BFI Level Two Silver Arts Award

During my time working with the BFI I was given the opportunity to gain a level two silver arts award. Here is my work unit by unit:

Unit 1A: Strength and Weaknesses

Unit 1B:Log of BFI Academy

Unit 1C: My Reviews

Unit 1D: People & Organizations

Unit 2A Role and Planning

Unit 2B: Plan and Practical

Unit 2C: Delivering Project

Unit 2D Feedback

Unit 2E: My Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOt_rb9Afz8

Unit 2E:My Review

Through the event I was able to develop my communication skills as I was able to tell people about the event and got them to come to the stall to do the workshop.

Doing all this was really good because it was the first time that I had ever done a workshop before.It really helped me to improve my team work skills through telling people to come to our school with other members of our team.
From this event it has really benefited me because it will help me for future events and through working with people in the future I will use all these skills I have gained from doing this event.
To improve the event I would take a longer amount of time planning the event,and maybe tell people about the event in advance before the event to persuade more people to come such as advertising on social media and through word of mouth.I would also change the space we used as it got quite cramped at time but overall the event went really well.

       

Unit 2D Feedback

I have received feedback from my team members and mentors on a sheet to see what went well and what I could of developed on.

From feedback of the event we had got really good positive feedback,which was really good to hear.

Unit 2C: Delivering Project

Day Nine: Event

Date: 7^th November 2015

Time: 11:00 – 14:30

Session held: Mac 

At the beginning everyone got there early to set up,our group was the model making group where with the children we would make models out of polystyrene which would be good fun to the children.We had emailed Janette before hand to bring the materials for model making and a list but she had misread the email and thought we were going to bring the materials ourselves.As a team through problem solving and resilience we had a plan B which was to use an app on the two iPads called Puppet Makers where we were able to make a interactive Puppet show for the children.

When we had finished setting up me and Aqeel started to persuade people to come to our workshops this was really hard at first because people didn't know whether to come or not or were too shy to come but as I slowly started to talk to more and more people my confidence started to develop and I persuaded people to come to our stall.

Through the day we had three people at the workshop and the other three trying to recruit people we did this as a rota so when people came over to our stall so the young people could start it straight away rather than just waiting around.

When I was doing the workshop I was asked to be interviewed by Fahima. Where she asked me what my role was, the name of the event and what I was currently doing.

Unit 2B: Plan and Practical

Our team was the animation group so there was a large amount of us (around 6 or 7) my job was to help lead workshops and to help promote the event to our audience.

We created a flyer to hand out to people on the day to tell people about the event and create awareness to people,it was a family fun day aimed at everyone any age.

Unit 2A: Role and Planning

For Saturday we planned workshops of things we had learnt to teach our friends,families and also Mac visitors this was to help young people be creative and more passionate about media.

Firstly we had to decide what workshops that we could do in three groups,our final ideas were model making,film posters and green screen.The ideas started to come through as a team we had to discuss the ideas together all listening to peoples ideas.

My main role was to teach kids how to do a puppet animation using an app on an iPad called Puppet Pals.

Unit 1D People & Organisation

Yen Yau Into film presentation

Yen did a talk about getting into film and the different opportunities,I found this really good and she had given us some good tips and advice to use for the future.Yen talked about different events which we could go to,which would help us to become more involved and stand out from the crowd.Also different careers were talked about such as different pathways to relate to the subjects that you are good at and suit you.

Pip Piper & Michael Q&A – info on Blue Hippo Media Research
These are some questions I prepared to ask to Michael and Pip
Were there any problems that you faced when producing this documentary?
How did you make this documentary more aware to people?
Have Michael and Pip done a collaboration before?What made you want to work together?
What did you find the most interesting?
What inspired you to create this?

Did you have a main target audience?
Pip Piper was firstly a youth worker he started a lego animation and then developed a media charity.At the youth centre he was a project manager which mean't that he was a good organizer and then he developed into his producer role.He then developed himself through networking and collaborations to produce media products.
Michael Clifford started off with editing which had got him hooked on film making,he also took the general route into media through taking a course.Then he got into music videos promotion but then decided he wanted to go and about and travel the world so he got into directing to enable him to explore and adventure.He also said that director isn't just working alone its a team game which requires enthusiasm and passion through this he had met lots of heroes.

Networking-Tea Party

On Wednesday after our BFI session there was a networking event held at the Mac theatre which was set up by Janette.This was the first networking event I had been to but it was an amazing event to talk to people in the media industry.I had met lots of professionals for BBC abd was luck enough to meet Marc Silk the voice of Scooby Doo.The thing I had learn't from the event is that make sure that you put yourself out there by talking to other people.

Nina Jones and Harmeet Chagger-KhanNina talked to us History of film,which I thought was going to be quite boring but I found out some interesting and funny information from the talk.
Edward Mybridge used separating images to create a moving image this was called a Zoetrope.
George Eastman was the founder of Kodak and perfected the first camera designed specifically to use a roll of film.
I thought it was cool to hear about the old vs new camera styles for projection and how different films were back then until now.
Independent film maker Harmeet told us about how she got into the film industry,what inspired her and the obstacles she faced to get here.Useful advice which stood out to me was 'Refine your style' make it your own,unique and creative.Harmeet also mentioned that we should get engaged with film through going to festivals and seeing films to see other people's work to inspire you.



Dan Whitehouse and Pete Frazer 
Told us about the Next Generation programme and things that we could get involved in on the mac website which were amazing opportunities.Next year I may help out in the Social Exchange event which was something that I went to early this year it was a great event for networking.
By Pete were got told about NFTS + the BFI residentials on other events on how we can develop our skills further,these were really good and exciting opportunities so it is going to be something that I consider to apply for as they are new skills I would like to expand on such as VFX.

Unit 1C:My Reviews

Top Tips for a Film Review

Steenbeckett by Atom Egoyan

At the Mac Theatre we saw the exhbition. The.The First Floor Gallery had two thousand feet of 35mm film moving around the gallery through pulley-suspended sprockets driven by a lone Steenbeck editing machine.To me that was the part I enjoyed the most it was fascinating to watch,on the other hand digital version plays in high definition in an adjacent space.From the exhibition,Steenbeckett explores the features of analogue and digital film, and the relationship between the recorded archive and human memory.
Personally I preferred the digital film as it was much more clear and higher quality which is what I have been surrounded by today.From using analogue to create a film it would be more harder work due to storing the footage and trying to edit the footage.

Bicycle by Michael Clifford and Pip Piper

Bicycle is a documentary about the Bicycle's in Britain.

This was a documentary that I really enjoyed watching because it was mostly positive throughout and had a good use of storytelling which were all fascinating and true stories.The stories told were really inspiring and magical and made me want to ride my bike after.

The documentary was really fun and exciting,what made it unique was the combination of filming and animation with a voice over gave it a special touch.

Through the story it was showing the history of Bicycle's and 'how history has changed this,change is for the better'.It showed the story of beginning to the end using old footage as well as new it shows anyone can cycle.

It was good to see the director at the beginning of the documentary and what makes cycling special to him,through the documentary we heard personal stories which were true and very emotional.

The use of camera shots made it interesting along with the relaxing music and atmosphere which set the mood of the film.

A thing I have learnt about documentaries are that they are not always boring they can be fun too.

Unit 1B: Log of the BFI Academy

Session:

Day One: First Day
Date:Sunday 18th October 2015
Time: 13:00 – 17:00
Session held: Mac

On the first day of the BFI Academy the first thing we did an icebreaker activity which enabled us to see how experienced people were on the academy e.g. with editing,camera,acting and directing.After this we got introduced to the pastoral leaders.We were first introduced to Janette who was the director and leader of the academy,she had given us a friendly welcome of all the leaders Drew,Micheal,Pip,Idi and Nerina.This part of the day was really interesting we got to learn about each of the leaders such as their background,things they are interested and their show-reels and other bits of work that they had produced.It was really amazing to hear their stories,all the pastoral leaders were passionate and enthusiastic about the creative industry.On day two we had a tour round Drew's Yanimation Studios which was amazing to see the environment that animators work in.We were shown the workshop rooms and various different projects that Drew had been involved in with the sets and models produced.This was the day that we got split into groups for the documentary,there were three groups which were Behind the Scenes,Animation and Live Action.My first choice was initially behind the scenes as it would be in a small group and it would be cool to interview people and go between each of the groups,but then there were only three people needed on that group and more people were needed on the animation group.Therefore I went to the animation group as I decided to challenge myself as it is something that I had never done before however I would enjoy myself too at the same time whilst meeting new members of the BFI academy.Our story was based by the theory of evolution,the characters created were inspired by characters already existing on TV which were simple and not time consuming.The next day as we had completed the animation models I was able to create a flexible schedule where a group of three was on set then we switched every half an hour which worked out well for everyone.At the morphing stage it was the most exciting stage and great to see the animation nearly coming together,we all then as a group had a chance to animate and developed many skills.
After this we worked in groups to form ideas for our documentary.This gave me a chance to communicate with other members on the course and listen to their backgrounds and interests in media too which I could connect with.I firstly worked with Aqeel and Taayib who were really cool to work with and had many fantastic ideas. At this point it was good to gain self confidence at first I was nervous because I did not know anyone but due to working in a group I was able to communicate with members of the course and develop friendships.





Day two: Animation Introduction
Date:Sunday 25th October 2015
Time: 13:00 – 17:00
Session held: Yanimation Studios

After this we had a Q&A session for the film Bicycle with Director Michael Clifford and Producer Pip Piper.This was really interesting to here things from a directors and producers point of view telling us about the highlights and obstacles they faced when creating a documentaries.Then with Nerina we did development on our ideas in groups,we got handed four ideas from the day before and groups we had to decide which one we liked the best and then what ideas we could use to create this film/documentary.

Day three: Equipment&Opportunities
Date: Monday 26th October 2015
Time: 10:00 – 17:00
Session held: the Mac

At the beginning of the day we had and introduction to the academy and the brief schedule of what we would be doing through the week,from the schedule it was jam packed so they was a lot to do in a short amount of time which made things interesting.
After this we had a presentation from Into Film by Yen Yau and in the evening we had the Next Generation producer come to talk about further opportunities.
After this we had to work in groups to perform a pitch to Spike and Kelly so I changed groups to work with different people to work with so I could get to know different people through the week,I worked with Michael and Hannah.We had 10 minutes to think of a pitch for a film/TV show,so we chose British Bake Off we tried to make our pitch interesting by giving people cookies at the start as it related closely to the TV show,then after each of us spoke we tried to make our pitch interesting by talking loudly and clearly and making it quite comical and funny.That was my first time of public speaking in front of the group and it went really well as we worked well as a team.We got feedback from the judges of the pitch which as good to know what went well and also what we could of improved on as a team.
After lunch we had a introduction with the camera kit with Chris Keenan which was really interesting to see being used as it was something I had never seen before so it enabled me to see how technologies have developed.We also got to learn about basic lighting techniques which was three point lighting to make certain features of the characters to stand out in a film and the impact it makes.Also Chris told us he used LED lights which was to create a sparkle/twinkle in the characters eye,which is a technique that I will use during my A2 Film Trailer for sixth form.






Day Four:Break down
Date: Tuesday 27th October 2015
Time: 10:00 – 17:00
Session held: the Mac

Then in our animation group we had to come up with ideas which we could show at the beginning of the documentary,it had to be quite short but easy to do in about 2 days as animation is a challenging task.
After Lunch we had a session with Micheal on what makes a good film review,which was a really useful session to help me to create a good review on a film I like.
We also did a session with Pip on production tips and advice from him which he had faced when producing films and documentaries.He spoke to us about preproduction and the importance and then core things to focus on when producing a film such as schedule,finance and budget,legal agreements,insurance,permissions and general preparation this was really useful and are things to consider when creating my trailer for sixth form.

Day Five: Pre Production
Date:Wednesday 28th October 2015
Time: 10:00 – 17:00
Session held: Yamination Studios and the Mac

The first thing on the storyboard was to have a blank screen with music similar to the space odessy tune slowly starting to build up and create atmosphere.
This was then followed by a spotlight on the monkey,who then started walking a few steps.
Then he quickly morphed into a human so the model would slowly get talker and thinner.
After this when the character is human we would spin him round at the centre of the set,then he would pull out a sign behind him saying 'Box Please' and the box would fall on top of him.
Then after two other small boxes would drop down either side to form a title 'BoxUmentary.'
We had an idea firstly that when the character morphed into a human he would look at his mobile phone then pause and throw it across the floor in anger.We were also not sure whether to have narration in our documentary or not,so we asked the live action group for some feedback and presented our idea to them.We then decided as a whole group not to have narration as it would be time consuming to fit everything together and also make the beginning of the documentary more open,the other group disliked the idea of the mobile phone so we then replaced it to a sign saying 'Box Please.'
Today was a pre-production day where the live action group stayed at The Mac and the animation group went to Drew's Yanimation Studio.When we arrived at the studio we all had our set roles which were director,producer,photography and lighting,sound,storyboard and model making.So there was a lot to do as a group between us in a short spaced time.
We had to brainstorm and think of lots of ideas in our group which we then came down to one final idea.We then decided what roles we wanted to be through production so we were organised and could get things done more quickly.I was the producer and created the storyboard so I had a really important role and had to make sure that things were running smoothly I did this by creating a schedule for my team of what we needed to complete for each day.Today our aim was to complete the set up of the animation making sure the camera and lighting was all ready for the next day.Also we wanted to complete half of the human and also the whole of the monkey.On the first production day we were slightly behind schedule at first but slowly we all got into the routine and started to learn the basic principles of animation.We slowly creating the armature of each of the characters and after this we had to wrap it with masking tape to make sure it was secure then add orange Plasticine to it.

Day Six: Setting
Date:Thursday 29th October 2015
Time: 09:00 – 18:00
Session held: Yamination Studios and the Mac

Today was production day,the live action group were based at the mac whilst our group was at Yanimation Studio's all day.We all decided to get there an hour earlier than usual so we could have extra time for our animation.
At the beginning of the day my role was the producer therefore I had to read through the schedule to the group so everyone knew what we would be doing for the day and what was to be completed through the day at a set time.We split into groups of model making,designing,camera and lighting.For model making and design we used our sketches to help us and we had to make the models to suitable measurements and scales so the animation would look good and accurate.We were introduced to Hannah and Micheal who had experience with model making so it was really good to work with them and chat to them as they gave us useful tips and advice for model making.
As a producer I was able to go between the different groups to make sure everything was on schedule.I worked with the director within the design of the animation to get the text we needed for the title 'BoxUmentary' and the sign 'Box Please' we got the fonts from this website called dafont.com and printed them out to the correct size then used these as a stencil so the text would look professional rather than hand drawn.
The aims of the day were too complete the human model and morph models,then also have the puppets put in the right place on set through doing test shots and making sure they were all to the correct measurements.Also we had to test that the boxes were in the right places/measurements and see if the title looked presentable.By the end of the day we planned to get to the morph stage.
Through teamwork and motivating each other we were about to get our aims of the day complete also with the help of the amazing Drew,Hannah and Michael,we also switched between jobs and took breaks occasionally.Through the day we thought we were not going to get to the morphing stage as we were behind schedule and the walking sequence of the puppet took a long time,but slowly we got to grips with the animation and working as a team to reach our goal,we also stayed an extra hour to complete this.





Day Seven:Final day of shooting & PIZZA!
Date: 30st October 2015
Time: 09:00 – 17:00
Session held: Yamination Studios & the Mac

After this me and the producer Mitoshka worked on basic sounds for the animation,we were luck to have our main sound track produced by Michael a brilliant composer.We travel back to do the sound at the Mac theatre as there was less noise and disruptions there we were also able to use a large quiet staff room.We worked with Kelly to produce sounds where we were able to learn and put together the sound equipment,we created sounds such as footsteps,cardboard rustling and bones breaking.The bones breaking sound was interesting and funny as we snapped celery to create this sound.
After this we had an editing session with Nerina which was fantastic because we got to view the live actions groups footage and give our opinions on it to see if we like it or not,to me it was alot better than I expected and I can't wait to see the rest.During our free time we were also able to see other people's Media work on Youtube which were really inspiring and cool,I really enjoyed them some of the pieces created were absolutely magnificent.

Final Reflections:
I really enjoyed the BFI Academy and have developed many skills over the long,fast and furious week.

• I know the basics of stop motion of animation,with the equipment and model making process.
• Learn't how to be more organised by creating a schedule,I was the producer for the animation group so I had an important role and had to communicate/give feedback to my team regularly.
• I can speak to new people more easily and confidently,this was something which was out of my comfort zone before but I have developed many skills.
• I volunteered to do interviews and voice overs with the camera which developed my communication skills.
• I am using these skills to create an Action Thriller film trailer on my own,people have really influenced me and inspired me to create new ideas.
• I am going to create a short documentary on Birmingham Winter Food Drive 2015.

My future consists of trying new things out and producing more of my own work.I want to get a degree in Media whilst learning a broad range of things and skills and collaborating with other people.The BFI has helped me to get involved in new opportunities and try out new things.