Richard McCormack, Class of 2009 | Red Bee Media’s BBC Four Doco

Posted on July 17, 2014 by RW

I’m a graduate of 2009 and I work as a creative for Red Bee Media. It makes content, promos and designs branding for a range of clients. However Red Bee is probably most well known in the industry as being the BBC’s creative agency. You know the swimming hippos on BBC1? Red Bee did that. However this post isn’t so much about me; rather it’s about my creative director, his co-producer and a ten year project. It turned into a documentary ‘100 seconds to beat the world: The David Rudisha Story’, which is a co-production with Hill Ten film. The doco will be on-air 22 July at 10pm on BBC Four. Here’s the trail.

A decade ago Jim and Ed set out to make a documentary about Brother Colm, an enigmatic Irish teacher who has also coached many of Kenya’s most celebrated athletics including Wilson Kipketer, Matthew Birir and Peter Rono. Jim and Ed wanted to discover why a man without any professional training or athletic experience had managed to consistently develop gold medal winning athletes. However on 9th August 2012 the subject of the documentary changed, when David Rudisha ran the fastest 800 metres in history and took gold at the London Olympics. Jim and Edward looked back at their rushes and realised they had a range of footage and stills of David as a shy teenager developing into an athlete. So the documentary was refocused on David.

I came on board over the last year or so when Jim asked me to film an interview with Lord Seb Coe for the documentary. One bleak Tuesday morning, I met Jim outside Coe’s offices in Victoria armed with a Canon 5D, a Canon XF305 and a bed sheet for a backdrop (which Jim had spent thirty minutes the night before ironing). Continue reading →

Andrew West Reflects on Post-Uni | What are you going to do now?

Posted on July 15, 2014 by RW

LSM’s graduating students, Class of 2014, will no doubt get asked what’s next? Soon-to-be alumnus Andrew West – a freelance camera operator, editor and award-winning photographer – shares his thoughts on that question and writes: refrain from asking what I’m going to do in the future … simply ask me what I’m doing in this moment now.

For hire!

The last three years of University has been the greatest learning experience of my life so far and I’m due to graduate in a few months time. I feel like this requires a fresh blog, a new way of presenting what I’m doing and building on a foundation of experiences which have taught me a lot about who I am and what kind of person I want to be. It’s a really strange feeling, having had so much direction over the last 21 years of my life to suddenly be hit with the thought suspending question by many of ‘What are you going to do now?’, the answer to that, as I have realised over the last few months is that it doesn’t really matter. I don’t need to lead a life permanently set in stone, to immediately settle down in a continual routine, to become another brick in the wall. I’m lucky to be in a position in which I have liberty to wander in whatever direction draws my energy towards, so intend to do precisely that. Continue reading →

Ashley Turner, Class of 2013 | BBC TWO Floor Runner ‘Wolf Hall’

Posted on July 10, 2014 by RW

Congrats to all Lincoln School of Media third year graduating students who will be Class of 2014! The School hope you’ll keep us posted on your job-hunting, experiences, tips and advice, like last year’s alumnus Ashley Turner.

I graduated from the University of Lincoln last year as part of the first group of students to take the Film & Television course. Just before I left Lincoln, I was accepted onto the BBC’s Production Talent Pool, which I took to be a guarantee of a kickstart as a TV runner. I moved to Bristol, where I began to pick up occasional runner jobs, working on the odd day here and there on programmes like Flog It, The One Show, Rip Off Britain and others. However, the desired long contract proved elusive. Thanks to uploading my CV to a number of websites, I worked as a runner on the open auditions for the upcoming Star Wars films, which was a very exciting opportunity, and things began to build up from there. Eventually I semi-moved to London, working on The One Show as a studio runner, as well as on a BBC Three comedy pilot, a BBC Two panel show and the recent Our Gay Wedding: The Musical.

Having built up this solid range of runner experience, I was asked to come in to interview for a long-term runner job on a high profile BBC Two drama, and succeeded! So since April, I have been a Floor Runner on the BBC’s adaptation of Dame Hilary Mantel’s best-selling period drama Wolf Hall, which I’m thrilled to be a part of.

My main piece of advice to fellow graduates of Lincoln School of Media who’re looking to get into TV? Never work for free. Continue reading →

Class of 2012, Michael Hankinson | Camera Operator

Posted on July 7, 2014 by RW

Hi LSM! It’s been almost 2 years since I last posted on the alumni network and since then a lot has happened. My ambition all the way through university had been to work as a DOP (Director of Photography). After leaving I quickly realised that it wasn’t going to be easy to just walk into a job like this. When I graduated in 2012 with a BA (Hons) Media Production degree I worked for free and for expenses on multiple low budget features, shorts, event videos, etc. to try and get my foot in the door and more importantly learn, both while at university and after leaving. I took a part time job at Asda (it’s not fun paying bills) and on my days off applied for jobs. I got to work on some exciting projects as a camera assistant and camera operator through this while learning from some great people in the industry including a DOP who had previously worked on a BAFTA winning film, however the pay was little or none in most cases.

I was then successful in an interview and started as a junior camera operator at a production company in Essex called iSite TV (I was quite surprised to meet two other LSM alumni among the staff). So I left my job at Asda and moved down to Essex. The company creates online advertising and product videos for some of the biggest companies and retailers in the world including; Panasonic, Sennheiser, Currys/PC World, Beko, LG, VTech, the list goes on and on. I’ve worked at iSite for a year now and the time has flown. Continue reading →

Ashley Knight on the University of Lincoln’s Alumni Weekend 2014

Posted on July 3, 2014 by RW

LSM 2009 alumnus Ash Knight is a media producer and director of Knightvisions Productions (KVP). It’s a video production indie and Ash said “I’m developing the focus of KVP”, which he’ll update us on later this year. Meanwhile, here’s his review of the University of Lincoln’s first alumni weekend. Ash writes he had the opportunity to visit the old department where I actually gained my Media Production degree. The advancements in there certainly show why Lincoln School of Media is currently first in the country out of all HE Media Departments.

copyright Ash-Knight_Waterfront Festival & Fireworks 2014 (Lincoln)

What a great success for the first Alumni Weekend for University of Lincoln. A big thank you to all those that made it happen and commiserations to those that were unable to make it. This was the University’s first attempt at holding such an event and an amazing time was had by all of those that attended. I heard no rumblings of disappointment by any of the alumni and who could be disappointed when you see some of the great activities and events that were scheduled. Continue reading here and see more photos.

The alumni team is keen to hear your thoughts about the Alumni Weekend 2014 and also what you would like to see at future alumni weekend events. See here to feedback. Thanks!

Class of 2012, Samuel Cox | Creative Technologist

Posted on June 30, 2014 by RW

I’m currently working for a creative technology company called rehabstudio as a creative technologist … funnily enough! It basically means that I generate concepts, ideas and prototypes for brands such as Google, Converse and Red Bull, as well as internal R&D. I usually focus on building and engineering physical objects/things that are also digital in some way (similar to the phrase “internet of things” that’s getting pasted around at the minute). I also make this kind of stuff in my spare time, like BitTag, which questions our relationship and how we value fiat currency in the physical world when compared with new Cryptocurrencies. This gained the attention of the BBC, live CNBC (pretty nerve racking) Yahoo and Cnet to name a few.

Flood Beacon is my latest project focusing on using technology for good. It is engineered to broadcast live data such the current water level, GPS location and any sudden accelerations the beacon may feel from sudden flooding. Alerts can then be sent to our smartphone application (push notification when someone is in immediate danger), monitoring stations.

And a note on my MA project progress. Continue reading →

Class of 2009, Michael Henry | ‘Time and Place’ Trailer

Posted on June 23, 2014 by RW

Passionate filmmaker Michael Henry set up Quandary Productions. He said members of the indie production team “strive to make both short and feature films of a professional quality, on the slimmest of budgets.” The latest ‘low budget epic film’ is called a Time and Place, which is due to be screened in October 2014. In the meantime, Mike said you can see the official trailer:

We’ve finally been able to release the Official Trailer to the film, which we feel captures the tone of the intense dramatic moments and the surreal comedic moments. So far, feedback is looking great, with a lot of people eager to watch the film upon release.

‘TIME AND PLACE’ is our fifth feature film. Having crowdfunded nine months ago, shooting wrapped in March this year, and we are currently working on Post-Production. Continue reading →

Class of 2010, Jack Shelbourn | Freelance DoP

Posted on June 16, 2014 by RW

I studied my MA in Media Production between September 2009 and September 2010. I graduated in 2011 with a Distinction. Since then I have moved into a career as a Director of Photography. I’m very excited that HIDEAWAY, which is a new short film (written by Gabriel Henrique Gonzalez) that I shot and co- produced, has been selected for the No Gloss Film Festival in Leeds.

Another short film, FRAMEd (shot in Italy and London) was recently nominated for Best Short at the London Independent Film Festival. Continue reading →

Class of 2012, Simon Ross | BBC Broadcast Assistant Career Update

Posted on June 13, 2014 by David McSherry

Post from 2012 Audio Production Alumnus Simon Ross.

Last time I wrote a post for the LSM blog I had pretty much just started life with the BBC. Almost 2 years down the line, I am now typing from a brand new studio desk at BBC Radio Lincolnshire at the end of what has been a very busy few months.

My regular duties are working as a Broadcast Assistant at weekends, covering the on-air broadcast of programmes on both Saturday and Sunday mornings. I will also find myself covering other programmes during the week, including Mid Morning, Afternoon and Drivetime. So what has changed? Continue reading →

TV Advert by Seal Films TONIGHT for Blackpool & The Fylde College

Posted on June 2, 2014 by RW

“Is Tina gonna pop her clogs?! Who cares? The BIG news is you can catch the latest Seal Films regional TV Commercial for Blackpool and The Fylde College’s University Centre straight after Corrie on ITV1. TONIGHT at 8.58pm!” Nice to see it on the telly if you’re in the Granada area. But if not, this is the ad from LSM 2001 Graduates Nick Farrimond and Dave Barrow at Seal Films.

“Taking a unique and dynamic approach we devised the concept for the TV ad with the college marketing team, focusing on how the college will help students aspire and achieve. The creative for the ad features the aspirations of two potential future students, delivering the #besomebody message with the help of the iconic song ‘Be Somebody’ from the end credits of a classic 80’s movie. Continue reading →

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