The Work Placement
My work placement consisted of 3 days work with the video production company, Mad Pig Films. On the first day, I met some of the company's key personnel and attended a screening of the draft version of the company's feature film project Devil May Know (as the film was still in it's post-production phase). The second day of my experience involved observing and assisting the recording of the ambient soundtrack for the film, where I travelled around London with the film's director. The final day consisted of acquiring location consent for filming for certain scenes in the film, some of which were needing to be reshot.
Throughout my time, I had many conversations with the company's director and one of the project's editors. I found the whole experience really insightful as it gave me an understanding of how feature films are produced and how to overcome the issues faced when making one. I also gained a lot of information about the company in general such as how it became successful production company, the equipment and softwares they use and their future projects.
Preparations for Placement:
Here are some of the preparations and arrangements I made prior attending the first day of my work placement:
- Clothes -
I found out from Dante when I first got in contact with the company what the dress code for the company is, and then planned my outfits that I would need to bring back with me to London for each day of the experience. These were smart/casual items of clothing.
- Travel -
As the company was based in London, I organised with the company's director, Colin, to carry out a majority of my work experience hours over the Easter break. This would make it a lot easier and cheaper for me to commute to work since I would be living at home with my parents in South West London during the work experience, rather than commuting from Brighton each day. I booked my train down from Brighton to London as soon as the work placement dates were confirmed. I will use public transport to commute from work to home, using my Oyster card to pay for buses and tubes.
- Things to take -
A list of things I will need with me during the experience:
wallet, phone, comfortable shoes, pen and paper, photo ID
- Questions -
I thought of a handful of questions I could ask people who I get to observed and work with during my work experience; What are your working hours, are they flexible? How much has the company developed and innovated since it began? Are there any other projects you're working on at the moment? How did you get a job at Mad Pig Films?
