2024 Statement of Intent and SWOT

With the Year of 2023 over and done with, I now have the opportunity to lay out a new stretch of goals that I want to reach during not only within this semester of 2024 but also through the whole year. I’ve mapped out my strengths and weaknesses within myself and now I will go ahead and show them along with where I felt I went well and where I will be improving myself.

This year, in 2024, I have a few areas of interest that I intend on working in to further improve my skills. For this, I have identified areas within the National Occupational Standards to look to and develop from. The first main area that I wish to work on is during the prep stages of the production, specifically: C2 - P1, P4, P7 and P8

I want to focus more in these areas since there have been times in the past where I have worked on productions and we have got a working camera however we run into issues in certain setups where we didn't fully make sure the rig that we booked out actually worked for the environment that we are filming in. This will be a key area that I wish to work on during this Semester.

A second area that I wish to work on is: CTV12 - P1, P6, P7, P8 and P9

With the potential to get a role on a shoot that involves a multi-cam setup, I want to expand my multi-cam experience and knowledge so then I can correctly setup, label and record using more than one camera on set while also communicating with my team and the other team that is working with us.

The Third area that I wish to touch on, since this would be a great extra piece of knowledge to have, is some grip knowledge following the points from: CTV5 - P1, P2, P4 and P6 and

CTV6 - P1, P2, P5, P6 and P7

Now I have spent the last 2 years really expanding my knowledge within the camera department, I want to take time now to further develop my camera grip skills so then I can either rig cameras myself and mount them onto a range of accessories or even keep an eye on how it is being rigged by another grip so then I can make sure the heath and safety guidelines are being kept within.

With these points that I wish to work on, I intend on working on them during the final semester where there is a range of opportunities to work on Major productions and Indie productions and between working on them I can attend workshops that are going on through the semester that I can see through the Scheme of Work Calendar that we have been given for the year.

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Strengths:

- Practical Learning - I am quick on the ball with picking up new equipment and learning hands on about the things that I am using on the production. Quickly analysing it to know where it is best suited with the performance that it can give me.

- Communication - I am good within my specialism where I can talk to the right people about information that is key to my role and for improving the efficiency of the set and department I am working in.

- Speed - With the experience that I have gained over the last 2 years within MFS and outside, I have improved my speed on set without jeprodisring the quality and safety of producitons.

Weaknesses:

- Codecs - I am not familiar enough with the true and full information that each codec can bring within detailed levels

- 2nd AC Clapperboard - My Presentation of the board is good however needs to be improved to match the levels of other 2nd ACs that I am working with

- Camera Grip - I have little understanding and safety training on the position of a grip and needs to be improved

Opportunities:

- Workshops - WIth the Grip Department, I can attend workshops that are available to us that can either be run from past students or even professionals with the industry

- Other Classmates - Asking others within my class to look over my work and see where they can see me improve while also pointing out the right information so I can read about it.

- Manuals - By reading up more about the camera and spending more time making notes on them before going on test shoots I can then create a list of things to try while working on the Test Day(s).

Threats:

- Personal / Family Life - Due to recent events, This will be taking a chunk of my time out to make sure that my family life back at home is okay.

- Illness - If ill, I can attempt to work on small quantities of notes and research if needed for a project or production that is coming up on my agenda.

- Other Projects / Workshops - I will keep on top of all of my attending days to make sure that I don’t overlap one project or workshop over another