Skip to content

Skills Development

1.1 Develop your current knowledge, understanding and skills

I have a big interest in film and have a good knowledge of it as a whole. I have worked on multiple film shoots handling various equipment such as an arri camera. I like watching films to learn about how they are made and how this creates a good film. I am studying media at the bottle yard studios with boomsatsuma after studying business at SGS filton for a year.

I would like to direct, produce, edit and handle the camera work. I feel this would help better to understand how a film is put together. I already know how to put together an use a £130,000 arri camera and know how each role is put together to produce good content.

I would like to direct, edit as, produce and film. This would be good to get more hands on work experience so i can develop this further. I hope to gain multiple skills with the bfi and gain contacts with like-minded people my age who have similar interests, which will lead to opportunities to gain access into the film industry.

I worked on a photography project in college which is on my website, the moral message of the project is equality. This is based on the theme of portrait photography of religious/non religious people and the objective is to convey this idea of the fact that we are all the same regardless of age, gender, ethnicity and religion. This is under UNIT 31.

I also made a documentary on homelessness in Bristol. There is a lot of negativity to do with rough sleepers, such as they are known to commonly associate with drugs, although this may be true to an extent it is not completely. Some rough sleepers have aspirations and are not to be considered as ‘avoidable’ as you’ll find some are good people. I want to shed some light over homelessness and use this man who as a positive to change at least 10 peoples negative view to rough sleepers. this is under UNIT 43 on my website. The link is below

https://sameermalik6.wixsite.com/portfolio

Ive worked on a film about zero waste at the BFI london documentary camp in february 2019, however i cannot find the link.

 

 

 

 

1.2 Take a role in the production of a short film

My production role requires the management and maintenance of the cameras as a camera man. I am responsible for the filming and the angles and shots taken to ensure I get the best quality footage through the preparation of how I was going to film in advance.

During the pre-production stage I was responsible for managing the components needed to ensure we got the best quality of film, I monitored the battery levels, having them pre-charged so we didn’t run out of battery during filming, I made sure the SD cards were formatted appropriately and counting everything we have in terms of camera equipment to make sure we had everything we needed. I had planned certain shots and angles in preparation to filming to make sure I was getting the best visuals I could.

During the production I was responsible for ensuring that the filming was of a high quality throughout, I used the interview as a base to understand the themes and feelings of the interviewee so that i could convey this through the visuals. For example when the interviewee was expressing upsetting thoughts of his mum and how isolated he felt, i filmed b-roll of the contributor by following him on a bridge alone as he walks up to the edge and looks over at the view, by having him completely by himself on the bridge this helped to convey and emphasis the themes and feelings of guilt, sadness but happiness and also feelings of isolation and reflection which is what i was trying to show. As well as this i was replicating the film by the types of shots taken depending on the locations and how this reflected the thoughts and feelings of the contributor based on the content he was talking about and how this would make him and the audience watching feel.

During post production i felt a need to contribute when needed but also to contribute and voice my opinion as to where i believe certain b-roll should go depending on what the contributor was saying as i wanted to match their feelings through what was said to the visuals that reflected those feelings/themes.

In order to carry out my role effectively, wearing appropriate clothing was necessary to remain fairly comfortable to get the best shots possible as i filmed some shots at an awkward angle so being able to stay flexible was important. Effective communication with my team especially my director and sound guy was important as these were the 2 people i was working with closely. As we were filming predominately outside time management was key as we were filming during December months therefore we had less daylight and i wanted to reduce the chances of increasing the ISO as this would negatively impact the quality of the film. Having an awareness of my equipment was key as well especially when charging batteries so i knew where they were and that accessibility to different things was easy for both myself and my team.

The equipment and documents needed to carry out this role include:

  • Canon 80D
  • Canon 7D
  • 4 batteries
  • SD cards
  • 24mm prime lens
  • 50mm prime lens
  • 24-70mm lens
  • rode camera microphones
  • tripods
  • stabiliser
  • projector
  • projector material
  • risk assessment
  • shot list
  • contributor release forms

Other resources that are needed include:

  • lighting equipment
  • props such as those used in domestic setting specified in shot list
  • sound equipment
  • clapper board

Research notes on my role:

1.3 Gain feedback on how you performed your role

 

 

1.4 Review your technical skills and use of equipment

I agree with my team I felt I gave it my all and put as much as I could with the knowledge I have into making this film the best I could with the camera. Strengths included having a good knowledge of cameras and how to film in advance and challenges included mainly the use of the stabiliser as it kept playing up but patience was key and we got there in the end. My knowledge and understanding of film has developed significantly especially from the masterclasses I learnt a lot about progression routes into the film industry and next steps which was important. I have learnt other things like all the technical important aspects to the production of film, such as on set processes, production documents and post production editing.

Comments

  1. Bex Rose

    Sameer this is a good explanation of your current interests and skills in film and how you would like to develop these through the Academy. It sounds like you are interested in all the elements of making a documentary and you will be a valuable team member. Could you please add examples of some of your work – this could be the photography work or links to film work. When you have done this you will achieve part of section 1. Thanks, Bex.

  2. Bex Rose

    Well done for completing 2.2 Take a role in the production of a short film, especially after your work was lost through WordPress. You’ve demonstrated excellent skills in your chosen role of camera operator. This part of section 1 is complete.

  3. Bex Rose

    Sameer you have completed all the necessary sections, this work along with your production diary clearly evidence that you are able to develop technical skills to meet film production requirements. You have achieved this section to a good level. Well done!

Leave a Reply