Third Year: Pre Visualisation

This was one of the first projects I have done that was all 3D. I was nervous at first because 3D isn't my specialty and I don't enjoy it as much as compositing and editing but after some really helpful classes with our 3D teacher I was a lot more comfortable with Maya and managed to produce something I was pleased with, as well as being more confident to work on future 3D projects.

Summer 2012: Freelance Work

As we were coming to the end of the second year at university I began thinking about what I could do over the summer, as I decided I wanted to try and do something every summer to gain experience while studying. I spoke with my godfather who worked for the Sheffield Eagles Rugby club at the time and he told me about some work that the marketing area of the club were thinking about doing. He put me in contact with the marketing manager who told me that they were looking to make 'an introduction to rugby league' video for the club to attract and inform new fans. I jumped at the chance, despite not knowing anything about rugby! I worked with the manager for almost 4 months on developing the idea, the planning, the shoot, the editing and the audio and I loved working with a client as I would if I was a full time freelance film maker.

The video was a big success and I received great praise and feedback from the marketing manager and from everybody at the club who saw it. It really boosted my confidence to know that I could make something good enough for established companies after only my second year.


An Introduction to Rugby League with the Sheffield Eagles Video Link

Second Year: Music Video

The band Diagrams gave us a 30 second sample of their song 'Tall Buildings' to make a music video. This project was really tough because the lyrics int he song are really random and therefore there was nothing to base the visuals and story on. I used the pixelation technique along with rotoscoping and changing colour grading.

Tall Buildings Video Link

Second Year: Movie Titles

One of our projects required us to make the opening titles for the film 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'.

Second Year: Green Screen project

We used the green screen studio to film a short 1 minute video that also included some 3D lettering. I had to rotoscope some of the foreground plate as shadows that were cast onto the green screen during filming meant that the extraction wasn't clean enough. It took a long time but it was worth it in the end result.

Second Year: Showroom Cinema videos

We had a client based project in the second year where we met with the client to discuss ideas, pitched a project and then filmed and edited the videos for the client. The Showroom Cinema in Sheffield was our client and they wanted short videos to advertise their restaurant and the new Chef Simon Ayres. We made a series of 8 videos showing Simon cooking different things in the restaurants kitchen. Below are 3 of the 8 videos.

Ice Cream Video Link

Roast Chicken Video Link

Steak Video Link

Second Year film: 'Through the Shot Glass'

One of our second year projects was a short film that included background plates and foreground plates that were shot in the green screen studio. The theme of the film was Alice and Wonderland so we played on the 'Through the Looking Glass' version of the story.

Second Year: Sound Project

This was a sound project in the second year. I was given the visuals and had to design the sound for it. I used GarageBand and Soundtrack Pro to produce this work.

First Year film: Amelia

This was the first time we filmed and edited a short film. We had to use a green screen and in camera effects including 'Pepper's Ghost' and Forced perspective. Looking back at this video now, 2 years later there are lots of things I would do differently and I know that if I re shot this film now it would be 100% better, but as my first project I was quite pleased with it.

Our Course: Practical work

Lighting a green screen and setting up a diffuser in an attempt to make the light look more like realistic daylight.

I really enjoy practical, on set classes as I am interested in the production side of film as well as the post production.

In the ‘Animation Techniques for Visual Effects’ module at uni we looked at the post production side of green screen and in these particular photos we are filming test footage using track points in over to do motion tracking in After Effects.

A little bit of Freelance work

A friend approached me to do some compositing work for the Junior Law Division that she sits on the board of. The society was having a Law Ball at the end of October and asked me to create a 1940’s backdrop for the band at the ball.

I decided to create something digitally rather than in paint as I was more confident of a professional outcome, even though I do have some painting skills from my Art A Level.

I received some reference material to give me an idea of the style that was required. I then went out and photographed iconic buildings in Sheffield as they wanted the backdrop to be a kind of skyline of Sheffield, like the ones that are frequently produced for the New York skyline.

With all the photographs, I edited them and composited them together with some effects and colour grading to create the final back drop.

I was told that everyone loved the back drop at the event and I even had some orders for more, smaller copies for people to keep which was great and enabled me to make a little bit of money along with the money that I was paid by the society to do the original work.

The final back drop below:

Work Experience: Summer 2011

When my first summer as a student rolled around I decided I needed to get into gear early if I want to gain the experience I need to succeed in this extremely difficult industry. I didn’t want to spend all summer lazying around when I could be doing something constructive and helpful to my career.

I got in touch with my A Level Media tutor, who kindly invited me back into college (Hillsborough College in Sheffield) to speak to some of the current students. I showed the students what I had created at A Level and what I had done at university, as well as talking to them about my course and about general college and university life. I also planned and taught a workshop with a diploma group on filming and editing, although technical problems meant that the editing is postponed until September.

As well as working at college, I was put in touch with a director who invited me to work on a shoot in Leeds. Lee (the director) works for a company called Logistik, who work with businesses to promote campaigns or promotions. In this case, the client was Yorkshire Water and we were hired to create a health and safety film for them to show new recruits.

The shoot took 4 days which ran over 4 weeks and I loved it! The days were often long, but I learnt so much about being on a real set and working with professionals who really know what they’re talking about.

I am so grateful to the people who helped me that summer and I was really pleased with myself for taking the initiative to do it.

Photography

Some photographs I took during 2 weeks work experience when I was 15. I worked with an Art & Graphic design company and learnt how to use an SLR camera and photo editing software for the first time. 6 years later I still love these photographs.

My Profile

My qualifications include:

• GCSE Art
• GCSE Graphics
• A Level Media Studies
• A Level Art & Design
• Currently averaging 2:1 in MA Film & Visual Effects

My skills include:

• Cinematography
• Lighting
• Editing
• Compositing- Paint & Roto
• Green/Blue screen extraction
• Audio recording and editing

Software skills in:

• Adobe After Effects
• Adobe Premier Pro
• Final Cut Pro
• Adobe Photoshop
• Maya
• 3DS Max
• MatchMover
• Soundtrack Pro
• Logic

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog. I'm a third year Film & Visual Effects student from Sheffield, UK. This blog will introduce you to my skills, my work and the journey from education through my career. Thanks for visiting!