Posts tagged “studies”

Working Towards a Goal — Feb 19, 2023
I am currently working towards a goal and I am struggling. I am struggling to stay focused when I follow online courses because I find that my mind strays. I am also struggling because the topic is so broad that there are hundreds of things you can learn but you need to be focused....
Web Dev Studies During The Pandemic. — Aug 26, 2020
During this Pandemic, I have decided to study Web Development and I am slowly making my way through one or two Linkedin Learning Pathways. In the process, I have learned about CSS, PHP, JavaScript ECMAScript2016, Frameworks and more....
Twitter: The Rise of the Personal Question That Isn't — Feb 27, 2022
Recently I have noticed individuals tweeting as if they were people, asking questions and getting 120 or more comments. They ask a question like “What was your first OS” or “What is your current setup” or other questions. These are generic questions that everyone has an answer to, so everyone answers to them. Those answering think either that they will get a personal answer back, or that they will increase their visibility by answering to these questions where no one cares about the answer, except marketers....
Tomorrow the multicam starts — Nov 28, 2006
Today’s been a long day, beginning at 9 with lectures and finishing at 1800 with tape logging and transcribing. It passed through some studio work, laying the floor, and such. Tomorrow we start at 9am and continue till night in order to get all our shots finished with. We’ll get a lunch break so have to factor that into any planning. I should have an early night but it’s halls and there’s alcohol around so others are drinking the night away and forgetting to adjust their volume control. Vivement Samedi...
Tomorrow I'm back in London — Sep 13, 2006
Yesterday I made a phone call after writing an e-mail to see about getting cheaper accomodation through one method and it went well. I’m going to be back in London tomorrow, once I’ve finished packing all my stuff into a suitcase. It’s the usual good and bad. It’s good because although I’m leaving my skills are still in demand so there’s a chance I’ll be in demand when I get back. it’s It’s good because I’m looking forward to being back in England and getting this final year out of the way. It’s bad because I would prefer to do another year of uni rather than being a student. I met some interesting people and it’s a shame I’m leaving. Tomorrow is the moment when I put Geneva on hold and take my London life out of standby....
Thoughts on The Google IT Support Course — Oct 15, 2020
I am currently studying the Google IT Support Course. I am familiar with many of the topics and I have used many of the tools discussed. What the course offers, and the reason for which it has so much value, is that fills my knowledge gaps....
Third Day of Editing And More Relaxed — Dec 6, 2006
It’s the third day of editing and the pressure has been relieved. I’ve captured the footage and edited most of the multicamera show. It wasn’t as bad as I thought therefore there were only a few small things to change. As I’m under time pressure I’m glad there’s less to do although with more footage I may have tried to be more creative. With the myspace documentary, things are going well. We’re up to about ten minutes and need another 2-5 therefore that’s relaxed as well. With that edit it’s a matter of getting the framework finished, finding a few more illustrative shots before finally working on the fine-cut for projection on Thursday or Friday. For the globalisation project, I haven’t had time to speak to that many people so the progression has stalled. 45 credits vs. 15… Both are important but one requires a team to work at all times. The other, only two or three people. That’s it for today....
The hardest I've ever worked — Dec 14, 2006
That’s the hardest I’ve ever worked. starting the day at ten and continuing on till 2 am on an early night and four am last night. I spent 17 hours working on projects and now I’m exhausted. in the morning I had to finish the documentary, then have a meeting about multicam before once again working on the multicam. After those two pieces of work, there was the DVD authoring for both projects, the log files and finally the analysis. It’s so much work but as a thank you I could walk around and enjoy that other people were still under pressure. I’m so happy I finished the work early in the day. It’s current madness in the library and I need to sleep for a while. My Finale Year Project is Finished....
Sunday afternoon — Nov 12, 2006
Soon I may have internet access in my halls again and at that point the writing will begin again. it’s hard to be inspired in a library. On the positive side I’ve watched up to three new documentaries since last night so I’m wondering whether to look at the origins of french and English cinema. I had some inspiration whilst attempting to watch Nightmail by Grierson. Tonight I shall be watching Philibert’s L’empire des Sourd, documentary I recently read about. I went to see Borat and it’s really amusing, a good excuse to laugh for more than an hour....
Relaxing with Language Learning — Aug 18, 2021
Today I practiced vocal German and I found it relaxing compared to being with people in person. This pandemic sees the opportunities almost impossible....
On being directed — Dec 2, 2006
Being directed is often a good thing. It helps you achieve the tasks you are meant to achieve within a certain amount of time. Other times it helps you learn something useful. In occasional cases, though direction is one of the most frustrating things in the world. I have spent many hours standing over the past three days being directed by someone who had not taken enough time with multicamera directing theory books or taken the time to familiarise himself with the theoretical aspect. You’d expect most people who direct to watch others carry out such tasks, as I have with video editors for example. You’d also expect individuals to take the time to understand what shots can be achieved with which cameras. Over the past few days though I have seen an individual with the lack of skill to direct a team of people for a multicamera event. Among the flaws were: lack of clarity, both in ideas and direction, lack of direction - for onscreen talent, too slow resulting in people being bored, etc. One flaw I have seen from a number of directors is that they concentrate too much on the shots they would like to have without actually looking at what’s going on through the three cameras already in place, often missing one shot. Don’t stop a take just because your vision mixed the wrong camera at the wrong time. Keep it going and see whether any more of the production can be salvaged. I’m glad that the task is completed. Now it’s up to me to make it work in post-production....
On being an Resident assistant — Sep 27, 2006
Being a resident assistant is a great job at the same time as it’s a lot of responsibility. It means that we have access to every room in halls for a few hours a week although in reality we’re only allowed to go from one room to another. We have to go around making sure that everyone is ok. We check that all kitchens are in a good state and that people are not unhappy. What becomes a challenge is asserting authority without getting everyone to hate you. On the one hand, you’re a third year, which means you’ve had a lot of parties already and you’ve been weathered into uni life and on the other, you’re still in need of social interactions. I went to my first lecture and I remembered how much I hate being in a classroom surrounded by so many people. It was a documentary module and this should be fun. We’ve got a week to think of a topic to research and carry on. In a few days, I’ll be going to America and I’m looking forward to it more and more. I’m excited about traveling to the Big Apple, seeing all those tall buildings, and more....
Nick Broomfield — Oct 30, 2006
Yesterday I bought a series of six of Broomfield’s documentaries and I watched one of them today. Chicken Ranch is interesting because Broomfield lets the camera appear in shot, through mirrors and more. He also allows himself to appear, although only fleetingly, at least in this documentary. He makes observational documentaries and allows the viewer to come to his own conclusions. This is a style of documentary where the action happens in front of the camera, with no use of voice over. Intertitles are enough, similarly to people like Vertov. They are interesting documentaries because you can see that they have not been scripted. they document life, becoming more biographical and reflective of reality. They do not strive to tell you what to think but rather encourage you to see and intuit from them. How many documentaries do you watch that breath, that do not tell you what to think? Most attempt to say “he believes that” whilst “they believe that”. This is a more mature form of documentary making, one where the characters are the story. I still have another five documentaries to watch and we’ll see what else I learn through watching them. I found another documentary book today. It’s got many interviews with a variety of directors and I really hope that they help me understand the question that I want to ask and research without it being too broad....
Multicam work — Nov 8, 2006
There’s a studio, three cameras, four female dancers, one male. It’s a cabaret show yet no one is in costume. That’s because it’s a practice session for those who will be using the studio in two weeks. I don’t like having a prompter on the front of the camera because it makes smooth movements harder to achieve. It doesn’t matter. I’ll get it right for the proper costumed event....
List of books on documentary — Aug 16, 2006
Theorizing Documentary (Afi Film Reader) A New History of Documentary Film Television and the Public Interest: Vulnerable Values in Western European Broadcasting Documentary in the Digital Age A few of the books I need to get through over the next few days....
La Grande Illusion des Quatre Cents Coups — Nov 24, 2006
C’est deux films que je vient de regarder. I’m watching a lot of DVDs at the moment. I have neither television nor a fast connection, therefore, I take advantage to study the cinema. It’s a good way of spending time, of being transported into other timezones, towards other cities I constantly find more information as the days’ progress Only a few more days till my group’s multicamera and I’ll be busy every day until the end of the week. On the positive side, I haven’t been to the student bar to socialise. I have busied myself with work instead and my productivity has gone up. I no longer see the appeal of going to a bar or nightclub where there are three or four people checking for trouble makers. Where alcohol is served to intellectuals great conversations ensue, where it is served to the less enlightened there is nothing but “ruine de l’ame.” Last night I dropped by the library and explored the index pages, looking for information on documents. I found something about Arte and the films it selects. I found a few articles about Chinese cinemas and tributes to Jean Rouch. I photocopied them and have yet to read through them and digest the information that they provide. I am getting closer and closer to the point at which I feel I can begin interviewing the relevant people as part of my research. That should be the best part of the work I’m doing at the moment. I want to try making an observational documentary again, exploring new ideas, and getting an insider’s understanding of what I’ve been studying....
It's been a twelve hour day of editing — Feb 22, 2007
I’ve spent around twelve hours editing today and it’s finally getting to resemble something, as I’d like it to be. It’s involved two days of video capture of a variety of material from a number of events around Europe in particular. It’s starting to be a good edit. Any creative person will tell you that the hardest part of the work is not the work itself but finding the inspiration and finding how to tell the story the most efficiently. If I understood the brief correctly then the edit I’ve done should be well accepted. I should find out by tomorrow morning normally. I love the editing phase because it’s one of the more creative phases. You’ve got all the material and it’s a matter of sifting through it, finding the best and then applying it to the finished product. If I get good feedback then I’m looking forward to tomorrow....
High Winds And A Skipped Walk — Jan 21, 2022
There is a cold wind blowing today so I skipped my daily walk. I can dress for the weather and I am usually fine. Today I simply decided to miss my daily walk. I believe that walking whatever the weather, whatever the wind, and whatever the precipitation is good. I also believe that it fatigues us. For this reason it makes sense, sometimes, to stay indoors, and focus on studying or spending money on things we don’t need....
High Winds And A Skipped Walk — Jan 21, 2022
richard - Jan 0, 2022...
Happy New Year — Jan 1, 2007
yet another year, the final one of university with luck. The one where I find work. It was a calm celebration, nothing more than watching television whilst watching television....
First time directing a multicam — Nov 17, 2006
Directing a Multicam is easy, after being a cameraman at many conferences. it’s a matter of knowing which shots you would like to have had with just one camera but couldn’t get. It’s easy, switching from one source to another and making sure the pacing is right and that there are not too many screw-ups. Overall it went well and I enjoyed it. It was different today as I was a simple camera operator. I had to concentrate on getting the right shot and fight away the desire to sit down or do something else. On both days the last speaker was the more entertaining of the day....
First thoughts — Apr 9, 2007
You know you’re a final year student when the last thing you think about before going to sleep is your dissertation. It’s also the first thing you wake up thinking of and to make matters worse you notice that a friend has joined a group called "my dissertation is driving me crazy, just to make you feel that much better. It’s not that I’m doing particularly badly, after all, I’ve done all the research I wanted to do in relation to the topic I’m writing about and I am progressing. I just wish it wasn’t so important in relation to all the other work I’ve done. It’s over in a month. That’s when I can finally relax and enjoy the real world again. How many university students a year write dissertations? At least thirty to fourty thousand I’d guess. How many enjoy it, probably quite a few. I enjoy it but it would be nicer if the purpose was to create more content for a website than to be assessed by a lecturer. I’m going to work on adding at least another 2000 words today, get it to five thousand words today. That’d mean I’m halfway to completion and it will be a really nice feeling. Now it’s time to stop procrastinating and do something more productive. No holidays for anyone so close to the dissertation deadline....
Enjoy the stairs — Jan 27, 2007
Myspace was used to advertise a pyjama house party and I went for a number of hours. It’s amusing when you’re at a party in your pyjamas. It makes a change from all those fancy dress and I began wondering about the walk of shame and whether wearing pyjamas on the way home constitutes the walk of shame. The party was good although it did not really begin till later on when everyone arrived. There were lots of people I’ve known for two to three years by now. The stories were good and the conversations too. Some were interesting whilst were some left you a little confused. I went to central London with one friend and we stayed in a night club till the first tube in the morning. The club was quite full of people because the top musical act of the week had played there an hour or two before we arrived. I don’t know the group so I’m left indifferent. This part of the night continued till the early hours of the morning. We caught the first tube home. I gathered my stuff from the friend’s place. Two people were sitting in the stairwell chatting, saying that they had not gone to sleep but that everyone else was trying to sleep. I encouraged them to enjoy their stairwell before continuing on my way. Back to halls where I encountered some french-speaking friends. Conversations and random activities continued until around 7 in the morning. It had been an 11hr night/party for me and I’m surprised at how quiet everything is today. It must be the calm after the chaos of a good night out....
Dissertations, documentaries and such — Nov 19, 2006
I’ve been reading about documentary makers and it’s interesting. Today I read about several of them, took notes, and explored the ideas that they demonstrate. The one that has confused me is Kossanovksy and his ideas of Dogma. I’m wondering how you do a documentary without having interviews or cutaways. Does he mean that we should not use them gratuitously or in some other manner? I need to do more search on this particular aspect. Once more I’ve watched Control Room, the documentary about al Jazeera. I found it interesting....
Dissertation feedback — Apr 3, 2007
Yesterday I went for some dissertation feedback and heard that some people have not yet been to see their dissertation and if these people have seen no one then I am quite surprised. The reason for which I am surprised about this is that it’s a new form of writing which involves getting a good knowledge of certain rules. One of these rules was never written “Should”. Your dissertation is meant to be based on fact, on what has been documented. Anything within the speculative realm is worthless. You might as well take those sentences and write an article about them for pleasure. The second rule is simplicity. If you’re writing a dissertation you’re writing for people who have never heard about the subject before. What this means is that if you use a technical term you must make sure to explain what it means and why it’s relevant. Assume your audience is off the street rather than some well-informed individual. In some ways getting someone to read your dissertation who knows nothing about the topic is great because they’ll point to you the error of your ways in assuming that everyone knows something. I’m going to have to elaborate on those points. Language is an essential part of the writing process. Did you mean channels or outlets? Are you speaking about perceptions or opinions and do you know the difference. Remember that words are the only method by which to get your point across. If you use a word make sure that it is used in the right context. If you don’t you may confuse your reader but more importantly, you may set out that you are going to do one thing but due to an error in language you’re doing something which does not link directly to this. Overall dissertation writing should be a pleasure to write and to read. It’s about taking a subject that you’re really interested in and sharing it with your audience. Over time it comes naturally but if you’re like me it’s a question of experience....
Delegation and working to deadlines — Feb 24, 2007
I love working on my own projects, where I rely on no one but myself but occasionally I’m lucky enough to have no choice but to work with other people. It’s at these moments that I learn more. I learn about team scheduling and teamwork. I also learn about delegation. I’m not that good at it yet but I’m learning. Anyone working as a producer or director needs to learn that job and some are better than others. The recent myspace and Magician audition projects I worked on saw some good producers in charge. As a result, the project was good. Recently I’ve had to be a co-producer with someone else and I was asked what jobs still had to be done and I had to think about it before I could delegate the responsibility. I finally found some methods of delegating responsibility, therefore, I’ll have more material to choose from when it comes to editing. The project has to be finished by Monday because Tuesday I’ll be back in London with a three thousand word essay on technological determinism to hand in. On the Monday following that I have a presentation on digital content. I’ve been thinking about that concept and I think I’ll be able to produce a good product....
Bad organisation — Oct 28, 2006
When you’re the producer one of the first things you do is make sure that the person you’re meant to be filming is at the location where you want him at the time you would like him to be there. A few days ago though, when someone else was producing the talents did not show up and we waited five hours for no reason. This was frustrating since i had at least two other things I could have been doing instead. Today I have another more spontaneous vox pop gathering excercise around central London and probably Camden. I’m not sure about the best location but we should see this within a short amount of time. I’ve been thinking more about the topic of my dissertation and the research queston and whilst reading Documentary In the digital Age I think I may have found an essay question. I have to fine tune it to be neither to focused nor too broad....
Back to uni — Sep 14, 2006
I’m back in England, at uni, in a new room, for another year....
Back in London — Jan 12, 2007
I’m back in the northwest of London waiting for Monday to come when I can fall asleep in the first lecture of the week… In reality that’s probably not going to happen. Instead, it’s going to be the final three modules before the course is over. It’s going to be fun since I love the modules I need to do. The flight was good, enjoyed watching a film on my i-pod, and finally getting a proper opportunity to check my noise-canceling headphones out. They make quite a difference....
Approaching the first deadline — Nov 5, 2006
It’s six weeks into the course and the first deadline is approaching. It’s for globalisation and I need to work on it today to save on stress later in the week. I went out to Central London to record some vox pops asking people about myspace. The weather was good and people were quite willing to talk to the camera. In fact, it’s quite surprising to see what a high percentage of people accept to talk about. In general, they accept to talk if they know about myspace. I was editing for a few hours on Friday, getting one or two interviews shortened for later in the production. We’re missing a lot of footage at the moment. We need to listen to the interviews, see what is mentioned, and according to this decision on what shots best illustrate what is being talked about. I’ve watched my fourth Broomfield documentary, soldier girls, last night. It’s a different style. He’s far less visible in front of the camera and it focuses almost entirely on one problem recruit. We only see him at the very end when the problem recruit leaves the service....
All that is left from three years is one essay and one dissertation — Mar 6, 2007
Yesterday I handed in my penultimate essay. There are two main assignments remaining. the first of these is a tech case study which should be fun to do. I already have an idea of a topic that I know fairly well. with the second it’s the dissertation and I should really spend a few hours progressing with that. I had one of those classic nights on Saturday. You begin with the idea that you’re simply going to drop into the cinema and watch a film before going home and watching the lunar eclipse from the relatively low light pollution of the area around the halls. This plan disintegrated as a friend encouraged me to stay out and go out clubbing instead. I knew I had the penultimate essay to finish. Most people hate the night bus because it’s so full of weird people, some are just drunk, others are in worse states and finally some are amusing. On occasion you’ll enter the bus and a girl will offer you some crisps and you won’t say know, to which someone next to you asks whether you’re really going to accept them. Later on you understand that it’s the brother joking around. In other cases you’ll find that it’s like a plane cabin. If you’ve ever flown easyjet and got up to go to the front of the cabin you’ll know the sight. it’s that of two hundred people having a nap. It’s a soothing sight to see so many relaxed people. Occasionaly some people get cold so you lend them their jacket and you walk them home before rushing home to finish your essay rather than taking the time to get to know more about them. There are a lot of people that hate the stop at Sudbury but having lived there last year I know a little secret. That there’s a 24 hour shop where you can buy jaffa cakes and lipton ice tea for the second part of the journey. What I enjoyed most about saturday was the people I met on the bus journey home....
A sunday morning — Dec 10, 2006
It’s Sunday morning and yesterday was another day of shooting and editing. As a result of that, the documentary has progressed a little more. One or two more segments have been added, graphics have been improved and the project as a whole looks good. There’s still a lot of work to be done and I’ve been thinking of extra graphics and shots that could help make the documentary more interesting to watch. Another 7hrs before editing is over for today...