I have now reached the final year of my Film & TV Production BA (Hons) and what a journey it has been. I have loved being at the Manchester Film School and I have learnt heaps and heaps: how films are made, how the Art Department works, professionalism. Meeting so many new and wonderful people has been a big part of my experience: my tutors, my student friends, industry people.
My specialism is art and this is what I have focussed on in my final year.
The Showreel below is a visual record of the last year. It includes 3 external shoots and 4 student shoots. It also references my own series ‘In Which We Live’.
The following short, ‘Barbie Girls: Fifi & Elsie’, is the hardest project I have undertaken. I had the idea for it as I ended up with a load of Barbie dolls after filming Milkteeth, hence it was good to find a second use for some of them, and I also wanted to make some 1/6th size sets to practice set design and set dressing. My aim. was to take on a project where I was responsible for everything: the art, the wardrobe, the camerawork, the edit. It gave me the opportunity to practice shooting from different angles, using different cameras. In the event I only used the OSMO 3 Action as I found it to be suitable for my needs (my plan was to move the camera a lot hence an action camera seemed the correct way to go). Overall it was a tough journey and I struggled with some aspects e.g. the camera work is a tad shaky and I didn’t get enough coverage – lessons learnt. With the edit, I used a premier file for the sound (Joby wavo air used here), and a different premier file for all Osmo footage. I had recorded a lot of sound hence it needed heavy duty editing before incorporating it into the film. The main issue was matching up speech to the visuals, and this took a very long time. Overall, as always, I have learnt a lot about all the complexities and I hope that the experience has made me a better filmmaker.
With reference to the Barbie girls, as well as making the film, I wanted the theme to sit within my ‘In Which We Live’ series, i.e. the verbal content. I wanted to combine the words with the art visuals, the sets, and with the Barbies. Fifi and Elsie, are voicing everyday conversations. These ‘chats’ inform, in their own way, our human histories. I used my mother, Nancy, as the interviewee as it is important to me that I have a record of her voice and her thoughts for when she has gone. I see it as my way of immortalising her.
Below is a Business card I made to give to my Eccles ladies when I film them in my forthcoming project, part of ‘In Which We Live’.
In addition to the above, over the last academic year, I have participated in Talking Point training sessions on Being a Buyer. See Harry Stafford Report and onedrive for detail. And I have completed all BBC Fleet online training in order that I can continue to use their hire cars on any jobs I may get as a Buyer or Petty Cash. Again, please see onedrive for details.
This is the last sentence I am writing before I submit my final unit. Mozart is playing and there is a sadness as it’s all coming to an end. However MFS have equipped me well and I venture forth as an Honours Student! I want to say thank you to all my tutors, Gareth, Peter, Harry and L Gareth – you’ve been supremely marvellous and I will never forget you.
The best quote I heard about working in a Film/TV Art Department was the one from Galaxy Quest:
‘We will never surrender!’
It’s the best line 🙂