Postgraduate study, in terms of the primary units, bears some similarities to my undergraduate degree (Television Production) and with my fourth year of study shifting back to a fully on-campus experience compared to my third year with this also allowing our course to go fully back onto productions. As we move into semester 2, our main units act as expansions and developments on the units we completed in semester 1 (one practical unit and one theory unit) with the practical unit giving us more freedom in terms of what we can do with the films we are producing. With our first films completed and pre-production started on the next film, what does a typical day contain for a Directing postgraduate student?

Lectures & Meetings:

As the films are currently focusing on pre-production, the busiest days typically include lectures and seminars surrounding career prospects and theory surrounding directing. Our career unit looks past completing the course and graduation into what jobs we could potentially work in the following university (e.g. working as a runner and/or productions assistant) alongside a career plan – with a CV and a cover letter – describing the primary long and short-term goals that you have developed during the time at university and what your possible progression through either the film or television industry could be. Alongside this unit, the other lectures focus more on the theory side of working as a director and what the development side can include e.g. pitch and treatment documents which lead to discussions regarding communication between your crew to achieve the best possible result with the film.

Behind The Scenes – Fractured (My Semester 1 Production)

Pre-Production:

As we are in the earlier development stages of our next project, the rest of the day and the week will be dedicated to planning for our next production and as the shooting period begins, my timetable has become more consistent as the weeks progress. For the next project in our framework, the film is an adaptation of a short story by Ray Bradbury called Last Night In The World with the film centring around a discussion between multiple characters on what they would do if the world was coming to an end. Based on the current stage of development, the rest of the day can be set aside to work on planning for the shoot (shooting styles, character blocking etc) before shifting towards production at the end of March. This film is shaping up to be the biggest location shoot I have directed during my time at university as having focused more in the studio on my undergraduate degree, the film will be the best chance to experiment with different styles with both directing and cinematography.

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MA Directing Film & Television