TASK TWO
Skills audit and SWOT
Skills audit and SWOT are tasks set for me to understand and evaluate my skill set and will help me see how I can use them to progress into the career I want to pursue in the future, being a filmmaker. By reflecting upon my experience, achievements, interests etc. I can see how they play a part in evaluating myself in terms of my ability to work in the film industry and will help me know upon where I can improve and what skills I need to advance in to give me a better opportunity to finding a job in the industry, by expanding my portfolio and show-reel.
Personal characteristics
SocialIn terms of social skills, I believe I can be quite a good listener. This skill will help me in my aspiring career as I will need to listen to people's requirements, ideas, needs etc. As being a director you have to take into account every person on set and know how to cooperate and collaborate with them by listening.
I also believe I can communicate well with people in a team, this is because I am very self-aware as I try to be cautious and thoughtful before speaking. This will help me with my aspiring career, as director's need to be able to communicate their ideas and directions well, in order for their film to be made and for them to capture their vision.
Another social skill I believe I have is the ability to follow direction and cooperate, this is because I enjoy collaborating with people, if they are motivated and passionate about their work. This will be very useful towards working in the film industry, as understanding others needs will help me become a better collaborator.
An example of how I can follow direction can be shown in my previous acting experience. Before I aspired to be a director, I wanted to act. Acting requires a lot of listening and focus as you need to understand your directions from your director. I mainly did theatre acting, however, it taught me how to be a good listener and understand the perspective of actors in film making and theatre.
The previous experience I have is shown below through the links, as they show the acting courses I participated in across the period of 2018.
The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama Summer school:
https://www.cssd.ac.uk/summer-short-courses
Young Actors Company - Screen academy & LAMDA Grade 5:
https://www.theyoungactorscompany.com/cambridge
I few years ago, I took a PPA ( personal profile analysis) by a company called Thomas, who I have linked below. The analysis covered many ways in which I personally am in a work environment. I have photographed a detail of the results to give more insights as to how I am in terms of working.
Website to the Thomas website - https://www.thomas.co/personal-profile-analysis-ppa
Personal
In terms of personal skills I have gained overtime by working with people, I have found that I am self-discipline and focused. These two skills have become hugely part of my life when reflecting upon my creative work as they have helped me feel reassured, as I have learned that I can only do my best and push for improvement. These skills will help me in the future, especially when working in the film industry, as being focused and disciplined with deadlines is very much needed as it allows for employers to trust that you will produce your best work.
To give an example of how I am self-disciplined and focused, can be shown through the schedules and 'to do lists' I create for myself with my projects. To show this, I have put some images of my most recent schedules for one of my projects below:
To give an example of how I am self-disciplined and focused, can be shown through the schedules and 'to do lists' I create for myself with my projects. To show this, I have put some images of my most recent schedules for one of my projects below:
If I am inspired, I tend to be very motivated, this is both when I am working on personal projects and college projects. Being motivated is very much needed when working in film because motivation allows people in a team to feel passionate about their work/project.
Most of my motivation comes from film. I'm incredibly invested in learning about film-making and watch documentaries and interviews on how films are created. I often watch Bafta GURU talks of screenplay writers and directors who I admire, and learn how they create and write their films. I also try to watch 'a film a night' and have recently been exploring more old film and learning it's original masters. For instance, I recently watched a film called Captains courageous by the director Victor Fleming, I also watched a classic film called Citizen Kane directed by Olson Welles and I watched a film called Tokyo Story by Yasujirō Ozu. All of which I thoroughly enjoyed and they each helped me see the different techniques of cinematography and directing.
I also have attended two film festivals in the past year, both are local, one is known as the Cambridge Film Festival and the other is called Water-sprite Film Festival, where I watched films and talks from industry professionals.
I also run an Instagram account called 'skye.aep' dedicated to editing films. Although the films are not my own, I edit scenes together, layer audios and add visual effects to them. I have been editing films in this way for roughly around two years and have grown tremendously in terms of my knowledge on effects. I have shown some examples of my edits in my 'hard skills' description.
Another personal skill I believe I retain is self-reflection, I find this important when faced with a new work as I like to return to past projects and see how I can better skill set and output as a creative individual. This will help me with my aspiring career as I will need to reflect upon where I can improve my work, in terms of film making. Lastly, I believe I am quite organised and good with my timekeeping, although I can slip into bad routines of sleeping schedule, I tend to hit deadlines and try to be punctual to events, work etc. This skill is incredibly important towards the career of film making, that I want to pursue, because you need to be trusted by others, by being manageable with your time and work.
Most of my motivation comes from film. I'm incredibly invested in learning about film-making and watch documentaries and interviews on how films are created. I often watch Bafta GURU talks of screenplay writers and directors who I admire, and learn how they create and write their films. I also try to watch 'a film a night' and have recently been exploring more old film and learning it's original masters. For instance, I recently watched a film called Captains courageous by the director Victor Fleming, I also watched a classic film called Citizen Kane directed by Olson Welles and I watched a film called Tokyo Story by Yasujirō Ozu. All of which I thoroughly enjoyed and they each helped me see the different techniques of cinematography and directing.
I also have attended two film festivals in the past year, both are local, one is known as the Cambridge Film Festival and the other is called Water-sprite Film Festival, where I watched films and talks from industry professionals.
I also run an Instagram account called 'skye.aep' dedicated to editing films. Although the films are not my own, I edit scenes together, layer audios and add visual effects to them. I have been editing films in this way for roughly around two years and have grown tremendously in terms of my knowledge on effects. I have shown some examples of my edits in my 'hard skills' description.
Another personal skill I believe I retain is self-reflection, I find this important when faced with a new work as I like to return to past projects and see how I can better skill set and output as a creative individual. This will help me with my aspiring career as I will need to reflect upon where I can improve my work, in terms of film making. Lastly, I believe I am quite organised and good with my timekeeping, although I can slip into bad routines of sleeping schedule, I tend to hit deadlines and try to be punctual to events, work etc. This skill is incredibly important towards the career of film making, that I want to pursue, because you need to be trusted by others, by being manageable with your time and work.
Soft skills
The soft skills that I believe I have are thinking creatively, however, this only comes when I feel inspired or motivated. This is very important towards film making as its sole purpose is to create and tell stories that come from one's imaginative ideas. To give some examples of my creative ideas, that eventually were created into projects, I have collected a small group of my creative work and have shown it below. All the work is from college projects and personal projects.
(Although the videos below combine hard skills, I have tried to show the progression from one creative thought to its final outcome. )
College project - Mini Final major project:
The images below are from the storyboard's I created for this Mini Final Major project, and the video below them is the final cut of the short film I created for the project. The project was based upon visual and special effects and as you can see in the sketches below they show my initial ideas of my creative thinking.
Song experiment w/ footage
This personal project was never fully completed, however it executes some of my creative thinking as the video footage was spontaneous and I thought when editing that I should use a song demo to put beneath the visuals to see what project it would produce. Although it is not finished, it helps execute my ways of artistic and creative ways of thinking.
I also feel that I am good at working through conflict and believe this helps me when working with others in a team as I avoid any conflict by making sure people in my 'team' are prepared, reassured and motivated. This skill will help me in the film industry as conflicts do occur and being able to solve them quickly will avoid any further issues when collaborating with employers etc.
(Although the videos below combine hard skills, I have tried to show the progression from one creative thought to its final outcome. )
College project - Mini Final major project:
The images below are from the storyboard's I created for this Mini Final Major project, and the video below them is the final cut of the short film I created for the project. The project was based upon visual and special effects and as you can see in the sketches below they show my initial ideas of my creative thinking.
This personal project was never fully completed, however it executes some of my creative thinking as the video footage was spontaneous and I thought when editing that I should use a song demo to put beneath the visuals to see what project it would produce. Although it is not finished, it helps execute my ways of artistic and creative ways of thinking.
Time management is another soft skill I feel that I retain as I tend to be well organised so that I can complete all my tasks to a satisfactory standard. To deal with deadlines, I create my own personal schedules and tick sheets so I know how far I am in my process and become aware of what needs priority. Again, time management in film making is hugely important and this skill will help me learn how to prioritize and be organised when facing deadlines in the industry and work in general.
The other soft skills I think I retain are ambition, adaptability and decisiveness, this is because I feel that when I am given a new project to complete, I persevere using my passion to succeed. I feel I can also adapt to new environments well, as long as I am around people I trust. When discussing ideas I feel I am quite decisive as I know what I don't want, this skill will help me in the film industry, as it will allow me to cut out any poor ideas quickly and move on with the project.
Hard skills
I also have hard skills in script formatting, using a software called Celtx. I have skills in pre production work in film making, such as story boarding, risk assessments, health and safety legal forms and camerawork skills, which have all come with creating projects for college films and photo shoots. To give evidence of this, I have listed below examples of my work.
Film Edit of Call Me by Your Name (2017) - Software skills and Editing
The video below exhibits my editing practice, using the program After Effects 2020. I wanted to use footage from my favourite film and see what editing visuals, ideas I could come up with, using an audio I found on Instagram. This was a personal project I created myself, to see what way I could incorporate symbolism through the use of actual art (as seen in the two photos below) with film scenes.
(Set the video to 1080p for better quality!)
The video below exhibits my After Effects skills in animation. This video was for a college project to test my abilities on learning how to use presets and also for me to learn new hard skills by brining dialogue on a script to life through the use of animated text. Although I only know basic animation using After Effects, I can use the various 'warp' effects and can create many types of transitions.
I also have knowledge in the program Premiere Pro, where I know basic editing of cutting clips, adding coloring's, text etc. I have linked a video below of a personal project where I practised basic editing using overlays, text and cutting clips, using footage from a film. I have also used Premiere Pro to edit short films for college projects. However, I am not confident in showcasing them as I believe they are not at a satisfactory standard to show.
Film Edit of Beautiful boy (2018) - Software skills and Editing
The video below exhibits my editing practise of using the program Premiere Pro 2020. In this edit, I tried to focus on themes and narrative within context of the film, while also incorporating my practise of hard skills and learning more about timing with cutting clips and experimenting with ratio, as you can see in the video, I added a super 16 ratio overlay.
My hard skills also range in the Adobe program Photoshop. Although I only know the basis of Photoshop, I can still have the skills to be able to create GIFs, mask, filter, text and warp images. Photoshop allows me, alike After Effects, to manipulate images by adding varied effects to give the illusion of a creation or to enhance a visual.
College Film Poster Project - Software skills and Editing
For this college project, I had to create a film poster using the program Photoshop. As you can see in the last image, it depicts a very edited version of the two above, which shows my progression from the creative idea, to the hard skills of manipulating an image through the use of masking, colouring and text on Photoshop.
For this college project, I had to combine both my Adobe iIllustrator skills with my photoshop skills and create a personalised wallpaper. The illustrations you see below, I created on Illustrator using shape tools. The layered images and print was created on Photoshop, where I learned hard skills of ratios in formats and layouts.
I also have hard skills in the program Adobe Illustrator, as I briefly spoke of above. In Illustrator, I can create 2d shapes, wallpaper, characters, sketches and general graphics. I have shown below some use Illustrator work that I have created both in my personal time and for a college project. I find Illustrator, very good for creating graphic designs, then using After effects as a program to animate the graphics through.
Personal project - 2d graphic drawing
For this project, I wanted to test my shape skills on Illustrator and ended up creating a graphic 2d visual of the singer Rihanna For this I traced over an image and then created all the shapes for her facial features and manipulated them using the tool panel magic pen markers.
College project - Game design 2d graphics
For this project, I had to create a graphic design layout for an animated game. I created every object and character seen in the image below and design layers of paths for my character to follow in order for them to collect their coin icon. I found this graphic design task, at college, to be enjoyable as I was allowed creative freedom with the structure and layout of the illustrations.
The first screenplay shown below is one I created for a personal project, it is in the works and only covers one scene. The second screenplay is from a college project.
[The scripts are on edit mode, please do not delete or edit anything.]
Cadeau - Personal screenplay - https://www.celtx.com/a/ux/scripteditor?id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.celtx.com%2Ffeeds%2Fdefault%2Fprivate%2Ffull%2Fa28dceb9d85b477763a7cf477db252934b9d291h#noreload
Under the Tongue - College screenplay - https://www.celtx.com/a/ux/scripteditor?id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.celtx.com%2Ffeeds%2Fdefault%2Fprivate%2Ffull%2F92cded1f4893bcc8c06ef39d51380b38535ed3ch#noreload
Relevant achievements
My revenant achievements conclude of the following:
Secondary qualification:
4 - Maths
4 - Hair and Beauty
5/5 - Combined science
5/5 - English Literature and Language
7 - Drama
7 - History
4 - Maths
4 - Hair and Beauty
5/5 - Combined science
5/5 - English Literature and Language
7 - Drama
7 - History
Guitar Grading:
Grade One - Merit
Grade One - Merit
Drama LAMDA Grading:
Grade Five - Merit
Grade Five - Merit
Experience and interests
To cover my experiences and interests, I have shown below my current CV that discusses my previous work experience, however, only one of them is related to the media industry, being my three day paid acting experience as a extra on the set fo Eastenders. I also had work experience lined up, for this last term, with a production company called RSA Films. However, because of the current lockdown in the UK, I was not able to attend.
My interests are based in film making and music. I enjoy playing the piano (although I am very amateur and self-taught) and I also play guitar, which I spent a year taking lessons in. As hobbies, I find both ways of expression to be very therapeutic and help me explore the creative sides of myself, as I like to make songs using chords I have learned and I do occasionally experiments using an app called Garage Band where I compose music for some of my short films.
As I mentioned earlier, I spend a lot of time learning about filmmakers and try to uncover and absorb as much knowledge as I can, because I am passionate and find it interesting, but it will also help me in my aspirations as a filmmaker because having a depth of knowledge of film is necessary for being a director. One of the ways in which I find new films is by attending a film club at my college, where films from across varied genres and nationalities are shown. This has helped me profoundly in growing my taste and education on film.
My interests are based in film making and music. I enjoy playing the piano (although I am very amateur and self-taught) and I also play guitar, which I spent a year taking lessons in. As hobbies, I find both ways of expression to be very therapeutic and help me explore the creative sides of myself, as I like to make songs using chords I have learned and I do occasionally experiments using an app called Garage Band where I compose music for some of my short films.
As I mentioned earlier, I spend a lot of time learning about filmmakers and try to uncover and absorb as much knowledge as I can, because I am passionate and find it interesting, but it will also help me in my aspirations as a filmmaker because having a depth of knowledge of film is necessary for being a director. One of the ways in which I find new films is by attending a film club at my college, where films from across varied genres and nationalities are shown. This has helped me profoundly in growing my taste and education on film.
SWOT
Swot stands for - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.
Strengths:
Overall, discussing my strengths, I feel comfortable working in a team, as I thoroughly enjoy collaborating with other creative individuals that have a passion for film making. I also am comfortable with challenging myself as I believe I work quite well under pressure and try to be organised with my planning of projects, e.g. pre-production, forming schedules, hitting deadlines etc.
I also find some of my strengths conclude of hard skills within using the Adobe Creative Cloud, however, this only concludes of only the following programs, After Effects, Illustrator, Premiere Pro and Photoshop. I have accessible resources to accessing these programs, as I am fortunate enough to own a Mac book.
My other strengths are my soft skills, I believe I am quite a good listener and I feel that I can follow and understand instructions well. I also believe I am self-motivated and decisive in my actions. Especially when I work independently as I am incredibly motivated to complete projects and see what learning curves and experiences they bring to me. I am also very decisive when directing short films and tend to be specific on what visuals I want to portray.
My soft skills also include responsibility, as I trust within my self, that I have full authority over my decisions and actions. This is particularly provident when I direct, as I am aware that the weight of the project rests upon my shoulders and if any issues occur, I need to solve them practically by taking responsibility in order for them to not happen again.
My ambitions and aims consist of many things, although some are not career related, they still apply to my aspirations. My main ambitions are to be a film maker and screenplay writer. I would like to be successful, meaning that I can earn a living from my career choice. However, my main goal is to have a career that I love and am passionate about doing.
I also want to be able to meet people globally and learn their stories, in hope of finding more human connection and understanding of the world, through other people's journeys. I also would like to try documentary film making as I watch many Vice and BBC documentaries on global issues and learn more about the social, historical and environmental issues are world if facing, and my aim is to shed light upon them through storytelling in film.
Weaknesses:
The main weaknesses I struggle with and want to improve upon, is my self-depreciating and self-doubtful thoughts. I have a tendency to becoming very pessimistic and believe I am not good enough. However, I am aware that I need to work through this and must build a better relationship with myself in order for me to succeed in the future.
I also would like to improve upon some of my soft skills too by adopting a more leadership mindset and quality towards my work, because if I want to direct films, I must be willing to be confident in my choices and allow myself more control and focus within my collaborative projects.
When discussing my weaknesses, the lack of equipment I own is very provident. Although I have a Mac-book, I do not have own the following filming equipment needed to shoot films, camera (that works properly with good quality), tripod, boom kit, dolly and LCD monitor. In order to retain this needed equipment, I will be searching for a part time job, so that I can start saving money towards my purchase of these items.
To conclude, the main things that I would like to do but can't, is collaborate with other aspiring film makers like my self to create short films, this is due to my lack of connections between film makers, as I would love to learn practically and be able to work with new people who want to pursue a career in film. I also would like to begin runner jobs around the UK for production companies, as I believe it will help me learn a lot about the dynamics of film making and understanding how professionals in the industry work.
Opportunities:
There are many opportunities I can take, in order for me to pursue my career as a filmmaker. One opportunity that is open to me, is to attend film term and summer courses, this can teach me more about the practicality of filmmaking, and I can be given advice and tips from people who work directly in the industry. Although I would need to save money to afford these classes, I believe they are very educational and informative.
Another opportunity I could take, is going to University or Film School, where I can study filmmaking, collaborate with aspiring filmmakers like myself and create a directional show reel showcasing my projects and short films. This will help me gain experience and expand on my portfolio. However, again there are issues with finance as Universities are expensive (around £9,250 per year) and Film Schools are even more expensive and can range to be around £35,000 for two years of studying. Although many directors have attended Film School and it has helped them access equipment, connections and build a solidified team of partners to continue producing films with.
Another opportunity I could take, is attending film festivals and networking with people who work in the industry, and try to give them a taster of my filmmaking work to see if they would be interested in producing or collaborating on a film idea I have. Also networking through film festivals allows me to make connections.
Once I build a strong enough portfolio, it is recommended for directors and writers to have agents, as they can help them reach out to production companies that suit their aesthetic or style of working and will hopefully find finance for creating a film. The opportunity of having an agent is very hard, however, it is no impossible. The link here https://nofilmschool.com/How-to-get-an-agent discusses the varied ways I could find an agent for being a writer or director.
Lastly, the fourth opportunity I have to become a filmmaker, is to gain work experience as a runner and work on production sets. This will help me learn practically how film sets work, first hand, and will help me tremendously with understanding how directors work on set, alongside their crew. Also, if you are a successful runner and gain reputation at being a good production assistant, you can be called back for other projects and slowly work your way up to becoming a director. However, the main issue with doing this is that financially it does not pay well and I would need to have a part time job on the side and working your way up into the industry as a runner takes years. However, it is very useful for gaining the most experience about filmmaking.
Threats:
The main threats I face that may limit me from pursuing my goals and main aspiration to become a filmmaker, is finance and connections. The funding and cost to make a film is a huge part of the process and it can be very hard to find production companies that are willing to finance a film, as competition is high.
The finance for attending Film School, University, Film courses can be very expensive and in order for me to retain money to afford to access any of these opportunities, I will end up in debt due to taking loans out, if I go into further education. Or I will have to keep up a part time job that pays a decent amount for the film courses.
Finance for retaining equipment needed to film with, such as a decent camera, tripod, boom kit etc. can be very hard, as these can be costly. Although filmmakers say to 'use your phone cameras', they do not give the best quality and can lack in storage. Also filming with a phone is restricting in terms of the camera's aperture, lighting etc. The financial cost of equipment is a threat to me as I will have to save money, which means using more time, towards working earning money to purchase these necessities used to shoot a film.
Another threat I face is connections and lack of networking, although social media has branched out a broader more accessible way of people finding social relations and colleagues, it is still hard to find genuine people who are willing to collaborate. However, it is not impossible, but due to the high competitiveness of the film industry, standing out from the crowd can be hard and I need to keep an optimistic mindset in order for me to continue my aim to get connections and persevere.
Lastly, the other threat I face is finding an agent, as I previously spoke above, having an agent is very useful as they can help you expand your networking with production companies and can help you get financing for your film. However, getting an agent in the first place is very hard as the area I live in, is not very film based and in order for me to showcase my work to talent agents, I would mostly likely need to travel to London in order for me to meet the agents face to face. Or I would have to send it via online, but the competitiveness is also a threat due to agents being in high demand.
Overall, discussing my strengths, I feel comfortable working in a team, as I thoroughly enjoy collaborating with other creative individuals that have a passion for film making. I also am comfortable with challenging myself as I believe I work quite well under pressure and try to be organised with my planning of projects, e.g. pre-production, forming schedules, hitting deadlines etc.
I also find some of my strengths conclude of hard skills within using the Adobe Creative Cloud, however, this only concludes of only the following programs, After Effects, Illustrator, Premiere Pro and Photoshop. I have accessible resources to accessing these programs, as I am fortunate enough to own a Mac book.
My other strengths are my soft skills, I believe I am quite a good listener and I feel that I can follow and understand instructions well. I also believe I am self-motivated and decisive in my actions. Especially when I work independently as I am incredibly motivated to complete projects and see what learning curves and experiences they bring to me. I am also very decisive when directing short films and tend to be specific on what visuals I want to portray.
My soft skills also include responsibility, as I trust within my self, that I have full authority over my decisions and actions. This is particularly provident when I direct, as I am aware that the weight of the project rests upon my shoulders and if any issues occur, I need to solve them practically by taking responsibility in order for them to not happen again.
My ambitions and aims consist of many things, although some are not career related, they still apply to my aspirations. My main ambitions are to be a film maker and screenplay writer. I would like to be successful, meaning that I can earn a living from my career choice. However, my main goal is to have a career that I love and am passionate about doing.
I also want to be able to meet people globally and learn their stories, in hope of finding more human connection and understanding of the world, through other people's journeys. I also would like to try documentary film making as I watch many Vice and BBC documentaries on global issues and learn more about the social, historical and environmental issues are world if facing, and my aim is to shed light upon them through storytelling in film.
Weaknesses:
The main weaknesses I struggle with and want to improve upon, is my self-depreciating and self-doubtful thoughts. I have a tendency to becoming very pessimistic and believe I am not good enough. However, I am aware that I need to work through this and must build a better relationship with myself in order for me to succeed in the future.
I also would like to improve upon some of my soft skills too by adopting a more leadership mindset and quality towards my work, because if I want to direct films, I must be willing to be confident in my choices and allow myself more control and focus within my collaborative projects.
When discussing my weaknesses, the lack of equipment I own is very provident. Although I have a Mac-book, I do not have own the following filming equipment needed to shoot films, camera (that works properly with good quality), tripod, boom kit, dolly and LCD monitor. In order to retain this needed equipment, I will be searching for a part time job, so that I can start saving money towards my purchase of these items.
To conclude, the main things that I would like to do but can't, is collaborate with other aspiring film makers like my self to create short films, this is due to my lack of connections between film makers, as I would love to learn practically and be able to work with new people who want to pursue a career in film. I also would like to begin runner jobs around the UK for production companies, as I believe it will help me learn a lot about the dynamics of film making and understanding how professionals in the industry work.
Opportunities:
There are many opportunities I can take, in order for me to pursue my career as a filmmaker. One opportunity that is open to me, is to attend film term and summer courses, this can teach me more about the practicality of filmmaking, and I can be given advice and tips from people who work directly in the industry. Although I would need to save money to afford these classes, I believe they are very educational and informative.
Another opportunity I could take, is going to University or Film School, where I can study filmmaking, collaborate with aspiring filmmakers like myself and create a directional show reel showcasing my projects and short films. This will help me gain experience and expand on my portfolio. However, again there are issues with finance as Universities are expensive (around £9,250 per year) and Film Schools are even more expensive and can range to be around £35,000 for two years of studying. Although many directors have attended Film School and it has helped them access equipment, connections and build a solidified team of partners to continue producing films with.
Another opportunity I could take, is attending film festivals and networking with people who work in the industry, and try to give them a taster of my filmmaking work to see if they would be interested in producing or collaborating on a film idea I have. Also networking through film festivals allows me to make connections.
Once I build a strong enough portfolio, it is recommended for directors and writers to have agents, as they can help them reach out to production companies that suit their aesthetic or style of working and will hopefully find finance for creating a film. The opportunity of having an agent is very hard, however, it is no impossible. The link here https://nofilmschool.com/How-to-get-an-agent discusses the varied ways I could find an agent for being a writer or director.
Lastly, the fourth opportunity I have to become a filmmaker, is to gain work experience as a runner and work on production sets. This will help me learn practically how film sets work, first hand, and will help me tremendously with understanding how directors work on set, alongside their crew. Also, if you are a successful runner and gain reputation at being a good production assistant, you can be called back for other projects and slowly work your way up to becoming a director. However, the main issue with doing this is that financially it does not pay well and I would need to have a part time job on the side and working your way up into the industry as a runner takes years. However, it is very useful for gaining the most experience about filmmaking.
Threats:
The main threats I face that may limit me from pursuing my goals and main aspiration to become a filmmaker, is finance and connections. The funding and cost to make a film is a huge part of the process and it can be very hard to find production companies that are willing to finance a film, as competition is high.
The finance for attending Film School, University, Film courses can be very expensive and in order for me to retain money to afford to access any of these opportunities, I will end up in debt due to taking loans out, if I go into further education. Or I will have to keep up a part time job that pays a decent amount for the film courses.
Finance for retaining equipment needed to film with, such as a decent camera, tripod, boom kit etc. can be very hard, as these can be costly. Although filmmakers say to 'use your phone cameras', they do not give the best quality and can lack in storage. Also filming with a phone is restricting in terms of the camera's aperture, lighting etc. The financial cost of equipment is a threat to me as I will have to save money, which means using more time, towards working earning money to purchase these necessities used to shoot a film.
Another threat I face is connections and lack of networking, although social media has branched out a broader more accessible way of people finding social relations and colleagues, it is still hard to find genuine people who are willing to collaborate. However, it is not impossible, but due to the high competitiveness of the film industry, standing out from the crowd can be hard and I need to keep an optimistic mindset in order for me to continue my aim to get connections and persevere.
Lastly, the other threat I face is finding an agent, as I previously spoke above, having an agent is very useful as they can help you expand your networking with production companies and can help you get financing for your film. However, getting an agent in the first place is very hard as the area I live in, is not very film based and in order for me to showcase my work to talent agents, I would mostly likely need to travel to London in order for me to meet the agents face to face. Or I would have to send it via online, but the competitiveness is also a threat due to agents being in high demand.
SWOT Analysis - Personal Development Opportunities
One of the areas I would like to personally expand upon and want to be more confident in pursuing, is networking with people, as I can sometimes let my shyness prevent me from being more social and expressive in my way of thinking. This is a soft skill that I need to improve upon, as I can listen well, but it is mainly my lack of confidence that gets in the way of me expressing my creative ideas when networking.
To learn more about the importance and technique of networking, I researched a few articles and video on industry professionals advice on how to network with producers.
The video and article shown below is from an article I found on the website, Medium, which offers a variety of articles for free online. The video is an interview of a director called Markus Redmond who describes the film industry as a business. The key points he made towards networking was to make sure that you are targeting your film or script to the right 'brand', as a film is very dependant upon which studio's hands the film is in, as they can end up determining whether the film is successful or not. Redmond also recommended that you should always have another 'thing' to offer, meaning a project, film, script etc. that you are creating. As it is very important to be continuously working as the film industry is fast paced and competitive. Lastly, Redmond spoke of mindset and how a person decides how they perceive and react to a situation, he said that even if you 'brand' isn't right for the one you we're targeting, keep trying as there will be one that works, it just takes patience.
Here is the link to the article - https://medium.com/film-courage/honest-talk-about-connections-in-hollywood-by-markus-redmond-b4b0266e4a49
I found Redmond's points to be very insightful and his advice has helped me understand more about how I should approach rejection; though keeping a resilient mindset. He also helped me reflect upon networking through a different perspective and made me realise that I should treat it as more of a business opportunity, as money is one of the main motivations studio's are wanting.
The article below is from a writer who discusses the advice they learned about networking from attending a film festival. The four key points they learned were the following: to be authentic, to not make the conversation about yourself, to not tell them you're a writer and to know your pitch like the back of your hand.
Here is the link to the article - https://medium.com/@Stage32online/3-networking-tips-to-get-producers-to-choose-you-82fbf55b7b3e
The repeated reference to needing authenticity helped me understand that conversing when networking should be organic and that a persona or 'front' should not be encouraged as the producers want to be interested and understanding towards you as a person, even before you mention your idea.
The point mentioned upon not dominating the conversation with yourself helped me learn that I as the person who is pitching, should ask the producers about themselves and their work, as this allows me to find common ground and connection, then I can lead into the discussion of ideas. I also found it interesting that the article recommended not to say you are a writer, as they would prefer to build a relationship overtime with the producer, instead of rushing into the self-indulgent conversation.
Lastly, the final point the article mentions on being enriched in your pitch idea emphasised to me that I should practise pitching my ideas to family and friends, and continuously repeat it until I feel that I have grasped the scope of my idea. I will also continue to do this with future projects, but starting now will help prepare me for the future. Overall, I found this article to be very insightful and educational as it gave me a brief yet informative view of how I should approach networking.
To learn more about the importance and technique of networking, I researched a few articles and video on industry professionals advice on how to network with producers.
The video and article shown below is from an article I found on the website, Medium, which offers a variety of articles for free online. The video is an interview of a director called Markus Redmond who describes the film industry as a business. The key points he made towards networking was to make sure that you are targeting your film or script to the right 'brand', as a film is very dependant upon which studio's hands the film is in, as they can end up determining whether the film is successful or not. Redmond also recommended that you should always have another 'thing' to offer, meaning a project, film, script etc. that you are creating. As it is very important to be continuously working as the film industry is fast paced and competitive. Lastly, Redmond spoke of mindset and how a person decides how they perceive and react to a situation, he said that even if you 'brand' isn't right for the one you we're targeting, keep trying as there will be one that works, it just takes patience.
Here is the link to the article - https://medium.com/film-courage/honest-talk-about-connections-in-hollywood-by-markus-redmond-b4b0266e4a49
I found Redmond's points to be very insightful and his advice has helped me understand more about how I should approach rejection; though keeping a resilient mindset. He also helped me reflect upon networking through a different perspective and made me realise that I should treat it as more of a business opportunity, as money is one of the main motivations studio's are wanting.
The article below is from a writer who discusses the advice they learned about networking from attending a film festival. The four key points they learned were the following: to be authentic, to not make the conversation about yourself, to not tell them you're a writer and to know your pitch like the back of your hand.
Here is the link to the article - https://medium.com/@Stage32online/3-networking-tips-to-get-producers-to-choose-you-82fbf55b7b3e
The repeated reference to needing authenticity helped me understand that conversing when networking should be organic and that a persona or 'front' should not be encouraged as the producers want to be interested and understanding towards you as a person, even before you mention your idea.
The point mentioned upon not dominating the conversation with yourself helped me learn that I as the person who is pitching, should ask the producers about themselves and their work, as this allows me to find common ground and connection, then I can lead into the discussion of ideas. I also found it interesting that the article recommended not to say you are a writer, as they would prefer to build a relationship overtime with the producer, instead of rushing into the self-indulgent conversation.
Lastly, the final point the article mentions on being enriched in your pitch idea emphasised to me that I should practise pitching my ideas to family and friends, and continuously repeat it until I feel that I have grasped the scope of my idea. I will also continue to do this with future projects, but starting now will help prepare me for the future. Overall, I found this article to be very insightful and educational as it gave me a brief yet informative view of how I should approach networking.
Another soft skill that I would like to improve upon, is my team spirit and stress management, as I sometimes let my pessimistic mindset prevent me from being creative and being uplifting to people I work with in a team. To improve upon this, I will need to find a better way of coping with stress, and have to be more experimental and logical in my thinking, as I can deal with pressure, but when issues occur, sometimes I struggle to see ways I can alternate and improve upon the problem.
More soft skills that I want to improve upon and become more confident in is my directing and coaching skills, as I have little experience with directing and would like to do as much of it as I can, in order for me to find my own ways and techniques of approaching filmmaking and learning how I collaborate best. Especially as I want to pursue it as a career.
I want to improve upon my hard skills within my Adobe Creative Cloud, such as After Effects, as I only know many basics, and I want to improve upon my knowledge in Premiere Pro, for the same reasons, to expand upon my editing. I would also like in the near future to use Sony Vegas Software as an editing program too, as I have seen many editors using that program and the work they produce looks highly professional and effective in cutting film, adding effects etc. I also want to improve upon my camera skills both in understanding the varied types of camera lenses, tripods and varied techniques I can use to shoot film with, as it will help me be more creative as a filmmaker.
I would also like to build more experience in writing screenplays as I find it very enjoyable and love the process of forming characters, narratives etc. To do this I will need to invest more time in reading books and screenplays to improve upon my writing techniques and learn from professionals, and how they stylised their scripts, in order for me to experiment and find my own. I would also love to gain more experience in film by attending film festivals, work shops and do work experience at production companies. As all three of these opportunities will help me build a deeper knowledge in filmmaking and can help me expand my connections, in hope that I will learn and grow as an aspiring director.
To conclude, all of the above covers how I can improve myself within retaining experience so that I can gain and expand upon my knowledge to help me find different routes into the industry. I believe it is most important that I work upon my soft skills first, in order for me to be successful at attending events, networking etc. As having confidence and a solidified creative process and way of thinking, will help me exceed in the future as I need people to trust within myself and my ideas, in order for me to create films. As the film industry is competitive, I have to be able to make myself stand out and be taken seriously and professionally, in doing so this comes with me needing to explore and experiment with my creativity by expanding upon my skills and knowledge in this sector of media.
To conclude, all of the above covers how I can improve myself within retaining experience so that I can gain and expand upon my knowledge to help me find different routes into the industry. I believe it is most important that I work upon my soft skills first, in order for me to be successful at attending events, networking etc. As having confidence and a solidified creative process and way of thinking, will help me exceed in the future as I need people to trust within myself and my ideas, in order for me to create films. As the film industry is competitive, I have to be able to make myself stand out and be taken seriously and professionally, in doing so this comes with me needing to explore and experiment with my creativity by expanding upon my skills and knowledge in this sector of media.
Skills Audit - Questions
Creativity - Researching for new ideas, problem solving, being able to realise and fulfil ideas.
I believe I am skilled at researching, creating new ideas and persevering when I am faced with challenges. Throughout my college projects, particularly when I wrote and directed two of my short films for my mini final major project and my final major project in my first year, I learnt that I can organise myself and others well. For both projects I created personalised schedules for each person who was on my team, this was important as it allowed me to be prepared for errors as I know not everything goes as planned and to reach my deadlines.
An example of a project that made me realised I am skilled in being persistent and dedicated with my work was when I recently collaborated on a short educational film with a researcher. When creating this project I had to write a script from reading through their research and then create a graphic design stylised film. I found this project to be the most challenging one I have ever worked on and at many times I felt like giving up due to my lack of belief in myself and motivation, however, I was persistent and pushed through as it was a good experience to learn from and taught me to persevere no matter the outcome and to accept it as an experience that will help me develop my skills within media.
Overtime, I have grown to believe that I am good at researching for new ideas, inspiration and finding influences on projects. When I was working on my final major project last year, I watched five films, many interviews and read a book about mental health, which was the theme my project was based around. As I explored these various media sources, I learnt how to dissect information and use it to my advantage by forming my own narrative and idea while also drawing influence from my research.
Organisation - meeting deadlines, punctuality instructing others, creating the necessary paper trial.
Throughout this course I believe my organisation skills have been quite good. I always make sure I am not behind on any of my tasks, I try to hand in most of my projects early in order for me to add improvements and receiving feedback from my mentors. Although, it does take me a long time to complete my work as I am a slow learner, I have found that working for roughly six hours a day during the week gives me enough time to finish my tasks, the only issue is this can be very draining and take a toll on me mentally, but this technique keeps me organised and allows me to hit deadlines.
For my lessons, both remotely and in college I am punctual. I sometimes struggle with being on time for my online lessons due to my poor connection, but majority of the time I arrive punctually.
When discussing my punctuality in instructing others I can sometimes be quite poor due to my lack of confidence and self-belief. For instance, when I directed our recent music video project I let my anxiousness get the better of me and became sloppy in my directing by not communicating clearly with my team. I am aware this is an issue I need to work on personally as I do not want my lack of self-esteem to get in the way of helping others and achieving my goal as a filmmaker. Learning from this experience, for my next projects I am going to make sure to push through my anxiousness and self-deprecating thoughts by focusing on the task more and plan clearly what I need from my team members in order to collaborate and communicate better with them, so that they can succeed in the project and I can develop my skills in the role of the director.
When it comes to planning projects and being organised, I like to create schedules and to-do lists of what I need to be complete. In my previous short film projects that I have collaborated on in college, I created a bullet point list of tasks that needed to be finished and their deadlines. This technique of organisation helped reduce my stress and allowed me to focus and prioritise my work.
Technical - What software skills do you have - what are you confident in using? How skilled are you with the camera, lighting, sound etc.
Since I started the media level three diploma course, I have grown to be most confident in the software After Effects, this is because I have taught myself a variety effects and have watched many tutorials which allowed me to create film edits in my spare time as a hobby and has even lead me to create an instagram account where I specifically post film edits that I have edited using After effects. However, it was not an easy journey for me when understanding the basics of this software, at first I struggled terribly but had to learn to be patient with myself and keep practising.
Overtime I have learnt on After effects how to cut, colour, add overlays, zoom effects, spin effects, add text, track and mask footage/images/text. I also have learnt how to create some visual effects when working on class projects. A recent skill I learnt in class by watching tutorials was how to change a green screen background and create a visual effect of fire burning.
When discussing other softwares, I am feel knowledgeable and somewhat confident in using Illustrator, Premiere Pro and Photoshop, however I only feel I know the basics of these softwares and would like to expand upon my hard skills within them more. Using Illustrator I know how to transform and create shapes and objects, change their colour and add text layers. Using Premiere Pro I know how to cut footage, add text, colour grade, mask and add shapes. Using Photoshop I know how to blend the layers of images, add overlays, mask images and use text.
Overall, I feel least confident in Photoshop and Premiere Pro, to develop and expand upon my skills within these softwares I am going to watch Youtube tutorials and practise creating different effects.
I believe I have basic skills when working with cameras, I am confident in changing the white balance, aperture and focus on the lens. I can also set up the camera so it is connected to a tripod or dolly. However, I would love to expand upon my camera skills more as I am interested in cinematography and believe it would benefit me greatly towards making future short films.
Lastly, I have good skills and confidence when using lighting and sound. I know how to use LED lights on set and a boom kit.
Performance - Do you have any music video specific skills (dancing, guitar playing etc.)
I can play the guitar, I know the basics and have a grade one certificate in the instrument. I also have some experience playing piano, however I am only self-taught and know how to come up with melodies but do not know any chords. I also used to act and have lots of experience in acting as I have previously attended two different acting courses and took it as GCSE. However, I am not very comfortable preforming to people and tend to play these instruments as a form of therapy not for entertainment.
Persistence - do you get things done?
One of the only things I believe I am good at is getting work done, I am very persistent. This is mainly because I can become easily overwhelmed and do not like to fall behind. I complete my tasks on time and try to make sure they are to a satisfactory standard, however this is not always the case and I frequently improve upon my work by asking for feedback.
An example of a project I have shown persistence on was my final major project in my first year. This project was cancelled in terms of marking but we are allowed to continue making it if we wanted to. After I had spend days researching and being persistent with deadlines, I thought I might as well finish it. Once I completed the project, (which was mentally exhausting) I realised I had learnt a lot about my working process and that I like to persevere and be persistent because it helps me feel as though I have a purpose and am striving for a goal. Overall, that particular project was eye opening and I found it to be an incredible learning curve and believe it is a reflection that I like to get to complete my work, whether or it ends up not being graded due to a pandemic, it was still worth while for the experience.
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