Art Events: Twelve miles from nowhere

I went to see Twelve Miles from Nowhere the other day... Trailer for it here: http://www.karensimpsonproductions.co.uk/twelve-miles-from-nowhere/

The official synopsis of this play is 'Emily and Michael are brother and sister.  They live with their father on an isolated farm in the North of England. What they want is to go back, or go forward.  Either will do but they’re stuck in this God-awful place….until Craig turns up with enough charm to bring the birds from the trees and the sheep from the fields.' 

Live theater is something I really genuinely enjoy going to, I have to say that 'Twelve miles from nowhere' is my favorite piece I have ever seen. It had a small cast and was performed on a traverse stage (which was my favorite thing about it... A traverse stage is like this:

The reason I love this is because the actors had to work in extremely close proximity, allowing me as an audience member to feel more tense. I was also able to see even the tiniest of details, like the scrunching of a fist or other subtle things, this meant the play could be more naturalistic rather than over the top and slapstick just so big audiences can tell what they are feeling from far back. I love it when I am close to the actors and they cannot hide behind and props or stage, and it was very much like that with this. What I also liked is in the scene transitions usually you have men in black clothing come on and move things but in this play they come on and the actors changed the set, while staying in character, this not only made the play feel less interrupted and more fluent but it also showed the hardship that comes with working on a farm and that they are independent and do have to do everything for themselves.  

Overall it was just fantastic! I also loved being able to see audience member reaction from the other side... there is something about sharing emotion with the people around you that can be pretty special, maybe that is just me? anyway, really enjoyed it!

Arts challange Research: Stanley Kubrick

Stanley Kubrick is another one of my favorite directors, so I decided to see if he (like Paul Thomas Anderson) also produced any of his own films. I found that he did, pretty much all of them! I must confess I was extremely happy to find out the many directors often take an active role in producing. I already knew a lot about Stanley Kubrick, he is a genius!

Anyway, I made it my goal to learn even more about this man and I found out he played chess and often asked actors and other people he is working on set with to sit down and give him a game of chess, his ethos is that sometimes you have to care for the people you work with and show them respect, but more importantly give them all time to connect with you one on one.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000040/?ref_=nv_sr_1 Great man, great films! I spent half an hour reading his bio's over IMDB and found it facinating how he first got involved in film making and I also learned he loves chess and often plays with his actors, which I thought is a fantatic way to connect with your actors and really understand them.

I also wanted to know more about his work, so I spent 160 minutes of my time seeing the sci-fi classing 2001: A space odyssey. I also watched the trailer for it and saw how he chose to advertise it, it is a fantastic film. Even though it was made in 1968 some of the effects and the mis-en-scene, make it feel so futuristic that i forget what year it is made. It had around a 10 million pounds budget and grossed over 50 million and that is deservedly.

Arts challange Research: Lawrence Bender

Now for my arts challenge plan of action I decided to research four producers that I am a big fan of their work, so here you have have it... my first of three is Lawrence bender. It is no secret that I am a big fan of Quentin Tarantino and Lawrence bender is the producer of many of some of my favourite films! if you want to know more about his work, I researched it on IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004744/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cr2 and I love all of his work especially Pulp Fiction which is probably my favorite film, I wanted to know more about him as a person and not just his work though, so I watched some interviews... My personal favourite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-jzwYVH0po I get this feeling he is really calm and controlled, he knows exactly what is going on and I think that is what producers need! most that he is calm, if he is a leader and people are looking to him he has to be in control!

Researching him was definitely useful for me.
I spent about 10 minutes reading about him, I found out he used to love ballet before an actor/producer. I then watched Reservoir dogs for 99 minutes and discovered Laurence bender actually plays the young cop in that film. I lover to learn that he has had a lot of small acting roles as well as being a producer. It showed me how people can multi role when it comes to film making. Reservoir dogs is so impressive as it was made from about a million pound budget and this was only possible because of a film called 'True Romance' which Quentin tarantino apparently wrote the script for, so even though Laurence Bender was not technically a part of True romance, I thought I would give it a watch anyway. You could say I got side tracked, but i suppose in a way it indirectly links back Laurence and anyway... it was a fantastic film and only took up another 120 minutes of my time.


I also watched the special features disk on Pulp Fiction, which i have never done before, it was interesting to see what was possible with 1 million and how the film is actually made. I realised while watching at and reading about Laurence and Quinten, that they must be really close, like really good friends. A director and a producer have to be so close, the director has to communicate his ideas to the producer so they have a shared vision and so the producer knows what he has got to say to potential funders in order to recive a decent budget.

Arts challange Research: Paul Thomas Anderson

Now I am a massive fan of Paul Thomas Anderson, absolutely love him, now I was thinking to myself, I bet this director has a fantastic producer to pull all the team together and advertise it... However it was to my surprise, he didn't only direct films, he wrote and produced them! that is just inspiring...
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000759/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cr2

I think researching him has been most beneficial for me, I really enjoy producing and I really enjoy directing... It is only now I realise that I could potentially do both! which I am now over the moon over. I feel that since he produces his film he can really sell it more because he is the director and the writer and will understand exactly what he wants, sometimes it is best to have one man doing both roles, I saw how well he understood and sells 'The Master' in... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UgL2gJrQLA I also think they will connect with the actors more and get the best out of them, this is obviously evident in Paul Thomas Anderson's work as Daniel Day Lewis won an Oscar for his acting in 'their will be blood' which PTA probably played a part in.

From his interviews I can honestly say he is a really intelligent passionate man and I think the main thing I take from this is his passion for film! He is a truly inspiring man. I spent about 40 minutes researching him, watching interviews and such about his films.

I also managed to find the original dirk diggler story on youtube! I was really pleased I found this, it was around 30 minutes long and was essentially a shortened version of Boogie Nights but it was so fascinating to watch, I know that Paul Thomas Anderson wrote the script to this when he was just 17! That for me was incredible, it gives me hope that I could actually get involved in serious film making right now! if i just put time and effort into it.

I have already seen every feature lenght film Paul has ever done.. or at least I thought I had but the first feature length film he did was 'hard eight' which I hadn't seen. So I gave it a watch, it was 102 minutes and was such an amazing film. I love films which aren't predictable and I have to say, watching this with no prior knowledge of it was really enjoyable as it was just so un-predictable. I really got a sense that directors and producers like to work with the same actors. John C. Riley appears in so many PTA films, It had a 3 million pound budget which shocked me to be perfectly honest as it was his first feature lenght film and 3 million is actually a reasonable budget and all Paul had done previously is two short films. I don't know how he produced it, but he must have been a bloody good one. I think, or at east presume it had something to do with the fact he wrote it too, this means he probably had a clear vision of what he wanted his films to be and what he wanted his films to look like. So when he communicated it to others he could let them in on his vision. I am such a fan of PTA and am so excited for inherent Vice.

Arts Leadership: Stop motion animation workshop (Week 5)

I am about the have a workshop in Stop motion animation, I know very little about it, I know it is essentially putting pictures together to create a video. I do believe we are making our own Stop animation film, that will be interesting. I suppose my aims for today are to work with new people from other groups, since now I have a chance... I spoke to Kyle on the induction day, I would love to work with him and some other people and just learn about how to make these stop motion video's and hopefully make a really nice quirky video!

After the workshop I can say that it is a lot easier than I thought! all we did was take pictures, why don't more people do this? I think it is great, really enjoyed today, it felt like a lot of pressure was taken off now we didn't have to worry about our films. It was a much more chilled atmosphere, which I suppose was quiet nice. It allowed me to just focus on what I was doing at the workshop, without worrying about other things.

Review:
I did end up working with Kyle, he is a really nice guy! great to work with, I definitely learnt how to do stop motion films! our group picked it up straight away, we had some great ideas and worked incredibly well together, so happy with the finished product of our videos too.

Arts Leadership: Editing (week 4, day 2)

Today is the editing of the short film that we shot yesterday, I am really looking forward to it! I feel alot more confident with the software so hopefully I can be of some use to Chester (the editor) at some point in the day. My main Aims for today really is just to get it finished, I really need to watch the footage back as yesterday we didn't really have time. I am going to be as helpful as I can to the group and make sure we stay on track and do manage to edit it all.

Now the editing day is over, I can say first and foremost that the film is looking great, I must admit there was a lot of problems at first... We had shot so much to make sure we had it from different angles and had all the footage we need, this meant it took ages to sort through and then rather than plop it all in, in order and the spend ages refining it. we refined each clip as it came, which in retrospect was probably a mistake as I think it didn't give up much time to perfect the editing (specifically the sound). We also found that some of the footage was unusable, when we were very rushed at the end of the day of shooting we had to quickly shoot a couple more shots to make sure the storyline made sense. However when we rushed into filming the end, we found that there was a tripod fully in view, to the point where we couldn't crop it out... that was slightly annoying as I really liked the shot that was now unusable and it makes the story line slightly unclear now we are missing out a relatively important shot.

Now I am not going to look at just the negatives because after watching through the footage I can say the reverse dolly zoom is genuinely amazing, I am really proud of it. I can also say the actors we had in were really great! they gave 110% the whole time and I made sure to thank them for helping us with our film, just so they know how much we as a group and I personally appreciate it. Chester has also done a fantastic job of editing it, really proud of him too. We spent ages editing and Chester just kept going, I stayed with him when the rest of the group went, once again we were really tight pushed for time, which is horrible in the editing... I did really want a drone when he turns over the body as I think it would be a great way to create more tension for an audience, I also think after having one (really good) reverse dolly zoom we should have played the second reverse dolly zoom in reverse so the camera comes forward on the protagonist. We ended up not having time to add these bits, I was slightly disappointed but Chester had to go home... I was still really happy with the overall finished product though!

Review: We actually did manage to get all the shots we needed, to be honest the one shot that we were not able to use didn't impact the film on whole that much. I am happy with the finished film, I guess at this point that is all that matters! I felt like I did my role as a producer well, I made sure Chester was happy with what he was doing, I didn't interfere too much. All the group was totally happy! Overall... what a success.  

Arts Leadership: Shooting day (Week 4, day 1)

Aims:
-To get ALL the footage we need
-To have a happy group, with no real arguments/if there are arguments handle them in a controlled manor
- Make sure the actors are happy

Okay! we have just finished filming the short film. It went pretty well I suppose... the actual shooting was fantastic, my main goal was to make sure the group got along with each other, the actors didn't feel left out and we finished and had all the footage we need.

We managed to get out the dolly and film a reverse dolly zoom, which went really well! it was such a great experience, it was really helpful for me too as it was enjoyable and gave me as a producer a role in the actual filming as I was allowed to pull back the dolly. So I at least contributed in some way. This did however take up lot's of time, time which we did not have. It did mean we were made to rush the last couple of shots but, I am sure it will be fine.


The only thing left now really is the edit; so excited for the editing of it! I will finally get to see it all come together tomorrow, fingers crossed we have all the shots we need.

Review:
I met all the aims I had for the day, only I have to admit that I felt slightly helpless as a producer when it came to the actual filming of it, I kept having to stop myself from taking over. I did however come up with a good solution, I ended up laying on the cold ground for a good hour or so playing the stand in dead body. Which was fine, we did all get along really well and come together as a group which is always nice to see, I made sure to make the actors feel welcome and treated them as equals; they seemed to be happy. There was no real argument though, they are a great group of people and at times we had to compromise but it never got too heated.

Arts Leadership: Preperation for shoot

When we were put in our groups for our action project, I was really happy with my group and knew we would all get on instantly, we had:
Sophie Higget - Script writer
Chester Kirby - Editor
Alice O'Donnell - Cinematographer
Chantell Heffron - Director

and me Adam South, taking on the role of producing 

It is on Saturday and Sunday where we will shoot and edit, I believe as a producer it is my job to get everything sorted. I have managed to obtain fake blood (if needed) for the stabbing scene, where we have decided to use a rubber knife. I have also got water that can be sprayed to clear up the fake blood and I also have a rag to clean it up too. I have also finally managed to get an Umbrella, so if it is sunny I might be slightly angry as it was very hard for me to get this umbrella, which will be useful if it does rain to cover up the camera. I have spoken to the group and they all seem ready for filming, which is great! I have also arranged for the two actors to stay at my house the night before and for my mum to give us a lift to the showroom cinema in the morning. This is manly so I don't have to worry about where the actors are in the morning... one less thing to worry about eh. I am feeling really optimistic and hope it will be everything I want it to be.

For the actual filming of it, we need a camera, sound recording equipment  and a dolly. The dolly will probably be hard to get as I am sure other groups will want it too. It is a very expensive piece of equipment and I think it will really benefit our group. We are planning on having a reverse dolly and it would be very fitting to have it. I spoke to meabh and got her to promise our group some level of priority as I spoke to her early on.

Arts Leadership: Action plan

I have decided to set myself a goal, I want to learn more about producing and I want to be good at it!

I always thought I had a pretty clear idea of the roles of the people involved in making films... However after the very first week I realised I didn't really... at all. I learnt allot about producing in the first week from Michael Knowles. I started to understand how important being a producer is! they are there from the begging to end! I suppose the best part in making films for me is the sense of achievement you get at the end of it, and as a producer surely you will get the best sense of achievement knowing you have been in charge of it all. I have always enjoyed working in a team, I do often take control and come become a leader. This why I have set it at my goal. I even did a pretty prestigious National Citizenship Service course specifically made to improve leadership, this course took me to the house of commons to meet lots of politicians and talk about how to improve your community.
I think it made me realise that a good leader tells the team what to do and instructs them how to do it... but a great leader sometimes just needs to step back, guide the rest of the team rather than instruct them. I am taking this ethos and applying it to making films. I think I will really enjoy producing and want to have a better understanding of it.

I think one way I am going to learn more about Producing is research three producer's that I really like and study some of their work and what there ethos on film is and how they produce a film. From this I will take note and try to follow there example. This should bring me closer to the producer I want to be.

I will learn by both researching them for 30-40 mins and watching films they have done, this is so I can really understand there work and not just know their facts. If I also watch one or two of their films this should take a good couple of hours. I will watch as many as I feel it takes to understand their work/style, this could vary from 1 to 3 or 4.

Arts Leadership: Editing Workshop (Week 3)

Aims:
It is the third week and today we are studying Editing, I have made short films before however never really taken an active role in the editing process. So I suppose in some ways I am nervous but in other ways I am excited to finally get involved in it. I want to do some hands on work and develop a basic level of understanding about what it means to be an editor and I also want to have some level of understanding on the software. I want to know how to just cut and put together a video confidently, nothing to fancy just literally the basics. This is my target for the masterclass, wish me luck!

During the class we got simple clips of somebody running for a bus and we just had to play around with the software and the way we wanted to edit it. Everyone struggled at the start (myself included). However as it progressed, I felt proud that I had edited it all on my own! One thing that massively surprised me is how different every single persons edit of it was, they were all so different, It highlighted for me how important the editing process is in a film.

Review:
After taking part in the masterclass of editing, I feel great! I met all my aims for the lesson and now feel so much more confident to take a more active role in editing in the future, this is good as when it comes to editing I can help our editor Kyle by giving him idea's and tips. One thing I am taking from this lesson that will help me in the future is just how important organisation is when it comes to editing.

Arts Leadership: Script Feedback

BFI Academy 2013 Feedback on Outlines

Feedback, Questions and Notes - November 18th

Adam South’s Group;

This idea is great and really works in terms of shock value. However you need to

bring in another level of motivation for the main character or another plot point.

I would suggest doing additional work on the flashback and giving the audience

more information about the fight or why he has been stabbed. Currently

everything that happens feels coincidental and this doesn’t help me identify with

the main character.

Currently I understand that he is a ghost looking at his own body and that by the

end he is dead but what’s the emotional journey?

The ending needs further thought as to how you want the audience to feel.

The world going grey and him having the black hoody are good indicators of

SOMETHING but what is it? I think you are being too subtle at the moment.

 , 2013

Questions to answer

• Why does the day start with sun and birdsong and finish with grey cold?

What has changed for MC since he discovered his own body?

• What world are we in with this film?

• Why does MC get stabbed?

• Why does MC see his own body?

• Why does MC have the black hoody on at the end?

• How should the audience feel at the end?

Notes

• Please give this project a working title and name the characters. These are

not definitive but we need to be able to distinguish your film from others.

• Please use your title as the name of the document so we know which

project it is

• Once you have answered the questions, please put your idea into the

script format I gave you

Arts Leadership: Script Outline

Script Outline

EXT DAY, Canal side, sunny day, the birds are all singing. Main Character (MC), late teens to early twenties, is walking along the canal path. He’s wearing a light blue hoody. He is relaxed and enjoying the day. There are ducks on the water.

Two people are walking towards him down the path, a mother and a little child having a chat. As they walk past him they continue their conversation, don’t catch his eye. As they move past him he can see the path ahead. There is a dark shape on the floor at the side of the path.

MC glances over his shoulder at the two people, but they have carried on walking away chatting normally. They do not appear to have noticed the shape. He slows down his walk and continues towards the shape. As he gets closer, he can see that it is a body, fallen on its side with its back to MC. It is wearing a black hoody with the hood drawn up. MC cannot see the face.

He is wary, but for some reason he is drawn curiously towards the body. He is apprehensive. He crouches down and reaches out to nudge the body’s shoulder.

FLASHBACK, EXT Night? (Or in black and white?) There are two people, it’s the Body in the black hoody when he was alive and another, in a grey tracksuit. Both have hoods drawn over their faces. They are having a tussle, a fight and they are shoving each other. It is shocking and frantic and violent.

PRESENT, EXT DAY, Back at the canal, MC whips his hand away from the body. He looks shocked, apprehensive, suddenly afraid. He has seen the flashback in his mind, a forgotten memory and doesn’t understand what it means, but has a terrible feeling about the body. Against his better judgement, he leans in again. Reluctantly, he pulls the shoulder of the body so that it rolls over onto its back. He pulls the hood back from the face.

Shocking reveal, it’s MC’s own face. It’s MC’s dead body. He gasps.

FLASHBACK, return to previous flashback scene, back to the fight. The Body character’s black hood falls back during the shoving to reveal MC’s face, it’s him in the fight. The other character in grey pulls out a knife. You see MC’s expression as he is stabbed and starts to fall.

PRESENT, EXT DAY, MC is still crouching by the body. Suddenly shockingly the body opens its eyes. MC yells horrified and sprawls back away from it in terror. He looks forwards. It’s gone. Slowly MC starts to get to his feet. He’s horrified and afraid. As he slowly rises to standing he looks around and sees the colours have changed. It is no longer a bright day, but the world now looks grey and colourless and cold. The birdsong has stopped. The canal path is empty, there is no one in sight. It is eerily, deathly quiet. MC is alone. He is stood there, apprehensive, in dawning fear as he looks around. The body is gone. He is in an empty world. He is now wearing the black hoody.

Abrupt cut to black, there is a bust of radio static. END.

Arts Leadership: Cinematography workshop (Week 2)

Aims:
-To better understand the importance of cinematography
-To start to come together as a group

Today was all about the camera's... Cinematography! and we learnt a bit about sound but anyway I loved it. We also watched some of the first celluloid pictures to be projected. There was something strangely beautiful about seeing where it all began and thinking about how far it has come... We also learnt a bit about the camera's we would be working with, which were really great! I learnt a lot more about framing and how significant it can be in a film.

As a group we have started to come up with idea's and a draft for our short film... although I had some problems getting together the group and talking about idea's as for a start Alice had two facebook accounts and I sent a friends request to the wrong one! (stupid me) and then it felt like everyone always had something on.. It was very stressful for me to reach the deadline and get the Script outline sent in, in time... but when alas I did get everyone together and we all started talking, we came together really well as a group and had some fantastic idea's. Our final idea is about a guy who is walking on a seemingly ordinary day when he sees a dead body, he tries to help but every time he touches the body he gets flash back's of a dark night and someone arguing and gutting into a row. He then breaks this flash back and turns over the body to see his own face, the body is him.... or something like that haha, it needs some work but Sophie wrote up a fantastic outline of the script! I really think this is going to work.

Review:
-To better understand the importance of cinematography... I definitely achieved this, While we were watching 'workers leaving factory' which is, as it says in the name, simply people leaving a factory. I noticed how much time went into that. even that 1 minute or so clip. The lighting was perfect, each person was framed perfectly so the video felt more realistic and natural. It showed me, how much preparation has gone into every shot of a film and also highlighted how far we have technologically developed.

-To start to come together as a group... I feel like the group is still ever so slightly shy at this point... however it is is still early days, I still feel as though this has been partly met. I am still really optimistic about the future with the group. However at the minute it felt like everyone was slightly afraid to share their ideas with the group..

Arts Leadership: Project action plan

The course itself lasts 10 weeks however the making of our film should take place within the first 5 weeks or so. We have two key dates which are the 30th of November and the 1st of December; this is the two dates we are filming and editing the short film. We put it together into a video that lasts any time less than 2:20. I plan to take lots of pictures of the shoot while we film it, to show you what we are up to.

I expressed an interest in producing to Meabh (The head of BFI in Sheffield) and this lead me to be the producer of the group. I think I am going to learn being a better producer just by staying organised and on top of the work I get in BFI academy, I have already set up the closed facebook group and taken alot of time into making the page nice and adding cover photo's and mostly, being considerate to everyone in the group. My main goal is to give everyone and even say. I think the best way I am going to learn is through experience and what better place to get that than at BFI!

Week on week I want to see my team develop, I want to see us get closer not only as a production company but also as friends, I want everyone to enjoy it and hopefully get a fantastic film at the end of it. I think I will know if I have achieved this goal by how much I enjoyed working with my team, I want to have a calm atmosphere where we can be unique and creative. I think the moment I will know if I have done a good job is the moment where I will turn to my group at the premier of the short film we have created and I will ask them "did you enjoy making this film?" and I think at that point I will know if I have achieved my goal or not. I do plan to show this to my friends and family and I think the main way I will get feedback is from my group and if they are happy and enjoyed it, but I do also want the actual film to be a success and I suppose I will know if that is by how the live audience reacts to it. I set myself the goal of making our film be thought provoking and have some level of effect on the audience.
As you know, I am the producer of the group but what does this mean... in actuality what is it I do within my group.

Well first of all, I am trying to make sure everyone else has there role in coming together as a group to create the film. I have to check we stay on track, stay organised, remember things and are ready to film and know exactly what we are doing. This means thinking ahead, remembering to have things like fake blood, water and a cloth to clean up the fake blood, a umbrella to cover up the camera if it rains. However my most recent job as a producer is to find a way to work around getting a knife on set. If you have read the script Sophie Higget wrote, that I published on my blog you would know that there is a stabbing in the film. This presents allot of health and safety issues, If you are wondering exactly how many: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/etis20.pdf

Now after reading through all that and thinking of the best way to bring in a knife and make it safe, I ended up coming to two conclusions, 1.) my head hurts after reading so much and 2.) bringing a knife is over complicating it and not completely necessary. So I chose to get hold of a realistic rubber knife instead. This is just one example of one of the jobs I had. Although my main role is literally making sure everyone is happy and knows what they are doing.

Arts Leadership: Producing Workshop (Week 1)

Aims:
-make new friends
-feel confident in a new environment
-Gain a better understanding of the role of a producer

It was my first day meeting all my fellow Film enthusiasts... I have always been good with people and luckily for me three of my friends had also got in to the course. So i suppose I wasn't nervous about fitting in or making loads of new friends but for some reason I was still nervous! I suppose it is because I was so excited about it and just hoped it lived up to all my expectations... In this workshop

They gave us 'A roller-coaster ride through the course' and I have to say I got really excited! in every aspect it sounded amazing! I even got to speaking to people there who I hadn't met previously. I have to say It was nice to say to someone that my favourite director is Paul Thomas Anderson and not have someone stood in front of my with a vacant expression gormless nodding along not really understanding a word I am saying. It is nice to talk passionately about films and not have people ignoring me and looking bored. It is hard to meet people who have the same love for films as I do but these people do! I spoke specifically to a boy named Kyle, It is fair to say I instantly liked him, as he was wearing an evil dead shirt.

We also got spoken to by Michael Knowles who talked to us about producing. I think I fell in love with him, he was really quirky and interesting. He made me want to be a producer... In fact I think this has made it clear what my plan of action must be! 'I want to learn more about producing and I want to be good at it!'. We also looked at the history of film and watched some of the fist celluloid films ever made, it was literally just people walking out of a factory but it was genuinely amazing to see where it all began and how far we have come since.

I am also aware we have a action project. This will be a short film and I am very excited. I am already trying to think of a genre our group could do... however I am not yet sure and am really open to ideas, it is just something to look forward to!

Review of session:
-make new friends... I feel I got along with Kyle well, due to our mutual love of evil dead, He seems like a really nice guy and even though I have friends on this course. I think it is good to meet new people too.

-Feel confident in a new environment... This was probably the easiest aim to achieve, this is because when I got there it became instantly apparent that everybody was in the same boat I am in. We are all nervous, excited and most importantly love films!

- Gain a better understanding of the role of a producer... Michael Knowles was a very knowledgeable man, I must admit I was slightly scared he would say loads of stuff I wouldn't understand and lose my interest. However I was wrong and he made it simple and easy to understand and explained the role of a producer clearly. In my A-level film studies class at school later that week, when our class was asked "what is the role of a producer" I felt more than confident enough to put my hand up and give the 'perfect answer' according to my teacher.

Arts Challange Introduction

My BFI Journey!

I have always been very passionate about films, from a very young age I just got hooked! I suppose it all started when me and my dad went to our local video rental store. Me and my dad would go every weekend, I remember because the first VHS I got out was 'Brother bear'. My father is still amazed at how I watched this 5 times in one day without getting bored. I suppose I was just captivated not only by how beautiful the imagery was but also how much of an emotional response I got out of it.

Anyway, my love for films might have evolved and changed over the years but that initial passion, that fire never burnt out. I started to get a small collection of video's I liked and I was just amazed at how much entertainment I got out of these small little £2.50 tapes. As I got older and started to receive pocket money Every couple of weeks I would buy another DVD. There was something about them and and the time I couldn't precisely put my finger on it but in retrospect now I see... It was the way no matter what mood I am or how upset I am, when I put that film on, nothing else mattered, I was in a different world, a world where anything is possible! I could go on adventures and see things I could not even imagine and there was just something truly alluring about it.

I am not going to go on a sob story and talk about how miserable I was as a child, because I wasn't really... but my childhood could have been better, films really helped me get through any rough times, I suppose to an extent they still do. It was at this point I started to realize that I could have a job doing this! just the prospect of this got me excited. I decided to get some experience in filming through videoing my hobby which is freerunning, I messed about with the camera and got my friend to edit it, we created a couple but this on is my personal favorite:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL6-xHbc3YA

Although I enjoyed freerunning (and still do) I wanted to create more meaningful video's. So me and some like-minded friends made some other video's, we learnt quick and we became really good friends! pretty much solely on our love for for film, We still meet up and not only make films but watch them late into the night, We do this roughly every month or two and I always have such a good time! After making these videos I knew.... This is where I belong... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX5E2u5fNMY

I had picked films studies at A-level at this point. I am loving it! it really gets me through the week with 5 hours a week of film (and an extra 3 if you count the after school film classes I go to). At this point in my life I knew for absolute certainty that there is nothing else on this planet I wanted to do more than be apart of film production. To be proud to see the films I make do well! and hopefully one day I can make a difference to somebody's life and help them get through hard times in the same way films helped me! This is the reason I applied to go on BFI film academy... the journey starts here! and i have never been more excited!