Day 188 - 15 Nov 95 - Page 10


     
     1
     2   Q.   Was it after that that you actually started working,
     3        actually worked shifts in the store?
     4        A.  Yes.  Just before the filming, I mean, to get a real
     5        feel of it, it was agreed that I should work three shifts
     6        at the Strand store and two shifts at the Croydon store.
     7
     8   Q.   We will come to your working experience in a minute.  Then
     9        how did the filming actually -- describe how the filming
    10        was organised?
    11        A.  The filming was kind of split over various days,
    12        because the idea was to produce this 24 hours in the life
    13        of a McDonald's store.  But we were filming at two stores,
    14        and so we would do -- I mean, from memory, I think we kind
    15        of started off at the Hamburger University on a Monday
    16        morning and then I think we went to the Strand.  But we
    17        would have spent a couple of days at the Strand store
    18        during the day, and then we went and spent some time at the
    19        Croydon store during the weekday.  We specifically went to
    20        the Croydon store on the Saturday to film the Saturday,
    21        because that is their busiest day there.  We then stayed at
    22        the Strand store to film through the night close period.
    23        So we arrived at the Strand and filmed it when they were
    24        closing down for the night, went through the whole process
    25        of that, and were there again for the breakfast the
    26        following morning.  But it was kind of split over --
    27        I mean, it was like, you know, a five day filming schedule
    28        split over ten days, or something like that.
    29
    30   Q.   Right.  Now, just taking these three periods, the
    31        observation periods, was there any -- well, the film was
    32        agreed with McDonald's, obviously; yes?
    33        A.  Yes.
    34
    35   Q.   Sorry, not the film; the whole process was in co-operation
    36        with -----
    37        A.  McDonald's had given full agreement and access into the
    38        -- I mean, that was how we were able to get in the stores
    39        and film it.  We could not have done that, obviously,
    40        without McDonald's giving permission to do so.
    41
    42   Q.   Did they make any limitation on what you could do?
    43        A.  It is my understanding, as told by the producer, that
    44        we were not allowed to raise directly with the crew trade
    45        union rights or whether they wanted a trade union.  That is
    46        the only one that I knew about, because that clearly
    47        indicated how I talked to the crew, what I was talking to
    48        the crew about.  So, they might raise it directly with me,
    49        but I would then say that we were not going to discuss that
    50        subject in the film at all. 
    51 
    52   Q.   That was a precondition? 
    53        A.  As I understand it, it was a precondition.  I was
    54        researcher, so I was not privy to what arrangements were
    55        made, but that was what I was told by the producer, that
    56        that was a precondition of filming.
    57
    58   Q.   When you were working, were there any limitations on the
    59        working?
    60        A.  During the observation period and the shift patterns,

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