YSTV does Hunted - Episode 2
| YSTV does Hunted - Episode 2 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Genre: | Light Entertainment |
| Broadcast: | 17th February 2020 |
| Producer(s): | Thomas Schubert Andrew Waddle Cal Cooke |
This is the second time YSTV recreated the popular Channel 4 show "Hunted", with this episode being collectively produced between Thomas Schubert, Andrew Waddle and Cal Cooke. Due to the popularity and success of the first episode by Edwin Barnes, the team decided to go bigger in every single way imaginable. Therefore, the production became one of the major shows during the 2019/20 academic year. The winners of this episode were Olivia Gibbs and Joe Radford.
Production
Hunted episode 2 was first mentioned around the time of the filming of YSTV does Hunted due to such a large number of people being interested in taking part in the show. It was planned to be done during the summer term of 2019, but was inevitably delayed through to November. Shooting was planned primarily around fixing problems with Episode 1 and expanding upon it's scale. The format was adapted slightly to include both; more hunters and hunted teams, and a control room setup showing the direction of the Hunters.
The actual shooting day took roughly 4 hours start to finish, with minimal pickups other than the last chase sequence (due to a recording error by Olivia Gibbs and Joe Radford) and the control room table shots. These were a thought mentioned late into planning of the episode by Andrew Waddle who also took charge of making the final graphics. In retrospect, these shots should have had more planning before effectively being made up in post.
Crew
There were three different teams of fugitives:
- Team Tilly (captured in a side street off Goodramgate)
- Team Karinna (captured on Ogleforth)
- Team Joe (closely escaping the hunters and winning the episode)
On the opposite side, there were three teams of hunters, all with different tasks:
- The Control Room, tracking the fugitives' GPS signal and coordinating the hunters
- Zsófia Benedek, Camera OP
- Thomas Schubert
- Andrew Waddle
- Car Team
- Cal Cooke
- Kira Moore, the designated driver
- Klara Simonova, Camera OP
- Matthew Zeffertt
- Bike Team
Other crew members:
- Voice-Over by Sam Hance
- Edited by Thomas Schubert
- VFX by Andrew Waddle
- Intro Sequence by Ben Allen, Thomas Schubert and Andrew Waddle
- Intro Sequence Extras: Louis Dickson, Will Stirk
Summary
On an overcast November Sunday, the three fugitive teams set off from the YUSU Building. With only a 30 minute headstart, the three groups leave behind James College as fast as possible. While Joe and Olivia run to Joe's accommodation in Vanburgh, Karinna and Jack head to Jack's house close to Hull Road and Tilly, Sophie and Marta make their way through Walmgate Stray towards Fulford. Coincidentally, they all have prepared a very similar plan: Using disguises to throw the hunters off their trail.
Unbeknown to them, the bike hunters (Jacob and Zoe) have exactly the same plan, using the silly costumes in the studio. In the meantime, the control room starts surveilling the fugitives' GPS signal. With everyone closing in towards the town centre, the hunters start their pursuit. While the bikes are send after Team Tilly (as they are easy to catch up to down at the Ouse), the car team (driven by Kira) originally plan to catch Olivia and Joe first, as they are closest to campus. Before they have properly set off, however, Tom and Andrew in the studio notice that their tracker started to jump around throughout the town. Wrongly, they assume that Joe and Olivia have escaped on bikes - in fact, the team had boarded a bus.
With bike team accidentally crossing the Millennium Bridge and ending up on the wrong side of the Ouse, Team Tilly and Karinna make their way into the town centre, both following the same plan: Hide on the busy Christmas Market on Parliament Street and The Shambles. Upon recognising this, Matt and Cal (the car hunters) jump out of the vehicle at Parliament Street and begin searching the market.
Ultimately, the hunters close in on Team Tilly on Stonegate, while the girls stop for a short rest. Due to Tilly's eagle eyes, they manage to see the approaching hunters from afar, allowing them to escape into the side streets undetected (despite Marta being split up from her friends for a minute).
In the meantime, Joe and Olivia exit the bus close to the York Hospital and spend some time walking around the disgusting side streets in that area.
Having just barely escaped the hunters, Team Tilly decides to stay hidden within the smaller alleyways and backstreets within the town centre. Cal and Matt however set their eyes on hunting down Karinna and Jack first, who are located by the control room close to The Shambles. Simultaneously, the bike hunters are called into the town centre to close in on Karinna and Jack too.
Luckily for the fugitives, Cal is easily identifiable in the crowd - allowing Karinna and Jack to slyly disappear within the masses and escape through M&S. Realising how hot on their trail the hunters are, they change their plans and head down The Stonebow to get a bus out of town.
Just seconds apart, the bike hunters arrive at the bottom of The Shambles. Busy with putting on their disguises, they do not notice Jack and Karinna running past them literally 10 metres away. Due to their luck and Jacob and Zoe's missing attention, Jack and Karinna manage to get away from the danger in town.
Tom and Andrew in the control room decide to have the hunters in town meet up in The Shambles and go after the same target at the same time: Team Tilly, who are still hiding away in the backstreets close to Monkgate. Setting off from King's Square simultaneously, the hunters slowly close in on them... but ultimately, it is bad luck that exposes their location to the car hunters. Just as Matt turns the corner onto Goodramgate, the three girls exit an alleyway just a few metres away. Immediately, Cal and Matt are in pursuit... the chase lasts for seconds, before Tilly, Sophie and Marta are hunted down in the side street they just tried to leave.
With one fugitive team hunted down and all hunters still in town, the situation for Jack and Karinna grows even more dangerous, as their expected escape bus is a no-show. They head even further down the Stonebow... unaware of the bike hunters, that are tracking them down on the very same street. Jacob and Zoe get closer and closer and closer... until they cycle right past their targets on the pavement. Due to not recognising each other, both the fugitive and the hunter team remain unaware of how closely they just missed each other. As Zoe and Jacob continue investigating the side streets, the car hunters grab lunch at Greggs.
During this short break, Karinna and Jack leave the town centre throughout a cycle path next to the canal and head towards Morrison's in order to grab a drink. Finally, the bike hunters catch onto their route, while the car hunters reunite to Kira and set off towards Foss Islands.
The bike hunters are the first to arrive at Morrison's and deduce that the fugitives must be hiding inside. Unsure of how to proceed, they stand guard at the main entrance... giving Jack and Karinna the opportunity to escape through a second exit and make their way back into town.
Too late, the hunters notice this shift in location. As bike team is ordered to leave their position on the Morrison's car park, the car hunters decide to leave the car again and continue their pursue on foot.
Kira drives off alone in the car to find a parking space... and is noticed by Olivia and Joe, who have just made their way back to town. In the control room, Andrew and Tom have a short debate about which fugitives they should try and catch first. And their choice falls onto Team Karinna.
Karinna and Jack decided to use the city walls to quickly move across town and not go back into the busy main streets. Unfortunately for them, their plan is seen through immediately by the control room. Cal and Matt start running up the city wall, while Jacob and Zoe circle around to Goodramgate to cut off the fugitives' escape route. Unfortunately, they are slight late - Karinna and Jack manage to get off the wall in time, but are just one street over. Ultimately, both car and bike hunters corner Team Karinna on Ogleforth - with no chance to outrun their pursuers, Karinna and Jack accept defeat.
Now the only team left on the run, Olivia and Joe spend some time perfecting their disguise in the busy town centre - until ultimately, they receive an anonymous call while trying to take a shortcut through Urban Outfitters. They are instructed to make their way to the York Racecourse; the final extraction point. Painfully aware that are the only target left now, Olivia and Joe rush off and leave town behind.
Matt and Cal reunite with Kira and the car for the final chase. Confused at first as to where the fugitives are heading, they send off the bike hunters to be stationed at Millennium Bridge, as they suspect that to be the extraction point.
Exhausted and increasingly paranoid, Joe and Olivia arrive at a big field just across from the racecourse. They start making their way across it - but just then, Kira's car arrives a street over, and Cal and Matt spot the team from a distance. While Matt starts pursuit on foot, Cal and Kira try to catch up to the fugitives in the car.
Just in time, Olivia spots the hunters right behind them, and her and Joe make a final run for it. Matt is in hot pursuit, and even Cal jumps out of the car to cut them off on the final stretch... but ultimately, Joe manages to get to the racecourse's entrance first - just seconds before Matt catches up to Olivia. Triumphantly, Joe and Olivia send a photo to the control room - and Andrew and Tom have to surrender the game to the winners.
Awards
- At NaSTA 2020, the show took home two awards: Best Post-Production and Best Title Sequence
- In 2021, it was announced that the production was nominated by the Royal Television Society for Best Non-Fiction at its Yorkshire Student Awards. While YSTV did end up not winning this award, editor Thomas Schubert was recognised for his work with an "Editing Craft Award".
Trivia
- Between editing the show and the visual effects work, the combined post production time was approximately 700 man-hour.
- This production ended up requiring the longest render times in recorded YSTV history, 50 hours a shot for the VFX table and about 20 hours for the final assembly.
- Tom was so loud during the control sequences, that Andrew couldn't actually communicate with the bike team.
- Zoe Dickinson was essentially blind for the last hour of the chase having broken her glasses just before.