I have also learnt and become familiar with a new editing programme called audacity. While this has obvious merits in the fact that I have broadened my knowledge of different editing programmes, it has also shown me that I am a fast learner and I feel this is an extremely important skill in this ever changing media world. There are new programmes and equipment being created and developed everyday, and my ability to quickly and effectively learn these will mean I am a strong candidate to work in the media industry.

I feel this course has had a strong impact on the development of my professionalism, as it has made sure that I am actively aware of the media in my surroundings and has ensured that I analyse and contemplate the effect of everything on myself and the media industry in general. I feel this is a skill that I should continue to maintain outside and beyond my degree.

I have submitted two videos that I feel highlight my professional video editing skills via youtube.

The first is my level one animation. I feel that at such an early level of my university career, this end product shows my ability to produce a humorous, simple story in a relatively short amount of time. I was very interested in animation in my first year, and I feel it is still one possible career option for the future.

Youtube link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1oye3bzORA

The second video I created in the final term of my second year. This was a short video I created during my time at one of the companies I worked for during my professional experience module. I was given a short brief in which I was to plan, film and edit a short promotional video about London. I was to highlight its cultural variety and its various advertising possibilities. I feel that this really shows off my editing skills as well as my ability to adhere to a given brief.

Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2hscnUR2_o

If I can create films as moving as this and can involve my audience on such a level that they feel an emotional bond with the subject then I will know I have truly, successfully become a professional media producer. I hope that I can recreate this to some extent in my documentary for my final media product.

I also got to see the entrance of the Morgan Stanley offices that I had sent so many video calls to from London in the Summer Holidays. It made me think about the fact that there are so many work options available; you can work anywhere, doing anything. Nothing should get in the way of your career if you really want it.

In returning home I have decided that I want to spend at least two years living and working in New York within the next five years. I think it would be really interesting to compare methods and approaches to filming in Britain and America. I think it would be interesting having to adapt to new cultural values and audience expectations, and perhaps even trying to apply some British ideals to work and seeing the reaction.

Another perk of going to see the show was that as an encore, the crew set up and filmed scenes for his upcoming film ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall 2′. Unfortunately, I seemed to be more excited about the process that the crew were going through and wondering about how it was all going to come together than the fact I was going to be in the film. From what I could see there were handheld cameras throughout the audience and one following Russell, a crane camera in the middle of the arena getting sweeping shots of the audience and long shots of Russell on stage. I can only assume that there were also cameras ona nd around the stage area too. I thought about how much planning must have gone into the night, as Russell only needed to perform 2 takes of each song. How would they get all the shots they needed? What if they didn’t get what they wanted? The whole process really interested me. I think it’s important to see these professional processes to draw from what is taking place. The idea of using an already congregated crowd seems immensly economical, and as far as I could tell, the audience loved the idea of getting a little something extra. All in all it was a very exciting and interesting, once in a lifetime experience.

To whom it may concern,
I am an undergraduate currently studying media production at Coventry University. I have studied a wide range of media forms, including studio work, animation, theory and documentary.

I find the process of producing film thrilling and I am passionate about getting the best results possible. I am currently co-producing a documentary with a fellow student, and although the work is challenging, we work hard to research, film and edit to the very best ability that we can.

I have had work experience within the media industry before, working with production companies such as Toast TV and Infinity productions. I also had the chance to work within the media department of one of the most influential financial institutes; Morgan Stanley. This work, although more studio based, gave me the chance to learn the essentials of working in a professional workplace. I proved to them that I was a fast learner, and was soon given the responsibility of taking full control of editing and processing the filming of meetings and seminars. 

I would love the chance to work professionally for a production company, and I know that my passion and the skills I have learnt through out my education and various work experiences will rise to any challenges presented.

I look forward to hearing from you.
Jessica Redman-Scott

This would be an ideal opportunity for me, and although I’m not holding out on actually getting the job due to the current economic climate and my lack of experience, I feel it has given me a better sense of direction, and what I want to do with my career path. I would now ideally like to focus on securing a job of a similar description, and continue with my own freelance work in my spare time. This way I can save money for better equipment and programmes, as well as continuing to keep up to date with my skills within a professional media environment.

I find it astounding that we are all still talking about it, and in some cases, are still as outraged by it. The (pre-recorded!) show was broadcast on 18th October, 5 months ago. Ofcom wrote a report on the scandal, stating that:
“The number of complaints rose significantly after extensive media”.

There have been several reports that many of the complaints were from people who hadn’t even listened to the show. This just goes to show how controlled we are by the media as a society. Radio hosts and tabloid newspapers seem to have an increasing power over what we do or say. For example, Chris Moyles is known for having a huge audience for his breakfast show, and has in the past used his powers to influence the charts. After he successfully campaigned for downloaded songs to affect the charts, he then asked listeners to download Billie Piper’s ‘Honey to the Bee’ to see if he could influence the charts; it reached number 17. Similarly, papers have used their influence to change legal and political movements amongst other things. For example, in 2004, the Sun ran a successful poll that Maxine Carr should serve her full sentence in jail for lying to the police about Ian Huntley’s role in the murder of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

Relating to my post about the film ‘V for Vendetta’, it feels like we are getting rapidly closer to the media gaining total control of our actions and choices. Where will it end? The Russell Brand Scandal was, admittedly, disrespectful. But it wasn’t the ‘disgrace’ that a lot of ‘outraged’ members of society would like to believe. The fact of the matter is that when you listen to Russell Brand, you should be expecting him to push the boundaries. The fact that the show was pre-recorded also speaks for itself. We are more focused on slating the presenters, that it was almost over-looked (by the media frenzy at least) that both the head of compliance, David Barber, and Radio 2 controller Lesley Douglas gave the thumbs up for the programme to be aired.

I think that looking at the wider cultural context, we as a nation are obsessed with the rise and fall stories of celebrities, and the ability to create change by unity, that the media have tapped into it and are able to control what it is we campaign for and against.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/chris-moyles-quiz-night/episode-guide/series-1/episode-1

One of the factors that can be held accountable for the poor quality of this TV show is one that has been mentioned in some of my previous weeks…organisation. The show is written and rehearsed in a week and I think that personally this shows through. The banter between the guests and Chris is quite forced, and sometimes uncomfortable to watch, and the shows structure is a mess. It consists of several rounds of questions, the aim of which is to (obviously) win the most points. And the prize? Something from Chris Moyles’ house. Pretentious even for him. It begs the question, what is the point? The whole charade is based on a pub quiz-style environment, and unfortunately just doesn’t seem to work in front of an audience, with celebrity players.

To me, Chris Moyles is a brilliant radio host, so it’s a shame to see him on television looking so wooden and confused as to what’s going on next. On his radio show, although there is a certain amount of planning involved, he has the freedom to talk about anything he wants and go on a tangent. Most of his comedic value is based on bouncing jokes and ideas off his co-hosts and crew. Therefore when he no longer has his support with him on the television show, you can see that he is uneasy and uncomfortable without them.

I think that as a professional, Chris Moyles should be able to spot his weakness and either work on it harder before putting it to practice, or stick to what he knows he is good at. I think this is an important skill to be able to realise in this ever competitive media community. I would like to think that I will, as a professional, work hard at what I do, but I also hope that I will be able to strike a balance between being more confident in my good ideas, and being able to spot a weak idea before it becomes an unfortunate realisation.

As my chosen career path is to eventually become a freelance editor, I felt that I should take a leading role in the audio and visual editing of our final piece. Ross agreed to this, so it has been my task to edit all the audio so far.

I have found it quite an overwhelming amount, and quite a responsibility, but I feel it has given me just a taster of what a working environment would involve.

I haven’t used the audio editing programme ‘Audacity’ before, and I have therefore had to learn how to use it as I go along. Some of the editing tools that I have been using have included:
-Changing pitch
-Equalisation
-Enveloping

Here is an example of how I changed the equalisation of one of Cheryl’s clips to lower her pitch and volume. This was because I had to cut a few stutters out of the middle of a sentence. This resulted in the sentence becoming inconsistent, with a sudden raise in volume and pitch where the clip cut into a later section of the sentence.

One of the tools I used the most throughout editing was the envelope tool:

This is one example of using the envelope tool to slightly fade out the end of one of Emma’s sentences, as, again, I had to cut before the natural end of the sentence. This therefore created a sound that was too harsh to sound like it was ending naturally. The envelope tool has also come in useful for reducing background noise.

I have found the editing challenging, but more for the pure amount of work as opposed to the technicalities of Audacity. Once I had edited the clips of a few interviews I felt I had a total grasp of the programme. This is yet another editing programme I can add to my ‘can work with’ list. I hope that this will help to make me more employable as an editor.

Facebook began in February 2004 when 4 students launched the website from their dorm room. By December that year it had over1million active users. Ever since then it has had a steep incline in popularity to today’s figure of over 200million users.

Whilst researching Facebook I came across a blog that discussed the work of B.J.Fogg, a director of the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford University. He suggests that “as more of the world hooks up with the Internet, the social network phenomenon provides some of the most powerful present-day examples of technological persuasion”. According to Fogg’s research, for example, Facebook is the most persuasive interactive technology on the planet. “Facebook has changed more people’s behavior, more dramatically and faster, than anything that has come before it,” he said, “with millions of people ritualistically involved with their Facebook accounts every day”.

I feel that perhaps the persuasiveness of such websites are mainly so effective due to the fact that we as a society are so eager for the distraction. Facebook is a place where you can publish your views, escape the daily grind of work and studying. It’s a place where you can all ‘congregate’ and discuss issues without actually having to get out of your chair. I think that with todays current economic crisis people will turn more and more to social networking sites to not only escape the realities of the world, but also as a cheaper means of being able to socialise. But isn’t this an unhealthy trend? Will we all begin to lose our social skills when we actually come face to face with each other? I think, and I hope, that this will not happen, and I think as an ambassador of the media industry it is important for me to be aware of such issues and to not only actively fight any negative impacts, but to help make other people aware of them and help them to resist any negative outcomes too.