This year the UFILMS film festival is back, but this year it's a little different, this year the festival will take place online and will be 100% virtual. This is due to the current COVID-19 situation meaning that the festival can not go on in person. The film festival is the biggest part of our year here at college as we get to show off everything that we have made that year to an actual live audience on a theatre sized screen. That's why we didn't want to go without it this year, as we wanted to show our audience what we had made this year. Excluding our final short films as these sadly never got to be made due to college closing due to the coronavirus. Instead, we decided to create mini short films shot inside our homes while we were stuck in lockdown so that we still got to create a film to show at the film festival. The theme for these films was isolation and they have to be 30 seconds to 3 minutes long and be shot all inside of your house.
Last Years Festival -
At last years festival, I had many jobs, one of them being one of the main people in charge of the whole festival it was my responsibility to make sure that everything was going to plan, things such as the venue was booked and ready for the night, getting the films together ready to show, designing the marketing campaign and also selling tickets.
Last year's festival was amazing and we got to show off our work to a live audience, we had a local band perform a set and provided food and drink for the quests.
It was a lot of hard work to plan and prepare for it, this included weeks of planning what we were going to show, where we were going to show it, and making sure that everything was ready in time for our two-night festival.
It also included days of labour, this was because we had to design the threate to how we wanted it to look for the festival. We had to paint the entire floor black so that we could get the lighting effects that we wanted.
We also had to quickly learn how to use the equipment for the sound and lights so that we could play films and have nice lighting on the night. The person in charge of this at college left days before the festival so it was up to us to try our best and put on a show. I am very proud of how fast we learnt how to use the audio and lights and I think the finished product looked great!
The UFILMS Film Festival 2019
All of this work was extremely fun as we all had to work together and in a couple of weeks plan and design this whole festival!
Me and laura also did an interview with a woman from the marketing team at college so that more people knew about the festival and attend.
This was also my first time at showing off my work to an audience so this was a great experience to see how an audience reacted to my film and I was able to get actual audience feedback from the people who watched.
Due to COVID19 there was no way that we could do the same thing this year, we were going to have to think of something else or just call off the festival...
We thought hard and came up with the idea of doing the film festival online across all the Ufilms social media platforms. This way we could still screen what we had made this year to our audience. We did some research about how we were going to go about moving the festival to be 100% online and found that other film festivals and film award shows have also moved online to make sure they can still go ahead even with COVID19. For example Cannes film festival has also moved online and they are doing the following to make sure their festival still works.
- virtual booths for sales agents - virtual pavilions for institutions - video meetings
- online screenings
For this year's film festival, we had to plan the whole thing over zoom calls and we were not able to be in college to plan it properly. This actually turned out a lot better than expected as we got a lot of planning done per call and were able to decide as a team what we wanted to do for this year's film festival.
My role this time at the festival was to design the marketing campaign for the social media platforms, below are my designs for the poster and social media idents.
This year we wanted to make the festival interactive so that the audience still felt like they were a part of the festival, to do this we came up with the idea of creating film competitions for the audience to enter. All they had to do was use their phone to create a short film, submit it into us and watch it be screened at our online film festival. This worked out extremely well, many people submitted their films for us to screen.
We also did a competition called teamwork challenge, this was where we asked the audience to form a group to create a video which they have all worked on together WITHOUT meeting up in person, this was going to challenge them to work as a team without actually working together in person.
Unit 11 - Preparing for progression in Creative Media Production
Task one –
PRODUCTION MANAGER – STUDY
In the future my job role that I aim for in the industry is being a production manager, the production manager is in charge of being responsible for helping to plan, organise, coordinate and control the production.
You need key skills such as:-
The most important thing you need is experience of working on previous productions to be able to be the production manager on a new one, the best way to do this is working your way up from the bottom of the job list to the top where the production manager is. This would include working your way up from jobs such as a runner when you are just doing jobs for other people to being a head of department to eventually being the production manager and being in charge of the production.
Task two –
UCAS Personal Statement –
Matthew Hooton
Personal Statement
From a young age I have always been interested in all aspects of media, I find it amazing how the world is changed and shaped by the media every day. From studying my diploma in Film & TV production for the last two years, I have found this is where my interest in media lies. I have always had a passion to create media for people to view, Film & TV production has been the key to helping me do this and hopefully keep doing it as a career.
My current interests in my studies are the management side of TV production, I have enjoyed roles on set such as production co-ordinator and 1st assistant director. I enjoy these roles as I believe I have the skills to do them well one of them being having the ability to control a team efficiently without coming across as overbearing.
On my most recent project, which was an on location period drama, I have taken upon the role of production co-ordinator, this entails controlling a crew and cast of over 40 people and making sure that the production runs smoothly and too a strict time schedule. I have enjoyed this role so far as I have a passion for management and I feel like it has really challenged me to achieve the best.
I have gained work experience in my area of film & TV production through the work I have done for my production company UFilms Productions, this is a production company that I run with other members of my course, we make content such as music videos and wedding videos and products for paying clients which gives me the experience I need to work for a production company. From running this company, I have made final products such as a full music video for a local band and planned and shot a wedding film for a client.
From my time on my college course, I have made many media products such as my own short film and documentary. From making these projects I have gained experience in different areas of filmmaking.
I also have a part-time job working for a retail company named ‘Marks & Spencer’, this job has given me great experience working in a team, communication skills with talking to customers and also time management.
My interests outside of media include ballroom & Latin dancing, I compete on a nationwide level and have won first place nationwide titles in my past.
My goal is to attend university to get the skills and more importantly the experience needed to make it in the film & TV industry.
Progression so far –
So far I have taken steps to try and progress into the industry, steps such as coming to the end of my two year course of studying film and TV at Stockton Riverside College, and applying to study a film and tv production degree at university, I have attended open days for university’s such as Teesside, Leeds, and Salford to get a taste of what they offer and which one I should attend.
I have also created a showreel which showcases my best work which I can show to future university’s and employers to show what I can do.
If I were to apply for the above job post I would talk about the following,
How my skills are able to make me lead a team with confidence, Being organised and keeping things to schedule and budget and being good at working in large teams.
I would talk about my experience on pervious projects such as A Christmas Carol which was a large on-location period drama project.
Task three –
Media CV –
Matthew Hooton
74 New Road
Billingham
TS23 1DR
Phone NO. – 07852588529
matthewhooton1@hotmail.com
I am a team player who is proactive and professional. I can lead a team without coming across as bossy which is a key skill to have in the media industry. I am a friendly and approachable individual with a good personality, I have the drive and determination to achieve a positive outcome.
After recently producing and creating my own short film ‘UNFOLLOWED’, a short about a girl living inside the world of social media.
I learnt many skills from being the onset director and editor. This project taught me how to lead a film crew, plan and pitch a product and also work under pressure.
-Situation Comedy https://youtu.be/M8HcDDNn6UM
1st Assistant AD
My role for situation comedy was 1st assistant director. I created shooting schedules, planned locations and dealt with paperwork such as release forms and daily production reports.
-Advertising https://youtu.be/_zy4aPveYJs
Director & Editor
On this project I created a Christmas advertisement for a retailer. We had to work from a brief so the client got the product that they wanted, I planned the shooting days, worked the camera and edited the footage together. I learnt about audience and how to sell to them.
This Project gave me an insight on what it takes to create a storytelling documentary. I followed SRC’s musical theatre department on their journey of creating their end of year show. I had over 100 hours of footage and created a 35-minute documentary showing the behind the scenes of the department. I learnt about the codes and conventions of the documentary genre and what it takes to create one.
The Oscars Rundown was all about creating a studio based daytime show to give the audience a rundown on what’s happening at the academy awards. I learnt about working in a multi-cam studio environment and making sure shows broadcast on time.
Production Co-ordinator, 1st Assistant Director, Marketing Manager
This was my biggest project to date, it included over 4 weeks of planning and three weeks of on location shooting to create a 40-minute period drama short film.
This gave me huge amounts of experience of directing a large crew, dressing sets to fit the time period and editing large amounts of footage together.
UFILMS (2018-2020)
A big part of my experience of working in the film & tv industry is from working for our student run production company UFILMS.
This job has given me key industry skills on running a business, marketing on social media and also planning shoots.
-Music Video (Neon Waves – You’ll be fine)
My role was to operate one of the cameras and also help with planning the shoot.
-Wedding Video
I planned the crew and production paper work needed to shoot a wedding video, this was an important job as this was someone’s wedding that they wanted to be captured by us. I planned the shoot so that the crew could go and shoot on the day.
This taught me professional practise skills, communication skills with clients and working to a brief.
Education -
Stockton Riverside College – UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma in Film & TV Production (2018-2020)
I am currently attending further education at Stockton Riverside College to study a UAL extended diploma in Film & Television, I am looking forward to using the skills I have gained while studying in a job role within the Film & TV industry. While studying my UAL qualification I have gained many skills and valuable experiences which I can adapt and use in a professional job role. Skills include:-
·Leadership
·Adhering to deadlines and rules
·Flexibility
·Time management
·Critical Thinking/ Decision making
·Tech Skills (Camera Operating & Editing)
University of Salford – BA (hons) in TV & Radio Production
I am hoping to progress to study my degree in TV & Radio Production at the university of Salford in September 2020.
I enjoy all aspects of film & TV but I have lent towards directing, producing and editing as my more specialised areas. In recent projects I have took upon the role of director and editor, this gave me the experience to lead a team on set. I also enjoy editing, I have great computer skills which helps me to edit footage together and add effects quickly and efficiently.
References –
Kelly Fairhurst – Film & TV Lector – Stockton Riverside College
My role was to operate one of the cameras and also help with planning the shoot.
-Wedding Video
I planned the crew and production paper work needed to shoot a wedding video, this was an important job as this was someone’s wedding that they wanted to be captured by us. I planned the shoot so that the crew could go and shoot on the day.
This taught me professional practise skills, communication skills with clients and working to a brief.
-Induction show
Me and the UFilms team filmed a performance show at college which gave us experience in filming live shows and performances.
BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend –
Me and a couple other members of my course attended a talk and lecture at Teesside Uni, where BBC Radio 1 talked about the big weekend festival they were hosting in our hometown, this gave us a chance to ask questions and learn about what it takes to do live broadcasting from an event.
Task Four –
New ways to showcase yourself in the industry,
One of the ways I can do this is by creating a linked in, it can showcase my previous work and make me visible to future employer’s.
I also have my college YouTube account that I can use to show my work, this account holds all my work from documents to short films and music videos.
This is an easy way for someone who is interested to see what I had worked on or made so far to see what I have created.
SHOWREEL
Find below my person showreel which showcases my work over two years at SRC:
SPECIALIST SUBJECT INVESTIGATION - This assignment was broken into two parts, part one being the Oscars rundown, and the second part is an in-depth essay on our specialist area.
Our assignment was to research and critically
examine the influence of historical and contemporary contexts on your own
practice. The first part of our project was to produce a magazine show, based around Oscars season, our episode had to focus on our area of
interest as we were required to research, plan and produce a multi-camera,
studio-based show that provides the audience with a greater knowledge of Oscars
season whilst focusing on those we admire in the industry and that also
practice our industry specialism. For this assignment, I made a magazine show pice that included me and ollie, we both had the same specialist area which was producing so we decided to work together to talk about our areas. Our oscar rundown talked about producing and producers who have won at the Oscars and how they got to that stage. We researched information on what it takes to win an oscar and famous producers and how they have worked their way up to that role. Watch our finished show below -
For the second part of this assignment, we were asked to produce a piece of extended writing of a minimum
of 2,000 words on our individual area of interest, this piece of writing should be well researched and based on a range of academic and cultural
findings.
The question for my essay was why
does the title of a producer cause so much confusion and what does the role of
a producer entail and how does this differ in terms of the many other
production roles?
Find my finished essay below -
Matthew Hooton
Specialist Subject Investigation
2,000 words minimum
Specialist
Subject Investigation
This
essay will aim to answer the question why does the
title of a producer cause so much confusion and what does the role of a
producer entail and how does this differ in terms of the many other production
roles?
The role of the producer has always been a
little unclear, both within and outside the film and TV industry. A writer
writes, a director directs crew and actors and an editor edits the film
together, but it’s never really clear what a producer does. This essay will
give an explanation into the role of a film and TV producer and the background
of what it entails.
They are many reasons at why someone way be
confused by the role of a producer, one of the reasons why people may be
confused is part due to the fact that the role of the producer has shifted and
expanded with the market demands and the changing conditions of which films and
TV shows are now made.
Many may not think this but the producer has
the biggest role and responsibilities on any film or TV production, they are
responsible for a verity of things, first they must find and develop a material
to eventually turn into a film or TV show, The project always starts with the
producer, they find a story from something weather it’s a newspaper article,
book, or a script that has already been written, it is the producer that finds
the story and brings it to life through earning the rights to making it into a
film and finding a writer to develop the script and get it ready for
production.
Arguably, the producer’s biggest
responsibility of all is sourcing and securing the funds needed to producing
their idea, this is what scares many people away from producing. It’s their job
to gain initial funding for the project through various ways of selling the
idea to an audience such as pitching. This is where I believe the business side
of the role comes into play. Many may think the producer just finds the idea
and makes it with a crew on set, but in reality, the producer is actually more
involved with the serious business side of the production rather than the
creative and production side, they need to have a very business orientated mind
and need to know how to get the money it’s going to take to produce their
project and how to keep within that money budget when creating their media
text.
The producer must take into account all
aspects of the production to create an accurate budget so that the crew doesn’t
over spend, as this will all come back to the producer.
What people don’t ever realise is that the
producer hires the director, not the other way around, the stereotypical view
is that the director has more power than the producer. This is a point that I
will consider later on in this essay. The producer is responsible for sourcing
all the production crew including the director.
A producer is a role that starts at the very
start of a production and finishes at the very end, they are responsible for
everything in-between, from pre-production to distribution of the finished
product. They are not just an on set role as they have to make deals months
before the crew start to go on-set. When everyone else goes home the producer
continues to be the champion of the film.
As mentioned before the stereotypical view is
that the director has more power than the producer. This is where I would like
to show the differences between a producer and a director. The producer has
much more of a business role compared to the director, the producer is the one
who finances the film where as the director is more in control of the visual
effects and how the film looks. While the director may appear to have a more
important and significant role on set as they are the ones controlling all the
crew, is It actually the producer who has all the power as without them there
would be no idea to create into a film and no money to do it with.
In the industry, Directors are almost always
more well-known than producers even though the producers do the hard part of
the work, this maybe because the directors are seen as the people in charge of
the production, and as this is true to an extent, people believe that there is
no one above when in fact the producer is higher. Directors also sometime star
in their own films which gives them more exposure than a producer as they tend
to stay behind the camera. For example, Woody Allen has starred in his own
films.
Becoming a producer is much harder than first
thought, people may believe working in the creative industry isn’t a real
career and that you can’t earn money, but what it takes to become a producer
isn’t as easy as it seems. Within the industry if you want to become a film or
tv show producer then you are expected to attend university to study
film. But in the industry, there is something much more valuable than a degree
from university, and that’s experience within the industry. Company’s and
people need people who have the skills and experience to produce projects and
bring them to life. Anyone can go and get a degree in film but showing people
what you have worked on or created already is nearly always more important and
overall more impressive. The average experience needed to join a production
company or team is between 1 and 5 years. This makes company’s much more
comftable with implying you if they already know what you’re like. When
becoming a producer, having critical skills are a must. These include: -
thinking, writing, decision making, time management and listening.
No one ever starts out straight as a film
producer, it takes years of gaining experience but it’s one of the best things
to do to stand out to future employers. The experience needed to become a
producer is much more important.
Because working in the film & TV industry
is such a high target job, producers gain a lot of power. Successful producers
can gain fame and popularity which also leads to power within society. With a
following they are influencers who can easily influence people and make
themselves into a brand. The power can be a great thing but can also bring
negatives. An example of this power being used in the wrong way is in the
recent Weinstein scandal.
Weinstein had been accused of sexual assault
to woman within the industry, and has now been more recently found quality,
people may have not said something right away purely because of the power that
he had.
When something like this happens the persons,
career is now dependent on what the audience thinks of them. Their career can
be suddenly taken away in seconds because of one story. This is the reality of
being in the public eye.
Examples of other producers are people such
as Michael man, Tarantino and Stephan Spielberg all people who have worked in
the industry for some time now and have built themselves a brand that they can
gain power for themselves with. With a world now full of social media this is
now easier to do than ever.
An example of the difference between a
director and producer can be seen by the scott brothers who are both famous
filmmakers. Tony Scott was a British film director while his brother Ridley was
a producer. Tony was always the more well-known brother purely based on the
fact that he was a director. Even though some say ridley made the better films
he was always less known compared to his brother. This is an issue that still
goes on to this day, which leads me onto my next topic of how the role of a
producer has changed over time and why it’s now the most important role on and
off set.
Many years ago in Hollywood, the producer was
the creative force behind a project, something that still applies today to an
extent, Once a project was ready to be screened the producers job was over and
the responsibilities went over to the studios distribution team.
Over the last 10 years, everything has
changed with the huge market of digital filmmaking and shearing platforms. The
world has been flooded with digital content and the producer has come to be
something more. Though finding funding for the film is still their main job the
role of producer has become something so much more. From finding the idea in
the first place to now marketing the film and distributing it to an audience,
the producer has become the link between the filmmaker and the audience even
though they take upon the more business side role of the production.
Productions are now bigger than they ever
used to be and the role of producer has adapted to help with this, years ago
films used to have small budgets and crews and would now feel like a walk in
the park to produce looking back. But these days crew sizes are in the hundreds
of people and the producer is now in charge of all these people. The role has
developed into something so huge that doesn’t really get the reignition that it
deserves.
In
conclusion, I believe there will always be a confusion between the roles of
director and producer, due to the fact of the roles being similar and people
who are not fully involved in the film and TV industry thinking that they are
the same thing and also not realising how many business skills are needed by
the producer to create a professional production these days. The role will
always be more business than creative as there needs to be someone on a
production that can deal with money, people and finding crew to produce an
amazing final piece. There would be no way productions could work without a
producer and they play such an important role which doesn’t really get
recognised.
References
Anon, (2020). [online] Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/293008955_How_to_Measure_the_Power_of_Actors_and_Film_Directors [Accessed 6 Mar. 2020].
BBC News. (2020). How the Harvey Weinstein scandal unfolded. [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-41594672 [Accessed 6 Mar. 2020].
Careers In Film | Film Schools & Colleges. (2020). Producer vs. Director: Who’s the Boss?. [online] Available at: https://www.careersinfilm.com/producer-vs-director/ [Accessed 6 Mar. 2020].
En.wikipedia.org. (2020). Film producer. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_producer [Accessed 6 Mar. 2020].
Garden, H., HowStuffWorks, Entertainment, Movies and Awards (2020). How Movie Producers Work. [online] HowStuffWorks. Available at: https://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/movie-producer2.htm [Accessed 6 Mar. 2020].
Huffingtonpost.co.uk. (2020). HuffPost is now a part of Verizon Media. [online] Available at: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/preetam-kaushik/the-changing-roles-of-film-producers_b_2483863.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAM_KmI6WAAJtLz5DYDPByDmzhpnJ0ZBnk-3394J7lE0YGAIWbY2xD17ZXXccbpO-d5U7T8fACzai26G8uuCSXju_hwvBVL7oYshXGtC0HU-3YkhdWxjB3JA2AbmfyjYvT9_Zb2oQNlNFjY1vEV3VPmjzxR0y0R4jbUbXHH5utJi7 [Accessed 6 Mar. 2020].
Movie Raiders. (2020). Tony Scott v. Ridley Scott, no contest? Not so fast.. [online] Available at: http://movieraiders.net/2012/06/tony-scott-v-ridley-scott/ [Accessed 6 Mar. 2020].
Study.com. (2020). How to Become a Movie Producer | Education and Career Roadmap. [online] Available at: https://study.com/how_to_become_a_movie_producer.html [Accessed 6 Mar. 2020].
We also had to quickly learn how to use the equipment for the sound and lights so that we could play films and have nice lighting on the night. The person in charge of this at college left days before the festival so it was up to us to try our best and put on a show. I am very proud of how fast we learnt how to use the audio and lights and I think the finished product looked great!
