Work Samples.

Here I will put samples of work together, with Pictures and video samples so you can really see what I've been up to.

Example one - Here, is a Voodle I did, to explain how I see the word AUTUMN.

Autumn Voodle


While on my course, we had to take a compulsory module, and my comulsory module for Semester 2 is Film Cultures. In addition to attending lectures and doing some readings, we will answer a 3000 word research methods essay on what we have learned and apply it to film, and also have to take an exam.
In semester one, we had to take a Research methods assignment, which taught us the basics of different methodologies, and we were given a series of small tasks which related to our specialism to find out how we would tackle it, if we were to do it in a question of our own.

Written Work.
A review of a game trilogy, which I used in my Journalism- News and Feature Writing Portfolio.
 Bioshock. I took News and Feature writing, as I had to take one module outside of my specialism, and I chose this one, because I needed to improve the way I wrote things and this could give me a better insight into how to do this. It also helped me as I do radio, it can help me to write a quick short story about an event I am reporting on in an easy to follow way which flows well and is easy to read. Below this, you will find another News and Feature story, which is an opinion piece on Celebrity Over Exposure. I have chosen these two pieces as I believe it reflects my best work reporting on things I am interested in, I can let my passion for the subjects come out, which I might not be able to, if I was reporting on a News Story about the Eurozone Crisis for example.

Bioshock. A games trilogy.

It all begins in Bioshock one, with a start to a game, which is unlike any other I have encountered. You start off with a scene where Rapture becomes underwater, and you can really feel a sense of reality and at this point forget your playing a video game. You are playing a plane crash survivor by the name of Jack. When you escape the water, and all that is burning around you, you will see a banner displayed around a statue “No gods or Kings, Only Man”. As you walk further into the building, and through the corridors, lights come on around you with a sense of drama, and while you walk the music gets louder. You will eventually walk into an elevator, and get a greater sense that rapture is now underwater. Towards the bottom of the elevator journey, a screen will quickly come down, with some projections being shown onto it, and the music will become even more cheery. Also, at this point, the game introduces you to “Andrew Ryan”.  “I chose the impossible, I Chose, Rapture” is the resounding piece of information which makes you think and also reveals Rapture as the screen quickly retracts and you can see what Rapture actually is, for the first time. The game series incorporates elements from Role Playing Games (RPG) and survival games, and when playing through the game, the controls are a bit strange at first. The more you play, the more you get used to it, and absorbed, in the gameplay and the game itself, a very good opening instalment.

Bioshock 2.

This game takes place approximately 8 years after the events of Bioshock and control Subject Delta, a Prototype Big Daddy. An improvement to the second instalment is the addition of even more plasmids. Plasmids used in the first game are quite basic, in that there isn’t as many, so you would have the Electricity Bolt, Inferno, Telekinetic abilities (as in one) and tonics for health, speed or damage. The second instalment has also added a multiplayer element which refreshes the game and makes it feel different and new. The game starts off in what looks to be a hotel lobby and a cry for help comes up from a small child, who at this point, we assume to be the characters daughter, and after a small skirmish, we find out who the child is, and the game starts with the character and a self-inflicted gunshot. A caption appears “10 years later” and takes you through the game from that point, in a similar manner to the first game.

The character has no recollection of the previous ten years, and your mission is to try to relocate the “little sister” in which you were originally paired with. There are a few different endings to this game, depending on your methods you invoke during gameplay, as at various intervals, you can get ADAM by harvesting, or saving other little sisters which you gain access to in defeating other big daddies. The more ADAM you get, you can upgrade your plasmids. You can gain more ADAM for Harvesting and less for saving, although with saving them, you get longer term rewards.

Bioshock – Infinite

With the third instalment, the game has nothing to do with the first 2, being not a direct prequel or sequel although it does feature similar concepts and themes. The game is set in 1912, and the player will move about structures with a grappling hook, and using something referred to in this game as “The Skyline”. One other difference from the earlier 2 games is not being able to change load outs or plasmids, which will help place emphasis on the players’ in game decisions. Also available, are nostrums. These can have effects and alter the character, in a way in which making a decision in Mass Effect 1, could have been affecting the plot and gameplay for Mass Effect 3. As well as the solo play through, there is another single player mode, “1999 mode”. This is a more difficult version of the game, which might make the player end up in a situation where they cannot advance, so this would have them use their save system, to change something they’ve done in a particular place or choose a different weapon.

I am very much, whole heartedly looking forward to the release of this game, and when it is released, I am hoping for it to deliver more than I wanted Crackdown 2 to accomplish, but I was younger then and demanded too much. So long as this isn’t over complicated and fiddly, then I’m fairly sure the gameplay will speak for itself, and leave its fans and Bioshock trilogy complete in a way which Mass Effect 3 didn’t.

The game is released after much anticipation February 26^th 2013.

I chose the Computer game review as I am a gamer, and I also had to produce a review piece in the group magazine portfolio. I chose Bioshock, because I am a fan of the first 2 games, and I am immensly looking forward to the 3rd installment so I decided to review it, for my Review piece in the group magazine.

Celebrity over Exposure.

Why is it, then whenever I have the misfortune to catch the news, it is always going on about something mundane and depressing. Why doesn’t the news (seemingly) ever have a happy story to round off the day? Such as “little Jimmy found his cat up a tree” or “Young man on acid realises life is just a ride, there is no such thing as death and we are the imagination of ourselves. Here’s Tom with the weather”.
Having said that, why should I also care about a Celebrity that couldn’t get a sandwich in a bar, and as such is now split up from their spouse? (Examples vary) Nor do I care about what they wore to fetch a pint of milk last week, if I were them; I’d stick to online shopping and not providing stories about what I’m wearing when I need milk to pour on my Leading Cereal brand in the morning. Nobody cares (or at least nobody compliments me on my unique dress sense) then why should I care what they wear? Well done on wearing meat, but if I did that, I’d be in a mental home! 
Celebrity overexposure.

While I do agree it is necessary for a celebrity appearance somewhere, to maintain the public’s interest in what they are up to, I don’t necessarily agree that they should be written about all the time. There are some celebrities who brighten up anybodies day, and it’s always a pleasure to hear about them, but not very many.  I’m not trying to imply that there shouldn’t be any celebrity news, but at least make it less main streamed. Why anybody would want to sit and watch BBC or Sky News 24, is completely beyond my level of understanding, or tolerance. There’s only so many times I can hear “and the leading story this hour” Which has gone on to my knowledge for the past 6 hours. At this point I want to rip off my own face and throw it at the television and see if they report this, but I sensed that, maybe not.

Anyway, I will one day have my own back on the public, as if I ever get celebrity status, I’m fairly certain I will use it in a far more constructive way to help with things that need help with, such as charity work, or making fans happy, not to feed my own ego.

I chose this for an opinion peice, because it is something I believe that is covered too much and justified by "the public should know EVERYTHING that (Insert Celebrity name here) does". While I agree some have good reasons for being in the news, like when Prince William was getting married, I didn't agree with every day of a countdown to the big wedding.

An example of a production Document:
Here is an exert from a Treatment produced for a promotional DVD I did in College. It is to promote the new Wisemore Campus, and the facilities for the deaf and hearing impaired students that might want to study there.

The target audience is the deaf students around the Midlands who would want to study at Walsall College. It will be set in and around the lives of the deaf students to promote how they can cope and what they can do in Walsall College. It will also be set in and around the Deaf unit on the first floor of the Wisemore Campus. I believe this idea will make an effective piece of viewing because it will bring to light issues that deaf students might have that people aren’t aware of.

The locations I will be using for the product is the deaf base, the Atrium, the forecourt, the car maintenance garages and Room C220. All of the places used for filming were in and around Wisemore Campus. The equipment we will use to record is an HD Sony camera, tripod, and will use Final Cut Pro software to edit. We will also use a member of staff from the Deaf Base, to assist us with editing together the post production script so we can understand exactly what is being said by the person on the screen, and we will then tranisition this to a shot of the library, Unit base, or classrooms, depending on what is being mentioned through BSL sign language at the time.