Summer Break 2012

For some reason this blog never got posted so before the end of 2012 here's my blog which includes the summer break and some work I've done since then

I kept myself very busy over the 2012 summer break improving my post-production knowlegdge with compositing and 3d tutorials and also getting involved in some exciting production opportunities. Below is a brief synopsis of each of them

Digital Tutors

Following the Creative Futures trip to London earleier in the year I discovered that the majority of post-production companies use a piece of software called Nuke to do their compositing. I found out that the company that make the softwate The Foundry also have a learning edition for students which is available for free but has some minor limitations. Having searched the internet for tutorials on Nuke I discovered that Digital Tutors has one of the largest online video-based training and tutorial library for CG, 3D, animation and VFX. I therefore signed up for a 6month subscription. Digital Tutors also has several tutorials on After Effects, Maya, Photoshop and a number of other software packages that I use in my post-production work.

For my first project I decided to incorporate a 3d object from Maya into some Live Video Footage I filmed with my camera. For this I obtained a 3d model of a desk lamp and would go on to composite it into the footage using Nuke. However, before compositing the object I had to create a camera track. For this I used Autodesk Matchmover which is camera tracking software. Firstly, the camera track was loaded into Maya. I then imported the 3d object and set up the lighting and renderer (Mental Ray). The rendered Maya scene was then imported into Nuke. The compositing process and rendering took several hours and the finished scene didn't quite turn out right as the lamp wobbles as the scene progresses. Initially I wasn't sure what the problem was as the lamp looked stable in Nuke. It was only when I did the final render that the wobble appeared. After further investigation I discovered the problem was with the original camera track. Unfortunately the track wasn't of a sufficient enough quality for the render. I was disappointed as I'd spent many hours working on it but I learned a good lesson of the importance of the original track which I could take forward to future projects.

For my second attempt at compositing a 3d object into video footage I used a mobile phone. This time I did manhy more manual camera tracks (rather than relying on automatic tracks) and the result was much better with a solid track on the phone. Here is the final version that has been colour corrected in Nuke:

I'll be posting my other compositing work on my blog in the near future so please watch this space!

Go Wales

Having contacted Go Wales about getting some work experience during the Summer in May I was given an opportunity to make a short film for the North East Wales Wildlife Centre (NEWW).

NEWW is based at the Rhydymwyn Valley Nature Reserve. Just three miles from Mold it's a fascinating place. The reserve is owned by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and is the site of a once top secret WWII chemical weapons factory.

Some of the buildings still remain and are used as habitat for bats and nesting birds, although walking around you can see how nature has taken over this once man made site. Rhydymwyn is home to over 1600 species of mammals, birds, flowers, insects, reptiles and fungi. It is very important to local biodiversity. Different areas of the reserve are managed for habitats such as wetland, grassland, scrub and woodland. There’s a woodland trail that aims to uncover the hidden history of the site, both natural and human.

NEWW hopes to monitor and enhance the wildlife whilst encouraging community participation in the form of volunteering, school visits and training and event throughout the year.

The Brief we were given was to create a short film about the site utilizing a group of school children to present.  The activity was divided into two sections. The first was the planning phase where the children were tasked with creating the script for the film and deciding on locations within the reserve.

The film had to showcase the beauty and the wildlife of the reserve and highlighting the history of the site.

Working with the children was great as they were very enthusiastic and did a brilliant job of writing the script. One of the main challenges we had was filming the wildlife. Much of it didn’t make an appearance on the day although some of it is nocturnal. Also a big thanks to Gemma who I worked with on the day.

NEWW really liked the film and will use it to educate children and encourage more visitors. This was great feedback as I really enjoyed making this.
 

Here's the film

Gavin Preston Performance Accelerator

During a recent night out with my wife and her work colleagues I got talking to Gavin Preston. Gaving told me that he is a Performance Accelerator. He works with Entrepreneurs whose businesses have hit a plateau and helps them get back into growth. He also helps early stage businesses to help accelerate their growth.  Applying his 4 step "Entrepreneur Accelerator Model" he helps his clients address the internal and external obstacles that have been stifling growth, helping them develop real world strategies to put the business back on track.

The brief from Gavin was firstly to film a short film to promote his Burning Business Questions webinar that take place on the first Thursday of every month. He also asked me to film a tutorial for his Accelerator Formula Won for Business : Pace model.

Gavin began by showing me a few different styles of films that he liked and we then discussed the content of the films. I filmed Gavin delivering his content. I edited each of the films in a slightly different way so Gavin could choose a style that he preferred. Below is a link to each of the films I produced.

I decided to edit the Burning Business Questions into a more graphic style that added pace to the content by introducing music and using images to visual what Gavin was talking about. Below is the first film:

 

After reviewing the different styles for Burning Business Question Gavin said he would like to try the two different styles to see which generates the most views. Here's the second style:

 

And here are the tutorial films for Gavin's Accelerator Formula Won for Business : Pace model:

Part 1

Part 2

Gavin was very happy with the work I produced and has asked me to film some more content for him later this month. I'll be posting the work here so watch this space! Be sure to check out Gavin's website http://www.gavinpreston.com/

Peace Day event

Worked on a fantastic and worthwhile project on the 21st September at the Library Field in Wrexham.

Wrexham held a ‘world peace day’ long weekend. It took the form of three days of live music, poetry, readings and spoken word over three venues to celebrate the International Day of Peace. The programme was as follows:

Thursday 20th September 2012 – St. Christopher’s School, Wrexham 10am – 3pm
Delegates from all Wrexham Schools were invited to participate in World Peace Day for Schools. Workshops, talks, art, singing, food sharing and many other activities

Friday 21st September 2012 – Llyn Isaf (Library Field), Wrexham 12pm – 7pm
Concert for World Peace Day including multi-faith readings, spoken word, acoustic music (12pm – 4pm). Full bands (4pm – 7pm) and childrens activities and more. Musical line up TBA

Friday 21st September 2012 – Saith Seren, Wrexham 8pm – 1am
After a mello, relaxed afternoon a chance to let your hair down and party to some of the heavier bands from the region. 

I got involved on Friday and filmed the multi faith readings, acoustic music and the choir. We also did a few interviews with band members and Genny who organised the whole event.

I’d like to thank Sue McGrane for this opportunity that was arranged through the Wrexham Arts Council and South Wales Intercultural Community Arts. SWICA is an organisation dedicated to celebrating the cultural diversity of the region through creating new arts opportunities to be enjoyed by people from a wide variety of backgrounds.

It was a great opportunity to film a live event network whilst adding to my professional practice portfolio. This work will look great on my show reel and cv. I also enjoyed collaborating with other Creative Lens Media students from different years on this project.

Please check out he World Peace day Facebook page and SWICA website:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/events/154000078072324/

http://www.swica.co.uk/

ARD505 Research Methods (Dissertation Proposal)

Since the late 1800’s documentary film has been used to record reality and preserve history. It has been used as vehicle to raise awareness of issues, kick start national debate and bring about social and political change.

This dissertation will explore the impact of documentary films throughout history. It will include any social, political, economic and moral impact they may have had.  Research and reports on documentary films that have been used as a means of persuasion by governments, academics and/or other individuals will also be provided. The focus of this particular study will be films that have been perceived as ground-breaking, had a particularly significant impact at the time of their release and/or have been critically acclaimed. The dissertation will also be restricted to films made about subject matter in the geographical regions of North America, Canada and the United Kingdom, by filmmakers from those particular countries.

The dissertation will begin by identifying and explaining the various documentary modes that have been theorized. There have been a number of theories for defining documentaries by theorists such as Bruzzi, Nicholls, Grierson and Bazin. This study will use the concept proposed by the documentary theorist Bill Nichols as his has been recognised as one of the most influential. Nichols looked at the history of documentary film and identified 6 distinct modes:

• Poetic
• Expository
• Observational
• Interactive
• Reflexive
• Performative

The differences between each of these genres/modes including the advantages and disadvantages for each of them will also be examined.

Historical and Evolutionary context
Documentary film has evolved significantly over the last 120 years from the earliest black and white silent films made in the late 1800’s that were very short (often less than one minute) to the colourful feature length films that are made today.

This dissertation will include an examination of documentary films throughout history and report on any impact they may have had at the time they were released. It will explore their evolution from the earliest films made in the late 1800’s such as ‘Nanook of the North’, which captured the struggles of the Inuk Nanook and his family in the Canadian Arctic to propaganda films made in the middle of the last century such as ‘Triumph of the Will’, commissioned by Hitler to promote the Nazi party and ‘Why We Fight’, a series of seven propaganda films commissioned by the United States government to show American soldiers the reason for U.S. involvement in the war. This historical research will progress right through to modern day documentaries such as ‘Supersize me’ which explores the fast food industries corporate influence, including how it allegedly encourages poor nutrition for its own profit.  The dissertation will also explore how documentary styles have changed over time and the impact new genres of film have had following their release.

Social change as a result of documentary film
This dissertation will examine and report on the impact documentary films have had on society and whether there have been positive or negative outcomes. It will investigate the causes promoted by films and provide evidence of any political, cultural and/or moral changes that occurred following their release.
It could be argued that the issues raised in documentaries can arouse strong feelings such as sympathy and anger. Examples of when this has happened will be provided and evidence will be used to argue as to whether these films really do change people’s minds. Questions such as: “If people feel strongly about a particular issue and they already have an opinion, are they more likely to stubbornly defend that position, as it is now reinforced with evidence presented in a documentary?” will also be examined.

This dissertation will report on how documentaries have raised awareness of key issues and promoted debate, for example the environmental issues raised in films such as ‘An Inconvenient Truth’.

It will argue whether the impact of documentaries has a dependency on audience numbers. Although they are not as popular at the cinema when compared to traditional movies, do they still have a meaningful and lasting impact?  Even those documentaries enjoying relative box office success and substantial media publicity such as ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, (which was heavily marketed) drew relatively few people. Only 4% of adult Americans actually saw this film [1]. Although as far as volume is concerned (and not commercial success) it could be argued that this is still a significant number of people.

A report on specific projects related to documentary film will also be included in this dissertation. For example in 1967 the Canadian Film Development Corporation became responsible for promoting the development of the film industry in that country. It began work on a project called ‘Challenge for Change’ which used film and video production to highlight social concerns of various communities within Canada. The belief was that film and video were useful tools for initiating change and eliminating poverty. A key aspect of ‘Challenge for Change’ was the transfer of control over the filmmaking process from professional filmmakers to community members, so that ordinary Canadians in underrepresented communities could tell their own stories on screen. Community dialogue and government responses to the issues were crucial to the program and took precedence over the "quality" of the films produced [2]. This dissertation will investigate and report on the findings of this project and similar studies, including discussion on its conclusions.

The dissertation will seek to answer questions such as - Are documentary films being used to bring to light issues that are hidden by governments or large corporations?

Political

Documentary film can be used as a means to show the world things that are normally hidden. These films can raise public awareness and support which can result in political pressure on Governments to act. Some films are made specifically for this reason, for example ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ was a documentary made to highlight Al Gore's (Former Vice President of the United States) campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognised problem worldwide. However, this film contains a number of scientific inaccuracies which it could be argued have been included to give the film a more significant impact. The reasons why these inaccuracies were included in the film will be investigated and other films that have adopted a similar approach will also be examined.  Other political documentaries and their impact will be included in the dissertation for example the film Fahrenheit 9/11 made by Michael Moore which is his view on what happened to the United States after September 11, 2001; and how the Bush Administration allegedly used the tragic event to push forward its agenda for unjust wars in Afghanistan and Iraq [3].

The research methods that will be adopted to achieve these objectives are:

Qualitative research

• Techniques such as surveys or interviews will be used to gather data. Emails, photos and video evidence will compliment these research methods
• Ethnographic research will be used to investigate the impact of documentaries on a particular culture or social group

 This type of research will be used to obtain and examine:

• Various views and opinions on documentary film. For example was the film informative and/ or entertaining. If so in what way? Did the audience member feel it was biased in any way?
• Gain an understanding as to whether attitudes or behaviours changed as a result of these films.

Quantitative research
This type of research will be used to obtain hard facts and statistics using proven techniques such as surveys and/or interviews.

Findings will be presented in the form of statistical data charts or graphs including data such as:

• Audience demographics
• Box office figures
• Audience numbers
• Commercial success

Quantitative research will also compliment the qualitative research by providing additional analytical data. The reason this type of research will be used is to:

• Gain an understanding of underlying reasons and motivations as to why a documentary was made    
• To provide insights into audiences that have watched a particular documentary
• To uncover prevalent trends

Data will also be collated from a number of other media sources such as:

• Books
• Journals
• The internet
• Documentary films
• Published studies and reports
• Statistical analysis

These research methods and sources will enable the formulation of structured and justifiable hypotheses on the overall aim of the dissertation.

Context

There are a number of reasons why this subject matter has been chosen for my dissertation. First and foremost I enjoy watching documentary films. They are informative, educational and bring to light issues that I would otherwise be unaware of. I have previously had the pleasure of being involved in the making of a documentary and I like the fact that they don’t have to be filmed in a particular style and there are no limitations on the subject matter. I believe my research will provide evidence that documentaries are influential in bringing about both social and political change and whether a negative or positive impact has been made.

References

[1] Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg Survey (2006, Aug. 3). Americans Worried about Climate Change, Bush Not Doing Enough. Available at http://www.latimes.com/media/acrobat/2006‐08/24711743.pdf

[2] Schugurensky, Daniel (2005). "Challenge for Change launched, a participatory media approach to citizenship education". The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto

[3] IMDB.com (2012) Provides information about the film Fahrenheit 9/11 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0361596/  [Electronically accessed 30^th April, 2012]

Professional Practice

Fire Safety

Over the last couple of months I've been working on a number of short films for the North Wales Fire Service. The aim of the films is to provide fire safety advice. There are 5 films in total, an overview of each of them is given below:

Fireman
This film is set at a student party. The living room where the party is taking place is full of cups, glasses and bottles of alcohol. There's lots of laughter, music and dancing. One of the drunken revellers grabs a fire extinguisher and fire blanket (which he wears as a cape) and climbs onto a table. He then lets off the fire extinguisher over the other students. A tea towel is left next to the cooker and another partygoer turns on the hob and then goes to the bathroom . Inevitably the tea towel catches on fire, they try to escape but the exits are blocked. The scene fades and the tagline for this story is shown 'Leave it to the real heroes' with a picture of the fire safety budda.

Dick and Fanny
The scene for this one is a kitchen. Dick is cooking a sausage and egg for Fanny who is sitting at a table. Other characters are dressed as a sausage, egg and Mr Fire. Dick becomes distracted by Fanny and stops watching the food. Mr Fire then enters the scene and kicks things over causing a fire. Dick panics and try to stop the fire by throwing a bedsheet over it. This only makes the fire worse, Fanny therefore dials 999 and she ends up carrying Dick out of the flat.

The tagline for this film is 'Don't be a damsel in distress! Get out, stay out!

Seven deadly sins
As the title suggests this story is based on the seven deadly sins. It begins with a man having an argument on the phone whilst cooking. He throws his phone, it hits some cooking oil which falls over and catches fire.

A description of each of the stories is below:

1. Wrath - The man who was cooking leaves the kitchen and goes into another room. When he closes the door of this room the word 'Wrath' is displayed on it.
2. Lust  - A couple are in bed, they hear the fire alarm but choose to ignore it.
3. Pride - In another room a girl is looking at her face in the mirror and shows no concern for the alarm as she's more interested in putting her make up on.
4. Sloth - A boy is asleep in bed, he looks groggy rolls over and goes back to sleep.
5. Gluttony - A person is in a kitchen snacking, they hear the alarm but also choose to ignore it.
6. Avarice - A man is outside the accommodation, he can hear the alarm but can't see too much smoke. he decides to enter the building to rescue his belongings.
7. Envy - The person in the green hoody from the beginning of the film is outside the building, the fire alarm can be heard. the camera focuses on the back of this person who has the word 'envy' on their back. 

The films ends with the words 'Don't be left in Envy' and then 'Get out, stay out, call 999'.

Don't invite Death to the party
This story begins with a loan figure (aka Death) walking towards a house. You then see a person that is smoking in bed whilst watching the television, this person then falls asleep. Death's shadow falls upon the door as the bedroom door opens.

The scene changes to a kitchen where a cook is filling up a chip pan with oil from a large bottle, he turns up the heat and then gets distracted and walks away.

Another room is shown where a number of candles are lit but they're close to some low hanging curtains. After lighting the candles the person leaves the room unattended.

In another scene a gamer has too many gadgets plugged into an extension socket. The camera pans across all of the equipment and finally rests on the gamer themselves. There's then a shot of Death behind the game with his Scythe raised ready to strike.

We are then taken back to the candle room where the candle lighter blows them out before Death has an opportunity to strike. He walks of dejected. In the kitchen the gas is turned off before a serious fire can start and in the bedroom the cigarette is put out with water thrown on it, both leaving Death disappointed.

The film ends with Death walking away from the house, head lowered and dragging his scythe. The tagline for this film is 'Don't invite Death to the Party'.

Fire Safety - Miss Flame 1963This film is set in the 1960's and is based on a student television show called Mrs Burns' Hot Topics. In this episode the show is hosting 'Miss Flame 1963'. Three contestants are brought on each of which has a burn injury on a different part of their body. They each explain how it happened.

i) Janet Match shows off a distinctive burn on her face. There is a brief flashback showing she got hers from falling asleep drunk with a lit cigarette.

ii) Beatrice Singe has a burn on her arm. This happened whilst cooking after a few too many drinks.

iii) Lola Inferno shows a burn on her neck. There's another flashback showing that she was burnt whilst lighting a candle after drinking and then falling asleep next to it.

Mrs Burns ends the show by saying "Well, well. There we have it ladies and gentlemen. Three very silly girls (laughs). If you would like a burn like these ladies, why don’t you act a bit irresponsible. If not remember this, TURN IT, BLOW IT AND STUMP IT OUT. The decision in yours. Good day"

The film fades out with the Fire Department logo and 'Buddha Character'.

I've really enjoyed working on these films, the actors were brilliant. I've worked on camera, sound man and also lighting so have gained a good range of experience that will be great for my cv.

Printpod

Printpod is a design agency and high-quality printers based in Huddersfield. They provide value for money with environmentally friendly print and design.

I was given the opportunity to provide them with an animated logo for their Facebook page. This is the first which has an animated wheel.

This is 'Printpod to Sand':

I enjoyed creating these logos as it was a good opportunity to work in After Effects and use a particle system.

 

London Industrial visit

The London Industrial trip is a fantastic opportunity to visit businesses and meet industry professionals that work in post-production.

BBC Television Centre

Our first meeting of the trip was with Nick Davey who works in the Graphics Department of the BBC Newsroom as a Graphic Designer. Nick gave us a quick tour of the building and took us up to the roof where we had a fantastic view of the surrounding area. He then gave us a presentation of some of the work that his department does. It creates the graphics for news programmes, for example charts and moving images. Nick then took us to his actual department and we met one of his colleagues who was working on a graphics piece for the news. She was working with After Effects and gave me some tips on her workflow. We were then taken into one of the studios and to my surprise it was the studio where the 6o'clock news is filmed and we met George Alagiah who had just finished his broadcast! George was very friendly and gave us some interesting information and even posed for a few photos.

We then had a look around the newsroom which is the biggest in Europe. Finally Nick took us outside the building again where there was a Tardis and some more photo opportunities.

I really enjoyed my visit it was a great opportunity to visit these studios as they are due to close shortly before moving to a new building.

Double Negative

Double Negative was set up in 1998 with a team of 30 staff. Since then the company has grown to 1,000 people, making it Europe's largest provider of visual effects (VFX) for Film. In 2009, Double Negative opened the doors to its Singapore office. Currently housing a team of 200, the Singapore office works closely with the Double Negative team in London, on selected productions.

We were shown a film about the VFX work Double Negative (DN) did on the movie Captain America. During the build phase the physical scale of the project was a challenge. It's important that everything they work on is based on reference for example they rented a tank for the day to see exactly how it worked before building a model and rendering it.

They also spoke about some of the software they use, for example with explosions they use a program called Houdini and utilise a particle system with different layers that included temperatures, density and real world dynamics to make them look relaistic. Most of the compositing work carried out by DN is done using Nuke. Attention to detail is vital to ensure that objects look realistic although Film Directors are more interested in story telling that making things work with real life physics!

We were shown a couple of example showreels and given a list of tips about what one should include:

• Don't worry about sound or music (Reviewers will often turn it off whilst watching)
• Focus on the visuals
• Put your best work at the beginning
• Include a shot breakdown
• Show diversity in your work
• Include a hard copy of your cv with a covering letter
• A showreel should be under 2 minutes in length.

DN offers training and development to its employees, many of their staff have opportunities to become generalists who are highly valued. It has a culture of recruiting on a long term basis, has a mix of happy talented people who work hard and love film.
 
Below is a list of some of the current projects that DN is working on:

• John Carter of Mars
• Dark Knight Rises
• Total Recall
• Man of Steel (Its biggest project of 2012)
• SkyFall (New Bond film)
• Bourne Legacy
• Snow White and the Huntsman
• Rush

It was great to visit a company that works on so many feature films. I picked up some useful information about how the company recruits, the type of training they offer and the culture within the business. Double Negative would be a great place to work!

Envy Post Production

Envy is one of the leading Post Production Houses in the UK. It works on programmes including Factual, Drama, Comedy, Documentaries and Light Entertainment and it collaborates on design, branding and commercials.

We met Josh Moore and Mat Appleton who is Head of Client Services. Josh showed us around one of Envy's editing suites (see below) and explained how the suites are rented out to clients.

We then had an informal chat with Mat about Envy and the VFX industry. He was kindly open to any questions we threw at him and gave us some great advice about the industry. For example he recommended that we use professional rushes and add effects to them, use Vimeo.com to showcase your work and create your own website. Mat said that showreel must be short, around 90 seconds and a CV should be tailored to suit the company that you're applying to, ensuring it's printed on quality paper. He also said it's important that you try to get some work experience if possible. I asked Mat if Envy had any work experience opportunities and he said I should speak to Josh. Josh told me to send him an email with dates I would be available, which I have done. I haven't heard anything yet but I will certainly follow this up and hope to get the opportunity to work with Envy over the summer as it would be a fantastic opportunity. I felt this was a real worthwhile visit and got some great advice.

Framestore

Framestore is the largest visual effects and computer animation studio in Europe, with over 20 years experience in digital film and video technology.

Ben White is a Computer Graphics (CG) Supervisor at Framestore. He started his career in post-production at The Mill working on commercials before moving to MillFilm, where he realised his goal of working on film visual effects with the films Enemy of the State and Gladiator. Over the past 10 years at Framestore he has worked in a range of CG disciplines before becoming a CG Supervisor, and has since worked on projects such as The Dark Knight, Sherlock Holmes - A Game of Shadows and Avatar.

Ben showed us a presentation about the work Framestore did on the film Sherlock Holmes, A Game of Shadows. Framestore has created around 550 shots for the latest in the series, Ben gave an in-depth analysis of some of the processes involved in generating some of the work on this film. He covered a number of different sequences and the types of shots that were used. This included digital matte painting and hand created fully lit CG.

He talked about the work that is done on set such as gathering measurements with the use of Lidar (radar and laser) for accuracy. Reference shots are taken, floorsheets are used along with lens grids and grain samples as lens distortion is factor that has to be taken into account.

Ben showed us how the train ambush scene from the film was created using a combination of CG and scale models. It was fascinating to see how a combination of digital doubles, texture mapping and real backgrounds were used to bring the scene to life. In the film this particular scene takes place in the middle of the night, however, it was actually shot in daylight and coloured graded to give the illusion that it was night time. This was due to logistical issues such as safety around flying helicopters at night. We were also shown another scene where some soliders were firing guns that backfired and caused a small explosion. Ben explained how this shot was put together using a particle system.

The final shot that Ben showed us was from the end of the film. It is when Holmes and Moriarty fall off a waterfall clutching each other. The shot was filmed in slow motion at around 432 frames per second. They used an ingenious method of robot arms (normally used in car manufacturing) to hold the actors in place yet make them appear to be falling through the air. The robot arms were then rotoscoped out of shot. He explained that water is incredibly difficult to render and up to 50 terrabytes of data is used for each waterfall shot.

Some of the software used by Framestore is Zbrush, Maya and Nuke. 

To finish off the visit we had a short question and answer session with Anna Swift who is a recruiter at Framestore. I asked Anna if Framestore has any work experience opportunities. She said that Framestore doesn't have a work experience scheme but it does offer 8 week internships over the summer period. She said that all of the details are on the Framestore website.

I really enjoyed this visit and I picked up some excellent advice about how VFX is used in the industry. Unfortunately we only had one hour at Framestore, it would have been nice to spend more time there.

Molinaire

Our final visit of this trip was to Molinare. The company is a Film and Broadcast Post Production Facility in the heart of Soho, London and is one of the most respected names in the industry with nearly 40 years of experience. It provides state of the art Digital Intermediate, Visual Effects, Sound, Restoration, 2D-3D Conversion, Animation, Library & Data Management services, International Servicing and Post Production Project Management.

Tom Rogers the Service and Hospitality Manager gave us a tour of the building, this included a trip to the foley room where Molinaire creates sound effects for its clients (See below).

We were also shown an editing suite and a cinema like viewing room (see below) where clients can review and provided feedback on the productions Molinaire has worked on.

I asked Tom about any work experience opportunities and he said Molinaire doesn't offer work experience as they don't believe in students working for free. He also said that they are more interested in a persons CV rather than a showreel so it's important that you get this right. He recommended that we follow him on Twitter to keep up to date with any opportunities that may arise.

This was another worthwhile visit and it was great to get to be shown around Molinaire and see first hand the different facilities on offer. It was a brilliant way to finish off the trip.

Overall the London trip was perfect for me as once I've graduated I'm hoping to work in the Post-Production industry. I learnt so much from the companies I visited and I would highly recommend it to all students who wish to work in TV, Film, VFX or Animation.

Creative Futures - Day 4

Life in the after world as a freelance artist (photography)

Alison McLean graduated from Glyndwr in 2010 she then set up the Photofoundry business www.thephotofoundry.com.

 

Her background was working in financial services for 15 years and she was also a Tai Kwan Doe instructor during that time. She said that coming to Glyndwr was her 'birth'.

   

By the end of her 3rd year as a CLM student she realised that there was loads of stuff she hadn't done. She recommended that students do their dissertation in the summer break of 2nd year.

  

Alison felt she needed a break after leaving Uni and didn’t pick up a camera for several months, However she did want to go back into business using her new skills but recommends that you supplement this with a part-time job to keep the money coming in.

Alison stressed how important a website is and she gave us some great tips about having an online presence as a photographer:

   

• Firstly get a website! (Keep the name simple, see what else is out there .coms)
• Use an online service to help with a Domain name e.g. Namesco (will let you know when domain is available)
• Use Free websites e.g. carbon made, cargo collective (use to build your site). Carbon made only allows 35 images but no videos. Recommend you have different websites for different work (e.g. weddings, fine art etc.)
• Work with a graphic designer to optimize your website
• Always check spelling and grammar. Use ghotit.com (attention to detail is important)
• Get someone to go on to your site (watch what they do, see if they can work the site)
• Improve traffic with video, blog, keywords (5 times more likely to appear high in SEO if a video is on the site, link and share everything).
• Use keywords that will get you noticed. 
• Interaction e.g. Freebies and competitions work well (not just coming to see your work)
• Keep it up to date

Business cards are also important and Alison provided some tips for these:

• Get the branding right
• Always use good quality cards
• They should be uncluttered, with clear type
• Postcards with snapshots of work are good
• Moocards (smaller business cards can work well)
• Futureproof  - don't display a date on them or offer ends etc)
• Research the internet for good examples and make it stand out!

Spreading the word

  

Word of mouth is important remember:

• Use family for stock photgraphy (kids blowing out candles as a lot easier)
• Friends can help 
• Colleagues 
• Students (Keep in touch, Facebook)
• Referrals (Word of mouth, go to events, don’t be lazy)
• Professionalism is key 
• Under promise, over deliver (e.g. 3 day job will take 1 week then deliver early)                                       
• Take camera with you to any events so you don’t miss any photo opportunities.

Social media is also important and is a free and easy way of getting your work noticed for example: 

• Twitter (share things and be more general)
• Facebook
• Linked-in (professional)
• Google Plus (good for print sales)
• Blog e.g. Wordpress, Blogger
• Flickr (upload & share images)
• Pinterest (be careful as due to potential legal issues)
• Social media management eg Tweetdeck, Hootsuite (can be used to share one post between all social media sites)

Some tips for using social media:

• Social media blocking sites e.g. anti-social, freedom (helps so you aren’t distracted)
• Engagement 
• Write in the third person (Don’t use I, you) 
• Copyright issues (use meta data in Adobe Bridge, low res images 400x600 72dpi)

Networking

Good places to network are: 

• Exhibitions 
• Graduate networking events (e.g Zone, The Foundry in Wrexham)
• Fusion
• Events
• Chamber of Commerce
• Linked-in business groups
• The pub
• Redeye, the photographer’s network

Groups 

Alison's top groups are:

• Redeye
• Welshot (welshotimaging.co.uk) run workshops around £20, helpful not pompus
• Camera Clubs (good way of getting work critiqued, and knowledgeable)
• Photernative (Fine artists) Photographers interested in alternative processes pinhole, wet transfers etc
• Inside out art group
• Open eye gallery (Liverpool)
• Blank media collective (Manchester) Exhibitions, feedback, tips
• Ffresh

Keeping inspired

Sources of inspiration are:    

• Twitter 
• Redeye/Welshot 
• Collaborations 
• Art House co-op (free or minimal cost projects) 
• Eager (Red line project – self-portrait with red line through it) 
• Projects (Get involved whenever possible)
• Keep a file (of ideas)

CPD (Continuing Professional Development)

This is vital and Alison recommended that you do the following:

• Network through Redeye/Welshot/Camera Clubs 
• Keep up to date with current Trends 
• Always look to improve your Photography skills 
• Enter competitions (Photocompete.com) 
• Read online magazines eg fotoblur which is a magazine, fantastic photos

  

BBB (going into business)

Alison already had experience of starting up a business so she didn't find it too difficult setting up Photofoundry.  Tax, overheads, insurance, HMRC, and PAYE can be a daunting prospect though. However, there's lots of help available, for example through the Citizens Advice Bureau. There are also some other sources:

• Tax and business courses are available
• British Journal of Photography
• Money saving expert 
• The Zone 
• Artists newsletter (offers free insurance)
• Freelance UK

You can also claim working tax credits if you work over 16 hours a week!

There was some useful information from Alison. I've already used one of her recommendations and have created my own website.

Show passion in your next step (Photography and Video)

Our final talk of the week was by a group of ex Glyndwr Students that graduated in 2011. Since graduating they had set up their own business called 'Minimal Media'. They each gave a brief overview of their backgrounds:

 
Graham Cooper
He developed his skills at Yale College in Wrexham. Had previously set up a business which didn’t work out so he decided to study a Creative Lens Media (CLM) course with Glyndwr.

 
Hollie Harmsworth
She began studying a Fine Art degree at Chester Uni but dropped out halfway through as it wasn;t what she wanted to do. She therefore took a year out before beginning a CLM course at Glyndwr.

 
Alan Whitfield
Worked in a factory for ten years before taking GCSE's, A Level's, a HND and finally a CLM degree also at Glyndwr.

 
Nomads of student life

They didn’t know what to do when they were in their final year. Alan recommends that you should try not to pigeonhole yourself.

 
Never say no
One of the company’s first jobs was to film a farm show. Filming people on tractors and horses wasn’t ideal but they did get work off the back of it. They feel it’s more important to get experience than the best grades. A brilliant portfolio and show reel are key.

Professional Development

Alan recommends taking anything that comes. The Glynspired event is great for obtaining work experience. E.g ‘Guides’ for events. Working with general public, getting permission good experience. 

They ended the session by showing the company's show reel. They've worked on some interesting projects such as 3G projection mapping on Conwy Castle and an advert for a new website called 'Publicate'. It was nice to hear from a group of students that have only recently graduated. I admire the fact that they decided to go into business during these difficult economic times and I look forward to seeing more of their work. I wish them well for the future.

That was it for Creative Futures this year! I found it extremely informative, there appeared to be many more talks that were relevant for CLM students which was great. It was particulary nice to hear from ex students and see how successful they've been since graduating.

Creative Futures - Day 3

Ffresh

Today started off with a talk about Ffresh by Berwn Rolands. Berwyn works for the Festivals Company which offers an events management service that has a track record for producing large festivals, intimate business seminars, and events across Wales and beyond.

Ffresh is the Student moving image festival of Wales. Now in its 10th year, Ffresh features the best student work from Wales, the UK and abroad, along with master classes, panel sessions and workshops with some of the industry’s most renowned and respected figures. It's a link between industry and students and facilitates action between the two. If a person has won award or shortlisted then it can help with job opportunities.

Berwyn recommended that we go to a festival to see others work. It's also good to see work from other countries.

So why should you get involved?

Ffresh belongs to Glyndwr for the next 12 months (13th – 15 February, 2013). We can therefore have a closer relationship with the festival for example ushering, looking after guests will give us access to the green room. There will also be other opportunities such as the trailers, adverts and posters for the festival could also be the responsibility of Glyndwr Students.

When submitting work to festivals it's important to consider the following:

• What have you done that isn’t linked to formal education?
• What have you done in your own time? Stand out from the crowd.

Once you have created a film and if you want people to see it then create a marketing strategy for it. Putting it on YouTube is not enough. What’s the point of making a film that you think is good enough for people to see when nobody gets to see it!

 

 

Top tips

• Don’t rely on luck, be strategic. What am I going to achieve my turning up at Ffresh? It could be just watching stuff.
• Establish a relationship or get to know some of the speakers (The Mill, Aardman, the BBC etc). This can be better than posting cvs.
• Set yourself some goals and objectives before going.
• Write down 10 things you can do to reach your objective. E.g connect with people that are doing what you want to do.
• Submit work for one of the various categories. It will then be sent to a judge who decides shortlist and winner. Not done by the Uni. Rely on people within the industry. Submissions open towards end of the summer (dates to be confirmed).
• Always clear music rights for films as submitting a film without this could be embarrassing as it may not be able to be shown.

There’s no limit on the number of pieces that can be submitted. It’s Important to do some research beforehand by seeing what others are doing. Look at Vimeo & You Tube to see the kind of standard that will be expected.

 

 

Berwyn then went on to talk about his own work at:

 

 

The Festivals Company

Is a creative company based in Cardiff. 50% of what they do they do for other people. Can use IP to make money. It focusses on 3 mains areas:

1. Moving Image
2. Consultancy
3. Events 

Festivals in 11 countries, IRIS competition receive around 130 films.

   

The Festivals Company runs the Welsh Curry House of the year competition and owns branding & logo. Has sold IP to ITV who bought rights to cover it (3 half hour programmes). It has sold 3 films to BBC and does consultancy work for example for the National Library of Wales. 

  

It has recently won a contract for the Welsh Assembly Commission Berwyn believes because it had good creative ideas. The brief  was to recongnise 10 yrs of devolution. The Festival Company suggested that it would be good to remind people in Wales about the future of the assembly. They therefore found 15 children that are aged 15 on the day of the assembly for a tea party. There was a cross-section of different people and the focus was on the 10 year old as it is about their future. It appeared on both ITV and the BBC politics show. 

I enjoyed the talk about Ffresh. I'm really pleased that it's coming to Glyndwr next year so I will have a great opportunity to get involved and make some good contacts in my final year. I'm also hoping to submit some of my work!

Film, Funding & Wales – Alan Partridge

Alan was here to talk about the best ways to go about obtaining funding for film projects. Depending on the resource that a filmmaker is looking for either the Wales Screen Commission or Film Agency for Wales are good places to start.

 

The Wales Screen Commission is the best place to approach for help with locations and crews. The Film Agency for Wales supports Welsh born or Wales based writers, directors and producers with theatrical feature film projects (but not documentaries or animation pilots). 

Specifically, a theatrical feature could be an animation or live action feature film). 15 minute films (i.e. Shorts) are not applicable as there are other sources of funding for these (e.g. Lighthouse).

If you have an idea for a feature film you can apply. They will ask about your previous experience, background and ask for a copy of your show reel or maybe a short film. 

Alan recommends that a filmmaker should be strategic with their skills. If you’re a writer then they will want to see a feature film script. If the writing is good but they feel the director is not up to the job then they may just support a pilot. You need to demonstrate your potential as a filmmaker and ideally need a feature film attached to you. It is easy to get into a vicious cycle of short films. Lighthouse operates a UK wide short film scheme. You must have had a festival film but are aiming to make a feature film. Animation is tough to obtain funding for although there’s a strong argument to support these more. 

He also advised not to discount TV production and there are also a few post-productions houses in Wales that may be a source of opportunity. Animation companies such as Dynamo and Calow. Alan said Wales is not a bad place to be for opportunities. Proportionally there are the same amount of opportunities as London. 

 

It’s my shout is a company that makes 5 or 6 short films for BBC Wales. It’s worthwhile exploring this company as they look for short film scripts, have call outs for Directors, scriptwriters and some post-production work.

 

Festivals and Markets

A website called ‘Media’ lists festivals & markets they support along with professional development workshops. The difference between a festival and a market are that festivals are more about watching and appreciating films and markets are all about getting films made. 

 

Alan gave us a list of some of the annual film festivals: 

International Film Festival Rotterdam (Jan/Feb) – Has Cinemart which selects 35 Producers to get films supported and funded.

Berlin Co-Production Market – Co production market, go in with projects meet & greet try to raise finance. It has a talent campus, talks & screening for emerging film makers, directors, producers, cinematographers.

Cannes – The most well know festival and a much larger scale than most. However it is expensive and you may not meet anyone who can help. There is no support network for it and money would be better spent going to Berlin talent campus.

Galway Film Fleadh – Smaller film festivals are often better place to go. The Galway Film Fleadh in Irelnad also holds a market and in the evening there are other places and opportunities to meet people. People are friendly and will want to talk to you.

Toronto Film Festival (September) – This is again high end and more for professional. It’s also orientated towards the North American market.

Think, shoot, distribute - Selects and helps 25 talented and experienced people with a feature film project (fiction or documentary). 

 

Training opportunities

Media Training – www.mediadeskuk.eu/training Can fund training schemes for professional development for example Post Production Workflows. Places are often subsidised. Skill set is another organisation that may be able to help with funding.

Ace - provide Producer based training for live action

Eave

Binger – One on One training

Torino Film Lab – New film projects, packaging

 

 

Notes to guide the futures 

1. Audience Research
2. Select your project for the right reasons – not because it fits local sources of finance
3. Remember the screenplay is the most important element in the package – films are about stories
4. Build up relationships e.g. with Sales Agents, Bankers, Lawyers
5. Cornerstone strategy
6. Don’t try to run before you can walk – develop fully
7. Know the value of your project in the marketplace (budget the project then find out what the perceived value is. Look at similar projects before looking at the finance plan)
8. Make it for less than its value
9. Know when to give up
10. Remember the last 9 

 

How many Producers?

We looked at a number of different films of varying budget and genres and attempted to work out how many Producers were needed to get the film made:

 

Monsters - This is a low budget film by Vertigo Films – 2 Producers 

Katalin Varga - 3 Producers 

Bronson - 11 Producers 

We need to talk about Kevin - 19 Producers 

Freerunner ‘Run for your Life’ - 8 Producers 

Slumdog Millionaire - 5 Producers 

Recommended reading

• The International Film Business – Angus Finney
• The Film Business Handbook – Mike Downey (Ed)

 This was a very helpful talk Alan gave some excellent advice and sources of useful information. I will definitely be using some of the sources that he provided.

 

 

Digital - Fluid Film

The final session of the day was with Dan Fox who an ex CLM Student and now heads up his own production company called Chat Noir Productions. He began by talking about how technology has evolved since he was studying.

Standard vs. High Definition

Digital technology impacts on how you create your film. For example the old way of doing green screen was to develop onto green sensitive film. Films are now filled with green screen shots. Everything becomes flexible and fluid.

Digital won’t make everything possible. Dan said that films can contain 3-4000 digital effects shots and he believes the quality of film is suffering as a result. Most important thing is to create the bet clarity and integrity. Film makers now have lots of freedom but a lot more control is required.

Avatar was made to solve a technical problem. Technology is leading the way we make films. Computers allow us to have armies fighting each other. Filmmakers create shots such as flying cameras over them which is unrealistic. In the old days you would hire a filmmaker and they would go and make the movie. Digital intermediate – Processing allows you to change lights and darks – colours of films are changed digitally. Dark Knight was done chemically. 35mm is much more reliable than some modern cameras. 35mm is better than digital as there is no pixel reduction. However, the red camera could be the future of film.

The most important thing we need to do is making films, doing work. Are you being led by the computer program or the creative? E.g Matte paintings (originally done on glass). Films are now filled with matte paintings. Cameras & lens are good enough, but technology can make you lazy. Always use reference and look at movies and compare your work. Filmmakers nowadays often rely on technology to sort things out for us so we lose integrity. There's no reason why you can’t make things look realistic without the technology. Get out of the computer suite and look at how things really work. Simple models used in movies are wrapped with excellent photos, learn how to use these tricks but balance.

Everything changed in the mid-90’s. Dan's view is that the last 15 years has not been good for films, some movies from the 50’s have better production values. 

You can do anything with digital but don’t rely on it. Shoot 35mm stills if possible to learn how light works. 35mm gives greater range of exposure latitude (e.g pull back over exposed). Dan believes digital removes a level of creativity e.g. Spy Kids there's a scene with glow sticks that was shot using digital just to get a correct exposure. Learn how to use technology and when to use it, master it.

I found Dan’s lecture quite negative. He is very opposed to new technology. He was particularly negative about the use of digital film and visual effects. I agree that film is a medium that has its advantages but I believe we should embrace new technology and be excited about the things it will allow us to achieve.

Creative Futures - Day 2

How I make a living from death

Violet Fenn is an ex-student of Glyndwr, graduating in Metalsmithing and Jewellery.  Interestingly she began her business by making ‘plush’ toys. Violet said she "fell into this" as she had a friend that she wanted to make a present for. Violet wasn’t trained to make ‘plush’, she made unusual toys such as an Electric Kitty from the television programme ‘The Mighty Boosh’. Other designs were based on the subject of death, skulls, injured bears (see below) and even a hedgehog that had been flattened with injuries. They proved popular and Violet started her business by selling them. However, for the amount of time and effort she was putting into ‘Plush’ Violet got little return commercially. Violet could charge £100 for her ‘high end’ plush dolls but she only made £1.50 an hour for the work she put in. She therefore had to compromise and decided that she needed to do something else.

Photos of dead people 

Whilst searching the internet Violet found a photograph of a fireman on the internet.

Dressed in uniform standing up the fireman is actually dead and has been propped up as a memento (There are however, some views that so called ‘corpses’ that are stood up aren’t real). After finding more of these pictures Violet decided to set up a blog and collate them in one place. After posting a link to her website on Facebook she had 800 hits in one night.

Violet describes herself as a ‘Curator’ of these photos. She doesn’t own them and they’re out of copyright as they’re so old, so her website is effectively just a collection. Although shocking to some the photos aren’t gory, in many of them it’s difficult to tell who is actually dead. There are lots of photos of people with small dead children. Unfortunately in the 18th & 19th centuries a photograph was the only memory a family had and the infant mortality rate was particularly high. It was normal for dead bodies to be kept in the house until it went to the funeral. There are even photos of deceased dogs. Part of the intrigue is that these pictures have no back story. It’s possible that some aren’t dead. Often amateurish propping up of bodies is a giveaway. Some people say it’s sick but Violet thinks it’s good that they were up front about it. She believes these photos are taken as a remembrance and we all die, it’s a fact of life.

Jewellery

As the ‘Plush’ toy business was time consuming and not very profitable Violet decided to utilise her skills as a Jewellery maker. She now makes ‘Mourning Jewellery’ that has an anatomical (skulls, owls etc) and Edgar Poe type of look and feel. This ties in nicely with her website and she sells them via an online shop. The website gets thousands of hits per month from people looking at the photographs and it’s this traffic that she uses to generate sales for her jewellery business. It’s this ‘cross pollination’ that she encourages. Everyone should have a web presence of some sort even if it’s just Facebook. It’s difficult going into retail but if you do she recommends that it would be best if the retailers buy stock rather than on a sale and return basis.

  

Violet also recommends keeping overheads down if possible by working from home (she worked in an old coal shed under the stairs), using resources you already have. Money can also be claimed back for expenses whilst working from home.

Violet recommends becoming self-employed as the hours are more flexible and easier to fit around family life or other commitments.

Her online shop was set up using ‘Big Cartel’ which allows you to sell 3-5 items per month for free or up to 25 items for £5 per month.

In closing Violet said remember to cross pollinate and link everything, a great image sticks and will drive traffic to your website. Facebook, Tumbler and Twitter are all invaluable. It’s through this that Violet made friends with a book editor who through her contacts has managed to secure Violet an invite to a conference for female bloggers in London. Her website could now get turned into a book. She also made links with another website called ‘Spooky Isles’ and now writes pieces for them for example about ‘The History of British Vampire Myths’. She now gets business through the ‘Spooky Isle’ website.

Violet felt she did everything wrong but somehow managed to survive anyway, despite everyone’s gloomy predictions.

Overall this talk was inspiring and contained a lot of useful information. It highlighted how important the internet is to building a network and obtaining business. Violet demonstrated that to succeed takes hard work and a few knock backs but if you persevere then success is possible. Here's a link to the website www.theskullillusion.com

 

 

Getting a Job

This was a lecture by Wendy Rees from BBC . Wendy heads up operations in the North of Wales for the BBC. The BBC covers TV, Radio, sport, factual, news and online. She began by giving us some background to her career. She started out as a Law Student and was offered a position with a Welsh Language station in its Legal Department but had an opportunity to do a bit of everything. She took every opportunity offered her way. She was seconded to set up a training company running craft courses for the independent sector in Wales before joining the BBC.

Wendy works mostly in HR or training. She was asked to do this job and it opened up lots of doors and gave her good exposure. She didn't have a plan and didn’t start out on traditional journey. Wendy recommends that you be very flexible in your approach to work. The BBC employs around 20 thousand people primarily in the UK but also has a global market. It has a myriad of opportunities as a host of different skills are required to support the operation.

The BBC has a Production Trainee Scheme and talent pool. It's looking for passionate people who are interested in what they do. Out of their talent pool of recruits for production trainees, around 12 per year are employed. It also has a business trainee scheme and a design trainee position. Wendy said that your portfolio is more important than formal qualifications. They are looking for creative people that are interested in what they do. Lots of its output has moved to Salford so there are vacancies there. She recommended that you register on website. Work Experience are often 1-2 weeks placement, maybe casual work to start then permanent positions may follow.

How does the BBC recruit?

The interview process is competency based. Wendy said at interview stage they ask for evidence, questions such as "tell us about a time when you’ve done a certain thing". For example an original idea turned into a film or radio show. Draw on your own experiences. On the standard application form, be concise and precise. Ensure answers are relevant to question.

They need to know why you measure up to the competencies. A starting point is the job spec. Draw out key things they’re asking for. This should get you an interview, although they get thousands of applications so you need to stand out. Do this by demonstrating that you’re different and interested in what the BBC does.

The BBC doesn’t have people that work in silos. Multi-skilled operators are required to work in more that one area. Flexibility across a number of disciplines in any role. A 9-5 job is becoming a thing of the past. Technology is moving on fast and have to keep up. Lots of content is user generated and comes in from a variety of sources. BBC has to adapt to this.

It is hard to get work and there’s massive competition. If you’re keen and flexible and can stand out then you should be successful. Lots of help on website.

I found this lecture interesting and had some good advice. However, I've applied to the BBC on two occasions for work experience (following the above advice) and have not been succesful. The application process they have is surprising as they do not ask to see any examples of your work but expect you to write thousands of words reviewing its programmes, providing suggestions on how they can help socially excluded areas of the community and giving ideas for new programmes. Whilst I understand some of the reasons they do this, the majority of people that are applying for work experience are creatives and their strengths are in making things and not writing essays. I therefore think many talented people are missing out on these opportunites.  It would be much better if they asked you to make a short film so you could really showcase what you can do. I appreciate the BBC is probably inundated with applications but in my opinion they're not getting the best out of creative people with this process.

Piece to Camera

Matthew Richards reporter for Wales Today gave a talk on the best way to interview on camera. Firstly, he gave us a bit of background to himself. He has been in North Wales since 2000. He’s previously work in English Language and radio. Matthew left university with a journalism degree and got into the BBC on its regional trainee scheme. He’s worked on the Radio 1 Big Weekend and at the Cannes Film Festival and is a regular on BBC Wales news.

He began by defining exactly what an interview is:

• Reporter/Presenter speaking directly to camera
• Any contributor speaking on camera

He then gave us some pens and paper and asking us to get into groups of two. One person was asked to describe an image on a piece of paper whilst the other person drew what was being described. It was an interesting exercise that demonstrated that with an audience you have to be descriptive about your message so that it is clearly understood and not misinterpreted.

We were shown a film called ‘The Bad Interviewee’ where Matthew interviews himself. It demonstrated how an interviewee can ruin an interview. The interviewee was constantly fidgeting, used jargon and kept looking at the camera. Matthew said that with editing a portion of this interview could still be used providing it contained the information that was needed.

Matthew recommended that as an interviewer you should always start with the basics questions , who, what, where, how and why. Preparing questions in advance is important.

We were shown an example of ‘Ambush Interviewing’. A film of Ali G interviewing the famous astronaut Buzz Aldrin where there are innuendos and odd questions to try and make the interviewee look silly. It’s entertaining but I wouldn’t like to have been the interviewee!

Another short film entitled ‘Cassette Boy vs BBC News’ took different clips of news and edited them together to make an entertaining and alternative news piece. This reminded me of the audio assignment we were given in year one.

As an interviewee Matthew gave the following tips

• Be passionate, animated and lively
• Show control
• Speak naturally
• Explain any technical terms that you use
• Don’t get too personal *

*Other interviews were shown, one with Tracey Emin where she talks in too much detail about her personal life and one with Dennis Potter which demonstrated how to display emotion correctly.

Matthew then ran a news feature about Banksy. It showed how he is able to deliver his message without doing any interviews. The final film we saw was called ‘How not to walk out’ and was made to demonstrate how to quit an interview in the right way.

This was an information session, with some good practical exercises and advice on how to conduct interviews.