Looking Forward -

What do you want to do in the film/TV industry?

In the future I aspire to have a career in cinematography. To become a camera operator would be my ultimate goal. Cameras are so interesting to me as I enjoying working with the technical side of films. I want to be able to work my way up in the industry and learn everything about cinematography.

What skills do you already have?

Being the director of photography was my role for a film I worked on - called Blind Date. This proved difficult to me in this particular situation as not all the crew was organised, which meant it was difficult to get everyone working together to push the film forward. In a professional situation this could have been a better experience, but a better option for me now would to be behind the camera so I will be able to solely focus on getting the perfect shot. I have also been the grip on another student film. This was a good experience as controlling the dolly on the track came quite easily to me. The shots turned out smooth and at a good pace of tracking the subject.
Experience in other areas of filmmaking are also important. I took part in co-directing a short drama, which enabled me to see everyone's roles and what they all had to do to pull the film together. Here, I learnt that it is important to have knowledge on every role as this helps you improve on the skills in your own area too, so you can know exactly who should be doing what and how you can improve.

What do you need to improve on?

Improvement in my confidence would be a big step forward. I’m not always good with my self-esteem and this affects me when it comes to sharing my ideas with other people. Being shot down is a big fear of mine that I want to improve on and I hope that when I can do this it will make me a better filmmaker. I can try and overcome this by getting more experience in film situations so I know the correct ways to deal with them and how to handle things when there are problems/difficulties.

The Professional world -

Who influences you?

When I’m watching films/and TV, I always look at the different shots that are produced. I look at what they use to make the shot more intriguing. I like it when the production design of the set is good and the shots are produced using objects in the foreground and background. The more I watch films and notice the cinematography, the more it makes me want to be a cinematographer.

Who are your favourite production companies?

The BBC is one of my favourite production companies as it is a good representation of British TV. I like how professional their productions look. I become more interested in productions that have put more thought into certain shots, to me that shows that they have tried to be smart about the way they use the camera to improve the film. Studio-canal is also a good film company. They have made some of my favourite big successful films, like Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead and Johnny English Reborn. These films are my favourite because I think they have good story lines even if they’re not realistic and the cinematography is great in them.

What do you know about the professional world?

I know that the professional world of film and TV is difficult to get into. You have to have a lot of experience and be able to work your way up into the industry to get a career out of it. I am trying to make the most of my time at university and make the best films I can now so that I can have more experience for when I finish university. Over the summer I want to be able to help out on films being produced by BA3 to get a more professional view on filmmaking. I also would like to be a part of Sheffield doc fest so I can get more of an insight of the professional world of film.

What’s being made?

I think a lot of the successful films that are being made are the ones with topics that are happening right now in the world. Like for subjects such as natural disasters or terrorism, people will want to watch the films out of curiosity to see the different theories or stories. Or they may want to watch the film to see what the situation would have been like without actually living through it - like escapism. Examples of these films are: The Day After Tomorrow, 2012, Die Hard.

Previous Experiences -

For the latest film I have worked on I was the Cinematographer/ camera operator. I really enjoyed doing this and learnt a lot from it. I was able to use a professional film camera for the first time and I was able to get to grips and feel comfortable with it. This could open career pathways for me within cinematography. I also was able to experiment with different lights in studios and on location so I got more of an insight with judging what lights work best in different locations. For this I also booked out all of the equipment that we used for both of the film shoots, which helped me see the amount of kit needed.

Do you like factual, documentary or fiction, drama, soap?

I would prefer to specialise in drama for film or TV as I work better when there is a set and organised plan to film. I previously worked on a documentary and I didn’t really like the uncertainty of it. It was mostly just running around trying to find a story. In the end, because we had a deadline we just ended up having to settle for our story and it wasn’t really good, so we just had to make the most out of it.

Development -

Career Pathways -

Since starting from the bottom is the most common way of getting into the film industry. I could possibly start off as a spark, grip or DIT. I could then work my way up to being a 1st/2nd AC. The ultimate goal would be being a camera operator or a cinematographer. I understand this will take a lot of work and a lot of experience but I believe if I really work hard this could be possible. I wouldn't mind working in any area of cinematography as I do enjoy just being on the set helping produce the visuals for a film.

I could look into further training and see if there are any internships or volunteer work to help out with a cinematography career. Although, just making more films I think would be my best option in learning, as I would be improving my skill as I went along, and it would also be in a professional environment.

I made a show reel of my best work to enter the university, so I can update this one with all my new work. I can show this to anyone who is needing camera assistants for their film and that will show what skill level I already have.

What do I plan on doing in my final year?

In my final year I plan on being a camera operator for a drama film. I would like to learn a lot more techniques for complicated shots like when using a jib arm. Complex shots really intrigue me and I would like to expand my knowledge in this area. Using different cameras would be good for my experience also as I can then get used to them in general so I can be ready in the film industry.

I would like to see more lighting set ups from what other people have done because at the moment I just try and see what looks the best, but I would like to see more of how to cancel out really strong shadows.

Online Presence -

For our latest experimental film, I decided to make myself a new Instagram account to promote myself as a filmmaker and to give myself a presence on the internet. This is an important thing to do as other aspiring filmmaking could start to notice my work, therefore, they will be able to find me online and see my other productions. I uploaded behind the scene photos and videos to this account trying to advertise and promote our new film called “The Valiant”: h.townendfilm Instagram .

We also made a separate instagram specifically for the film which will again give the film a presence online for people to see: Thevaliantfilm Instagram

I created a LinkedIn account to gain connections in the film industry and network with people outside of the university as well as people inside the university. This will help with my future as I can post films and projects online and all of my connections on there will be able to view them.
Linkedin Profile

I also have a google+ account which shares all of my google blogger post so more people can see them. I think that this helps with how I want to be professionally perceived. The way forward in my opinion is all online. Everything these days is done online and I think it is a really effective way of self promotion as it can all be done from home.
Google+ Profile