Skills Audit and Targets / Final Reflection & Evaluation of skills & Professional Practice11/25/2015
Technical Skills
I think that my technical skills are pretty good as they stand, however there is room for improvement, for example analysing the relationship between music and sound is film and identifying narrative style in a film. I feel that these skills will just come in time as I watch more films and look out for what sound effects and music are used and also keep an eye on the narrative of the film. Although there are things to improve, I feel that the majority of the other skills I am very good at and don't need to revise them anymore. Regulation is how the government and other organisations control what content is aired on television or radio at certain times or whether it is appropriate at all. An example of this is a programme that may contain a lot of adult humor would be inappropriate to air during the day time, while children are vulnerable to watch the content. Programmes like this would normally be aired during the watershed hours, these are 9:00PM - 5:30AM. Companies have been setup to control the content which is put on air. OFCOMOFCOM's main legal duties:
OFCOM basically controls the content which is put on television for several reasons. One reason is that it maybe offensive to the audience. People can complain about programmes to OFCOM if they find it inappropriate. If the programme receives a certain amount of complains then it shall be reviewed and eventually taken off air. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)The ASA controls which adverts are broadcast on television and radio. They receive complaints from viewers and then review them to decide whether the advert should remain or air or not. They produce regular checks on adverts and send out surveys to see whether viewers agree with the adverts that are being broadcast. An example of one advert that the ASA received complaints about was the newest PayPal advert. It shows children excited and waiting for Christmas to arrive. Whenever their parents step in the door they offer to carry their shopping bags for them so they can see the presents inside of the bag, however the parents never have shopping bags. Eventually, you learn that the parents are ordering the presents online instead of going to shops during the Christmas season. This ad received complains because it suggested that Father Christmas is not real which could ruin Christmas for young children. Eventually PayPal agreed to only broadcast their ad at later times when children would not be awake. The talk with Otto was very effective, in my opinion. It made me realise that I want to try and work my way up to be a director or producer. It also made me realise that it doesn't sound as hard as i thought it would be, even though it still is hard.
It was good to listen to a BAFTA award winner about how he got where he is now. He also taught me that it is okay to make mistakes and if you end up doing what you don't want to do then it isn't the end of the world because you can always start over and eventually you will be happy. He reinforced my idea about how you have to keep trying your hardest and eventually you will be noticed in the film industry. Also about how opportunities never show themselves if you don't try yourself. It also made me realise how you can become successful, even starting from nowhere and not even knowing what you want to achieve. He has inspired me and realised that i can achieve big things if i work hard for it. Overall, I think it was a great opportunity to listen to an experienced director about his struggles and triumphs in the industry. It has also given me a couple of ideas about what to and what not to do. When I leave college I hope to become a free lance filmmaker/ videographer. I think it would be an interesting job because you would be able to build your skills from learning from your mistakes. It also would make me feel proud of myself because I could see people happy with something I have created. Free lance also interests me because it looks enjoyable (not particularly easy but interesting). It is a chance to be creative without having to work at a specific time at a specific place everyday. For example, I could set my own hours.
To achieve this, I need to build a good website with a great portfolio of work, which will appeal to customers. I also need to make sure people know why to choose me over other film makers. In other words, I need to appeal to all audiences of people. I also need to build up a good list of contacts or people who represent different companies that I could talk to about creating a contract. The videos that I would focus on is promotional videos and maybe short films if I could find good actors. For a plan B, I shall try to get an apprenticeship somewhere. I understand that it is very difficult to get apprenticeships in some places so I shall start at the bottom, as a runner, and then work my way up showing my skills. ![]() Recently I attended the Encounters Film Festival which is a worldwide festival designed to spotlight new and upcoming film makers. During the two days we spent there, we watched a great number of short films and animations. One film that really stood out to me was a British film named "Patriot". Personally, I connected with this film's meaning and I realised the message the film maker was trying to convey. The film starts off with a family from London who are joined by members of their community. A young girl is singing, this girl's name is Hannah and she is the main protagonist in the film. Her family and members of her community are all very patriotic. The opening scene is set in a back garden decorated with England and Union Jack flags, this gives the audience the idea that the entire community loves their country. We do not know why all of the town is there, and as an audience we do not know their plans, however we do know that they're all planning to do something. The second scene sets place in the kitchen; Hannah has been ordered by her father to get her food from the barbecue so she enters to give her father the food. He instantly orders her to leave the room as he and a few others are "talking business". We can tell that they're talking about how to act when they get to wherever they're going. Hannah is angry because her older brother Jack is allowed to stay in the room so she argues with her dad. Despite this, her brother Jack pushes her out of the kitchen which angers Hannah. Hannah leaves the house and jumps onto her bike which is against a wall outside of the house. As an audience we know that she has decided to run away to punish her family for being so cruel. Her father's ideas about the country have clearly been spread to Hannah as she is wearing an England flag as a cape while riding her bike. Finally she arrives at a corn field, passing people who are picking the crops. The people picking the crops are of a different ethnicity as Hannah, therefore she scowls at them. As she runs through the corn field she gets to a caravan park. She's very curious to who lives there, so she opens the door to one of the caravans and is about to step inside until a boy steps out of the opposite caravan eating something. Hannah feels she is superior to the boy due to her ethnicity and origin. After staring at the boy she says "pick fruit in your own country". A lot of her dad's ideas have definitely rubbed off onto her and she is using her prejudice ideas against people. Hannah runs away. She is scared of the boy and didn't realise what the people who lived in the caravans were actually like. The boy chases her and Hannah trips, cutting her leg badly. The boy says "are you scared?" and Hannah replies "I'm not scared of anybody." Hannah still feels she has the upper hand when talking to this boy so she mentions her dad and how though and strong he is. However the boy has a cocky attitude and says "if anyone comes near me I'll kill them". Hannah doesn't want to be talking to him any longer because she realises that he's pathetic and cocky. She walks over to her bike to get back on but when she looks around the boy is pretending to be a boxer. The two characters at this point try to impress each other. Hannah realises that the boy can box so can't be so weak afterall but I felt like the boy wanted to be impressed too. He asks "do you box?", she replies "sometimes...". He holds up his hand for her to give him a demonstration but she isn't impressive at all. In my opinion, after this point in the film is where the two characters really connect. The boy teaches Hannah how to box. After this happens, Hannah falls to the floor and the boy jumps on top of her. He remains on top of her and she tries to get him off. This reminds me a lot of play fighting but can also been seen as a form of flirting. During this moment, a car pulls up beside them and Hannah's brother steps out. Hannah pushes the boy off of her. Her brother is outraged seeing a boy from a different community flirting with his sister. He shouts at Hannah and demands for her to go home. After Jack leaves, the boy runs back to the caravans, followed by Hannah. Hannah was embarrassed being seen with with a "gypo", as her brother said. But when she finally reached the boys caravan, he had locked himself inside of it. Due to her embarrassment she wanted to show that she wasn't really friends with this boy otherwise her father would not be pleased. She starts bagging on the doors and windows but the boy doesn't answer but pulls the blinds closed. Hannah grabs a rusty metal pole from outside of the caravan and starts hitting the caravan. Then she smashes a window which angers the boy. He steps outside and shouts at her. As part of the audience, I and everyone else was stunned when she hit the boy over the head with the pole. I think that she did it because she was ashamed of connecting with him, and her father would never allow their friendship. She then cycles home. To conclude, I think the message of this film was to emphasise the damage that British citizens can cause to other communities. It also shows how ideas can be carried through upbringing. For example, the father had a dislike for anyone foreign or for immigrants and this quality was also shared by his children, Jack and Hannah. The only criticism I would give the film is that the acting was slightly weak in places but other than that, I thought the film maker had done an amazing job of giving the film a hidden meaning. |
Will TownsendA keen videographer and photographer. Currently studying Level 3 Creative Media Production at SGS WISE Campus, Bristol. Archives
November 2015
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