So, it’s January 2011. The time when everyone swears to make new changes to their life, make new promises they’ll probably never keep, and a time for “reflecting” on 2010. I’m not going to bore you with my thoughts on 2010, but some of my personal highlights include Snowboarding in Alps de’huez, Bestival 2010 and my 20th B’day (which i made last for 4 days somehow!). Yet one of my biggest accomplishments also occurred in 2010. I was given the opportunity to be direct, produce and edit a collection of video material for Imperial War museum. WIth over 10,000 views, and the material being used in exhibitions as well, it’s my biggest project to date and i couldn’t be prouder. I never thought that would have happened to me by the age of 20!

Yet the main reason why this blog exists is because of my work on my course, and the first term of final year has been one hell of a term in terms of work. The year ahead of us would always warn us that third year was tough, and whilst i agree, i also think its what you make of it. It’s final year after all ,and you have to make the best of all opportunities offerred to you. I mean, taking an afternoon off to play in the snow on Bournemouth beach- i would have been a mug to have ignored that!

The first thing that everyone was always aware of was the dissertation. If i’m honest, i’m quite confused as to how mine is developing, the main reason why is because of the confusion over my tutor. My initial tutor that I was designated was great; she was very enthusiastic about my idea and was a great help in sending emails with links to reading material. However, the next thing i hear, she was not coming back for the rest of term and I was designated a different person. Unfortunately, the snow meant i couldn’t meet this tutor, so essentially I have not really been guided through my dissertation since October. The one thing that has massively helped me has been my dissertation plan. Being forced to actually sit down and write how each chapter is going to be structured and what i want to write really made me think about the debates and arguments i want to raise. Having it written down on a document instead of floating around in my head almost solidified my idea, and i’m continually referring to it as i write. The key to my progress so far has been setting myself goals. I originally desired to have at least started writing by January, and so far i exceeded this goal; i’d written 1500 words by the end of December. The next goal is to write 3000 words by the time i go back to university…and i can write to say that i have completed that too! Now time to work out what my next goal is going to be!

Then there is my minor project. I go in swings and roundabouts about it. I’d thought and researched about it throughout summer and i originally aimed to follow my passion and make a fashion viral video, similar to the ones I adore on dazeddigital.com. The horrible thing with that was i knew the flaws of my project. I knew it would be too short for the project brief, it isn’t necessarily very narrative driven, and then there is the big problem that my supervisor reminded me- a lot of lecturers just wouldn’t get it and so wouldn’t do very well. It came down to that good old battle of marks vs desire; do i follow my desire and make something that could be quite poorly marked, or opt for an alternative that is more likely to be understood. I am a big believer in passion, and if it was any other scenario i would have made the fashion viral. However, the flaws were just too big to ignore, so i opted to make an alternative video. I do regret the decision at times, especially when i see other people’s minor projects that are very visually driven. yet i always have in mind the fact that i made the sensible decision, and that is essentially the better choice. 

So i opted to make a short documentary that focused on a child with an extremely rare heart disorder. Yet i varied the focus. I focused on the mother instead, looking at how you mother a child like that. I thought it would be the more emotional story, and thus the more unique one. I originally desired for it to be really actuality driven, similar to channel 4 docs The Hospital. However, when editing a 3-4 minute version, it became clear that in order for the whole story to be told, it ended up being more interview driven that actuality. Granted, the visuals are entirely actuality driven and for that i’m happy. Yet it just annoys me because i did not want my minor to be judged as simply an interview with cut-aways.My supervisor thinks i have managed to avoid that completely, arguing that it is a cross between an observational documentary and interview. That praise really made me happy, and made me change my whole perspective on the project. Overall, i think it is a good piece; it is a good story, and it can get quite emotional (several people who have watched it started crying, and one who is bordering on very excitable got depressed- i take that as a win!) 

Then there are other people’s projects. I managed to obtain 8 credits in total (3 more then needed-woops!) and have faced some real challenges. My most successful achievement in production management has to be the first project I managed, which was Laurie’s. I managed to get equivalent access to Silverstone racecourse as BBC and ITV, and that was pretty impressive. yet overall, the biggest problem i’ve faced in timing. I’ve managed to dedicate an equal amount of time to each project, but balancing it along with my own work has proved more difficult then i thought it would be!

so, that’s about it for first term. I’m ridiculously apprehensive of the second term (as in i don’t really want to think about it) and expect another long blog entry in easter! 

Until then, adios

Summer is always a great time for music. You now have the time to actually browse for new music and listen to a bands whole album before making a judgement, and there is always one track that takes over your entire summer Here’s some of the bands, artists and tunes i’ve been listening too;

http://hypem.com/#/search/the%20xx-heart%20skipped%20a%20beat/1/»TheXX-Heart skipped a beat

The XX are a band i was originally unsure of. The first time i listened to their album at the beginning of the year, I wasn’t taken with it. However, a couple of listens later, and i realised just how good it actually was. Heart Skipped a beat and Shelter are personal favourites. Haunting, yet fantastic.

http://hypem.com/#/search/yeasayer/1>Yeasayer

Yeasayer are a band i’ve been listening to for a while now. Great voice, great melodies, just generally uplifting

http://hypem.com/#/search/mia-xxxo/1/>MIA-XXXO

I’ve read a fair few blogs that have severely criticised MIA’s new album, but I personally haven’t been able to get this song, and “it take a muscle” out of my head. Whether you like it or not, the songs are definitely enough to create a reaction! The high contrast remix of Born Free is also a real highlight for me

http://hypem.com/#/search/sunday%20girl/1/»Sunday Girl

Granted, i haven’t really hear a lot of Sunday Girl’s music. I’m still a little bit undecided on her. The first time i saw her video, i just thought she was another one of those new artists coming out at the moment merely because she looks a little like a Topshop “different” model and sing in a weird fashion. However, the chorus to “Four Floors” is quite mysterious- and i like it.

http://hypem.com/#/search/magnetic%20man/1/

Song of summer, without a question. Song of the year, without question! It is 2010’s equivalent of Deadmau5e’s I remember. Been listening to it everday for the last 3/4 months

http://hypem.com/#/search/chemical%20brothers/1/>Chemical Brothers

“Another Place” by the Chemical Brothers is an absolute dream. Again another song i’ve listened to everyday for a while now, and just proves that they can still be as fresh as the new kids on the block.

http://hypem.com/#/search/Two%20door%20cinema%20club/1/

Two door cinema club are the band that you now hear in every single advert (particularly for BBC3. Have listened to their album on repeat since about February, but the album seems perfect for the summer with a sound that manages to be both upbeat, yet still maintain a sense of melancholy

This is just a few bands and songs i’ve been listening too. Others have included Crystal Fighters, Crystal Castles, Mumford and Sons, Egyptian HipHop, Maybb, Bombay Bicycle Club, The Drums, Sleigh Bells, Boris Dgluesch (i’m not really sure how you spell or write his name, but his single “Bangkok”), Bombe de Role and a host of others. Maybe its just the the fact that its summer and everythings seems to go with it, but there’s a real mixture of good sounds out there!

At the moment, i’m really enjoying the work of Sebastiaan Bremer, a dutch artist based who has also worked in New York. Whilst i find his etching rather chillingly beautiful, it’s his burst of colour in his photography and paintings that are really unique. Almost like a kickback to old style film in a way!

So I’ve pretty much completed 8 weeks of placement (2 more then the recommended requirement) and i’m kind of drained. I really just want to away away with my mates and lay on a beach and chill the hell out. However, i have loved every single second of my placement. 

So far, i have completed 4/ 5 videos for the museum, which is a hell of a lot considering the time span. The first video that was filmed and completed was a video on Paul Nash and his painting, the Battle of Britain.

The film is fairly simple, it’s of Art collector Robert Tolson describing Nash, his work, and the role of art in war. The shots literally comprise of an interview and cutaways of the painting itself. Essentially, it doesn’t need much planning…but in actual fact it did. Shots needed to be rehearsed and known so there was no faffing on shoot, meetings and discussions with Robert had to be arranged in order to work out the content for the piece and guide it in the right direction, research into the painting and its history had to be completed, the idea initially need to be pitched and editorial briefs written. There was a lot of planning that went into it. However, it all paid off; the shoot went incredibly well, the edit took literally 2-3 to form a rough edit and the museum loved the piece, so all was good. 

The next video was a tour guide around the Cabinet War Rooms. Presented by Phil Reed this video was designed to show the public some intricle details of the War rooms and try and entice them to visit. This video required the same amount of planning, if not more. However, this video did not run as smoothly. One of the radio microphones we were using played up during the shoot, picking up a severe amount of traffic sound when filming outside (making his words unrecognisable at times) which inevitably made it harder to edit. It took 2 days alone in soundtrack pro to separate the frequencies of the traffic with his voice, and minimise the traffic in the background. It also took much longer to edit simply because there was so much more content and little details to bring into the piece that constructing it into a digestable narrative was at times challenging. I was scared that the museum would not like this video (especially as they had high hopes after the success of the Paul Nash video)  and i was disappointed in myself. However, i was relieved this week when i received an email saying that the team loved it and that there would be very little to change in the rough edit. 

I have also worked on a set of videos that hadn’t been suggested by the museum but were a set of videos I pitched initially in April. The idea behind it adopts the shooting style of Alex Barret, by shooting one artefact in the museum from a variety of different angles but not revealing it in its entirety until the end. This is accompanied by a voice over that reveals key details of the artefact in a short 20 second clip. It acts as a viral video, adopting the 21st century method of video marketing. I really loved working on these videos, not only because it is my own idea and vision that has been ploughed into these projects, but because the museum also loved them, and are now talking about expanding them to incorporate other branches of the museum.

Overall, my work experience so far has been great. My descriptions of the videos completed so far have only barely scratched the surface of the whole experience (mainly because I’ve done so much work on the project, Also because as i’m writing this, i’m also watching the 100 greatest scary moments on e4) It’s given me a lot of freedom in the sense that hasn’t required me to go into an office everyday, and as a result of being quite free, has utilised my time management and organisation skills. The fact that all videos have been turned over before the initial schedule dates proves this. It’s also meant that i haven’t just been doing data entry, or running around making tea, or actually anything. I’m making videos- for a professional employer-that will get seen by hundreds, maybe thousands, of people. That’s what i would eventually like to do (i think) create online video content, so i’m so thankful that is what i am doing for my placement. Similarly, i’m just thankful that at the end of my placement, i’ll have something to show for it.

I just wish it didn’t have to be during summer! I want a break and a holiday before i have to head back for third year!