CDM 335

Planning a career in the film industry

1.1 Listing my skills

I mindmapped my hard skills, this is to help better identify my strengths and weaknesses so I understand what to work on and what to put in my personal statement.

skills audit

I identified different skills in different categories then assessed how good i am at each skill in order to find out what i need to work on and how each skill is important

planning a career

I researched two jobs i would like to go into in the industry, finding out exactly what they do and different ways to get into working.

Talking to an industry professional

I reached out to a stunt performer and actor to find out how they got into the industry. I do not have any aspirations of doing his job but i believe that its important to understand different experiences when working in the industry, so i know how everyones experiences differ. He has worked on films such as Doctor Strange, No time to die and Rogue One.

College unit self-evaluation

I evaluated each college unit i have completed , to see which skills i gained from them and what possible career paths they could lead into.

1.2 Career action plan

I identified different skills i need to develop aswell as different ways i could get into working as a cinematographer.

creating a flow chart showing possible career paths to DP

1.3 Researching uni's

Bournemouth

This Bournemouth cinematography course is my first choice as it specialises in cinematography. It has a wide range of guest speakers, from industry professionals to research students. This would give a wide range of insights into the industry and may help me narrow down what I want to do in the future.

leeds

This Leeds university is good as it provides insight into the film, photography and media industry. This means that I would have a lot of options for what job I want to go into, however I don't think it goes as in-depth into cinematography as I would like

Beaconsfield

NFTS is widely regarded as one of, if not the best film schools in England, however they only provide masters courses, this means I wouldn't be able to start studying there after I finish college. This leaves me with two choices if I want to study there, I can either study a bachelors film course somewhere else or start working straight in the industry for 3-4 years, working on building up my portfolio. I think this is a good option as it gives me time to decide if I want to carry on working in the industry and getting experience from other professional crew members, or go into education to study the theory relevant to become a cinematographer. Either way this is a good option as I will already have contacts in the film industry, helping me get work after I finish the course.

Available jobs the industry

I searched for jobs relevant to my desire profession on multiple different websites, I applied to jobs on Cahootify, Film groups on Facebook and Star now. The first job I applied to is for a first assistant camera position, this would be a great experience as I would get to help an experienced camera operator, talking to them about technical aspects and how camera movement and settings affect a shot. The second job I applied to on Facebook for was experience on a film set as a production assistant. This would be a good opportunity as I would get to spend time on the film set watching the crew work and try to network with them. The third job I applied to on starnow was as an extra, although I don't want to go into acting this would still be a good experience as I would still. get to spend time on a film set watching the crew work.

Creating a professional linkedin profile

I created a professional LinkedIn profile, this is a good idea as even if I don't use it to apply for jobs, future employers will be able to find information about me, see what projects I have worked on and how much experience I have. This will significantly increase my chance of getting future jobs as employers will have a portfolio to look at and they will feel like they know more about what type of worker I am.

applying to jobs in the industry

I applied to a stage rigging job I found on Facebook as I thought that this would be a great opportunity to learn about setting up lighting and more in-depth technical knowledge about how different lights work. All of this is relevant experience need for my progression to become a cinematographer.

Creating a film focused cv

Personal and professional statements

I created a personal and professional statement, these can be used to help when applying to universities and jobs. They give a brief description about me and my skills, showing I would be suitable for whatever I am applying for.