Work Experience

Nearing the end of my second year at university I plan to go out and find myself work experience opportunities within the media sector. Living in the heart of Waterloo has made things somewhat easier for me, as I only live a short distance from the ITV and Channel 4 studios’. By creating a media CV and a cover letter, will enable me to email them asking about for potential vacancies on work experience and to also pop in and give a hard copy of both if unsuccessful via email. With a place hopefully secured in due time fingers crossed I plan to use this to my advantage after attaining my degree. With the potential experience gained this could see me as a potential candidate in the near future and open me to a lot of doors.

My communication I would say has not been extremely great with my tutors this term. This has lacked me in excelling myself to the best of my advantage. If my communication within my module leaders were great then my work would be at a good standard however within my peers it is fantastic. Working well with them and constantly on the ball has made teamwork a key skill and quality this semester.

Research assignment

As I mentioned in my first blog I’m not very keen on the theory side of things and writing up essays in particular so my interest levels doesn’t soar to a level I would expect. In terms of understanding the assignments I find it quite clear to me but somewhat struggle when it comes to the end product. The deconstruction assignment in particular made me show an interest towards writing up an essay and show my passion for it. Analysing a specific scene, which I enjoyed in the movie made me able to write and expand my knowledge on it. This engaged me more and enabled me to write quite a few words about the scene.

For me to improve myself in academic writing form and be strong in this area I plan to look at more research methods such as journals, books and articles. By referencing everything this will support my writing and build a stronger end product. I’d hope to answer my question of “does it interest me in the way it should?” by building my confidence in essay writing and being more stronger at it will drive me towards making contacts with the industry out there, giving me opportunities to open my eyes up to the world of media and what it has to offer.

Silent Movie

In groups of 3 and 4 we were asked to film and edit a three minute cuts – only silent movie. This proved to be a challenging task as were not allowed to use transitions no sounds and no title. Come to editing it proved to be quite straightforward once I sat down and got to grips with it. Teamwork/communication was crucial in this production of the movie. Producer was able to organise and bring the team together and film in one full day. Only problem we had was the weather not being on our side but this didn’t stop us from filming.

What went well for our silent movie was the variety use of shots that we used to give our movie a cinematic type of feel, which I feel went spectacularly well. However every group member was required to edit their own version of the film to see if we had the skill and capability to use avid to its highest standard possible. For me personally the positive side of things was the clear continuity of the narrative, which was shown quite well during the video. Negatively speaking the use of soundtrack did not fit well with the actual video itself with a fast paced and tense build up would make the audience think something big is about to take place when in fact that is not the case. What can I do better next time? Well to start I would choose a suitable soundtrack to go with my narrative and make it more appealing to the audience in order for them to be more engaged and involved.

Motivation

Second year of the course we were asked to choose three modules to continue on with, my choices were camera light sound, post production and documentary. As far as the course is concerned I still find myself in a position struggling to find out what field I would like to pursue in the TV industry and having some difficulties being motivated to develop myself, but after acquiring new skills and attempting my hand at editing platforms such as avid it pushed me to thrive myself in this particular area. Evidently my confidence levels in using Avid are pretty low at this moment in time but for me to expand my knowledge and skills on the use of Avid I plan on asking my peers and fellow students for advice and support on how to operate such a program.

Also attending numerous tutorials will eventually enable me to advance myself on its operational skills. During our time planning for our silent movie we had difficulties within our team as one member dropped out leaving us no choice but to move forward without him. this potentially meant for us as a group less hand power and brain power but the obstacle was eventually overcome when two other members of the class formed with us. During our day of filming the weather was not on our side and made it difficult for us to film in such condition but due to the power of teamwork we managed to get through our film and finish it at such high standard.

My Profile

Television Production? Well where to start and how it all began with me. It first took off during my time at college studying Creative Media Production Level 3. Ever since then my passion for media and the whole aspects behind the subject amazed me into go ahead and pick BA Television Production for my university degree. I was introduced to the world of media thoroughly during my time at college, being introduced to editing, camera work, script writing and much more. Our first task would be to create our own video profile and get to grips with the equipment such as the DSLR’s (my personal favourite) and be able to familiarise ourselves with the settings behind making a good video.

This being said I then went onto bring my video to life by coming across final cut pro where it all started. The whole transition cuts, effects, adding audio tracks all in one place creating a masterpiece drove me to continue with the editing process and see how I progressed during the course of the two years. Use of camera wise was pretty straightforward once I got hands on with it which made me enjoy the course even more and built a motivation in my head telling myself “I need to make more videos like this”. That time of the year where it comes to filling out UCAS applications for our desired courses I was confused between media and business studies but the decision was easy. Media obviously, due to the fact I’m more of a practical type of person and enjoy life being hands on and not stuck behind a table constantly writing theoretically. From then on my life as university and TV Production begins.