B2 – Skills Development Industry Skills

This learning journey will demonstrate my skills development through my industry work as a freelancer for the BBC.

AC1

IDEA GENERATION

My inspiration for starting my freelance career was initially through a work experience placement at college which introduced me to the BBC outreach team. To cut things short, they liked the work I produced at the event and asked me to do another event, but this time paid. I was then officially signed two months later as a Contracted BBC Content producer for BBC academy Events and Outreach. This has led to recent opportunities in photography, short form content, PR, researching, runner work and assistant events coordination at just 18 years old, and I love it; I get to travel up and down the country meeting new people and exploring cities and roles.  

I am incredibly lucky to have ended up in this position and I’m so grateful! But I have also worked hard to be where I am and I’m still proving my potential every day. I’m finding it hard to talk about inspiration for my work, as if I’m honest I have just blaged my way through the beginning of my content producing career. My very first job was in Manchester, and I remember being so nervous. I showed up with a stills cannon, g7x and a black magic pocket; I barely knew how to use any. The BBC told me they wanted content for their socials and website, so I had to capture the event, get vox pops and then edit the content, and I did it. I probably couldn’t tell exactly how I managed to do it, but it was a lot of trial and error and watching YouTube tutorials, but what inspired me to just go for it was a lady called Katie brewer. Katie is now the head of factual entertainment and events at the BBC and fortunately my nan’s best friend’s daughter. She knew I had a passion for the media industry, and she said, “if you want any piece of advice, the most important thing is to just take every opportunity that comes to you, whether you know what you’re doing or not”, and that stuck with me ever since. Now, that would probably be my top piece of advice for anyone now, because throwing yourself into the deep end forces you to be good, if your that passionate to get into the industry, you will do whatever it takes, and the inspiration for me is that the more I push myself the more I exceed my own expectations, and that just makes me want to keep pushing for more.  

My briefs are sent by the head of outreach and passed over to me by the project coordinator. I produce the content and then send it off for the wider BBC promotions team to use. I will be given an objective such as photography, then a focus, so it could be older teens, therefore I need to capture as many photographs demonstrating the participation of older teens at the events. I would strategize by planning my own schedule in alignment with the call sheets and the event plan. This would include my own timings to get into all the workshops and talks, switching equipment, editing, offloading etc. but it would also be on the day initiative, such as finding the most engaging teens and following them for good reactive content. Occasionally, teens are typically known for being shy or closed, therefore getting to know the kids, as well as making them feel comfortable is all a part of the job too. Your relationship will impact the content you capture.  

Sometimes I will be given no brief, but to capture content of the event. This is cool as I get complete creative freedom without the pressure of corporate targets. This can also be intense because in my case I then set too many objectives for myself and then end up overloaded with work. I usually now restrict myself to 3-5 images per workshop, 4-6 panel images, 5-7 audience reaction images and then one day overview edit. I also allow 2 weeks post from the event to get the content ready for sending off. The issue is that I need to balance this work with college. I think people underestimate the value and time of post-production, as to edit 3 photos it takes me at least 2 hours, including uploading, sorting, deleting, editing, transferring, and sharing. I also usually leave an event with at least a minimum of 150 photos of the entire event. It's definitely not just a 9-5 switch off job; the shifts are also long days! Most events are 12–14-hour days, and then its resetting for the next day etc. so it’s not easy in the slightest, especially when you are balancing college work and normal work alongside, if I get a day off, they are now often used up with editing, and my evenings look very similar. It’s a good job. I enjoy what I do, and I appreciate the pressure.  

My editing skills and final reels have developed and progressed in sophistication over time. They started off as literal jump cuts to music, then now feature graphics, transitions, interactive content, and audio snippets. I think this is down to confidence. The more events I did the more I got the confidence to talk to people and ask for content. I still struggle getting vox pops etc. as once you have so many rejections from students or panelists, the more your confidence in asking decreases. It is also hard to get interactive content on your own, it's so much easier with a team or at least two of you. My issue is at most events it’s just me as a sole content producer so it’s hard to be in all places at once, managing your own content, as well as trying to pull people for interviews or specialist content- it’s nearly impossible. The most recent event I’ve done was in Glasgow which I’m currently travelling back from on the train right now. This was the first event where I had a team! And it does make the world of difference. We could split off into specializations. Amrit, who is a social media professional, took the lead on reels and interactive content, while I captured short form videos for his edits while he was off getting vox pops, top tips etc. and, I was on photos. I also had an assistant. Yes, I had an assistant. That’s madness to me. This helped so much as this allowed me to be in two places at once and I didn’t need to worry about having the pressure all on me. It was just nice to have someone to share alike things with, and work with a team who understood, and we could share responsibilities and tasks.  

Although my work produced so far is designed for a website that is currently in development, you can view my work on the BBC young reporter twitter or dotted about on the BBC social media accounts. 

AC2

PRE PRODUCTION

Pre-production for me is mostly down to responding to the brief. When I'm given the brief, I need to analyze it. Whether this is researching past attempts, competitor platforms, styles, trends or resources.  

To break that down, the first research task would usually be on past attempts. This means looking into the content already produced on the BBC socials and seeing what worked well and what didn't. This means looking at likes, comments, shares and the overall response of the post. One example would be that I found images that broke the 3rd wall, such as getting the panelists to pose to the camera, worked better in the eyes of socials, compared to observational photography.  However, observational work did look better on the website, so this allowed me to make judgements and priorities, when planning schedules and content for the events.  

Another pre task would be to look at competitors. It is always good to stay one step ahead of everything in social media, you are either right on trend or far too late. Missing these gaps will have crucial impacts on your potential engagement. Checking out how other likeminded platforms are keeping engagement or reach via content; it is useful when inspiring new ideas that you know will have a potential to hit targets. Being able to produce good content and be creative and experiment are very different things in this stage. I unfortunately at this point in my career have no wiggle room for trial and error, or for missing targets, therefore hitting engagement goals and briefs are always going to be priority. I enjoy coming up with new ideas and trying new generations of content, but the best idea at this moment is to use techniques and ideas that I know work already.  

As mentioned, this industry is all about staying fresh and relevant, but it's also about staying consistent. Consistency is important when it comes to a brand such as the BBC. I Had to do a 2-day course on brand security and protection, and it specializes in keeping content to same style and aesthetic to keep it recognizable when being associated with the BBC. When starting out it took a while for me to get into the routine of creating content in the style of other branded work, however, I've found that by keeping the same pace in my videos and by using watermarks, BBC Fonts and end boards, you can still be creative and fit in with the style. 

Resources are also very important, especially when you're freelance. Not only do you have the responsibility of preparing and maintaining your own equipment, but you're also in charge of researching your requirements. This means researching the venue to learn things about lighting, space, the tech being used on the day, film permits, movement of people and of course timings. These are all important things to know prior to the event, and by doing all this prior it will make capturing content so much easier and less stressful. Lighting is one of the huge points is pre-prod. In the team brief I usually make a point of asking where the talks and workshops will take place and what the seating arrangements are going to be, along with the presence of natural light. This will influence the equipment you bring, whether it be cameras or lenses. It may even be a case of bringing a bigger Lense if the stage is far from the audience, or maybe bringing a tripod if the audiences are going to be compacted in a smaller space without a split, as it would then be a case of bringing and an additional video camera to have set up in that center, then use a roaming stills cam around the side.  

I do all my prep attached to call sheets but due to confidentiality and NDA I'm unable to share evidence of this. 

CHALLANGES

I guess the biggest challenge when I first started was working with a new team. Although the young reporter team are some of the friendly and most understanding people I've ever worked with, they also work in a very different way that I'm used to. They are all self-starters, which is great because that's what I like, but I did often find It weird when progressing into a project, as I'm very used to being given a brief and working towards a goal, but at my first event I had to turn up with no prior Knowlege of what was going on or what I would be doing; I was given a location and a time and that was it. I now realise it's my responsibility to chase my own targets and ask questions about what I need, but due to other workplaces and even college, I was so used to people telling me what to do and when, whereas this is totally in my control, and in regard to my work production, I'm my own boss. My team also now know how I work, therefore they brief me about the targets from head office, which is great for me, because I then have an aim to work towards. This could include focus points within the events or distribution.  

They are also a very sociable team. I say this like it's a bad thing, but it's not, but it's also difficult when still trying to navigate the industry and the social aspects. The good thing about being in a social setting is you tend to get a good insight into the things that Arnt obvious in the industry. An example of a challenge in this area would be on the topic of new year resolutions. I'm not usually one to start making new year's targets, however, this year I wanted to go completely sober, and this just wasn't going to happen on these work trips. Not that there's a pressure to drink or that they're bad influences, it was totally my choice, but when you avoid these social occasions there's massive fomo the day after. It's also a great chance to explore the city and ask questions in an informal environment. Thanks to pushing myself to go to these outings, even when I'm shattered or overloaded with work, I'm now friends with people I never imaged to be friends with, because you get to see people as people, rather than these ‘industry professionals. So, although i broke my sobriety, I learned that maybe I was going out with the wrong people rather than hating how my drunken nights ended, so that's being a huge personal learning curve, that I never expected to gain.  

Not only are these my work colleagues but I could also class them now as friends, which makes working these events so much easier. On the topic of seeing people for people, it's also been a great opportunity to learn about other people's career journeys, get my foot in the door for up-and-coming projects and gain contacts. A massive value for me has always being that WorkLife balance, not only is it even more important for me and my health, but also i think it should be a requirement for everyone. I love the saying of working to live instead of living to work, and by speaking to people I've realised that it's a huge regret from a lot of people. The young reporter team are an amazing advocate of this, they are so hot on about team welfare and workload, that I feel may even be setting high expectations for me when eventually I develop onto another step in my career. They care about their team and collaborators, but also work extremely hard, and that's admirable for an industry starter like me. 

Being a student and working part time is a struggle, so when you throw freelancing into the mix my mind was ready to combust. Did I take on too much at the start? yes. Did I give everyone around me unreal expectations of my availability? yes. Did I burn myself out by trying to please everyone, including myself? Yes. 

Despite that, I have no regrets. I had to try it so I knew how much I could take on, to know what I could and couldn't do. The issue then was refusing things and making priorities. I had to learn that I couldn't please everyone, and if that meant letting someone down to promote my own well-being then it had to be done. That then ended up making me feel like pure rubbish. I was then in a position of feeling bad for making myself happier. Which i now know is stupid, but you can't help how you feel about things right? One example of a hard decision i had to make was pulling out of my current project. To add context, I was a part of a documentary, which had been in production far longer than estimated and needed to be wrapped up, not only due to deadlines but up and coming opportunities, and I made the decision to pull out and end it in January. This had a huge impact on my colleague who was passionate about getting this documentary executed no matter how long it took. I needed to be realistic about my availability emotionally, professionally and creatively, and this was the only thing i was able to drop at this time, to make sure I was there for my current responsibilities and prepared for the up-and-coming deadlines. My point here is that sometimes learning to accept that some people will never understand why you need to do something is the inner peace you need to keep you sane. If you stress too much about what others think of your decisions, those decisions end up being made by others, which will end up with you losing all your values. It's important to remember that you are your priority, not other people, and if that means being selfish to meet your targets and development goals then so be it. 

I would say the emotional development moving from student life to industry life would be my biggest challenge. When you are a student it's so easy to get into the mindset of grabbing every opportunity that comes your way and making everything as big as possible. A year ago, I would've agreed with that, and now I partially do, as by doing that it got my first contract at the BBC. However, things are completely different when you get into the working world of media. I didn't listen to my own advice 4 years ago, but i find myself saying the same thing again, SLOW DOWN. Appreciate everything in the moment, take time to explore and experience all the things that are happening around you, even if that means making a few things wait a little longer, people will appreciate a well-executed piece of work, rather than a half arsed piece. I wish I could do this, and eventually I think I will get there, but it's again getting out of that people pleasing mindset. It's a great attribute to have in the media industry, but from watching different teams work together, the most successful professionals are the people that know how to say no and can set clear boundaries. They are also the successful professionals who are the happiest and least stressed, so my biggest lesson regarding these emotional challenges would be to set those boundaries early to avoid setting unrealistic expectations, be clear about what you can and can't do and when. I've even learnt that by introducing these expectations early, people tend to appreciate transparency. It makes you look professional, strong and reliable. So yes, work hard, but not too hard; you can't do everything at once no matter how much you try, and prioritize yourself before jumping to help others. 

Equipment was also a big development point for me as I would've never described myself as technical. This was something i was forced to upgrade as I could no longer rely on others to handle the technical elements of production. I was now on my own, and i needed to know my equipment back to front. I would say my knowledge is way better now compared to my first job. In specific terms just with the camera. For my stills I usually use a cannon 200d with a 32mm Lense. This camera is quite old but features basic settings therefore getting to know the camera didn't take too long. However, what did take a long time was learning all the technical composition elements. I had heard of iso, fps and exposure etc. Just from being in the media industry. However, i never really knew their impact on camera, specifically photography. I had to spend hours watching YouTube tutorials and studying these things, i would even say that i didn't get the hang of using the camera until about 4 weeks into my work, and I'm still even now learning new things every day. Again, the technical side of media was something i have always underestimated as being something that ‘I didn't need to know about’ but this was where I was totally wrong! If i had maybe listened a little bit more in the 1st year I would have been in a much better position when offered this job, and probably could've been way ahead of where I am now, but of well, what's done is done, and I'm just glad I'm now up to speed. 

Another challenge I never anticipated was consent forms! What a nightmare they are to sort. One thing I have always struggled with is when tasks are out of my control, so when it means relying on others to manage consent it is a huge stress area. Due to most young people at these events being under 18 or associated with schools or colleges, it means you need individual consent agreements from each person. This is also even more important due to the size of the BBC brand. One moment where it was a prominent issue was at Plymouth university. We arrived at the venue and a whole school had turned up with no consent forms, and because the young people were all under 13, we needed parental consent, everyone from that school was then not allowed to appear in any photographs or videos at all. This was a huge problem for me, as I couldn't film the talks from specific angles or film in social areas, The one school also decided they wanted to sit in the middle of the audience in direct shot. The way I went around this was just by either doing Boh or ots shots, or close ups, but unfortunately it meant a lot of watching footage back and watching for yellow lanyards, they would wear these if the child did not want to be on camera. This did interrupt my content plans and schedule, so it resulted in a little bit of alteration on the day.  

AC3

PRODUCTION

Production in relation to work is for me the easiest and most fun part. It's about experiencing the event and capturing the engagement. My favorite part of the job is talking to young people and watching them be inspired about careers in the media industry, it reminds me of how I used to be growing up. The days tend to go fast and are great opportunities to learn and network. Most of my hard work is done in pre or post, therefore production is my time to enjoy what's happening and put my planning to use. 

Day rates are something that have been introduced to me very early on as a freelancer. This was a huge element I found hard to navigate, as I'm not yet a fully experienced professional, but I also am spending a lot of time and effort on a product for professional work. It's hard to go into a workplace without stating you are a student. When is the time when you can say I am a content producer? Well, this was exactly what I said to Sukhi. Sukhi is a production coordinator for BBC Academy, and I went to her for some advice regarding pay as Shes always been there to offer honest support. I was hired on my first job as a content assistant, and we had a meeting regarding starting my contracts and enrollment into the BBC. The next discussion was about pay, she asked me what my day rate was, and I openly said that I presumed this was all under work experience unpaid. She laughed and then explained to me that I would be doing a fully contracted position working for the BBC team, which took a while I sink in. I was being employed to work for them. This was and still is surreal to me. The issue then was that this was my first transition from student to worker. I again openly said that I don't even know how to calculate my day rate. She was so kind about this and said that I wasn't alone in not knowing about this. We worked it out and settled on an agreement after I took the information from Sukhi and discussed it with my family. But again, this was the same challenge regarding that transition from student to professional. When is the moment where I'm no longer a student and I’m a professional? It's such a hard thing to come to terms with, and I think in the end I put it down to confidence. Although you are always learning on the job, the question to differentiate it was, could I do this job without help? If I was hired right here right now as a ‘production manager’ or ‘vison mixer’, could I do a good job of it without assistance? If the answer is no, then you're probably still a student.  

However, with that said, I was hired as a photographer for the second job, but i would never have thought I was a photographer, so how does that work? It's so confusing and i think claiming that title is all just down to confidence, but I've found that people who own their craft with pride and confidence are the ones that stand out. As I stated before, sometimes it is a case of blagging it to force yourself to develop into the person you want to be. Presidents do it all the time? No one's come into an election saying I'm a president, but that title can change in a matter of seconds with no training or skills prep.  

Content plans; so underestimated but so important. I work well by setting targets and creating deadlines, as it helps me stay organized and on top of everything. I typically will forget details if not noted down or mentioned in a plan. When I plan my content, I usually use the focus point mentioned in the brief to shape my ideas. During production it's important to come up with a plan as you can then create a schedule accordingly, which gives you purpose on the day. There's nothing worse for me than just showing up with no plan or research, as I will just end up wondering about bored. Random coverage is also useless. As a content creator, you can only work with what you've got, so if I went in with no plan and captured random content, it will just sit there as random pieces. Contrastingly if I turned up with a plan, for example I wanted a reel done for twitter showcasing the workshop resources, I could make sure I would have time to get to each workshop at the right times so the equipment would be out, and the young people would be using it. I would also like to know how many videos I wanted, what angles and how long, therefore all content would have purpose.  

As previously stated, a plan is the key to a successful shoot. I make sure that i plan before every event to not only secure content coverage, but also so I stay on time. Time management is also a key element to a successful shoot, if you don't stick to the schedule what's the point in creating one. I've tried to do a day without planning my time beforehand and I missed crucial elements of coverage. To ensure all targets are met and you have the footage you need to create content it's so important you stick to a plan. It's also important to create a schedule to put perspective on things. If there's one of you, you can't be in two places at once, so you need to be able to back why you weren't at one side of the building. If you are pulled up for not getting any coverage of one event, you can clearly demonstrate why and where you were, so you can support your own back as well staying stay on track. It also allows you to use that perspective and set realistic expectations for yourself, such as things like what videos you can work with in post so what needs to have priority over others or finding time for extra additional elements such as vox pops or interviews.  

Equipment is also important for production as you need to be prepared for long shoot days with a lot of coverage. It's a requirement to have backup batteries and battery chargers on standby and plenty of Sd cards or an external hard drive to transfer coverage. On the topic of SD cards, it's also great to have all of them wiped and formatted before the day of the event, as this makes it a quick transition if the SD does become full. 

ADAPTIBILITY

Travelling up and down the country has its ups and downs. For the most part I love it, and it's all I've ever wanted in a job. However, i am always on trains. At first it was a funny joke, but now it's stepping the mark abit. It's a bit of a treck going to college in Birmingham from stoke every day, but it comes to something when you've been in Manchester 2 days, Plymouth 3days, Birmingham 3 days and Glasgow 4 days in the space of 14 days and then straight back to work is hilarious. It's amazing, I'm not complaining, but it does get hard when the only time you're at home is to refresh your suitcase, work, sleep and then get up back to the train station. It is a good job. I'm very productive when I travel, I find trains especially a great place to study and i tend to be able to get quite a lot of work done. Thats if the Wi-Fi does its job properly, as if not I'm sat refreshing my mac for a good 3hrs. Trains are also not the best things to rely on, there are always cancelations, delays or other unavoidable issues. These are uncontrollable variables which you can't really plan until they happen. One example being my train home from Birmingham had been cancelled. There was no way back to stoke and i had just done a 4-day event, all i wanted to do was get home. I fortunately could get to Cannock where i knew a friend who could take me down to Stafford where I had to get a train to Crewe and a rail replacement bus to Stoke, which was a very long day! Despite this I also had promised to get my work handed in that night, so in amongst all of this I was sat on three modes of transport trying to finish an edit. In those moments, travelling isn't fun.  

This leads nicely to my point about balancing work, college and freelancing. I have no day off, and that's my own fault. I chose to go to a college that was way too far and to afford my trains i must work a minimum of 2 days a week (2x 12hr shifts sat and sun- attraction manager and performer at Alton towers). The struggle with this is that my college is 5 days a week, and although college hours are only half a day; each day is a full day for me as its 2hrs travelling time each way. I then must fit in independent study, project work such as filming etc. So, I barely have time for a social life, never mind now trying to fit in freelance work. It's easy for people to say just drop something, you need a day off, but there is not one of those things i can drop. My work fuels college, college fuels my qualification, and freelancing provides me with opportunity and industry experience. After about a year and a half I found a decent way to balance things, but it just means because I have to schedule everything so tight, when things change such as added work or unexpected deadlines, i struggle to find the time in that schedule. I have also learned to say no to things when they don't align with my schedule, even if it annoys people.

The good thing about my course is i can shape it around my availability and a lot of my work i can do from home and in between travelling and work. So, it does all fit together, but i do appreciate a good break when it comes around. Another challenge i found with being a student and in the industry is that i seem to always be working with no days off, yet I'm always broke. How does that work? I'm always working whether that's college, freelance or proper work, but i never see any money, as it's either flying out on driving lessons, train passes or savings for uni in September. How is this not talked about? I guess most people must have rich parents or Arnt stupid enough to enroll into a college 2 hours away. This isn't irrelevant to this learning journal, because time is the bane of my life right now. 

Another bane of my life is BBC regulations. Due to the size of the brand everything is so protected! Security on everything is incredible. To create social content, I require access to the BBC music library, and to get in you need to ask for permission every time. The issue i have with this is it take sometimes weeks to hear back from them with access, therefore content is delayed. I have that i now prepare music for content in bulk. So, if i have 3 events coming up next month and i know i will need 5 pieces of music for content, i will requests access now and download 6 pieces of music in bulk before my access runs out however, then getting the licensing for elements in your content before posting is also a long process and requires input from at least 6 different people.  

AC4 COMPETENCY

Regarding technical skills, i have previously mentioned my development regarding equipment however, I've not yet had a chance to talk about my photography skills. At the beginning i struggled a lot regarding, camera settings, framing and most of all colour correcting. Editing the photos after use to be my least favourite thing but now I find it quite rewarding. The pictures on the cannon often come out dark, therefore you need to adjust the exposure and colour in post. It allows you to see your work, and from my most recent project, i found it really cool to see some of my work come out pretty nice when lit up. I'm aware all my work should be at a good standard, but I did shock myself this last time around. I've found the best way to adjust in post is on lightroom. It has all the features you need and more. It's easy to use and has great preset options. I often save settings on portrait so i can make my photos, with similar lighting, look the same to keep that consistency.  

What enhances our team is that we all specify in our areas, and we have that ‘just get on with it’ mindset. Everyone has different skills; therefore, it works great when we all come together. This also applies to getting involved with the event Aswell as my own role. This means running merch about, helping with the set up and pack down, assisting when they are short or need a pair of hands, helping externals with information or directions, or even by just being a point of contact for anyone. My most recent example of this would be in Glasgow where I became a runner for the BBC Scottland tech team. They were a man down on day two and i just happened to be free, i offered to help and i ended up jumping on a position as a lighting assistant. This in not so glamorous terms, was standing in a cupboard with a walky-talky waiting for the director to give me a number, which i would press on the lighting panel, which would change the lighting in the main hall. Was it a boring job? Yes, but did it help the team run smoothly through a point that could've been high stress? Yes. So don't just think that you will just oversee your job, you are in the team at this event, therefore be prepared to jump into anything at any point. People like friendly people, so impressions are everything. 

Reputation is a huge thing especially in the world of freelancing, you must be friends with everyone. I've realised through observing and listening that successful freelancers know everyone, and are known as the helpful, friendly and positive members of the team. You can be great at your craft but to be remembered comes down to how you are in a team. Then if you can be known for both its a win win. The way the workflows is also via socialising and leaving good impressions. If you can leave that good impression, it can either lead to others recommending you or remembering you for a future project of their own, but either way that puts you in a great position for rolling work. I would say this is how i got my first job and have continued to keep booking future jobs. I like to be there when people need me and asking constantly if anyone needs anything, but i also know how to balance that and get the job done. I received a really nice compliment from a colleague called Amrit Singh at the end of my last contract who said to another member of the team, who was asking about how I got rolling work, Amrit very nicely said that “the reason they love to bring jess in is because Shes so easy to work with, and does an amazing job every time” to which he jokingly followed with “not to boost your ego”; But even just a comment like that kind of reassured me that he was right, they must keep bringing me back for a reason, and what other reason is better than that statement, so thanks Amrit. 

AC5

POST PRODUCTION

Postproduction regarding my industry work as mentioned previously can be intense, especially if the deadline for distributions is tight. My post process is usually to start by sorting through the images on the camera, then uploading the files from the SD to a usb. I then wipe the SD then put it back with the others. Once all footage is on the usb the next step is to upload those raw photos into a BBC Dropbox folder. I would then repeat the process with the video/ images on my phone, then upload them to a separate file on Dropbox labelled with the date and location. Once all are uploaded i then sort through them again and move a select few to a good file, which i will then upload into lightroom ready for editing. Once edited they will then be placed in a dated ‘edited’ file on Dropbox and emailed over to BBC PR and the event coordinators. Once i have sorted my own files out, i would then email the university contacts and ask for any footage they may have of the event; once received i would then place them into the Dropbox. Photos are usually the pieces of content that take priority, therefore i don't move onto reels and short form until this is sorted, and I have at least 5 images edited. I would then work on my edits in capcut and premier pro for the finishing touches, which will then be exported and saved in another file in the drop box. 

This process takes time and requires either waiting and uploading or attention to detail. I tend to try and get the footage uploaded on the night of the event, then edited the day after, but due to other responsibilities such as college or work, this isn't always the case. It's also down to network and power. I've had instances where the hotel or train Wi-Fi has been that bad that nothing will upload, therefore delaying everything and causing conflicts with targets and deadlines, I have also had a situation where there has been little to no power sources therefore charging things such as my mac, camera batteries or mics has been super annoying. Another issue I face in post is when Dropbox files are deleted. One instance where this has happened was with Wrexham. Due to the files being shared across such a large team, someone had unfortunately delated the folder and i lost my footage for my edits, due to the file being uploaded from my phone i had deleted the videos once they were transported to the Dropbox, which meant no backups. I then lost a lot of content and i could no longer create the videos from the content plan. This was unavoidable once it had happened and due to it being untraceable the head of dept was very understanding and told me not to worry about hitting the event targets.  

Branding is a huge focus point in post. An example of this would be the recent video I did for BBC Scottland for their ‘the agency: unfiltered’. This required so much branding in post, such as watermarks, start and end boards and matching fronts in alignment with each segment. It was important to keep the branding of the show however, BBC Scottland also have their own unique style to suit their platforms. The thing that made this so much easier was discussing with the Scottish PR team regarding their vison. After liaising i then knew what they wanted and where it was being distributed. Due to it being designed for release onto the BBC Scottland LinkedIn, it was important to fit the aesthetic of their brand as opposed to BBC three or the agency. Before starting this role i only throught the BBC had one font, however across the board they have almost 40. Getting the font right is only a small part of branding, but if you get it wrong it could be detrimental to your edit.  

DEVELOPMENT

Balance, Boundaries, Belief. These are the three key points I will take with me through to the rest of my career. The thing I've come to terms with over the last 6 months, is that no matter how prepared you think you are for the industry, you're not, and you never will be. The industry changes every day, therefore it's impossible to stay prepared. One thing that you can be prepared for is your own brand. By using the three B’s you can produce your best work and exceed professional and personal standards. You cannot be successful in your career if you're not looking after yourself, and in an industry typically known for overworking their employees and no consideration of a balanced lifestyle that can be difficult, but as I said, the industry is changing every day. 

Balance. Creating a healthy balance between your personal and professional life allows you to seek passion and enjoyment in many other areas opposed to your work. I used to primarily find my pride and success only in educational or career focussed achievements, this however can become incredibly unhealthy. If you chase happiness and pride in employment only, your passion will disappear and turn entirely commercial, as your chasing fulfilment through work. It's okay to do this, but what happens if your left with no work-based progression or your career ends suddenly? You are then relying on the distraction of work. You're also missing the world around you. It's important to have that balance to keep you grounded and sane. Working 24/7 in the office and from home will leave you deflated and burnt out, you can still throw yourself into work and keep the passion, but that also means taking time out so you can appreciate that passion when it comes around in a professional environment. For me balance is important so i don't get bored or lose interest. By creating breaks in work, i feel excited when i do get the chance to get back at it.  

I also get very overwhelmed very quickly, and if i pack my schedule up too much and see no room for a break, i will give up everything all at once and just avoid it altogether. I also miss my family a lot. I had gone from being close and spending time together every week, to now being too busy to see any of them, and it can sometimes be months now until i get time to see them. I find this so wrong, and it shouldn't even be a thing especially at 19, so moving forward into the industry I need to set clear expectations within my work life balance for my future success, personally and professionally.  

The second B is for boundaries; these I've touched on quite a lot throughout this document so just to reiterate my previous thoughts, I whole heartedly believe that setting boundaries can be one of the toughest things you can do, but also the most beneficial. This industry is hard, competitive and quite lonely. Everyone is out for their own success, and sometimes that's easy to miss. It's important to be there for your team but your also there to prove your worth. Proving your worth doesn't have to be being a people pleaser and putting others before yourself, in fact employers will respect you for setting boundaries and being clear about yours and their expectations. Again its all relating to that balance. My regrets mostly fall into not saying no, or not being harsh when it comes to stating what i want, so from now on, my priority is me.  

The final point is belief. Just believe in yourself and the journey. It's taken me a long time to realise that if things don't work out then it's just not the right thing at the right time. It's okay to fail and its okay to succeed. Belief is not necessarily the point of having confidence in your skills and abilities; that takes time and practice. However, you can't give yourself those chances to develop, without being prepared to fail. If you believe in your own work, values and ideas, then others will too. For me I now want to be strong in believing in my own decisions and emotions and stand my ground when it comes to my brand. My biggest fear now after experiencing the industry, is that i will end up shaping into a carbon copy of all of the other creatives out there working for huge corporate companies and getting trapped into draining jobs, I want to enjoy what I do and have passion for the stuff I create, and that only comes out when I have belief in my own convictions and have balance, and those things only follow when the boundaries are set from the beginning. From development to professional practice, I've learnt that skills are only a very small part of going into the world of work but having the mindset to be able to look after those skills, is what's going to set me apart from likeminded creatives entering the industry alongside me.  

Written by Jessica-chloe watson