May

Our video project is now complete and handed in. Unfortunately, we didn't finish the video in time. We handed in what we did though, we're praying its good enough for a pass. We feel as though we could have created something special if we had more time.

We then took upon a research task where we had to find all about the work of a chosen Media practitioner. I chose to research Will Smith due to me already being rather familiar with his work and because the man has done a lot in different areas of Media (e.g. TV, Film, Music). I have now completed my 3000 word essay on him.

I am now evaluating all the work I have done over the course of my time at college. I'm writing my Reflection on Commission now and I also need to research for my timed evaluative essay tomorrow. I'm currently finding all the materials I need for the exam (e.g. evaluative reports).

Back after Easter

We have just come back after our Easter holiday and this week, we need to get the finished product ready. We have to fully edit our video for Friday, so the pressure's on. All filming has been completed, although if we do get our editing done with time to spare, we may re-film some shots which could have been steadier. We may also not have enough shots, we'll just have to wait and see.

Gym Video Updates

Nigel Redmond is on board with the video. We had an idea that we could film the gym in the Westbrook building and include that in our video, but our client Jane Marshall explained via e-mail, that the Gym might close due to financial restraints and that she needs to promote the Trinity Green gym solely. We have all our pre-production documents completed. We will meet again with Nigel Redmond tomorrow to discuss filming dates. He said he needed time to brush up on techniques for the Gym equipment instructional parts of our video.

New Project

Our new project is to create a promotional/instructional video for the Bradford College Gym in the Trinity Green building. Our client is once again, Jane Marshall. We met and discussed ideas for the video, where we want to try and inject as much humour as we can and go for a feel similar to The Gadget Show. 

We are going to meet with a member of the Gym staff (Nigel Redmond) soon. We're going to discuss his role as a Presenter/Instructor in this video, and depending on his charismatic qualities, we will write his role for him appropriately. 

Back for the new year....

We've been busy this month. After applying for UCAS and university, I've been planning and researching for a 6000 word dissertation. We have some leniency when deciding what subject we want to write it on so I'm going to be writing it on a subject on something I'm already quite familiar. We have to choose a controversial media-related subject and I'm going to look at how bad/good video games are for the consumer. Because we're in the middle of a gaming revolution (with the Wii out and new motion technology coming later this year) I figure now is a good time to write it.

Last Week Before Christmas

All my work is now complete and ready to be handed in. I've just written up my evaluative report and my audio interview and photographs have been burned to disc. All my work has been properly organized and chronologically ordered and now, as I write this blog, I'm beginning to see how good this project was for me. It has seriously boosted my organization skills as well as making me more confident and less stressed under pressure. It has also taught me the art of working in strict time restrictions. Now it is time to rest. This is Ross saying, Merry Christmas!

After the event...

Well, the tea dance and exhibition have come and gone. The tea dance was successful and we got very positive feedback from the questionnaires most people filled out. The exhibition was quite quiet though, but people who filled out questionnaires told us the stories of the WW2 survivors were fascinating. 

We will be moving on to our next project after Christmas. At the moment we are evaluating and organizing all our work. I will post next when all of that is done. I need to finish off some reports and print out some promotional materials.

After talks with Damian O'Keefe of the performing arts department, we are waiting for some dance students to turn up at tomorrow's dress rehearsal so they can show what they want to do. Damian's wife, Julia, is also on board to sing at the tea dance. We are also waiting for a couple of poetry readers to surface. We're speaking with Damian tomorrow about all these things. We are also going to be in talks with the costume/make-up department too, to discuss what our performers will wear.

I'm currently writing what I'd like to say at the event. I will be the compere. I will also run the raffle stall and meet and greet guests. I've just finished a questionnaire so visitors can fill in to give feedback.

Meeting with Clare Lambkin

We met Clare Lambkin this morning whilst visiting the Henry Mitchell Hall (which is where the tea dance will take place). Whilst there we had a look at the room's layout, as well as what kind of facilities there were there. We found a room where our acts can get ready to perform. Clare said that the room will have to be emptied in order for everyone to have enough room to get ready.

There was also a few items there we could use. As long as we get a pianist, we can have them perform on a supplied piano. We also found numerous novelty microphones we could use. There was also 2 projectors with screens already there, so we could play slideshows of old archive footage (for example) as the acts perform their routines.

We decided that dancers should perform on the floor whilst singers perform on stage. We will do this because the floor on stage isn't terribly even. Also, we feel if dancers perform on the floor, guests may feel the incentive to do so.

We discovered the college had all the rights to play any form of media. That's a lot off our minds. We also have the rights to do covers of any song too.

We also met up with Damian (a performing arts teacher at Bradford College) to discuss who may be interested in actually performing. He says a couple of people are currently interested. He also said his wife would be willing to sing. I can imagine her singing perhaps being the highlight of the show.

We are now designing flyers and posters for the show. After that we will need to work fast to get performers so they can have time to develop routines.

2nd Year - World War 2 Project

I haven't blogged for a while now so I will try to catch up.

My second year has now begun and we started of with some work with the first years. We looked at how the James Bond films have changed over time and how the series had been revived with Daniel Craig's first outing in Casino Royale. We also were tasked to write a plot for the next Bond film. Mine was set in Japan and featured Q and many futuristic weaponry and gadgets (which would now seem more believable now as technology like that is nearly here).

Afterwards we were tasked with writing a brief for a revival of an old television show. We were given 'Love thy Neighbour'. Our group worked well with this. We decided to change it to an animated show, and we also changed character stereotypes so it would make more sense today.

Right now we are working on a project which revolves around World War 2. Our first task was to find out as much as we could about the war. I produced digital sheets about different areas and aspects of the war (e.g. warfare, allies, axis powers). We were also tasked to create a moodboard (a collection of images put together to represent the mood of something). For practice, we created one which represented ourselves. I included images of my favourite hobbies, shows and other things which I thought told people all about me. After this we started on our World War 2 versions. I made mine in monotone, but at the expense of showing off a bit, I decided to include the girl from Schindler's List in the moodboard. The girl's red coat is the only thing in the movie you see in colour, so I did the same thing. Fellow students seemed to like the idea.

We now have been put in groups for an event we now have to organise and set up. The groups were:

- Management of the Public

- Costume and Make-Up

- Entertainment

- Curation

I decided to go in the Entertainment group as the Entertainment industry is where I want to go. Our team is responsible for managing acts to come up on stage and perform. We want to get singers, dancers and maybe drama acts, but we haven't decided that yet. We also have to get music to play during the event and to do this we need permission to play it. Each member of our group has no particular responsibility. We all just have to make sure we turn up, contribute and work hard. We are planning to work together as much as possible and not deviate ourselves to work on separate aspects of the project.

Myself and Luke were tasked to interview a war survivor. We interviewed a fascinating lady called Veronica who had a lot to say about her years as a schoolgirl in the war. We have processed her interview and edited it down to roughly 5 minutes. We have also added a music bed in the background. We decided to use Vera Lynn's 'They'll be blue birds over the white cliffs of Dover'. We used this song because it was very popular during the war years and since the music is so soothing to listen to, it was suitable to use as a music bed.

There were numerous things we thought of to have at the Tea Dance, but we have restraints. Such things we wanted to do included:

- A big band, but due to a limited budget, we couldn't afford one

- A kids corner so they can play and watch old World War 2 cartoons, but since this event will be held during school time, we decided this was pointless to organise

- A big TV showing old archive footage, but a TV would be too expensive and heavy to carry around

- A short movie advert to advertise the event, but due to time restraints we can't

Next week we are planning to contact different groups who may be interested in performing on stage at this event. We will be contacting course tutors mainly, as we want Bradford College students to do most of the performing. We plan to meet with these tutors and their students to organise what they want to do and how they would do it. We would organise any music they would need and we would also hope to get a pre-taste of their performance before they actually perform. We aren't choreographers so they would have to choreograph their performances themselves. This is something I'm worried about, as I don't know how good these students actually are. Another thing I'm concerned about is, would they actually be willing to perform for free?

Our time is limiting but I feel we will get things done on time. We may need to do some work at home too, but we will get it done.

Some more challenges we will face include:

- Copyright - If we were to ask permission to use certain music or videos, would we actually get a response in time and would we be actually granted it? Also, would it cost money?

- Absence - I'm worried my group might not show up as often as I would hope. A bug is going around right now and I know one member of my group is certainly not feeling well.

- Time - Three weeks to do this? Other projects we have had, we have had months to do them.

- What to Do - Sometimes I worry if we actually will know what to do. We might ask permission for copyright, ask people to perform, but as we wait for a repsonse, we might not know what to do.

I'm most looking forward to the event itself. I'm looking forward getting dressed in World War 2 attire and having a good time. Due to myself being in the Entertainment group, I won't be doing much else other than telling people when to go on stage. I may be doing a bit of announcing at the event (i.e. introducing acts on stage). I'm looking forward to the challenge of that the most.

Finishing off Capture work

I've just finished off my director's commentary for the healthy breakfast video. This was the main thing to do for Capture and now I can focus on organizing my folders, making sure all my work is in them. Some work still needs to be finished and I think some is missing, so I'll have to do them again. That's not necessarily a bad thing as I can do the work better now and I've learnt that organization is key in a course like this.

As soon as I'm happy with my finished folder for Capture, I can then turn my attention to organising my group's Interaction folder. 

The Finished Video

Our video is now complete, and as I write this, we are exporting the movie file. I'm pleased with the end result. If we had better luck with our contacts, we would have better footage to work with, but with what we had to work with, I think we did ourselves proud. The video is on the short side, scraping just 3 minutes, but it's quality that counts and, with what we had, I don't think we could have done any better. 

Editing

We are now currently in the editing process. After getting a few interviews (no visuals unfortunately) we are now putting it all together for the rough edit screening later today.

We have a nice introduction and at this exact moment, we are capturing the rest of the footage we got. We may need some more variation in our establishing shots, so after our rough edit is screened, we will plan to get some more footage we can work with. It would be nice to have an interview where we saw the interviewee. I also fear our video will be too boring for viewers with our current footage. If we got an interview which was more in depth and personal with the interviewee, we will be on the right track.

Filming Continues

Trying our best to get some kind of interview, we finally got a good one. There were sound issues unfortunately, so that was really disappointing. As we get all our footage, we are capturing it as we go along. We got lots of establishing shots of in a park today, we just need an interview! 

Idents - Final Ideas

Today, I've just thought up my final idea for my ident. I want to use hand puppets. I want to pretend the puppets are outfits and that characters or celebrities are in them. I want these people to say 'You're watching The Grid' and they can say something relevant to their character and their current situation. For example, Andy and Lou from Little Britain could be sent to The Grid to plug the channel and Andy could go on to say how terrible it is.  

Change of Plans

Today, we realised a lot of our contacts may not be interested in filming at all. Instead, we've had to resort to voxpops, which is something we are going to do either today or some time this week. Due to not all of our group being here today, me and Charliey have come up with some questions to ask young parents we pull off the street. 

We also got our footage of the establishing shots we took of Lister Park and the Centenary Square water fountain onto Adobe Premiere Pro. All our pre-production portfolio is done, it's just a matter of organising it.

Now we just need to get some footage to work with. Hopefully, someone will come through to work with us. In the meantime, it's back to filming voxpops.

Still Waiting for Contacts

Thursday, and still without people to film. We haven't wasted our time though. I've created a piece of music to use within the piece. I've created several versions and am getting feedback to see which is more appropriate for the video about young parents. 

I also finalised by individual proposal. Hopefully I'll get good marks.

1st Day of Filming

We filmed some establishing shots today and also took some pictures for the location recee. We filmed a couple of kids playing in a water feature, as well as getting some shots of the park. The weather was unbearably hot today. Combine that with carrying a heavy tripod around, and I was ready to collapse by the time we got back. 

I'm going to do my director's commentary soon for the Capture Unit, but it's National Award in Media tomorrow and I need to do my ident powerpoint before anything else. 

End of Planning

We are still waiting for contacts to get in touch with us unfortunately. We have finished most of our pre-production portfolio. A final storyboard and script though is needed, and we can't get them until we know who we are working with. We are waiting for a response from our contacts to confirm this. All the rest of our sheets are done and tomorrow we are heading for the park to film establishing shots and maybe some kids playing there. We would have to ask parent's permission of course. For our video, our footage is going to be mainly audio, so we need a lot of visual accompaniments. 

Work Experience

Our work experience was a worthy experience. We had the opportunity to work as a media team in a press conference and I really enjoyed it.

As we arrived and got ourselves acquainted with people there, our first job was to film some voxpops. We all took turns doing the various things such as asking people if they wanted to do voxpops along with actually interviewing them and taking control of the camera.

As the conference went on, my job was to take pictures with a camera I fell in love with. Digital SLR's are expensive, but they are so fun to use and you feel really professional when using it.

By the end of the conference I got some nice pictures, which got better when I figured out how to zoom in. All in all, it was a fascinating experience. 

19th May 2009

We've worked well today. We've had a couple of replies from contacts and we have arranged meetings with them to discuss filming opportunities. I have started on a few other pre-production sheets such as the budgeting and the role allocations.

I've also realised today that everyone seemed to have a stronger work ethic. This is a good thing, but in future I've got to make sure that no-one has nothing to do. This job really is all our responsibility, so I think a group meeting to discuss what everyone is going to do would be a great idea. We're going to work well together, it's just a matter of getting used to it, that's all.

My work experience is tomorrow as well and I'm looking forward to this. I'm looking forward to the realism of the situation. We are attending a conference about midwifery and we are to film the conference, take photos and conduct voxpops with the speakers and audience.

18th May 2009

My group has chosen to do our video on the subject of young parents. This week we are coming up with filming ideas. We are also contacting possible groups we could work with. Today, we have set up a draft e-mail to send to our contacts explaining what we're doing with this current project and to arrange meets to discuss filming with them.

Currently, we have sent an e-mail to a Church which has a 'Love Bradford' project currently taking place. They have a family support group there, so it might be a good idea for voxpops (as there will be a large number of parents there) and we may be able to get further information on other organisations which support families.

6th May 2009

I haven't blogged for a while, so I'll try to get up to date.

Our healthy breakfast videos are almost done. Jane Marshall gave us very positive feedback, saying our video just 'flowed'. We fixed a few issues with sound and transitions and re-shot some things. We now have a nearly perfect finalized version. We just need to dip the music where appropriate.

As for other things in the Capture Unit, we now just need to do our director's commentary. Once I have an Ediroll I'll get to narrating.

We've started our new unit now; the interactive unit. I've been put in a new group and I was pleasantly surprised when I heard who I was with. Jade, Charliey, Nic and Jordan are all great additions to a production company. I have a good feeling we're going to work well together.

We've been deciding on what group we should interact with. I'll post next when we decide on who we're choosing.

Video Feedback

Our video has been shown to our client: Jane Marshall. Overall, she seemed pretty impressed. She said our video flowed well and that I was a natural at presenting; Sarah concurred. We still have a few issues with our video. Sound is hard to hear at times due to the music being too loud or the dialogue being too quiet. A simple fix on Adobe Premiere Pro will sort this out. We also have a few grammar errors here and there; these too can be easily fixed. One part of my narration doesn't make any chronological sense as I say we've learned what we should eat, when we get to hear advice on that, not before then, but later on.

I'm pleased with our results. A few tweaks here and there and we're all set for a good grade. 

March

What stage are you at with your healthy college project?

Currently we are beginning the editing process. We've finished filming, but we may need to do something extra to make up for the 8 shots each of us needs to do. We've done well in capturing what we wanted but sound was an issue. Luckily we now know how to get the best sound possible from the cameras, but there's no guarantee.

Are you confident that your group are working effectively and using their time wisely?

Our group work very effectively. Everyone is determined to do well and no-one slacks off. We make great use of the time we are given and always seem ahead of our game.

How did you feel about the functional skills examination?

The exam was much easier than the practice ones we did in class. We had an extra 15 minutes than we did in our practice versions, so I was able to finish.

How did you feel the functional skills presentation you performed went?

The presentation went well, but not as well as I hoped. Luke, who got confused as to when and what to click, made a few mistakes with the timing of the slide transitions, but it was my fault for I should have ran through the presentation with him beforehand. I was asked a lot of questions and I was perplexed by some (this being my downfall). After a long time thinking about what to say I managed to pull through.

Do you think your group will meet the 12:30 Thursday deadline for the healthy college project?

We should have a draft ready by then, but not a final version. We still have the narration to do, so I'll be very busy on Thursday doing that.

Work Experience

I haven't thought about this until now but if I were to get some sort of placement on a production team for some kind of TV show, that would be amazing. I want to know how the whole filming process works. I'd love to see professionals doing their job, so this way I can get a clearer idea as to what exactly I want to do. I've always fancied a job as either a casting director or a director. 

Voxpops

In our formal interviews we asked open questions to get as much as a response as we could. Both Bob Booth and Jane Marshall gave use plenty of footage we could use. I didn't have to refine the questions at all, as both interviewees got their questions before the interview, so they could prepare their answers beforehand. 

In our voxpops, I had to improvise my questions. Normally people wouldn't give a very thorough answer, despite the fact that the questions were fairly open. I had to beat a positive response from them, as this video is supposed to promote college. Getting decent answers out of voxpop interviewees was very challenging. I tried to work my way around what little they said by asking 'why?' a lot. I also tried to get them to tell us what their personal breakfast eating habits were and I added on that by relating to how college could help them. Responses were still lame, as people gave very short and hardly usable answers. We got one excellent interviewee, telling us all we could have ever needed. Unfortunately, we only have one very good interview, so we need to heavily edit our responses and use establishing shots to cover up the cuts.

Filming this week...

Filming has had its ups and downs this week. After successfully filming our drama scene and interviews, we had voxpops and pieces to the camera to film.

Voxpops were always a challenge with me and my group. Asking perfect strangers to be interviewed is very difficult. 9 times out of 10, the person being asked is either too busy or just very awkward about being on camera. Frustrations were further heightened by the responses we got. We were trying to promote the college and its breakfast services, but trying to get people to say positive things about the college was challenging enough. Either students didn't know about the breakfast services or they honestly thought the food was too expensive or that the services were lacking choice. Its like I had to beat out some decent answers out of my interviewees. Eventually we got some footage we could use. Sound was also an issue, as whenever we tried to film on a road side, traffic noise would be loud. We also got interrupted several times (e.g. someone walking through the door). 

We have everything filmed now. Me and Luke me have to film more establishing shots to make up for the 8 shots we each need. Other than that, editing is on its way and I'm looking forward to showing people what we've got. 

Jane Marshall Interview

Yesterday we filmed an important part of our healthy breakfast; the interview with Jane Marshall. At 2:00pm on January 19th, we entered the TV studio. 

We had numerous benefits by working in a television studio, such as:

- The controlled environment allowed us to film without any disturbance

- We had 2 cameras, so we could shoot at different angles 

- The cameras were of a high quality, so we could shoot high-quality footage

- The amount of lighting we had was exceptional, so we could shoot without worrying about it being too dark

- Our client (Jane Marshall) was in a television studio, sat down and relaxed, so therefore we could get clear answers

- By working in a studio, we learnt about a few things such as the green screen

My role was to interview Jane. My responsibility as an interviewer was to stay calm and ask questions to the interviewee (Jane Marshall) in a mature fashion. Due to me being the interviewer, other members of my group operated the cameras and the other equipment.

As far as health and safety goes, we had to make sure that:

- The lighting was secure and wouldn't fall on anyone

- The tripods and cables were out of the way of paths, so no-one tripped over them

- The counter-weight camera was acknowledged to be dangerous and to warn each-other that it would be going around the room

- We kept cool by not staying in their to long, and to take jackets and coats off because of the heating caused by lighting and a lot of people in a small room

- The floor manager was making sure that all these acknowledgments were followed

I enjoyed working in the studio. The experience was very informative, and it made me realise what the media industry would be like on a daily basis. It was a pleasure to interview Jane. She knew what she was talking about and this made her interesting to listen to and interesting to edit for the final video.

It was a challenge to speak clearly, which isn't a challenge in the real world, I guess my nerves got the better of me. I didn't find it too difficult to keep a straight face. Based on what I've seen the other groups do, I reckon I've faired better in trying to keep this affair a serious matter.

I feel as though I can act well, so when it came to nodding, (so we edit to that if we needed to) I faired well. I felt like an idiot; nodding, but I enjoyed the whole experience. 

I'm thoroughly happy with what we've got. Jane was a brilliant interviewee, she spoke clearly, she looked presentable and she gave us lots of footage we could use for the final video. 

Our shot composition fared well, considering we were all beginners at this. Nobodies' head was cut off, everything we wanted in our shots was there. Cameras stayed still and didn't wobble.

Luke did a good job at vision mixing. He got a good variety of angles where necessary and didn't cut when someone was in the middle of talking.

I feel as though I presented well. I was told this, and Jane said I was the best interviewer, and that I should be on TV (doesn't get any better than that).

We've got lots of footage to use and all of it is shot and presented exceptionally. What we got today will be a great asset to our final video.

New Year

5th January, and I'm back at college. Had a great Christmas and I'm raring to get some work done. I should recap on what blogs I have missed.

The last week before Christmas, we attended a master class at Dixons College. A production team came in and listening to them was very interesting. They offered advice on how to get in the media as well as offering cool tips on each particular area of their individual expertise. The hall they held the class in was much more comfortable to sit in than our contextual studies lessons. The place was cleaner and the seats were much more comfortable. 

The last day of Contextual studies had a 60's theme to it. We arrived in 60's gear and learnt about pop art and the impact it had then and now. We looked at some famous pieces and looked how it linked to the music in the 60's. We had ourselves a Christmas party afterwards, which was enjoyable.

We also presented our pitch for the video we are now going to plan and shoot. We got positive feedback and I feel we presented well. I didn't stutter and I spoke clearly and occasionally gave eye-contact. We presented effectively. My aim was to not make it boring, so we showed a Brainiac clip and I was not too formal in my presentational style. I was a little poor in planning, as some members of the group didn't know when to say what, because I forgot to tell them. I also could have ended the slideshow a bit better by the way of a conclusion. 

We're now going to film our 5 minute films on our chosen subjects. We'll be doing a lot of planning today, and for the rest of the week, we'll be doing a lot of filming. It will be a challenge, but that's a good thing.

Mid December

Working in Your Group

We have been given a brief by Sarah. This is our first major project which will involve the 3 production stages (pre-production, production and post-production). We have to make a 5-7 minute documentary on the theme of breakfast and how important it is to have. I personally asked Sarah for the most light-hearted brief, so we can make a not so serious film than the other groups will produce. 

It's been a challenge keeping every project we do, organized as we are now doing 3 at once. It can get quite confusing. Me, Luke, Michael and Jamie work well together. We've already decided on the theme of the video (i.e. positive and funny). I think myself as the leader of the group, but I shouldn't, as this video should be an equal joint effort. It has been a challenge having 4 people working on the same thing. I feel it would have been better if it was just 2 people working. 

Development of Ideas

We decided to make our final proposal, light-hearted. We decided that I should narrate and star as a presenter and actor. I will be presenting several times in the video to help move the video along and help involve the audience more. We decided to include cuts in between different parts in the video to showcase interesting and/or shocking facts about breakfast. 

We have come up with many ideas. Originally I wanted to make this video full of information, including scientific information. We realized that my idea wasn't very effective as our target audience is primarily young adults aged 16-22. We decided instead on a more comic approach. We are going to film a Braniac-style drama piece which will over-emphasize, but not lie about the benefits of eating breakfast and the downsides of not eating breakfast.

I also came up with the idea of us offering advice on what cereals are healthy and what were not. We later realized that this couldn't be done due to problems with copyright. We couldn't say that some brands were better than others. It's not going to be a review show.

We also cancelled the idea of telling viewers how to spot a healthy or unhealthy breakfast. We realized that this would be favoring brands too.

Project Progression

I'm concerned about the voxpops. Whilst our group has been given a much more easier subject to ask about, asking strangers questions is awkward. I'm also concerned about filming when the public will be there in the background. I'm worried that they might look in the camera's direction or make loud noises when we are filming.

I'm looking forward to filming our drama piece. I reckon we'll have troubles keeping straight faces, but it will definitely be worth it, as this idea is original and will make the video stand out from others. I'm also looking forward to showing it to other people to see what they think of it.

Our pitch presentation should go smoothly. As long as the powerpoint is complete and we are organized, we'll be successful in the presentation. I'm concerned a question might be asked that we might not know, so I'll improvise where I'll have to by thinking quickly to come up with the best idea for an answer.

Mid November

This week, we learned a bit about how to work out a budget for a TV show. We also learned about the best way to put forward concepts for shows. Last week we went to go see Fly Me to the Moon at the Imax. After watching it in 3D, we wrote a summary of it, asking questions like did the 3D element make it more enjoyable? Wednesday was our last day of filming for our voxpops and today we learned about surrealism in art in Contextual Studies.

November

This second term hasn't had the best of starts. Sarah was unwell for part of the first week, and work was scarce. Despite this, we had a man, Damian, come in and he talked to us about projects we could get involved in. Sooner or later, I'm wanting to write comedy scripts. Once completed, I want to post these on YouTube. I'll keep you posted for any developments on that.

This week, we filled in an online form for a work experience course in the BBC. I'm really wanting in. I also was being filmed for a discussion about Gok Wan's new program, Miss Naked Beauty. We discussed its concept on natural beauty and asked questions like whether the idea should be more widespread or if it would ever last. We also finished off filming our voxpops on Wednesday. We also took establishing shots of Bradford. We got permission to film on top of the Kirkgate car park, so we got some decent shots.

Today, we attended a event where a Steven Appleby, showcased his workgate. I wasn't impressed with his graphics at all, but his stories were interesting and funny.

Tomorrow, I'm attending two events at the Media museum: the scriptwriting workshop (hopefully this will help with my comic scriptwriting abilities) and a conversation with Al Jean (who's one of the producers on The Simpsons). The Simpsons is one of my favourite shows on the TV, and to meet with one of the beneficiaries....wow.

Last Day of the First Term...

I'm going to miss college actually. A week without college... Despite this, so far, college has been fantastic. I've just completed my slide show and posted it on YouTube and I've took several good photos for the competition and posted them on Flickr. We've recently been to see a composure collection at the Impressions gallery. Some of the movies were interesting whilst others couldn't be more boring. Sarah's set us homework for half-term which I intend to impress her with. Looking forward to coming back for our second term at this incredibly enjoying course.

Here's the link for my Alexander Rodchenko slide show: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6AslTWQCzEg

For my photos I've entered in the Big Bradford Picture Hunt use this address: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31163788@N06/

A Month In....

How Have I Settled In?

I've made some good mates. Everyone here is great. The college is easy to navigate and I'm fully used to it. Our Mac suite is special. Despite the fact that these are different than PCs they're good to use.

What skills have I learned?

I've learned how to use a few Mac programs like the music creator Garage Band and the slide show program iMovie. I've learnt a bit about filming with a camcorder as we've done a few voxpops. Functional Skills with Francis has so far brought me up to speed with spelling and writing formal letters. It's not been a bad first month.

Work in the Capture Unit

This is our first unit. We've been looking at photojournalists like Robert Capa and Eddie Adams and their work. We had to chose one and make a slide show about them. I chose Alexander Rodchenko due to his influential work playing a part today (e.g. Franz Ferdinand and their album artwork). We've learned a bit about ethics in photography (e.g. should photographers intervene in what tragic scenes their shooting; should they help people?). We also had a task in which we had to make a slide show based on a word. I got action-packed. If you want to see the slide show follow this YouTube link: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0JNsUiGKeyo

Best Bit....

It would have to be going to the cinema. It just seemed like such a relaxing way to start the course and I really enjoyed The Dark Knight.

Worst Bit...

Surprisingly the Lake District. The coach trips were unbearably long and there wasn't much to do there. The food prices were outrageous and other groups who went were drug-taking mindless yobs who deserved prison. It wasn't very enjoyable at all.

Co-op Filmmakers Award

I couldn't believe how terrible the films were that we saw: awful acting, thoughtless scripts and a very long credits for such short films. So long were they that everyone who applauded (which of course was just manners) stopped half-way through the credits. I was so glad when Sarah said we weren't up against movies like that. I want more of a challenge. I'm thinking about writing a comedy script soon, perhaps during the holidays. I was thinking maybe the plot could revolve around the sheer greed of my dog.

Big Bradford Picture Hunt

I haven't gotten round to it yet but I will this weekend. I've got some good ideas, it's just waiting for the opportune moment.

3 Weeks In....

So far it's great. I've met some interesting people, some smart, some not so smart, but the group is very friendly. We've been interpreting a lot of art (both photos and paintings) and now we are about to take photos of our own to enter in a competition. Can't wait to get started.

So Far

23rd September. I sit in our new Mac suite writing this and so far this course has been slow moving but I know it will get better. We have been on many trips, so I shouldn't complain; Lake District, cinema and the Media Museum. We've done work on them all but I enjoyed them, well maybe not the lake district so much for there wasn't much to do there, but i shouldn't complain. 

Sarah's a great tutor. She knows how to get in our good graces. Everyone here is warm, friendly and welcoming. 

Let's see what happens next....

Shock Blog's Beginning

Hello all,

I'm Ross and this is my blog. I'm 16 going on 17 and have just started a course at Bradford College, West Yorkshire, England. This blog is for my work.

Why have you chosen to come to college to do the Creative and Media Course?

Basically because I wanted to get in the film industry. It was a tough decision for me to make on whether to stay on till 6th form or to go to college. Whilst college has the better resources and more diverse courses, everyone I knew at school stayed on to 6th form. I'm treating college as a fresh start and hopefully I made the right decision.

What do you aim to achieve during your time on the course?

The knowledge I need to start making my own films. I plan on starting of by making short films and I will do as soon as i get a camcorder. If all goes well I be sure to post it on the web and I'll see what happens from there.

What are your career ambitions for the future?

I've wanted to work in film for some time now and I hope of going to the top and becoming either a director or a casting director. I like the idea of looking for new talent in the world of acting and this way I'd be able to meet lots of stars.

In a perfect world where would you be and what would you be doing in ten years time?

Making Oscar-worthy films across the globe with famous film-makers and actors. I would be filming big action movie stunts, the like that have never been seen before. I would be accepting awards at the Oscars, BAFTA's and other film award ceremonies.

What are your strongest skills or abilities?

I always seem to be the brains of any class, but unfortunately the least popular. Despite this I enjoy ice-skating (which I like to think that I'm good at), playing basketball and watching as many movies as I can get my hands on.

What do you think you need to improve on?

As I write this I've realised my typing skills aren't up to scratch. I should also work on trying to get out of bed earlier as this made me late at school a lot.

What do you think is important for working well in a team?

People have got to be similar if they are to work well. If they aren't there's that awkward silence I happen to come across quite a lot. They've all got to want to learn too; there's no use working with someone who just constantly gossips for example.

What are you most excited about achieving in the next two years?

Hopefully a knowledge of filming adequate to get in the business. If this course is what I think it is, I will acquire that knowledge.