Evaluation

   

Evaluation

In this post I will be going over all the tasks I have worked on over the past few months, evaluating them as much I as can in the process talking about what's good and what I've learned then also talking about what was bad and what I didn't learn.

Research Into Future Options

So I conducted some research into universities, apprenticeships and employment within the industry to help get an idea about what I could possibly get into in the industry. I researched Into different universities and what courses they offer to find out what options I have after college. I also researched into apprenticeships that I could apply for and found that companies such as the BBC offer apprenticeships to college leavers to help them get into the industry. I also looked at employment and found loads of jobs for photographers and videographers with various businesses in a variety of niches. While looking I did find a few jobs that piqued my interest and looking at them you didn't need a lot of things, the main thing people looked for was an experience. Following on from this I also created a CV and personal statement in case I wanted to apply for a university place, apprenticeship or job. This is because these are basic things that are needed when applying for these sorts of things. From this, I gained experience on how to create and edit these sorts of documents to be fit for use in the real world. 

Universities on the other hand require certain grades to get into them, each university can be different and you may require different grades for the same course at different universities. Looking at universities did not change my decision on what I would like to do after college and I will continue to look at apprenticeships and employment after college.

Networking Opportunities

During the course, I have had the opportunity to participate in many networking opportunities. I have attended talks with people such as Leo Pearlman, Laura Pearman and Sam Horton, as well as being involved with David Longworth from the BBC working on idea pitching skills. This has helped me to develop my communication skills as well as gain knowledge on different aspects of the industry. I have learned about businesses, working in the industry and how the industry can work. 

I am also taking place in a CDF placement with a local production company called "Canvas" who work are a company people and business can go to, to get professional photo and video content. I have been involved in lots of different types of work from going out capturing the content to going back to the office to edit it and make sure it's good enough to go out to a real world client. This has given me an insight on how college and the real world differ in terms of carrying out projects. It has given me the necessary experiences' to help me develop my skills and learn a lot more about the industry. With it being all practical work it helps me to develop my technical skills and become more advanced with editing and also with capturing photo and video. I have worked on Christmas videos, food and catering videos as well as capturing photo and video content at events that we have been to.  

I have since participated in some mock interviews where I was interviewed for a job at Channel 4, one of the biggest media sources in the country. I was asked some of the most common interview questions to help me prepare for the real thing. The interviews were recorded so I could reflect on what I could improve for when it comes to the real thing. 

Brand Identity

 

To help me expand my personal media brand I designed a bunch of products to help get the name out there. These included: a website, Logo, business cards, showreel which all help showcase the brand in a positive way. I have also created different social channels on platforms such as Instagram and facebook to help me to push my brand further and to entice new people to come in and see what I do. This also helps to spread my brands name around the internet in the hopes of growing my followers and getting noticed. 

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/leon_hutchinson_media/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/LHMedia21/

Logo

For the logo I initially did some background research on pre-existing business logos, I analyzed them in detail and found out similar characteristics that exist between them all. I assessed each logo saying what was good and was could be improved therefore developing my logo knowledge. 

Once I felt that I had done enough research into logos I then moved on to actually designing my logos in photoshop. I went for a regional-specific design for my first attempt. This was a fairly simple design that showcased landmarks from the local area. I used a variety of tools within photoshop to create the logo. I then exported the first logo and went on to create a google form to gather valid feedback on my first logo.

I gathered feedback on my logo and started reading it. From this, I learned that the logo was too busy and distracted some people from the brand's name. From this I went on to design a secondary logo, taking feedback into consideration. I then created my second design and gathered feedback. The second round of feedback was a lot more positive and the new idea was a hit.  

Business Card

After creating my logo I went on to create a business card to help show the brand's logo as well as contact details and a web address. 

I started out by looking at pre-existing business cards to gather knowledge and inspiration. I looked around and examined some business cards before creating my own. I looked at common designs and layouts with what to include on the card. 

I then started creating my own design with my logo and colour scheme. I had a clear vision of how I wanted to design my card and used multiple tools within photoshop to design it. I managed to get a design that I was happy with and with that, I created another Google form for people to provide feedback for me. I gathered feedback and saw that it was mostly positive so therefore I had no massive changes to make so I was quite happy.

Website

Once my logo and business cards were complete I moved on to looking at websites. I experimented with Wix's website builder and constructed a first draft website. I added lots of content to the site as well as a major regional theme. But after some further research, I had decided to change the design and thus resort to a black and white, high contrast web design. When gathering feedback for this site, I found that people preferred it to the old one and therefore gave positive reactions to it.

Showreel

 

 To go on my website I decided to create a showreel to help show specific things I have done in my time both in college and outside of college. I did this so people can see my "highlights" without having to scroll through and watch all of my content. I used, what I thought, were my best products and what showed my skills best. I compiled all of this footage in premiere pro and edited them to a specific royalty-free soundtrack therefore copyright wouldn't be an issue. I didn't use any transitions as such as I let the song carry the video along to help it feel natural and nicely paced. Once I had got a product I was happy with I then compiled a short google form to gather feedback about my showreel. From this, I discovered that people thought my soundtrack was too quiet so to improve my showreel I made this louder. This was the only improvement I received so could easily correct this.