Joseph Leitch London/Plymouth, United Kingdom

University is a fast and intense working environment which is where I currently study in my final year (graduating in late April). I have often worked alongside large crews of over 20 people on productions ranging from live multi-cam shoots with Netflix approved 4k equipment with vision mixing and graphic design too much more intense on-location shoots filming short narrative pieces in winter snow or even under the sea (Some of my most recent productions required both of these). Through watching new television from home or from a more hands-on approach in a university environment, I have experienced and learned from a large variety of different types of content. Accomplishing this wide range of programming allows me to work and be familiar with all types of industry content in my career.

Time management has been key to all of this and organisation a skill I must use every day to make the content I want. I have produced and researched for many productions nationally and internationally. Though shoots may be completely different the skills required are not. Much of the time is spent on writing production journals on spreadsheets and sending emails to clients and potential colleagues. These focus on the scheduling and planning of shoots while still giving time for post and pre-production. With this role, I must write risk assessments, manage the locking of locations and the script, equipment booking and many more complex tasks. I was able to use this skill in some of my contracted work. I was personally contracted for 8 weeks to work in upstate New York to create and develop online promotional videos, adverts, and photos for international distribution with tight weekly deadlines. I had to manage a small team with members ranging from Hungary to Philadelphia. I organised many shoots, locations and actors meeting the tight deadlines required in the industry.

Working in this stressful environment requires patience and good communication skills between colleagues. For example, we filmed for several shoots in the heavy rain during a sporting event but due to the weather, our department leader was unhappy with the footage (as the constant change of weather would not let us keep continuity through our edits). Rather than simply delete a lot of footage we as a team were encouraged to fix it. We came up with the idea of using postproduction techniques to alter the footage with colour grading and masking. We then actively approached our department leader and showed him how we had overcome the issue. We debriefed and showed him the altered work and were able to recover almost all of the footage through time and dedication as a team.