Thoughts?

2011 Retrospective

2011 will be remembered as the year of middle eastern uprisings, natural disaster and economic hardship. The year the people of London wondered what happened to good old English reserve and America finally ended their game of hide and seek with Osama bin Laden.  

My 2011 went something like this:

I suppose it all started in March with my mum and dad nagging me over the Easter holidays because I spent it lazing about not doing anything useful and in general making a nuisance of myself. It was around this time mum suggested I apply for some work experience in the film industry for the summer holidays. She probably just thought it would be a good way of getting me out of the house, there’s no way she could have predicted the chain of events that would unfold, but thank goodness she managed to get me to do it. If she hadn’t I might have had a very different 2011. 

That work experience really was the catalyst for all the major decisions and changes I made this year. It’s hard to describe but the month I spent working with the good people of ‘Gambit’ (2012) really opened my eyes. Having spent my sixth form years working the 9-5 shift behind a checkout at my local Sainsbury’s, where every ten minutes seemed like an hour I suddenly found myself working what would sometimes amount to a 16 hour day and loving every moment of it. The day I got a phone call at 6:30am asking me to come to the Midlands from my home in South East England which I did was also probably the day I realised just how much I wanted to make this my career.

It was also the point at which questions started forming in my head about whether or not I really wanted to return to University in October. I both kick and applaud myself for doing so.

That may sound odd but let me explain. I kick myself for going back because there are many ways in which I didn’t enjoy my last ever term of university. The workload quickly began to overwhelm me, I found myself poor once again after a summer of earning reasonable money and more than anything I was bored. I’d lost the spark that got me through the first year and I really missed the work I’d done in the summer. As I stated in an earlier post I still wholeheartedly recommend university and I had an amazing time, particularly in the first year but the fact is after the summer I had and having been told by most of the people I’d met that experience is worth more than anything academic in film going back to university just seemed like an unnecessary waste of time. I found it hard to care about the work I had to do and it really brought my mood down for a while. Ultimately I had to admit to myself that my priorities had changed and that University was no longer for me. 

Despite that, I am hugely grateful I decided to go through that last term pure and simple because I met some really amazing people (one in particular) and I did something I wanted to do but couldn’t afford in my first year - went on the Warwicksnow Christmas ski tour. I don’t think I’m ever going to forget the friends I made, aside from the career and personal advantages that come with a degree, the people are what I’d argue make university really worth the effort. No matter what your interests are and regardless of your social experience at school it’s virtually impossible to avoid making friends at university. It’s a social melting pot, one I was very happy to be a part of however briefly. Deciding to leave was difficult because of the people I met at Warwick. 

I have now left and after some initial worry and nervous anticipation I’ve shifted my old room in Leamington and found myself a room in London. I’ve got seven months full time work on a big feature and I’m feeling pretty optimistic about the year ahead. Now I’ve started I don’t intend to stop and I hope I can keep the work coming because I’ve got big ambitions.

I hope these text posts haven’t been too boring, I’m not sure how much people want to know about my life but I hope it’s made a refreshing change to the reblogged nature of many pages on tumblr.

Happy New Year to all my followers anyway, bring on 2012. 

H x

Blah

Currently in London, looking for somewhere to live. I look forward to the day where I’m not living my life out of boxes. Job starts on the 9th January so I’ve only got about 10 days to sort something out… love it. 

Going to Essex for a night or two next week though which should be fun. I have never been to Essex and I hope to God it’s nothing like they show it on TV. 

*EDIT* 

Got a place in Finsbury Park. Win.  

Success, Snow and Housing, Housing, Housing…

Been a couple of weeks since I last posted and a lots been going on. 

The good news is I managed to sign off my room to a new tenant. This was definitely my number one worry in the last week of term and it wasn’t till the day before I left for ski tour that I got confirmation. HUGE load off my mind I can’t really explain how much stress it alleviated.

The second big thing that happened pretty much on the same night was that I got offered and subsequently accepted a job as a full time Personal Assistant on the new Les Misérables film starting January 9th through to July. It’s a pretty big production directed by Tom Hooper (The Kings Speech) and stars Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman and Helene Bonham Carter. Thats a huge deal for me, to get a long stint on a film like that working full time is incredibly difficult even for those with experience. I’m incredibly lucky and I only hope I can get to know the job quickly, do it well and hopefully end my contract with another job in line!

Snow tour was last week, probably one of the funniest and most exhausting weeks of my life. The daily routine went something like this…

• 9:00am - Get up and hit the slopes
• 12:30pm - Quick lunch then back out
• 4:00pm - Après ski drinks
• 6:00pm - Ski semi-drunk back to the hotel, shower and change
• 7:00pm - Makeshift dinner with whatever’s in the fridge
• 8:00pm - Downstairs for pre-drinks 
• 11:00pm - Head out to whatever bars/clubs are on the cards
• 5:00am - Bed
• Repeat.

So yeah after a week of that I was about ready to collapse with fatigue, loved every minute but christ I’m still catching up on sleep and I got home three days ago!

Now I’m home anyway which is nice because it’s given me a chance to wind down. The main thing now is finding somewhere to live in London that I can afford and that gives me easy access to both the city and Pinewood studios which is on the outskirts of north-west London. I’m sure I’ll find something, else I’ll be one of the better paid homeless on the streets of London. 

H x

Parties, housing and snow.

We had my leaving party at the house last night. Went pretty well (save one of my housemates bringing the entire Warwick Athletics club back with him) and the house amazingly managed to escape largely unscathed. Woke this morning/afternoon feeling a little on the fragile side shall we say but a cooked breakfast helped ease some of the pain. Very happy most people seemed to be able to make it, a few didn’t but I’ll endeavour to visit them before the week is out. 

On that note, the Warwicksnow Snow Nonsense Christmas ski tour kicks off on Friday. I really can’t wait to be honest, vastly expensive and notoriously messy it’s probably the perfect way to say goodbye to university. We had been worried that lack of recent snow fall in the mountains may have been an issue, but the snow God’s have smiled on us and yesterday suddenly the webcams showed a significant improvement, with more snow promised by all the forecasters for this week. 

I am still worried about shifting this room though, I’ve had a fair amount of interest but the problem most people have is one of needing someone to take theirs off them too. Vicious circle really. We’ll see what happens but for now I’m just going to have to remain hopeful.

H x 

Slow Down

Now all the official stuff is out of the way I have two main goals to reach before Christmas:

1. Find a replacement tenant to take my room in the house.

Though this may not sound like a lot to contend with there’s actually very little I can do for this besides advertise the room on student message boards and hope someone gets in touch. This is also the most worrying task of the two because if I fail to find anyone I am bound by my contract to keep paying rent. Which would be fine if my student loans weren’t stopping in January… 

     2.  Find a job for the New Year. 

Preferably in film… I gained a lot of good contacts over the summer. All of which have said they are happy to help me in any way possible. Just have to keep firing off emails and see what comes back. 

Other than this, there’s really not much for me to do. Both the goals I have aren’t very labour intensive so they don’t take up huge chunks of my time. I also don’t really see much point in attending too many lectures or doing work, if I’m leaving there’s not any reason why I should. I may attend a few screenings to kill time but I should try and find something more constructive to do…

There you have it, the meetings and papers are out of the way, my friends know I’m leaving and there’s really nobody left to contact or visit. Just have to keep those fingers crossed. 

H x 

Leaving University

This week I started the official process which will lead to my withdrawing as a student of the Film and Television studies department at Warwick University. 

While it wasn’t something I ever imagined myself doing when I initially applied, I’ve known for a while now that the course was no longer suitable for me. As a person who struggles with such academic tasks as writing essays and heavy reading assignments it’s my own fault for taking on a course for which assessment is entirely based on such tasks. More than that though, after my experiences working in the film industry over the summer it seemed more and more like my commitment to study here full time was getting in the way of opportunities which had I been able to take them on would have helped kick start my career. 

Part of what made it so difficult to come to this decision was the sheer wealth of new friends and activities that had I not chosen to attend university at all or even had I dropped out during the summer I simply wouldn’t have been able to experience. University has also taught me a  little about what it means to live on my own, the importance of budgeting (something I still struggle with but had no concept of before leaving home) and the every day challenges associated with independence. It’s definitely been of great benefit to me personally and I feel has had some success in developing my maturity and focus. Balancing work and play has been a challenge, especially with the number of great clubs and societies made available and it has to be said that at times I have struggled to find the balance. Lectures missed because of a heavy nights drinking and the demoralising effects sleep deprivation surrounding deadlines each having their own diminutive effect and have taught me vital lessons about planning and responsibility. I’ve made some of my best friends at Warwick and the student lifestyle is something I have both immensely enjoyed and loathed - but would happily continue with were I able to cut the workload and perhaps earn more money.

Ultimately however, that’s not what I came to university to do and it’s definitely not worth struggling on with and attaining more debt.

Once I have officially left I intend to move to London and begin to forge a career in film. This I know will also not be easy, the prospect of moving to London with as little money as I currently have and no government grants or loans is genuinely frightening. However, such challenges would have to be faced even if I were to continue with the course - the only difference being the level of debt I would face repaying. With a network of family and close friends all willing to support me in whatever way possible, I feel I have the strength and ambition to make it work for me (even if in the beginning I’m still forced to live on a tight budget). 

I still wholeheartedly recommend University to everyone, it’s been an incredible experience and one I won’t easily forget. I’ve had some of the best and worst times of my life here and I couldn’t be happier that at least for a while I was able to be a part of it. 

This blog will be taking a different direction from now on, I’ll be using it to share the experience of dropping out, trying to find work and (hopefully) succeeding. 

I think it’s going to be a very interesting few months.