Work Experience

Work Experience Analyses

During my work experience I came to several conclusions about my possible career course within the media industry.
My experience at Heart FM was interesting and while I think corporate radio stations are going to be around for a long time, its not really an area I am interested in enough to pursue a career in. An independent station could hold more promise, but there is so little money in it that I am not sure I could really afford the indulgence right now. Although I would love to write a radio play, so that's something to consider.

Endemol was something of a revelation. I would never have considered looking for a job in daytime TV, let alone a game show. But having spent a week there I can honestly say I would be very happy in that environment, and not just for the free lunch. The crew morale and the atmosphere generally was so enjoyable and possitive that staff rarely left, jobs were sought after and Deal or no Deal has a great deal of respect in the industry, certainly from an employment perspective. Shakespeare it isn't, but neither is it standing around in a drafty field at 5am for weeks on end. So for me it has opened up a whole new set of possibilities.
Of course I loved my time with Across the Pond, which is still on going. I have found that the best lessons learned are usually when you are in at the deep end. Every time we begin our own projects we grow as individuals and learn more about film making, ourselves and the world around us.

I hope to keep making films and next year I will make my own short film and I will draw from all these working experiences and hopefully the film will be the better for it and so will I.
Until then I will probably see you in the drafty field at 5am...

www.heartbristol.co.uk
http://web.mac.com/javierronceros/Site/Welcome.html

http://picasaweb.google.com/acrossthepond.pilot

http://www.dealornodeal.co.uk
http://www.endemoluk.com

Critical comentary of Media Event

'The Main Event'

"Your Media Your Future" was the title of the event and it became a guide for us while we worked on selecting materials and speakers for the day. I sometimes had to remind myself that the concept for the event was to educate and inform 15 to 17 year old's. At least my son, who is 16, could help remind me what this age group are interested in and how to connect with them.

I think having the interactive element within the event was key in relating the concept of working within the media industry to our audience. This age group are used to a high level of interactivity through online networking sites such as facebook and twitter and also with digital game playing. I large proportion of their leisure time is spent either in front of a computer or TV screen or on the phone, mostly texting and viewing downloads. The short and informative films on the imacs worked really well in giving the audience the perfect delivery for their digitally minds. Also the quizionaire was an ideal way to include them in the process of the theme. They had to read the posters and watch the films in order to take part and this meant they had to retain information that we gave them whether they planned to or not. We had already prepared their minds to absorb and consider information before the speakers even began!

Running the speakers reels went further again, continuing to stimulate the interest of the audience and putting them in the familiar position of viewer before involving them again with questions and answers, much like the quiz. We can see from the results of the surveys that they were open to learn and interested in the delivery of the information as well as its content. The delivery being as important as the content since media was the theme.
From our survey we gathered the following information from the event:

1. 100 % of the audience felt the event met with their expectations
2. 80 % of the audience found the event interesting, giving it 3, 4, & 5 out of 5 as a grade.
3. 90 % of the audience would recommend the course to others
4. 86% of the audience felt the event inspired them to seek a career in the media (3,4 &5 grade)
   

We did have to change the sequence of events last minute, not having the actors, either Adams drama group or the Children's workshop group that Kim contacted as a backup. Although I think it would have added an element of fun to the proceedings, it would also have made the event too long for the audience and without careful rehearsal and planning it could easily have been a bit messy.

The banners were a bit disappointing, small and dull looking, but since the printers were contacted so late due to the financing uncertainties, they were good enough for the day. It would have been better I think to have had a speaker from the film making world, especially a local to give the students some real in site into starting out in film, but the speakers we did have were at least interesting, local and relevant. A lack of fluidity on the planning made it difficult to know where the project was at any given point, and although the meetings were adequate, I feel they should have been longer and more often. I understand that our timetable prevented this, but had the event been scheduled either after or well before our work experience, we would have had more opportunity to communicate regularly and form a more cohesive team.

But the event itself went almost flawlessly I think, due mostly to the sense of trust we have with one another. After two years of lectures and filming and open and honest communication, we have become very close. Trust play a very important role in any relationship, and we have been able to rely on each other and support each other and this has built the trust we now have. Going into the third year with this wonderful and capable group of people is an amazing and secure place to be. I feel sure that whatever the projects we all choose to develop, each of us will be available for the other to help and support and most importantly to offer honest advise and guidance. We are an unstoppable force!!

Lastly I would like to thank Kim Brooke.

Kim has been really wonderful this year with her help and her guidance through the course. She has offered some wonderful advice and worked very hard to help us with not only the event but in every aspect of our college life. I wish her well and hope she will pop by to see us in Bristol from time to time.

An article written in the Weston Mercury
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link:www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/
Link: www.weston.ac.uk
link:www//httpyourmediayourfuture.co.uk

Work Experience

Across The Pond

Javier Ronceros, the Writer and Producer of Across The Pond, talks about his role in the project and how his career path lead him to become a film producer.



The following is an except form a production diary that Javier kept for the duration of film production.

Production Diary, Across The Pond

Friday, January 16 – Weston super Mare 12:00 noon We went out in the streets of Weston to shoot some exteriors. Later I went to get a haircut for my role on Saturday. That night Samantha decided to make pasta with milk. I became violently ill the night before we were to shoot.














Saturday, January 17 – Weston super Mare 7:00 a.m. I woke up deathly ill. It was a combination of Samantha’s gastronomic catastrophe and the flu. We started early and the weather was very cold. We started in Grove Park shooting the character James’ intro to the pitch. 10:30 a.m. Our second location was on Upper Church Road in front of The Florence Guest House. This is where our hero finds accommodations and enters the guest house. I was very cold and nauseated.














Our third location was at the bus station. Baker-Dolphin Bus Lines were kind enough to provide a drive by for no charge. 6:00 p.m. The day went well despite my illness. The crew was cracking good and for a first day.it went surprisingly well, until we viewed the rushes. It seems that the audio channel we were recording on, was defected. We had no usable audio. Our sound person Jo, was very apologetic and embarrassed. We decided to reschedule this day
















Sunday, January 18 – Weston super Mare 10:15 a.m. Our second day started out pretty much like the first day, except for two things; I was sicker and it was colder. We filmed at Grove Park corner with our ‘Hamlet.‘There was some confusing on the set as Gabe was upsetting Brendan. 1:00 p.m. Our next location was exteriors of the Blakehay Theatre. Gabe insisted we shoot his prologue. I decided to shoot two versions of every scene. 2:00 p.m. We returned to The Florence Guest House to re shoot yesterday’s scene. This time we made sure all the audio channels were working properly. As we were walking to the location, Brendan and I stumbled across a news advert declaring that the Blakehay was in trouble. We added the character of James, walking past the notice.


















Javier has taught me to keep notes about absolutely everything. His excuse is that he has a bad memory and needs to keep extremely organised in order to get anything completed. But I think its a good habit to get into whatever the reason. We made a point of having a stills photographer on set every day and even went so far as to hire a young filmmaker, Corey Raymond, to film the filming! In fact this process of diary keeping and cataloguing every moment of the shoot has led Javier to the idea of the show evolving into 'The making of Across The Pond'. A series about the making of a low budget film. We are in the process of writing the script for the show using emails from the project and our memories and pictures.
The story could work even better than the original idea. There were so many times during the filming when we turned to each other and said "you couldn't write this stuff", about the actual film making process and the characters we came across and the situations that evolved because of the shoot.

http://web.mac.com/javierronceros/Site/Welcome.html

http://picasaweb.google.com/acrossthepond.pilot