Film and TV Production Personal Statement Example 2

I’ve always enjoyed all kinds of media, how could I not when the world around me is shaped and changed by it everyday? We connect everyday through the power of social media, Television is used by the average UK citizen for 3 hours and 51 minutes a day and developments in production technology allows anyone to be able to express themselves through the medium of film. Media is a part of everyone's lives, as a child I was influenced by Pixar films such as Toy Story and the timeless Disney classics such as Pinocchio. As I grew up, the effects on media too changed with me and my tastes adapted with my personality. Films like Pulp Fiction and Fight Club introduced me to a new flavour of films, adding new perspectives within films and unique, twisted story lines which captivated me and intrigued me further into the development of stories within films. Film making is always changing and adapting to change the way people see things, and the way in which ideas can be presented to people. To see this change, you only have to look at YouTube. In 2005 YouTube was created to be an area for people to share videos, but now, in 2017 it is one of the biggest media outputs in the world with over 1 billion daily views. It provides entertainment in 76 different languages and it is watched more frequently and reaches more people everyday than any Television Network. This shows the changes in the world of Film and Television around us, in that anyone can become successful in being a creator and that is exactly what I intend to do, be a successful creator.

At an early age I decided I wanted to be a creator of some kind. Originally I wanted to be an author and create spy books to entertain people much like the works of Anthony Horowitz or Ian Fleming had done me. However, I soon decided that I was much more inclined to working in the film industry. This came about following my move from Kent to Somerset in which I spent my summer holiday watching all kinds of films that I could find ranging from the unique ideas of Christopher Nolan’s Inception to the comical genius of Norman Wisdom’s films. This period of time allowed me to understand the impact of film and to emerge myself in creativity. This led to me becoming enthusiastic and involved in acting work. In 2010 I took my first role as a lead character in a Christmas production ‘The Chronicles of Christmas’ in my local theatre, ‘The Regal Theatre’. From there I was able to perform in other various productions such as ‘Around the World in 80 days’, ‘The Jungle Book’ and ‘The Wizard of Oz’ where I took on multiple roles of varying importance. As an actor I felt confident and capable, but restricted as to my own level of creativity within a performance. Of course, I could customise the character to a certain extent however a strong part of me desired to create something from scratch, with my own ideas and my own personality embedded within the foundations of the production. My desire to be involved with the film industry is evident in my following of dramatic arts throughout my school life. From middle school where I was a high achiever in drama, to GCSE’s where I studied Drama.

My drive for drama, however was cut short when my school cut drama and media A-levels and instead I studied History, Psychology and ICT. Nonetheless, these studies have helped me to develop new skills which are sure to benefit me not only in university but throughout my adult life. These subjects have allowed me to develop a greater understanding of the world around me in terms of individuals and events occurring both currently and in the past. History, I believe has given me the ability to be able to finely scrutinise details and to understand subtle meanings within words or actions. This, I believe, is a good skill to have within Film and Television production as it will cause me to give interest to smaller details within the production to ensure quality is assured within everything I do. My ICT skills allow me to understand in depth areas of technology both in terms of software and hardware to allow me to be able to produce high quality work especially within an editing process, which I am highly enthusiastic to learn about. My knowledge of technology is prevalent in that I have personally been able to source and build my own computer to suit my needs, showing my knowledge but also my attention to detail - every aspect of my computer is suited to my needs and is kept to perfection.

I am highly enthusiastic about learning the process behind the production of film and television and I am personally excited about developing my knowledge on screenwriting and editing, two areas I am eager to learn about. Currently, the biggest influences on me in terms of film production comes from a select few individuals. One being Quentin Tarantino. His talented directing is legendary to the extent that his films are seen to be revolutionary in the way they are made and how the stories within them are told. Not only this, but he is a director who is able to push boundaries despite criticisms and sticks by his decisions. This can be seen in the film ‘Django: Unchained’ where Tarantino consistently fell under criticism for his use of language within the film as it pushed boundaries that were previously avoided by creators. Two other influences of mine are less known but equally as important to me and to the world of production. These two individuals are Casey Neistat and Jesse Wellens. They are both YouTube stars and long time vloggers and although they may not be noticed amongst Hollywood stars they are both equally influential and proficient filmmakers. They are both able to produce entertaining, quality content on a regular basis to large numbers of people. The way in which they edit is revolutionary and the material they make may not be as exciting as the explosive environment of a Michael Bay film, but they are able to tell a story everyday with an incredible perspective and with influential personalities. The impact from these individuals largely inspired me to become involved in film and television production so that I too may be able to tell my own stories in interesting, entertaining and unique ways in the future.

My dream for the future is to be able to have the knowledge, talent and ability to be able to create my own films or other forms of media to articulate my ideas. I want to be able to come up with a unique, detailed idea and follow my idea through an entire film process from writing the script to filming the concept and editing the final product. I want to be able to inspire others the way I have been inspired and I want to be able to creatively express myself in a way in which I have never had the opportunity to do before.