. We arrived at the shoot the next day, where I was handed my own nano camera to take GVs from interesting angles.  The fact that some of my own shots may actually be used in a professionally produced video blew my mind - I never thought that I would get to be as hands-on as that. I’d created a manual for the nano camera earlier that week, and so I knew I could stick it to magnetic pillars, hide it in small places and monitor the footage from far away.  I have since ended up seeing the footage I took in the actual edit, which is insanely cool and, to reiterate, motivational to know that I’ve actually been a useful part of that process. 

During this shoot, I vlogged my experience to develop a concept TikTok video called “Day in the Life of an Intern”. This formed part of a pitch to launch a Limehouse TikTok page. Before I even started, I knew I wanted to contribute something meaningful to the placement: a project I could work on throughout the year and watch grow. Not only is social media now a space for advertising, but also a space for your online portfolio, especially in the film industry. At the end of the month, we had a team day out on the sunny Leeds canal (on a boat!), and as we were discussing topics of innovation and development, I saw it as the right time to deliver my thoughts on how a TikTok page could benefit the company in the emerging social-first corporate climate. Looking back now, I can’t believe how encouraging and welcoming everyone was to my ideas. Young people are often hammered down by horror stories about how interns or assistants get treated, but this experience, and especially that moment, has made me feel listened to and appreciated for my ideas and my work. Positive stories about entry-level jobs for young people are few and far between on the internet, but my beginning at Limehouse has certainly been one.