PIMS 1st Reflection

PIMS 1st Reflection

So far this year in college, I have been tasked to take part in PIMS activities; these activities were set to help my future chances of employability. I have completed the activities set, and here are my reflections on Activity’s 1 and 2 as well as my apprenticeship option form, then finally my cover letter reflections.

Activity 1

The Activity 1 objectives were to research two job roles, specific to the media. Part (a) was the first job, and part (b) was the second.

To find these jobs, I used the suggested website called creativeskillset.org which hosts job descriptions for not only careers in the media but thousands of different roles from a stores worker to a shipbuilder! For me though, I selected jobs in the tv production industry, and for my first application, I picked locations manager. I then had to answer a few questions on the activity forum such as ‘what does the job entail’ and others. I believe taking part in this activity and looking around all the different job roles available, made me feel like there is a place in the industry where my skills would line up with what is required of a particular job.

So this is why I thought I would make a good locations manager, I am enthusiastic about research, an excellent negotiator, the amount of free filming locations I've managed to get, including Backwell Radio Tower! I am very good at getting about, and hugely experienced with directions, for example, when I was at school I was the navigator for 10 tors, a 35 mile hike over Dartmoor as well as numerous practice walks, including navigating for my Bronze D of E award. I also hold the full UK driving licence, including an economical and practical car.

The second job I commenced research on was the role of the DOP (director of photography). Once again, I have plenty of experience as DOP even on university shoots, as well as all of the college projects I have been involved in. I found this website on creativeskillset.org; however, this role is a fantastically more challenging one, a position which I find myself dreaming of working in for the future. This role involves stress and an extremely motivated mindset; now, this is a role where I could see myself fitting in, as the DOP is required from the pre-production of the film to the post. I like this aspect more than any other roles, as I believe there is a benefit to seeing a movie all of the way through, whereas in other jobs in the media you may only work on a specific part of a production for only a short amount of time, like a camera operator, lighting technician or editor.

In conclusion to activity (a), I believe this research has been especially beneficial for me as it had made me realise how many super-specific roles there actually are in production. When I was at Icon films on my work experience, I learnt a great deal, being placed in all the different departments, from counting money to research, lighting. I think I checked out most of the positions in the company! This taught me so much and opened up my thoughts on the industry in a very interesting way.

Activity 2

Activity 2 was about analysing a job advert, for this activity I thought I may as well write about a job I could be applying for in approximately a years’ time which, would be as a runner for Icon films in Bristol, fortunately for me I knew quite a lot about what the job entailed before writing up, on this activity!

So how was it beneficial for me? This activity has taught me to look at the nitty grittiest parts of the t’s, and c’s in the job advertisement, for example, I have looked at a few advertised jobs where (in the small print) they say something along the lines of you may only be needed for a few months or a few weeks in some cases! So I started by looking for at least a 1 year minimum contract, so if I did end up working somewhere I would be able to at least get a good years’ worth of experience before possibly moving onto somewhere else or if I worked hard and presented myself in a correct and professional manner, they would then offer for me a full-time position.

In conclusion to activity 2, I indeed came away with a lot more than I went in with, about the pros and cons of a runner’s level job; however, I thoroughly did enjoy the research and the challenge of this activity.

Applying for an Apprenticeship

For the apprenticeship option activity, I decided to make it about applying for an apprenticeship at Icon Films in Bristol, the exciting thing about this activity was it made me realise how many things there are to consider before committing to a particular job or path in life.

I started in this activity by completing section (a) which was about the apprenticeship that I had chosen, and activity (b) which was more about why I would like to apply myself for the apprenticeship. The questions activity (a) was about where Icon is? Who do I report to? The requirements etc... Fortunately for me, while I was at Icon Films, I had already asked quite a few of these questions! So, this activity for me was about putting that info I had heard down on paper.

This activity is a reliable reflection everything I learnt about the opportunity Icon Films offer in an apprenticeship, I also looked at the benefits of apprenticeships, which seemed very interesting as according to a servery on Reddit, over 70% of people who took on an apprenticeship where offered a job of some context after their apprenticeship had expired. Overall this was a very educational and beneficial activity that also taught me, why I might want to go onto an apprenticeship after college rather than a University!

I have kept my options open though, and recently I have looked at two local universities, Screenology in Bristol and UWE in Long Aston, both have been apertizing to me!

So I'll see what the year brings, I'm going to apply to these universities, but I will look to apply for an apprenticeship at Icon Films.

Cover Letter

For my cover letter, I wanted to keep it short, formal and not too over the top using all sorts of exquisite words! For help, I looked at a range of different jobs that I could send a cover letter for, I decided, in the end, to keep to a runner role as that is where most of my previous research for jobs in the industry had been conducted. I applied for a job where my tutor, Dan used to work, in a way it was a bit cheeky, but I thought he might appreciate the extra touch of research I had to do to find out where he had worked in the past! So, the application was for a runners role at 007 Pinewood Studios, and I provided my information, however I was missing my CV as it was not currently available at the time of hand in. On my feedback for the cover letter, I was commended on my professionalism, which was appreciated for the amount of time I spent structuring such a short e-mail!

This whole section of PIMS has been enjoyable to take part in and especially the cover letter, and this was quite an experience to write.