About Me

"Whoever controls the media, controls the mind."- Jim Morrison

We are highly influenced by media, it has the power to prevent and promote things as well as affect people's behaviour. In psychology, I learned how the media can alter the way society thinks and therefore, behave; from simply being persuaded to buy a product, to day-to-day communication. Globalisation allows everyone to be up to date with current events around the world just through our television/phone screens and newspapers, we become more aware of the world's happenings and how to help those in need- for example, campaigns such as Children in Need and Comic Relief. The media has many purposes, it enables the education of young children (Cbeebies and Justins House that helps promote sign language) and entertains the majority of the world. 

Jim Morrison said 'Whoever controls the media, controls the mind.' which is the Hypodermic Needle Theory suggesting that the media has a direct effect on its audience where they 'inject' ideas they want them to adopt. I am a huge media consumer, as I am sure a lot of people are, however I don't want to be just a person in the audience, I want to be behind the stage assisting and creating projects that help, encourage and entertain peoples minds.

Over the years, from primary school through to sixth form, I always took videos and photos of every situation, even just my everyday lunch times! I liked the idea of having memories to look back on, and even if my friends used to say “Stop recording me!” and cover their faces, they’re grateful of everything I recorded when I show them now. When I was 14, I created a video on Windows Movie Maker for my friend/sister who sadly was involved in an accident and I wanted to make her smile. It was a video with memories and messages wishing her a ‘speedy recovery’, although it looks like a very simplistic project now, I know how much it meant to her and her family and it brought me joy knowing I could construct a piece of media that made others happy. Other than this, I also took pictures of anything, a tree, a strand of hair, reflection of light etc. and edited it as if I was a professional, using online editing websites and later resulted to Adobe Photoshop. I am a strong believer in doing things that make you happy, and I finally found something I was content in doing during my free time as well as to pursue as a future career. 
I learned in media that films/programmes can be a form of escapism, but I also learned this from my own experiences. Escapism is personally the most important aspect to media because I know the feeling of watching films that make me instantly forget I'm in a cinema or my living room. When I finish a project, it still allows me to feel a sense of pride even years after completing it because I can escape to that moment I was making a work of art. Media makes me lose myself in its own world now and then, but I want to be in this world permanently.

 My Hobbies

My main hobby is definitely Martial Arts. My dad encouraged me to start when I was 7 years of age and it was incredibly terrifying; the idea of fighting being part of my weekly routine! Over the years, I realised there was so much more to Martial Arts than just sparring, it is all about protection, respect, loyalty, patience and leadership. You learn how to avoid bad situations before you master defence and attack techniques. I am currently a 1st Dan Black Belt and I teach children from 4+ once a week, I love teaching them because I know they're a step closer to being successful and reaching their own aspirations. I aspire to have my own classes and achieve a 3rd Dan in a few years. Martial Arts made me realise that the mentality of an indivdual can take someone a long way, I hope to develop and strengthen this positive and strong mentality soon so I can apply it to every situation and become successful.
I enjoy singing, I don't intend to make it a part of my career but it is something I like to do in my spare time and for fun and has aided in increasing my confidence. I sing at friends' birthday parties who request my presence and I recently sang with The Geoff Garbow Band (an instructor of mine is a member and insisted I featured with them) as entertainment in a local pub.

My Favourite Film

Million Dollar Baby, directed by Clint Eastwood is by far, my favourite film of all time. It's about a woman, Maggie (Hilary Swank), who strives to do something with her life and takes up boxing. During the film you watch Frankie (Clint Eastwood) take a chance on Maggie by training her and eventually enters her into the championships. Then something terrible happens but I won't mention it in case you haven't watched it! It is my favourite film because it emphasises the determination and strength of a female inspired boxer who literally transformed herself into a successful person. I can very much relate to this movie considering female (kick)boxers are rare to me despite it being my main sport. It really gives me a sense of motivation and stability to pursue what I wish to attain, being that I am able to provide entertainment that inspires people as well as allowing them to escape and relate.

Experience

During the Summer of 2011, I had to write a letter in order to 'win' my work experience place at The Farm Group, Soho; a post-production company. It was rather competitive but I managed to get picked for the two weeks of unforgettable experience.
It was most fun I have had in a working environment and I learned how to be a Runner and I was honoured to be let into some suites to try sound and colour editing for Total Wipeout and A&E. I also met Richard Hammond who was narrating Total Wipeout at the time (he is much shorter in person). I also met some new people who I worked with on a daily basis during my fortnight there and I had kept in contact with them via. Facebook, one of which, Sylvia-Ella, was used for her singing talent for my A2 music video coursework.








Another unforgettable event of 2011 was going to Sky Studios based on the Great West Road. On this trip, I partcipated in a news report and lerned how to handle huge cameras and autocues. However, I volunteered to attend this trip again in 2013 with the current Year 10s at the time, and it was a lot more fun. We were allowed to dress up and split into groups to create our own news report. Each of us had a role; editor, interviewer, interviewee, camera man and floor management. We were then given our reports on a USB stick and received other goodies!

In Year 12, I decided to get involved with My Local Guardian: Your Say. It was a Young Reporters programme through my sixth form that consisted of writing an article of a specific type (ie. Box Plots, Breaking News etc...) and posted it onto The Guardian website. I continued with this for 3 months until I found I couldn't balance it out with the amount of school work I was getting handed on a regular basis. I realised it was quite pressurising in this journalism field and that I had to become more familiar with it.
For work experience in Year 12, I stayed at school and helped in the Media Department, making notice boards and helping other students with their coursework. I enjoyed teaching them new things on the iMacs and watching their work. Other than work experience, I have always assisted the department on school Open Evenings since GCSE stage, again because I loved sharing my work and other peoples work and explaining how amazing and fun media really is.