Part A

Based on your experiences in your selected crew roles, plan and review your progress through the academy in your particular craft.

Why did you choose your role?

I decided to put producer down as one of my options because I felt it had a lot to offer me.  I have never had experience of a definite role as 'producer' in a crew and feel it is one of the roles people generally tend to know least about. Before picking it as an option I had a general understanding that producers had a large part to play in the inception of a film through to its completion and  felt by choosing this role it was a great way to experience first hand the stages which go into creating a short film.

Have you any experience in that role?

I think the skills present in being a producer are some that I have had to apply to my A level studies in particular Media where I, with a partner, created a film introduction. Planning and scheduling were part of the preliminary plans and I had to make sure that deadlines were met in terms of shooting footage and editing etc. There was also the element of having to create a pitch which was then presented as though to a distributor. I think within this it demonstrated skills such as organisation and leadership skills, however I feel these could still be improved upon. I haven't worked in a crew larger than 2 people so I feel through choosing the role of producer in this instance it will hopefully improve both my organisation skills and confidence within a leadership role.

Existing strengths/weaknesses? What would you like to improve and why?

I feel I do have good leadership skills which is definitely a necessity in this case and can in most cases adapt to suit the present situation. However I feel with scale of the challenge presented to myself it will be a testament to my confidence in a leadership role of a large group as I have the ultimate responsibility of making sure everyone is doing their job and meeting deadlines. On top of building on my confidence in a leadership role I would also like to improve my organisational skills. There are so many stages and components which go into creating a short film and I think this will be a good chance for myself to show an improvement in how I organise myself and other people. I think these are skills that would definitely benefit myself when working on film projects and in general so am keen to see if the process can help me improve upon them.

What is the challenge?

One of the biggest challenges for myself is organising the group and meeting deadlines. As everyone in the group is new to their roles I feel this may make it slightly difficult when trying to get work handed in on time as everyone is still getting used to their roles and responsibilities. Another of the challenges is getting to grips with the sceduling, planning and preparation that goes into all aspects of the shoot. I haven't yet familiarized myself with how to do this and feel this will definitely be a challenge to myself and my organisation. Ultimately the responsibility of ensuring the film is completed is the biggest challenge to me.