My Professional Experience.

Jennifer Sheen.

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PowerPoint.

The rationale behind my Professional Experience. I have used, a z1 camera (HVR-Z1E) rifle mic with boom pole and have had some experience with some digital slrs such as canon’s and Nikon’s and this was mostly from A level photography. I have also been in the television studio quite a few times taking on a number of roles, camera man, pa, runner, helping with autocue, floor manager and i have only slightly had a go at the sounding for the studio. This was to film many things for example a tv show net tv and we had also used to film certain parts which needed good lighting such as the spoof university video me and my group created.These were all very positive shows with upbeat footage and a happy feel to them, however being in this industry isn’t all happy. There are serious shows and when it comes to filming and creating a project you need to keep to a certain time scale in order to get the work done in a reasonable time or by the deadline if you have one.

The Journey.

I didn’t have a lot of knowledge when it came to choosing my work experience, it was really the first time I had worked professionally with strict timings and routine. Because I didn’t enjoy radio work and haven’t had as much experience in the studio so this was a strong influence on what kind of work experience I chose or agreed to do. I feel that my attributes have most defiantly been enhanced by the work experience, i have been able to use equipment I do not normally use which means that i have learnt a lot and gained experience with different types of equipment. One of the best attributes to have when filming is good leadership skills, after a few projects that I had arranged and put together I found that I could lead a crew very well. It really helped me to be clear about what I wanted to gain from the project and I think that helped when dealing with the clients, I think it’s important for people to see that you know what you are doing so that they have confidence in you and the work you will produce for them

Life Goals.

My original action plan for the professional experience was very clear, I would film in America for ten days and then use the rest of the time doing filming for various companies. This however was not the way my professional experience went, like most things in life this did not go to plan at all. The America trip that would be making up half of my work experience was cancelled due to costs and people dropping out so immediately I had to find a substitute and quick. I joined a group called Cultural Mundea to make up the rest of my work experience but this would prove to be another waste of my time, there were more than twenty events that were being filmed and everyone I was scheduled to do never happened due to bad organisation. This meant that I had to totally had to re think my plan, emails, calls and a lot of asking around was needed in order to get the professional experience I needed.My career plan after my life at university was to enter into a company like the BBC or others like it and work my way up, it wouldn’t allow that much freedom but I would be comfortable and would be a routine. I do have a love for documentary film however I did feel like it was slightly out of my reach. I feel like my career plan has changed quite dramatically, originally i wanted to simply get a job at a film studio or radio studio however after doing this work experience I have realised that I would really love to start my own company. Going from university into work will be different to the plans I originally made before the work experience. Creating ‘IndentityMedia’ has been very exciting for me; it has given me the chance to be confident with filming, directing and finding new clients. Meeting new people and sharing ideas to then producing the final piece which hopefully the customer loves is the best clarification that the job has been done right. Before this module I was feeling uninspired and unsure about my future and where I wanted to go after getting my degree, now it has turned to the point where I feel like even if ‘IndentityMedia’ did not become a career I would still like to do it as a hobbie.

Next Steps.

Looking back at how this professional experience will benefit me one of the gaps that was clearly missing from my CV was doing something for nothing. The part that shows I will work for nothing because i am passionate about the media and I am willing to work hard and get nothing but experience in return. This is much like volunteering, it showing you have a passion for something and you would do it whether there was pay or not, this puts a lot more faith in your future employer because they can see you will work hard and put in the effort to get a good result. When it comes to the media I believe that hard work is a definite must have, a person must be able to put in the time and effort to get the work done and up to a high standard. The media is such a huge part of society and it is vital that what they hear, see and respond to is of a good quality and is worth people’s time and money. I also believe that leadership and being able to take charge is important in the media, confidence is key when producing something for people to see or hear and it you have to be able to take control of the situation should it go not as planned.I have learnt a lot of things throughout my work experience, some things I have learnt have been the hard way and have given me a lot of stress and have pushed back projects by weeks. One of the biggest things I have learnt is to not put 100% trust into people working for you, when you are in charge everything is put on your shoulders so if something goes wrong (even if it is not your fault but one of your crews) you are responsible and will need to come up with a quick and easy solution that both you and the client is happy with.

Conclusion.

I think the most successful part of my professional experience was when the projects went well, with some of my days and projects the days went by smoothly. Being able to get along with the crew makes the filming and editing a lot easier and allows the finished product to be done sooner. With the majority of my professional experience being positive I could take a lot of the good qualities I gained and place them into a future work placement, the main thing I learnt is that not everything goes to plan and you need to adapt to the situation and it helps to have confidence to get things sorted quickly.One of the biggest problems i faced during this work experience was defiantly planning, however this was not due to me this was by other people. One of the Facebook groups I had joined to be involved in lots of work experience projects did disappoint on every occasion when it came to organising an event and following through with it. This was the biggest problem i faced with my professional experience i had joined the group to be involved in nearly every event they were doing, I would confirm my role but then nothing. Nothing would ever happen, none of the events i wanted to take part in happened and this was happening every single time. I’m not sure whether this was because people had other commitments and forgot or whether they simply could not be bothered, but every week people confirmed they could take part but then nothing would be arranged. My questions would go ignored and un answered and i would be left waiting for conformation and details and be left with nothing and no idea what was going on. This would result in the filming never taking place and myself constantly asking what happened and once again going ignored, this group had a huge problem with people and organisation and actually held a meeting to make people realise they have to work harder and take part. This it seems did not make the slightest difference as still nothing went to plan and this left me in a very difficult position where i was desperate to find more work experience but time was just running out, this was a huge let down to me by my peers. I had wanted to film many days and it was near enough impossible to get other forms of professional experience once i had been let down so much by the group. This was a problem that was of no fault of my own so i felt incredibly let down and now I know that it is always best to have more than one backup in case such a thing would happen again, people are more concerned with their own well being than others so this was another time I needed to not put my trust into my peers.

Conclusion, 2.

With all of the problems I have faced with this module I do feel like I needed this to realise what I want for my future, I have picked up a lot of new information and skills that are going to help me in the world of work. Professional experience has taught me a lot; it has given me a new confidence both with equipment and personal confidence that I will need in the competitive media world.

I feel like my role was key in the overall success of my professional experience, I have gained a new confidence which allowed me to take on the challenges and make best of what was thrown my way. The main reason I was looking forward to starting the professional experience was to achieve a new self confidence with both equipment and leadership, using equipment that I would not normally use for example when it came to using sound equipment. I did have some knowledge however I didn’t get to use them on a regular occurrence. I think that it was a good thing that things didn’t go to my original plan because it made me realise that things don’t always go perfectly and instead of worrying about this it is best to try hard to fix it even if you cannot you need to try and work with what you have.