Progression

PROPORTAL
Looking back at this, I still feel this applies to me. I’ve definitely developed my
love for film and photography to consider them at university. Video games is
still something I’m interested but I think the field has changed slightly. I did
mention about getting a part time job and I was unsuccessful at this but I will
hopefully get this now I’m not going to university.
I do still feel that I need to develop my confidence more, but I feel my
communication has improved.

PROPORTAL
Over these two years at college, I definitely think some of these
attributes have improved. Having not really done a lot of teamwork at
school, I wasn’t sure how I would be, especially with strangers, but after
doing the client project I do think that our teamwork went well. Hand in
hand with that, I feel like my communication and negotiation has gotten
better than what it was initially.

PROPORTAL
Under my potential problems, I really do think that I should have ticked
the box about finding it difficult to work at home. While it wasn’t
completely throughout the year, which might have been why I didn’t tick
it, I’ve definitely had trouble focussing on work at home at times.
Balancing my social life wasn’t quite as difficult as I thought it would be,
as I found other ways to stay in touch and keep up with them without
affecting my college work, even if it meant not seeing them in person as
often.

OPEN DAY – UNIVERSITY OF CUMBRIA
On the 6th October, I went to an open day at the University of Cumbria.
Since I wasn’t sure whether or not I actually wanted to go to University, I
kept an open mind. I was really impressed with what I had travelled to
see. I’d applied for two courses, Film and Television and Wildlife Media;
film because it’s what I’m doing and I thought the course was really
interesting and had a lot of future job opportunities, including Disney,
and the wildlife media because it was different to the other university
courses and it combined two things I like. The construct of both
courses, they seemed really interesting and the tutors were friendly and
gave a lot of information about the course which actually made my
decision if I wanted to go to University or not even more difficult. The
location for the University of Cumbria was such a big draw to it. Despite
being three hours away from home and something that was putting me
off the idea of university, with the location meaning the courses worked
on real productions involving the Lake District such as Star Wars: The
Force Awakens, I was seriously considering this as an option. The
location also meant I’d have loads of different options for projects
during the course and for time outside of college too.

GCSES
Millthorpe School
Year Subject Grade Awarding Body
2017 Additional Science A AQA
2017 Core Science B AQA
2017 French B AQA
2017 Graphic Products D AQA
2017 History B AQA
2017 ICT A AQA
2017 ITQ A AQA
2017 Religious Studies C AQA
2017 English Language 7 AQA
2017 English Literature 7 AQA
2017 Maths 5 AQA

YORK COLLEGE
GRADES
Year Level
(GCSE/FS)
Subject Grade Awarding
Body
2017 English
Language
7 AQA
2017 Maths 5 AQA
2018 Level 2 Diploma In
Creative
Media
Production &
Technology
Merit UAL

FINAL GRADE Y1
Grade UCAS Points
PASS 36
MERIT 60
DISTINCTION 84
Final Points Final Grade
60 Merit

FINAL GRADE Y2
Grade UCAS Points
PASS 72
MERIT 120
DISTINCTION 168
Final Points Final Grade

UNIVERSITY COURSE
Course Title Wildlife Media
UCAS Code CW36B
Link https://www.cumbria.ac.uk/study/courses/undergraduate/wildlife-
media/
Location Carlisle, Cumbria
Entry
Requirements/
Qualification
GCSE
Grades
UAL Grade
UCAS
points
96-112
General
Comments/
Course Content
It’s by the lake district so there’s a lot of opportunity for
filming wildlife and I would have less problem getting people
to act as I would on other courses. – need a portfolio for the
interview
Rating/Suitability
(0-10> 10 Being
Most Suitable)
8

UNIVERSITY COURSE
Course Title Film and Television
UCAS Code P311
Link https://www.cumbria.ac.uk/study/courses/undergraduate/film-and-
television/
Location Carlisle, Brampton Road
Entry
Requirements/
Qualification
GCSE
Grades
UAL Grade
UCAS
points
112
General
Comments/
Course Content
Beautiful area that would give more opportunities for filming
and for non university activities too.
Rating/Suitability
(0-10> 10 Being
Most Suitable)
9

UNIVERSITY COURSE
Course Title Media Studies
UCAS Code P300
Link http://www.lincoln.ac.uk/home/course/mdsmdsub/
Location Lincoln
Entry
Requirements/
Qualification
GCSE
Grades
At least three GCSEs at grade C or above,
including English, or the equivalent
UAL
Grade
UCAS
points
112
General
Comments/
Course Content
The student body and nightlife sounds really nice,
located in a nice area. Tutors are really nice, the
classrooms an lecture halls seem really well equipped.
Rating/Suitabilit
y (0-10> 10
Being Most
Suitable)
7

UNIVERSITY COURSE
Course Title Film Production
UCAS Code W600
Link https://www.uca.ac.uk/study/courses/ba-film-production/
Location Farnham
Entry
Requirements/
Qualification
GCSE
Grades
UAL Grade
UCAS
points
112
General
Comments/
Course Content
The course is 75% practical, contributed to big scale
productions such as Star Wars, Harry Potter, Mission
Impossible etc. Really far away though (near London).
Rating/Suitability
(0-10> 10 Being
Most Suitable)
7

UNIVERSITY COURSE
Course Title Film Making
UCAS Code W610
Link https://www.leeds-art.ac.uk/study/undergraduate-courses/ba-hons-
filmmaking/
Location Leeds
Entry
Requirements/
Qualification
GCSE
Grades
Need to have passed GCSE English Language or
English Literature at grade C/grade 4 or above
UAL Grade
UCAS
points
112
General
Comments/
Course Content
Fairly close to home
Rating/Suitability
(0-10> 10 Being
Most Suitable)
6

INTRODUCTION
Films have always been a source of enjoyment and interest for me and have spent
hours wondering how the films I like are made. I already enjoyed the idea of editing
together clips and adding special effects to film because most of the films and TV
shows I watched involved these. I would like to have a job in that area of the industry
because I like the idea of working on a film or TV set. Hopefully that is in the genre of
the films and television that I love and I think that it would be interesting to learn and
study more about them.

THE FUTURE
University would help me to do this because I would have access to
more specialist equipment and opportunities to practice different
techniques that I didn't know previously. I'd also be able to learn so
many more new skills and work with different kinds of equipment and
people, discovering exactly which area of film and TV that I am most
interested in. While I already have an idea, a production course should
give me new perspectives and strengthen the interest for the area I
already have. It would also give me more of an insight into what the film
and media industry is like on a day-to-day basis. I enjoy fantasy and sci-
fi genres and going to University would give me the opportunity to
access more specialised equipment and locations to create these kinds
of film, although I am interested to see what making all sorts of film
genres are like. I am interested in broadening my appreciation of film
from a contextual and technical aspect, something I intend to feed into
my productions.

ACADEMIC HISTORY
During secondary school, I studied Graphic Products and ICT at GCSE
and I think that it helped me to decide that a technological but also
design type of course, was a good next step from there. The media
course seemed like a midway point that combined the creative side of
graphics with the technical skills and information that I enjoyed in ICT. It
had more of an impact because I enjoyed those lessons more than my
graphics lessons and this course felt more like those projects anyway.
In ICT, for our graded products, we made databases, spreadsheets and
then websites. I used a lot of this for my FMP when one of my products
was a website, which meant I had some prior knowledge on designing
websites that I felt helped a lot. From graphics I got my basic
knowledge of Photoshop that I also use a lot in my media course, which
made learning how other Adobe products worked a little bit easier,
since Premiere and After Effects were new but still had similar styles to
Photoshop, I picked up the basics of Premiere quickly.

CURRENT STUDY
During my first year of Level 3 Creative Media, I worked in four different
projects and then a Final Major Project (FMP). The first project was an
introduction into what each of the other three would include, which were:
film, print and video games. The projects introduced me to software such
as Premiere Pro, Photoshop and After Effects. The FMP that I created
included a variety of products including designing a website, creating a
photography portfolio and a magazine front cover. With the FMP, I had so
much choice and freedom with subject, I chose cosplay, something I'm
passionate about, and was excited to see what I'd be able to research,
design, plan and make. While I'd decided not to make a video to go with
the other products I made, I had still enjoyed the short film rotation, which I
chose to specialise in in year two. I have produced a short film designed to
be in a post-apocalyptic or deserted location where a teenager finds a
book and a watch that transports her somewhere else. I enjoyed making it
and learnt more advanced editing techniques and how to organise and
sequence the shots to make my films look cinematic and professional. By
picking film this year, I hope to make a short film for my FMP after a client
project and my factual piece. My aim this year is to keep building on my
experience and confidence in all areas of production, planning my
transition to university and industry beyond that.

INTERVIEWS
On the 29th January, I went back to the University of Cumbria for the
two courses I’d applied for to be interviewed for a place. I had
another tour back around the campus and the classrooms. I was still
undecided about whether I wanted to go to University or not, and
going back had made me coming to a decision even more difficult. At
this point I’d been able to narrow down my choices further to
choosing between this uni and taking a gap year and deciding on
university next year. The interviews went really well and I ended up
getting conditional offers for each course and my tutors seemed
impressed with what I’d shown them. Going back around the campus
again was a good refresher and I got the opportunity to look around
the on site accommodation, since I knew I wouldn’t be able to live at
home. I thought the accommodation was alright though I did feel that
the bathrooms looked a little cramped. I was impressed with
everything else though however.

ASFF
Aesthetica Short Film Festival is a trip our course goes to each year
where we travel around the City of York, watching short films of
different genres. I did find it to be a bit irritating with the timetable of
genres overlapping which meant not being able to go to all of the
ones we wanted but the films themselves were interesting. My
favourite film throughout both years I attended ASFF was an Irish
Animated Short Film by Vincent Gallagher called ‘Second to None’.
While it’s not the style of film I have done over the course, I just think
it was set out really well. It made sense on its own and was
enjoyable to watch throughout. When watching other films too, I
thought about why a certain frame or type of shot might have been
used and if it gave the intended effect. I also looked at plot and how
the films’ storylines were planned out and if that style made sense or
not. I enjoyed both years of ASFF and it is something I’ll consider
going to in future years outside of college.

DECISION
Now that I had gotten places on both courses I had applied for and
was seriously considering, I knew I was running out of time to make
my final decision, especially when my classmates were starting to
make firm choices and sort out accommodation and finances.
Eventually, after a lot of deliberation, I decided that I wasn’t going to
go to university this year. While I really did love the courses and felt
that I would enjoy them, the thought of being around three hours
away from home became too daunting. I also wanted to spend some
time away from education. I decided to treat this year as a gap year,
and consider reapplying to university next year if I’m ready to move
out.

CV / JOB APPLICATION
Since I’d decided that I
was going to defer my
place at university, if I do
decide to go at all, that I
should make sure that my
CV was up to date.
Now I’m happy with the
relevant information, I’ve
already applied to one
job, and have a few
others in mind to apply for
too.

Progression

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