Project Proposal- FMP Year 2

2/4/17

Draft 1

Rationale

During my time on the course I’ve had the chance to work with a diverse range of film techniques and produced a number of projects including still image, film poem, multicam and fiction films. This has helped to give me a very broad understanding of film as well as skills in a variety of areas such as camera work, editing, writing and cinematography.

Before I started this course I hadn’t done any kind of filmmaking and have found film a fantastic medium to be creative in. I have found that my strongest areas of film have been within editing and imagery, which has influenced my final project as this will be a major aspect to my film. I also feel that editing may be an area of film I wish to pursue as a career possibly in the music video sector.

Concept

My idea comes from the brief horizon and how Stories can be the bridge between imagination and reality. I will be exploring the way in which people can empathise with characters, using traditional fairy tales as a focus point and present this as a film between 2-4 minutes.

I plan to follow the imagination of a young woman as she envisions herself as various fairy tale characters until she is brought abruptly back to reality, reading a book and making tea.

I aim to use three fairy tales in my film and so a main area of my research will be the connections they share and how I can use them to interlink and transition between each scene. I will also be looking at how I can use visuals as a way to develop character and establish a story.

In order to make this a successful project I will need access to various equipment and research sources. I will be conducting secondary research primarily through the use of the internet to source videos, articles, artwork etc and primary research through test shots, storyboards and rough cuts.

Feedback will be helpful in guiding the development of my project that I will collect from friends, family, tutors as well as a Professional film maker who is coming to college to hear our pitches.

Evaluation  

Throughout the project I will be evaluating various aspects and progressions in my work such as ideas, shoots and edits including a final overall evaluation where I will look at the success and failures of my project as a whole as well as how it compares to the initial brief. At each stage I will assess the strengths and weaknesses of my ideas, how I can develop them and how effective they are.

I will document my progression in the form of an online blog where I will be able to use a variety of media to show my development and process. This will be categorized into a selection of blog posts that I can update and add to as I progress. These will include Idea generation, development, research and feedback etc.

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Draft 2 ( Final)

Rationale

During my time on the course I’ve had the chance to work with a diverse range of film techniques and completed a number of projects including still image, film poem, multi-cam and fiction films. This has given me an insight into film as a whole including skills in a variety of areas such as camera operation, editing techniques, writing and cinematography.

This course has allowed me to explore film as a medium and how I can use it to portray and develop ideas in the form of stories. I have found that my strongest area of film has been editing, particularly for visual films such as music videos or film poems. This has influenced my final project as I will be focusing on how I can use editing and visuals to develop characters and story.

As a career prospect I think that becoming an editor would be a possibility but I also want to have a chance to explore a much wider understanding of film.

Concept

My film is based on the chosen brief, horizon. I interpreted the word horizon as being a boundary between two contrasting elements and have decided to represent this as imagination and reality. I will be using classic fairy tales to explore the way in which people empathise with characters and how stories can be used to bridge the gap between imagination and reality, presented as a short film between 2-4 minutes.

The basic outline of my film follows a young woman seen in the role of three classic fairy tale characters before it is revealed that she is reading a book. The film follows her imagination as she envisions herself in these roles until she is brought back to reality.

The main areas of my research will be the common themes these fairy tales share and how I can link them together as well as transition between each one. Also how I can visually establish each fairy tale and show the contrast between them and reality.

For my primary research I will be exploring my idea through a variety of means including, Test-shots, storyboards, rough cuts and mood boards. I will also be conducting secondary research in the form of instructional videos and articles. I will be paying attention to how I can create different visual styles to represent the fairy tales and themes of my film.

Feedback will be valuable in guiding the development of my project and idea. I will be collecting feedback from friends, family, tutors  at different stages throughout the project. I will also be doing a mock pitch in front of an industry professional in order to generate further feedback. This will all allow me to reflect on how my film is being perceived and whether it is effective in representing its themes.

Evaluation  

Throughout the project I will be evaluating various aspects and progressions in my work such as ideas, shoots and edits including a final overall evaluation where I will look at the success and failures of my project as a whole as well as how it compares to the initial brief. At each stage I will assess the strengths and weaknesses of my ideas, how I can develop them and how effective they are.

I will document my progression in the form of an online blog where I will be able to use a variety of media to show my development and process. This will be categorized into a selection of blog posts that I can update and add to as I progress.

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FMP Week to week plan

Wk 23	March 13th – 17th	Idea generation and brief analysis (Horizon) (mind maps, mood boards)
Wk 24	March 20th – 24th	Evaluate ideas, idea development, elevator pitch
Wk 25	March 27th – 31st	Research (fairy tales, forced perspective, visual styles, cuts/transitions) First story structure draft
Wk 26	April 3rd – 7th	First draft project proposal
Easter		Final story structure (content and structure of film decided)
Easter		Source props & costumes (Red cloak, Pumpkin, Basket, ribbons) Casting (drama students)
Wk 27	April 24th – 28th	Location scout (woodlands and old houses) Film Pitch (Rebecca day)
Wk 28	May 1st – 5th	Test shots (Forced perspective) (Rope tracking shot) Final Project Proposal
Wk 29	May 8th – 12th	Final shot lists & story boards Book equipment out (C100, tripod, slider, steady cam, bounce board)
Wk 30	May 15th – 19th	Filming (All scenes, Monday Tuesday Wednesday)
Wk 31	May 22nd – 26th	Logging rushes, Shoot evaluation,
HT		First rough cut, Pickups (if needed)
Wk 32	June 5th – 9th	Rough cut deadline, Rough cut evaluation
Wk 33	June 12th – 16th	Finish final cut of film, Prep for screening
Wk 34	June 19th – 23rd	Film Screening (20th), Final evaluation

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Bibliography –

Primary sources:

• Peer and Tutor Feedback
• Test shots
• Mood boards
• Shot lists
• Personal reflection
• http://freemusicarchive.org/
• Matt Tucker – Previous Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYFPMoK-rVE

Secondary sources:

• ActionLeo – YouTube: https://youtu.be/umQqeKN3O68
• Adorama – Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJlWVCfotSM
• Angie Piccirillo – YouTube: https://youtu.be/eT_wXhkqMLc
• Ben Shirinian – YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lxl3AuL3_Qs
• Celia Gómez – Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/188527960
• D.L.Ashliman – Article: http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0333.html
• Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm – Article: http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm053.html
• Kamel Films – Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/58150375
• Rocket Jump film School – YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAH0MoAv2CI
• Warner Brothers – YouTube: https://youtu.be/5FxHPQiTwYQ
• Warner Brothers – YouTube: https://youtu.be/A3X4KgcHAJo

ScrapBook – FMP Year 2

Evaluation – Unit 11

For this project I had to create an online social media network to help promote my work effectively to a wider audience. To do this I have taken advantage of a number of popular social media sites.

Facebook Page

Facebook is perhaps the most popular social media site and reaches an incredibly wide and diverse audience. This also means that it is familiar to people and therefore easily accessible, making it an ideal platform to set up a page linking people to my work.

Unfortunately because facebook is so widely used it has an incredible amount of content on it. This means that it will be harder to get your page noticed and will also be surrounded by various forms of advertisements due to it being a free site.

Twitter

The main benefit from Twitter is being able to easily and instantly post updates while out and about. Twitter allows me to post short messages, photos and links. This makes it a great way to keep my audience up to date as stuff happens.

However if I wanted to upload anything more substantial I would have to use a different platform and link people to it. Twitter is also more of an informal platform, meaning that it would not do on its own as a professional portfolio.

Instagram

Instagram is very similar to twitter although more focused around media. Much like twitter, Instagram will allow me to upload instantly from anywhere. However it is a more visual platform where I can share photos and short clips. I feel that Instagram will be useful as film is a very visual media so it will be much easier to share snippets of my work on a platform that is designed for that type of media.

A disadvantage of Instagram though, is that as a stand alone website it is not as popular as something like Facebook or Twitter and so the potential audience is much smaller. It is usually integrated as part of another social platform and allows for the hosting of various media.

Vimeo

Vimeo is a semi professional video hosting service and will be what makes up the bulk of my work online. It is fairly well laid out and structured meaning that my films are presented in an appropriate way and are also easy for both myself and audience to locate. I can also interlink my other social media platforms with Vimeo and visa versa so it is really quick and easy to get from one platform to another, exposing my audience to various levels of media and promotion. The content on Vimeo is also somewhat more selective than something like Youtube, it contains an array of films from beginner to professional although the quality is on average better than Youtube. This means that my work will be displayed next to other filmmakers rather than cat videos.

Although Vimeo is free there are certain restrictions on things such as upload limit. Currently I am only able to upload 500mb worth of data a week onto Vimeo which means that I am not able to upload everything as some of my films are too large but also as my work flow increases I would have to be more selective of which ones to prioritise. There are various options however to increase your upload limit for a subscription package and may be something that I consider getting if I find I start to use Vimeo a lot more.

Bio

One of the most notable aspects of biographies I found was that filmmakers tend to include their role within the industry as well as an indication of the type of work they produce. I decided to do the same in my own biography as it informs the reader straight away of what I do clearly and effectively.

“Matthew Tucker is a young upcoming filmmaker specialising in the editing of indie rock music videos.”

I also decided to include my achievements from ‘World Skills’ as another common practice is to include any awards that you may have received for your work. This helps to add quality assurance to your work as your audience will see this as an indication of your experience. I also decided to include this towards the beginning as the filmmakers I looked at tended to include notable achievements towards the beginning of their bio in order to promote them most effectively.

Using bold text for the titles of films they had worked on was a technique I thought was very effective as it allowed the audience to quickly see the various things they have done as well as make certain things stand out more. I decided to apply this idea for my own bio but as I haven’t worked on any big budget films yet I used bold to highlight things that I am most proud of or think readers would be interested in.

The biographies that I looked at were all written in the third person and because of this I have done the same. I feel this was done in order to make them sound slightly more professional and less like a conversation. A danger to this style though is that it can sound very distant and possibly not engage the audience as much while also sounding too pretentious. I think I do prefer how third person sounds in a biography and thought following the convention of other biographies was best.

Much like other filmmakers I have written both a short and extended version of my biography. A short bio works to quickly inform your reader of any vital and most appropriate information about you without bombarding them with text. While an extended version allows your reader to find out about you in more detail if they choose and can focus on some of the smaller projects you have done. I feel that this is a really effective way to present your bio and means that the short version can be used as a header for any social media platforms. However there is often a character limit and on Twitter I was unable to upload the full short version so was forced to shorten it.      

Summary

Overall I think this project has gone fairly well. I have made excellent headway in my application to University and produced a great short film with the drama department. My online portfolio is definitely moving in the right direction. Things such as my Twitter and Instagram are still fairly sparse as they have only just been created but now that everything is set up and interlinked, it will be really easy for me to upload and expand things over time as my career develops.

Social Media Links – Unit 11

In order to promote myself effectively online I have created a collection of social media links so that I can generate feedback for my work and keep in touch with my audience.

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Vimeo

vimeo.com/4321tucker

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Twitter

twitter.com/4321TuckerFlim

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FaceBook

https://www.facebook.com/4321TuckerFilm/

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Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/4321tuckerfilmproductions/?hl=en

Biography – Unit 11

Short Version –

Matthew Tucker is a young upcoming filmmaker specialising in the editing of indie rock music videos.

He recently received a gold medal from ‘WorldSkills Uk 2016’ where he edited the winning film in the ‘Video Moving Image’ category.

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Extended Version –

Tucker is also a member of the locally famous band ‘The Twitchers’ who he produces, directs and edits music videos for.

During his time at ‘Kendal College’ on the ‘Film Production’ course, Tucker has worked on a range of projects in a variety of roles and is currently preparing to progress onto university at Staffordshire to study ‘Experimental film’.

Tucker has also been a part of a number of small independent productions, one of which he worked as a lighting technician/runner with a group of ‘BBC’ employees in a Scottish bunker.

 

Drama film – Unit 11

As part of Unit 11 we were set a task of collaborating with the drama students in order to produce a short film.

We were given a choice of songs/poems with which to draw inspiration from and create our film. The poem explores the idea of ‘broken’ and ‘real’ people. We interrupted this as the difference between how people present themselves as opposed to who they actually are.

We decided to focus on a family dinner setting and use visuals as the main element to our film in order to reflect the themes of the poem.

Working with actors wasn’t without challenges but was overall a very enjoyable experience. It was sometimes difficult to explain certain technical aspects of film and why we perhaps can’t do certain things. We managed to combat this by being as open as we could but also asking them to trust us on some things, such as how it would all be edited together. All the actors however were really enthusiastic which made working with them a lot easier.

Overall i’m really pleased with how it turned out. I think the film works as an idea and fits the brief. We definitely went for a more abstract approach and so we were able to try out things that we hadn’t done before. For example this project was the first time I had used Adobe Audition and have started to get an idea for how it can be used. Also Kit provided me with some fantastic VFX of ‘cracking’ hands and faces giving me the opportunity to play a little with elements of stop motion.

Biography Research – Unit 11

Eddie Hamilton –

Eddie is a very successful professional film editor who has cut films such as, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Kings man: The Secret Service and X-Men: First Class.

He has his own website to promote and showcase his work, included in this is a biography containing a number of techniques which I may be able to make use of for my own bio.

The most notable aspect of this bio, as well as a large number of others, is that all the film titles are presented in bold. This is to make them stand out to the audience and grab their eye, especially if they are recognisable film names. By using bold in this way a reader can very quickly see the most notable work you have done.

Eddie has decided to include both a short and extended version of his biography. Few people are excited by a wall of text and so by including a short version of his bio it makes it much easier for people to quickly find out about him and some of his best achievements. He can then expand and add to any points from this in his extended version, I think this is a great technique to make your bio more accessible to your audience.

The way in which he has structured his bio is also very purposeful. He has decided to include his most notable and highly acclaimed achievements towards the beginning of his biography as this is the information he would rather his audience see. He will still include other projects that he’s worked on that aren’t as well know but has placed them towards the end of his bio and only in his extended version. It would be highly advisable for me to structure my bio in a similar way in order to get the information I want across effectively.

Another aspect of his structure is that his bio is clearly split into various sections of work. For example there is a paragraph where he talks about the feature films he’s done and a separate one for more independent films. Splitting your bio into sections in this way will allow people to quickly find the information they are looking for or read about what interests them the most.

Eddie has also made the decision to write his bio in third person. I think this makes it seem slightly more professional as first person may be too informal. On the other hand third person has the danger of sounding too pretentious.

One thing that I think could of been improved Eddie’s bio would be the use of media. His biography is purely text and doesn’t look very inviting to read, by using pictures or links to films I feel that I could make my bio more pleasing to the eye and more inviting to an audience.

https://www.eddiehamilton.com/biography

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Susan Graef –

Susan is another professional film editor, although not as well know as Eddie. She also has a website with her biography published which shares some similarities but also some differences.

Unlike Eddie, Susan has not included bold text to highlight the important aspects of her bio such as film titles. This means that a reader has to go to more effort to find the work she’s done and therefore may lose interest. The choice of white text on black dose help it stand out although in my opinion it looks a little garish and is not as pleasing to the eye as a softer colour scheme.

Susan has also made the decision to only include a short bio. I feel this may be a benefit as the majority of people don’t like to read huge amounts of text and it also allows her to focus on key aspects of her work and career that she would rather promote.

One thing I like about Susan’s bio is the fact that she has included the role she played in each project. After each title she puts in brackets the role she played making it easy for people to see exactly what she did on each project and give her the appropriate credit.

She also decided to feature a little bit of information about her personal life. This could be good to make yourself more relatable but also give potential employers an idea of who you are as an individual.

Much like Eddie however she hasn’t included any media in her bio and so it still looks very plain and not as inviting. So far, I feel that this is a key point that people are missing although I can see media being over used to the point where it is cluttered and so think that using media only to highlight key points may be useful.

http://suegraeffilmeditor.com/bio

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Floria Sigismondi – 

Floria is a very talented filmmaker specialising in the direction of indie music videos.

Straight away Floria informs us what her role within the industry is and the type of work she produces. This allows the audience to very quickly get an idea of the type of work she produces as well as a little about her style.

This particular biography has a much larger amount of emotive language. This could be reflective of the type of person she is due to the abstract and experimental nature of her films. It also can be used to show her passion towards her work and how involved she is. In my opinion I feel that the first part of her bio is beautifully written, almost poetic, and makes it a much more enjoyable read , captivating her audience, compared to some of the other bios I have looked at.

Her coveted eye incorporates the ethereal and the mysterious, the whimsical and the grotesque, always commanding profound aesthetic elements to illuminate story.

In her bio Floria talks about what makes her stand out from other professionals in her field, in Floria’s case it’s her stunning use of visuals. I think this is a good choice as it highlights to the reader what it is about her work that is appealing and can give them a sense of her style all without seeing her work yet. It only makes sense that she would focus in her bio on what makes her stand out from the rest.

She has also decided to include a selection of awards that she has received for her work. This can be very useful in convincing your audience that the work she produces has merit and that she is in fact an industry standard professional. Including awards in your bio is much like including facts in a persuasive piece of text, they are there to show the reader that what you are saying is in fact true and well supported.

Similarly to Susan, Floria has included a section with a little information on who she is and where she’s from. This helps to make her more relatable and approachable to her audience and employers while potentially giving some insight to her personality. It can also inform people where you are based and the area you work in if they are thinking of hiring you.

Bio

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 Dom Bush –

Dom is a professional filmmaker and tutor specialising in remote location photography and documentaries

Dom has his own website with a very short bio in his ‘about’ section. Much like Floria, he has told his audience straight away about the type of work he produces while also hinting at his style. This seems to be an excellent way of informing your audience straight away about your role in the industry.

His Bio is also very well laid out and structured, the soft colours and font choice made it very easy to read and follow, as opposed to Susan’s bio where the colours made it more difficult and less accessible.

Dom starts by giving a succinct statement about his role in the first section, immediately informing the reader. He then goes on to give us slightly more detail about the type of experience he has, I personally feel as though a bit more detail about some of the major projects he’s done would help to inform the reader more. However Dom has made the choice to split this information across his website by including various pages such as an awards one where he lists his past achievements, assuring the reader of the quality of his work. On one hand this can make your website clearer and more structured however you are making your audience actively such for the information they want and run the risk of losing interest if the layout is not clear.

http://www.landandskymedia.co.uk/about/

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Key findings –

While researching other professionals and how they present themselves I have found a few key aspects in order to help me write an effective biography.

• Third person – The vast majority of Bios are written in third person. This helps it make it appear more professional although can make it feel distant.
• Recent projects – Including recent or notable projects towards the start of your bio is a good way to make sure people are seeing the information that sells you the most first
• Awards – Making a list of all your awards/achievements helps to add quality assurance to your work
• Emotive language – The use of emotive language can be a great tool to use to further engage with your audience and add interest to your text
• Structured/Sections – Every bio i’ve looked at has at least some form of structure, often sectioned into types of projects. This is really valuable as it allows your readers to quickly find the information they want and also makes it seem less daunting if it is a long bio
• Media – There seems to be a lack of media in a lot of biographies. This could be so that it doesn’t distract from the actual content but I feel that the odd picture to highlight a point could be very effective and would also aid in breaking up your text to make it more accessible
• Personal Info – Including some personal information about yourself with your audience could be a good way of seeming more relatable while also giving people an idea of what you might be like as an individual
• Titles in Bold – An aspect I liked about Eddie’s bio was the use of bold text for titles of films/projects he’s worked on. This is really effective in allowing people to quickly scan through and see what you’ve done, while also providing a good place to name drop any big names or productions.
• Short/Long – The vast majority of bios seem to be fairly short. This means that they only contain essential information and allow your audience to quickly find out what they need, it also means you aren’t presenting your readers with a wall of text. Some professionals also decide to include an extended version of their bio. This means that they can include a bit more detail about who they are and what they’ve done allowing the reader to find out more if they choose
• State Role – Clearly defining your specialism and role in the industry straight away allows your audience to quickly get an idea of the type of work you produce and your interest within it.
• Location – By stating where you are primarily based you open the door for people to contact you with potential employment

UCAS Application – Unit 11

After producing a S.W.O.T analysis and weighing up possible progression routes I have decided to apply for University.

What is really important to me is having the opportunity to gain and develop new skills in order to work effectively and successfully within the film industry. University would be a great place to achieve this as I will be undertaking a range of different projects as part of a team and individual, gaining experience and contacts. I also feel it would be a good opportunity to establish some independence for myself why also giving me the freedom and the resources to create more of my own films and develop a style.

In order to apply for University I will need to use UCAS, they are an independent company that will aid me in the distribution of my applications to my chosen courses/universities.

UCAS require me to submit some basic information about myself as well as a personal statement and a complete list of all my qualifications/places of study.

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Personal Statement

When writing my Personal Statement I had to try and give a good idea of who I am and the things I’ve done as well as showing my interest and commitment to film. This proved difficult due to the limit of 4,000 characters and the fact that I’m not overly comfortable talking about myself.

   Growing up with the Harry Potter books and films is definitely what first sparked my interest in film. I find it fascinating how each aspect of a film comes together to create something in its own right, whether it be costume design or directing they each have their own critical role to play. The way in which different themes and ideas are displayed I find intriguing, particularly through the use of ‘mise en scene’ and lighting. Fundamentally though it’s the way that a simple idea or story can be brought to life and have such an emotional impact.

   By going to university I aim to develop my existing skill set but also learn new ways of filming. Editing, particularly for fiction, is an area I’m greatly interested in and would like to progress with. I also think that it would be a great opportunity to meet like minded people, forming contacts for the future and finding my place in the industry.

   I’m currently studying Film Production Level 3 at college. We’ve had the opportunity to cover a number of areas including, multi camera, Foley, music videos, action sequences and film poems; while developing skills such as editing, camera work and writing. The course has allowed me to expand creatively, giving me the opportunity to explore a range of styles and techniques in different areas of film, resulting in a good grounding and a well balanced skill set overall. It’s also given me the ability to understand how and why things have been done, I’ve found that this has changed the way I watch films making me much more critical but also more appreciative of the work involved.

   Competing in World Skills UK has been the most significant opportunity on this course. A year ago we entered a team of four into the ‘Video Moving Image’ category and created a short B-movie Sci-Fi Trailer. We then pitched our idea professionally to the judges. The final was held at the Birmingham NEC over the course of several days. We had two and a half days to create a 4-minute film relating to world skills and future dreams/success. Working under a great amount of pressure was tough but extremely enjoyable, it’s probably one of the best and worse things I’ve done. This resulted in us winning gold.

   During the Edinburgh fringe festival this year I was able to work alongside a team of people from the BBC R&D department. They were there to test out a new ‘nearly live editing’ system called Primer; I was able to get involved with various setups of cameras, mounts and operation of the system. Being able to get a sense of working professionally in film was invaluable. I also spent a few days in a disused nuclear bunker as a runner/lighting technician with another team of people from the BBC for a 48-hour film challenge.

   Music is another area I’m also really enthusiastic for. I play in a selection of bands, a locally professional drumming band called BoomDang where we perform at various carnival and small festival settings. Also my own band, The Twitchers, which I play guitar and create music videos for. We regularly gig at various cities across the country and have been featured on radio Cumbria and BBC introducing.

   These experiences have helped me develop my teamwork skills and initiative. I also volunteer annually for local events such as the carnival, light switch on and Christmas countdown. These are great opportunities to get involved with the local community and assume responsibility for it.

   I hope that university will enable me to achieve a higher level of experience across all aspects of film but also help me to specialize more in the areas I find most interesting. Expanding my portfolio is really important to me as it will be extremely useful for employers but also allows me to look back and reflect on the work I have done. University, the experience I receive and the contacts I make will be a great asset in helping me find work within the industry.

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Open Days

In order to make a more informed decision I felt that it was important for me to attend a number of open days to get a feel for the University and location.

9th November 2016 –

John Moors (LiverPool). At first glance this seemed like a viable option to pursue my career in film as the course detailed that it was very broad and gave you a chance to work within each role. After attending the open day it quickly became apparent that it was not right for me. This was because the course itself began to appear more and more academic/social media based and there seemed to be a massive lack of enthusiasm for the media department there. This rang alarm bells for me and so I decided no longer to pursue this university.

12th November 2016 –

Coventry University. Compared to ‘John Moors’ coventry seemed much better. The course was outlined well, highlighting the practicality and diversity of the course. The staff there were highly enthusiastic for their subject making it seem like a much more welcoming place. Coventry has also been highly recommended to me as allegedly it has a really good reputation in film, however why I was there I didn’t like just how much they were pushing the commercial side of their course, especially the free equipment and software rather than the actual content. This started to make me feel unsure about Coventry.

26th November 2016 –

Staffordshire University – At Stafford they offer a selection of film courses specific to each area and so an open day was a great opportunity to learn a little about each one and if any would be appropriate for me. Immediately I was more impressed with Stafford as throughout the University, staff and students, were highly enthusiastic and motivated. I felt that the course content was laid out much clearer and was able to get a good understanding form it. The University and location itself also seemed like a much more friendly place to live and study due to its size, scenery and people. This quickly became my top choice of university thanks to this open day.

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Course/University choices

Staffordshire University

Media (Film) Production BA (Hons)

This is one of the courses I have applied for at Staffordshire University, this particular course covers a wide area of contemporary filmmaking allowing you to explore each role in great depth, developing and expanding your skill set. This course will also allow you to complete various periods of work experience and work closing as part of an active film crew.

http://www.staffs.ac.uk/course/SSTK-04192.jsp

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Experimental Film Production BA (Hons)

This is the second course that I have applied to study at Staffordshire University. This particular course interested me because it would allow me to try new things and be much more create and abstract with my films, opening many new doors and helping my to develop artistically. A concern of mine however was that I would not be able to learn the contemporary side of filmmaking as well. After attending the open day however it was made clear to me that there is a lot of over lap between the film courses allowing me to study all aspects of film and while also experimenting with how things are done in the more course specific lectures.

http://www.staffs.ac.uk/course/SSTK-01168.jsp

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Coventry University

Media Production BA (Hons)

Even though I wasn’t as enthusiastic for Coventry I decided it would be suitable as a backup choice. The course itself is very practical based allowing you to explore a range of film industry roles and techniques. Even though I wasn’t convinced by this course I still thought it would be wise to apply and get my foot in the door just in case.

http://www.coventry.ac.uk/course-structure/arts-and-humanities/undergraduate-degree/2017-18/media-production-ba-hons/

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Interview/Portfolio prep

Staffordshire University

15th February 2017 –

I managed to get offered an interview for Staffordshire and because I had applied for both courses this accumulated into one interview. In order to prepare for this interview I had to produce a selective portfolio of my work to show during a 20 min talk with a course tutor/past student.

I selected some of my best films and blog work to take with me and organized them into a folder/pen drive. Some of this included: World skills, Twitchers and a couple of college films.

I was quite nervous for this interview as I really like Staffordshire but I think that it went really well. I was interviewed by a past student who was also a ‘Harry Potter’ fan so it was really easy to express my enthusiasm for film and show case my work.

Coventry University

I was also invited to attend an interview at Coventry University however they had a much more intensive interview process. They wanted me to produce a 3-4 min media version of my personal statement to show case to other applicants and tutors. The interview day would also consist of a 2hr workshop period along side other applicants.

I later cancelled this interview/application for a number of reasons. Firstly I had already had a successful interview at Staffordshire which I am much more enthusiastic for and decided that if I didn’t get in there I would likely look for other progression routes rather than go to somewhere I wouldn’t be 100% happy with. Also I had a lot of work to balance at that point and didn’t want it to suffer as a result of Coventry’s extremely intimidating interview process.

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Offer

Staffordshire – Experimental film – Conditional Offer (merit)

I have managed to secure an offer from Staffordshire University to study experimental film. This is conditional on me achieving a final grade of a merit from my current course.

I am really happy with this offer as the course/uni look fantastic and I am quite confident that I can achieve the grades required.

Seen as my interview went so well I had to chose which of the Stafford courses I preferred. I went with experimental as I thought it was the best option to allow me to study a wide range of film aspects while also developing my own creative independence. I have now placed this as my firm choice on UCAS and accepted the offer.

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Accommodation

I first had to accept and place my offer as a firm choice before I could begin applying for accommodation. Now that I have done that I have also began the process of applying for accommodation by ranking my choices in order and sending them to the university.

My top choice for accommodation is an ensuite room in halls with 3-6 people. I thought this was best as from previous experience I know how essential ensuite can be and also how vital it is to get your application in early in order to secure the place that you want.

http://www.staffs.ac.uk/support_depts/accommodation/stoke/claricecliff/index.jsp

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Next Steps

The best thing for me to be doing now is to concentrate on finishing my college course and obtaining the required grades.

In terms of university application the next stage will be applying for student finance but I will receive a prompt for UCAS as when to do this.

Progression Routes & SWOT – Unit 11

University

University is one possible route to take after college. There are a wide range of films related courses available at universities across the country, making this a very diverse option and allowing you to potentially focus on one aspect of film. University would also be a great tool for putting you in touch with like-minded people, filmmakers and forming contacts. Generating a wide portfolio and gaining experience would also be very possible at university, putting me in good stead for progressing into the film industry. There are also a number of ways to fund university such as student loans and part time jobs, making this a more accessible route in that aspect

Employment

Another possible route would be to establish myself in the workplace. This could be in the form of an editing assistant in a post house, a runner on various film projects or working freelance. This would allow me to start meeting people working directly in the industry straight away and hopefully give me access to plenty of experience in order to progress further. Initially this would be a harder route to take as I will already need to have a certain level of experience in order to work successfully. Also funding this type of route could prove difficult at first as I would be earning minimal income and possibly struggle to cover living expenses as well as equipment costs in some cases.

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SWOT

Strengths

I feel that one of my stronger areas is within editing. More specifically my timing and how I choose to put shots together, this is evidenced from Tutor/Peer feedback and some of the stronger films I have made such as the multi camera project and the Spielberg style inspired film.

Another strong area I feel is within the area of sound. I have had a lot of experience with playing, writing and performing music so I feel that that is an area of film that comes quite naturally to me. I feel that I instinctively know the type of music to use in my films and find it easy to cut my shots to.

I also feel like I am reasonably good at analyzing aspects of a film, such as why they’ve chosen a particular shot and the meaning/symbology behind it. This is obviously a tricky area though as everybody naturally has a slightly different interpretation of things depending on their own experiences.

I can sometimes be a bit of a perfectionist at times which can be both a strength and weakness. It is good in relation to making sure everything is right and getting things exactly how I want them to be. But it can also be a hindrance as it can very easily eat into my time.

I feel as though I am also a strong problem solver and will often offer up suggestions or solutions to problems we face in group projects. I would like to think that I am also a friendly person making me easy to work with in a team.

Weaknesses

One of my weaker areas of film and one that I definitely want to improve upon is my camera operation. Although I am able to setup and use the cameras reasonably effectively i’m still not overly comfortable operating them meaning that it can take me a little longer to make sure all the settings are correct. Also I feel like my actual movements and framing could be improved upon as well because my movements/focus pulls are not as smooth as I would like them to be and framing/angles can take me a while because I can be quite picky.

Another area I am weaker in is typefaces (fonts). I often struggle to find an appropriate font for a film or one that I like. I think this may stem from my difficulty with words and spelling meaning I subconsciously try to avoid it.

Public speaking has always been a major weakness of mine. Even though I regularly preform in front of lots of people with various bands I still get extremely nervous if I am required to say or present anything to a group of people. This could be quite damaging to me for things such as getting my ideas forward, presenting a pitch or job interviews. I tend to just suck it up and get on with it but inside am still excessively anxious and find it difficult.

Another weakness of mine would be time keeping. I find it difficult to stick to a schedule weather its because there are distractions or other commitments I have, even just getting too focused on one area and forgetting to look at a project as a whole. This is definitely an area to improve upon as its not only essential for the film industry but life in general.

One more weakness I have would be my lack of commitment to written work. Although I am perfectly able to write and in some cases very well I find the whole experience very dull meaning that I can lack motivation and enthusiasm.

Within in film and also life generally I find that I can be a very anxious person often worrying too much about what other people think or even things completely irrelevant. This can easily become a distraction or stop me from taking risks from fear of failure. Which ironically and annoyingly would cause me to fail.

Opportunities

One excellent opportunity which has already opened doors for me would be my mum’s work. She works as a technician in the Research&Development department for the BBC in media city. This has allowed my to so far get involved in two fantastic projects where i’ve learnt much more about working within the industry. A colleague of my mum is an independent film maker and was part of a 48hr film challenge. This meant that I was able to get some experience as a runner which escalated into a lighting technician. It was also fun to spend the weekend in a disused nuclear bunker in Scotland, which was our filming location. This is the finished film we made.

https://player.vimeo.com/video/161453293

Another excellent opportunity was when I went to this years Edinburgh Fringe Festival with the R&D department for some work experience. They were working on a project called Primer which is essentially a new browser based multi camera editing system. This allowed me to work closely with Practitioners within the industry and even edit some live performances of comedy and music shows.

University is an obvious opportunity and potentially very beneficial. Going would open doors to a much larger range of opportunities and also provide fantastic experience as well as strong contacts to the industry.

Relevant to this project Film Festivals are also a really good opportunity as they will put you in contact with other film makers while getting your work out there to generate feedback and a name for yourself.

For my generation social media has also become a really valuable tool. It is now ridiculously easy to release any work you’ve had done and get feedback from a massive range of people. It is also excellent for putting you in touch with people/companies from the industry.

Where we live also offers some fantastic and beautiful locations to film as the lake district has a whole range of settings. Having these locations on your door step is fantastic however it is some what limited to outdoor environments.

Another opportunity which I have recently become aware of would be having access to Lynda.com. This is an online self learning website offering a whole range of videos outlining skills and processes to learn. I have been offered access from both college and a friend of mine so will definitely be taking advantage of that.

https://www.lynda.com

During college I have been part of the World Skills team and managed to get to the upcoming final in Birmingham. This will be excellent in terms of getting feedback for our work and potentially to meet some well know people within the industry.

Being able to work alongside people with similar interests and experience I feel is also really useful in developing and improving your skill set. As well as being taught by Tutors that are both passionate and have had real world experience in the industry.

Threats

One of the main problems I will face as a filmmaker is finding work. This is more difficult where I live due to the lake of industry there, meaning that I will likely either have to move away or travel in order to find work that I enjoy.

Competition for jobs in this industry is also a real threat as more and more people each year will be fighting for the same jobs with similar experience.

One ‘threat’ for me would be various distractions or other commitments that I have going on such as the various bands I am in, outside film projects and my job. This is because I can find myself not giving enough time to my college projects, which is what counts, in order to pursue other interests.

A weakness I mentioned before was not being able to stick to a schedule very well because I get caught up in specific areas of the project or sidetracked by other distractions. This is harmful as it means that I can miss deadlines which in the industry obviously isn’t a good thing as it will paint me in a bad light and put off potential employers.

Another ‘threat’ we could be affected by would be the limited access to film equipment and software due to funding. This means that we perhaps don’t have access to the some of the professional equipment used in the industry so are unable to get as much practical experience.

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After producing a SWOT analysis and looking at some possible progression routes I have decided that University would be the best option for me.

It will allow me to gain much more experience in a range of areas in film such as, editing, camera work, idea generation, sound and lighting. This will help to further prepare me for a successful transition into the industry while also helping me to decide an area of film that I might like to work in.

Also forming a number of new contacts which could help me in future with film projects or potential employment.

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In order to progress onto university I will need to do a number of things.

Firstly researching the type of course and the university I want to attend and possibly attending open days to see what they are like.

I will also have to sign up to UCAS and produce an application through them to send to the various universities I want to apply for. This will have to include some basic information about me, a list of my qualifications and a personal statement from me detailing why I want to apply to university and my interest in film.

Hopefully I will then receive offers from my chosen universities which because they are film courses will likely involve some sort of interview or portfolio review. This means that I will have to prepare a selective portfolio of films and project work to show them

Once receiving and accepting an offer i will then have to prepare myself for next year. Passing my current course at college will be highly important as that will likely be a condition of any offer. In terms of University though I will need to apply for various things such as accommodation and student/maintenance loans.

I will not be able to apply for accommodation until after I have confirmed my placement and will get a notice from UCAS as to when to apply for student loans.

Once all of this is done I simply need to move in and start the course.

Initial Ideas – Drama Collaboration – Unit 11

As part of Unit 11 we are undertaking a film project in collaboration with the drama students. We were given a choice of 4 scripts/poems with which to base our film upon and told to come up with a creative and imaginative story.

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Option 1 – Script 1

This is quite a dark script focusing on a conversation between ‘Person A’ and a voice. I liked how some of the ideas and themes in this script are quite abstract and would leave a lot of room to build on various metaphors such as when it mentions running from monsters and a sea of yellow people surrounding them.

As a group we discussed a few ideas, the most prominent revolving around the idea of schizophrenia. If we decided to follow this idea I imagine that the story would take place inside ‘Person A’s’ head, conversing with this ominous voice. The film it’s self would of concentrated on the visuals that could be drawn from the script and/or character.

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Option 2 – Poem

This is another relatively dark piece of work and talks about the idea of there being ‘real’ and ‘fake’ people. The general consensus for this piece of work was to create a film based around the idea of an individual standing out from the crowd and how some peoples lives can run almost like clock work.

These then developed, leaving us with the idea of focusing on the differences between ‘real’ and ‘fake’ people. We talked about having a family of doll like characters with the exception of an edgy teenager to represent this. We also discussed setting the film around a kitchen/dinning room environment in order to try and create a fake 60s porcelain feel. The porcelain members of the family would be going about their morning in a robotic almost abstract way until this is interrupted by the arrival of the ‘odd’ member of the family who would break the image of the fake family by interacting with very contemporary movements.

This is the idea and ‘Script’ that we are currently considering undertaking.

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Option 3 – Song

This song seems to centre around the idea of the imaginary boundaries we put up to separate people depending on their religion, where their from and their possessions. I think this one would be good to focus on visuals and symbology with to represent the themes of the song.

An idea we had for this piece was based upon a form of protest. We thought about featuring a selection of story strands that we could use to depict the variety and individuality of peoples lives depending on their background.We would then converge these strands to the climax of the film where they would all be attending the same protest in an effort to highlight a theme of the song; bringing everyone together regardless of backgrounds to share the same world.

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Option 4 – Script 2

This is a script featuring a single character set at the entrance to a mansion. We struggled a little more to generate ideas for this one but we were tending to focus around the idea of addiction or some kind of connection.

A rough idea we had was based around someones dependence and love of Pot Noodles. We thought about starting off quite dark, trying to show the negatives of addiction and how it effects somebody to then finish with a comedic reveal of their dependence on Pot Noodles.

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Chosen Idea

As a group we have decided to use the poem as our inspiration for our film and to use the idea we had of a doll like family to represent the differences between fake and real. This was a fairly easy decision as everyone was on board with and motivated by the idea.

I think this was a good idea to choose as there is plenty of room to experiment and try new things. A big part of this film will be set and costume design in order to achieve the 60s doll like feel that we want. We also talked about including some choreography of the dolls moving to a classic style piece such as ‘Sugar Plum Fairy’ to further solidify the theme of fake and porcelain.

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Other versions/developed chosen idea

Another idea we had when discussing other ways of presenting the theme of doll like or real/fake people was based upon someone getting ready for their day. The film would begin with them getting up to go and start their day but the process of them getting ready would involve them ‘Dolling’ themselves up and creating a fake image of themselves. They would then exit into the world to revile that everyone has this approach of creating a front to hide behind.

One other idea we had involved people using dolls as a way to interact in the world. For example a character might walk into a coffee shop carrying their doll then place it down alongside other peoples dolls. The dolls would then be the ones that interacted with each other, communing and drinking coffee rather than the real people. This idea was again based on how people create a fake image of themselves to present to other people and the world.

Finally we talked about an idea to further explore the differences between a broken and fake world. The film would feature a young child playing with their doll house in order to escape from the real world. Their family and house would be shown in a dark and negative light in order to contrast with the bright and vibrant world inside the doll house where they had created their idea of a perfect happy family.

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