My website

To create my website, I have decided to use Wix because I feel that the creative designs and layouts on the site are useful and look visually pleasing, along with the overall site being easy to use and access. I have added own photography work and cinematic videos / videography in which I have edited in Premiere Pro.
https://annishahrazaq.wixsite.com/mysite

Wix, Wordpress and Tumblr

To express the professional practice work and to apply my understanding of working in the media industry, using a website to portray my work is an important step to take and to do so I have researched sites to use.
Wix is a website used most commonly to create business websites and build a form of a portfolio. There are both advantages and disadvantages of using the website - 

Advs:

• Clear and easy to edit using templates - gives you all support for attaching your own work, name titles etc.
• Range of free templates
• Blog posts included with scheduling of this.

Disadvs:

• Technical issues, difficult to add a SEO (search engine optimization)
• Separate editor if you choose to create a website under mobile conditions, not ideal for a developing world using phones 

Tumblr is another website used mostly for people to expressive their creative photos to others and blog posts about this 


Advs:

• A Lot of creative freedom and space to show photos and blog posts 
• Not only a platform for websites but also for social networking allowing successful advertisement
• Unlike using Wix, Tumblr allows you to access the search engine optimization.

Disadvs:

• Difficult to advertise to the whole of your audience, the demographic for tumblr includes mostly a young audience. 
• Used commonly more for social media rather than professional 

Wordpress
Wordpress is another website that can be used for blogging and creating a site. It was originally known for one of the best blogging sites, soon after owning a personal website accompanying. 

Advs:

• Professional blog layout 
• Range of resources available for free
• HTML reading view options 
• CMS - content managing system, you can control your data without complicated technical training.

Disadvs:

• Known for data security issues, hackers can easily access the site due to no authority monitoring the people or companies that develop the plug-ins and themes.

Creating a website - website examples

As part of creating our own websites, finding inspirations and creative samples to do so is important  and will help create my own. An example of a website I enjoyed viewing was from a photographer called Colin Prior, a photographer. As my main job interest is in still image I have researched photographers.

Colin Prior 
Colin Prior showcases his landscape photography initially  through using a landscape with smaller text writing indicating things such as his bibliography, portfolio and blog.  The signposting for these links are clearly shown at the top of the page, the website is successful and the layout is clear - straightforward navigation. The pictures are dramatic and take up the whole frame of the page in a panoramic layout, further striking the audience aesthetically. As the photography is travel and landscape themed, the shop for his work is appropriate and may strike audiences wanting a form of art in their house on walls. This adds to the functional purposes of purchasing Colin's photography.

James Davies 
James Davies is a wedding photographer exhibiting his work on his website in a horizontal composition with his most emotionally capturing photos headlining first. The website daviesphotography.co.uk, immediately has the intention to make someone happy, showing the happy event. The navigation around the website is easy to access with buttons like “brochure request,” On initial view at the top of the page, there is a simple and unobtrusive navigation bar which again makes it easy to find important pages and social media profiles without detracting from the main, headlining photograph.
The scroll down is simple showing more beautiful images, each  accompanied by a different snippet of text and call-to-action button. These appear in different parts of the screen to avoid being repetitive and ensure that they’re noticed each time, whilst also viewing all parts of the photograph. 
Functionally, the website is successful and layered out in a smart way. It continuously intrigue the audience whilst still making it clear where the appropriate information is. One thing I have taken inspiration wise from the website is the use of adding text at different parts of images, as it works aesthetically. 

Bibliography:
James Davies: https://www.theukdomain.uk/6-examples-great-photography-websites/

Update - progression on filming my final documentary

Initially starting my final documentary, I have been out on location filming for my documentary using the shot list.

william ray ban filmmaker - inspriration

I have managed to get footage from my hainault location though I must gather more as I have put the clips in a rough cut sequence. Out of the locations, using the shotlist, I have filmed:

Essex Hainault: Filmed initially, need more footage

Home: Complete

London, kings cross extra shots: Complete

London stratford: No footage

London central: Some footage 

Essex driving: Progression

The interview and facts of the documentary are complete, and at this stage I have noticed some change must be done to the questions I have asked people at Hainault due to some closed answers.
The information and filming of myself is complete and requires trimming in Premiere Pro and must be put in order to figure out where footage fits perfectly.


Prepared speech on facts:

Cover letter - media job

An employer may require additional information in an attached document when applying to a job, which is what a cover letter is. The letter explains how the skills you have are useful for the specific job you have applied for.
To practice writing a letter, I have chosen a photographer / videography job from previous research as to what jobs interest to me.

Job

Cover letter -

Live media jobs

There are current jobs in the media in which certain skills and levels of qualifications are required. Certain areas where places for work experience and becoming a runner are also stated and are some in which I personally have researched and looked into to gather skills on set for higher jobs in the media in the future.

Jobs I have researched that interest me:

Key things in the job which have caught my attention- 

• videographer
• digital video workshops
• Passion for working in a social workplace

For this job, the skills I have include knowledge on camera use and editing experience in Premiere Pro, however I do not have the completed qualification and time for the permanent contract due to education. 

• Can take photos under own knowledge of what angles to use (etc.) and how 
• Small job but good for experience 

The skills I have for this job include again knowledge on photography and how to capture what the company mat desire, however, the age of 18 and over is a restricting factor. 

Runner opportunity:

Media CV

As the media industry is facing an increase in employers, the idea of making a resume in which stands out ot the rest is important, especially in jobs that include various art forms such as being a graphic designer, fashion designer or illustrator etc.

Media skills analysis

To assess my skills so far in media, I have reflected and completed a sheet split into separate categories including technical with camera movements and editing softwares, organisational skills including internet researching, creative things such as drawing and soft skills such as public speaking and working in a group.
The areas in which I must improve on include organisational and creative activities, for example graphic design and using Microsoft Excel. To improve for the organisational aspect, I could start including further research from places outside of the internet e.g people and the library and further organising when this would be appropriate. This would make my research more broad and could possibly allow me to add more depth, overall gathering more informative information.
Areas in which I am skilled in but could improve on include the technical side, in situations such as camera operating both still and moving & skills in Premiere Pro in which I have had the opportunity to develop on over the recent months. In comparison to this, my skills on other softwares such as indesign and illustrator is limited, therefore a challenge I would set myself to expand my media skills would be to experiment with these softwares and possibly research what some of my favorite films or music videos have been edited with and who the editor was, an example an editor I had researched being Terel Gibson. (The kings of summer, We are your friends) This would contribute to more the theories of editing but would make me more aware about editing.

Jobs in the media

Media industry roles under the head of department - 
There are roles in the media in which are higher and more paid than others however getting to that stage requires initial experience on set and skills. A runner is an example of how to require such experience and later on leads to becoming head of departments in film, such as becoming an executive producer, cinematographer or director. The jobs are seen as more prestigious therefore may require more skills that are rare, as the industry is quite competitive due to the increase in technology, increasing intriguement over a wide population.
The platform and direction I would like to explore is camera operation and director of photography, smaller roles therefore which may come before the HOD role is a focus puller, clapper board loader,   etc.

Skills in which I have now that I would have to develop for doing this would be operation with cameras and lens types by fully understanding how to use the equipment, then applying this under more pressured conditions, with things such as time to consider. The words of cinematographer Tania Hoser come into contact with an idea that I will undertake in the journey of getting into the industry, that being the idea of being slick with your equipment, little changes such as moving the camera and lens' which can be done in a slick and perfected way when on set and something to learn or practice with when filming individual things. Her words also included insights for young filmmakers when researching, rather than asking questions as to who someone's favourite director is etc, if your doing a more technical job  ask more questions about physical things such as how to operate the camera smoother (e.g when panning) or changing lens' more smoothly. This ultimately means your physically working to help the crew and working with them, meaning your working to make everything better and quicker. Hoser also stated traits of an upcoming camera operator, including being resourceful, knowing the bigger picture and making everything better and quicker. The slickness applied to the equipment will also be applied to the visuals of the story and your understanding of the story. The understanding of the story therefore means as a camera operator you think about the type of lens' that will go with what your trying to show on screen the more you understand the story. - get to know equipment, get to know story. 
Becoming a runner on set would build up the experience and opportunity for practice, in which is a situation where I will consider Tania Hosers words. 
Initial skills to become a runner may include -

• Good listening and communication skills.
• Confidence for networking situations
• Flexible travel options, e.g owning a driving license.
• Helpful and able to help on set, able to take stress off and complete tasks for the person the runner may be with
• An understanding of the industry
• Research skills

Another role which intrigues me is production design under the costume and makeup aspect. The skills required for costume design may include having some experience in styling before and experience on set. The makeup aspect requires experience in the actual medium and knowledge on how to practise it. This interests me as I hold some liking to the medium and 

Working in the media industry

The media industry consists of many creative jobs, with recruitment coming from sectors such as

apprenticeships, being on set as runners and to being educated in university. For example, 78% of the

workforce are educated to degree level, and 41% of the creative media industry undertook work
experience before their first job.

As the industry is competitive, media jobs are not always advertised. Media ownership also comes as an
an aspect to consider when getting into the industry and researching, involving things such as state and
private ownership, censorship, laws etc. Advertisement of getting into the industry are therefore limited
due to the demand and increase of people wanting to work in a modern construction - Figures shown
suggest that jobs such as animation are only advertised 8% and film production only 4%, compared
to techniques such as informal recruitment where animation employment has rates of 73% and film
production 71%. Other options of being involved in the film artform include freelancing. Freelancing
includes the individual being self employed with freedom to create or do their own work. Advantages and
disadvantages of doing so include the following:

Adv:

• Fun, not tedious
• Have your own schedule
• Freedom and space to be creative
• Ability to take your work with you wherever you are
• Good pay when paid

Disadv

• Loneliness
• No set payday,possibility of being short on money.
• Lack of structure and stability
• Constant stress of finding work
• Pressure of independence - upto you to sell yourself and pitch your ideas.

Personally, I feel being a freelancer would be suitable if involved with a creative subject due to the

expressiveness and freedom acquired, however the pressures and independent strict scheduling one

may have to face would be pressurising and the idea does not strike me massively.

Pre production - final documentary

My ideas for the final documentary fall under the expository documentary category with my goal of making the audience think about the information given along with being more informed about areas the live in and comparison's to that - 

Themes -

• Travel 
• City life vs country life
• Standard of living and quality of life
• Norms of places, what it's overall like

Locations - 

• London - Soho, Embankment, Canary Wharf - visually pleasing areas at night
• Hainault Forest Country Park  - wide areas of land with public members. In outer London therefore easy o access under our time frame whilst looking successful. 

Filming - 

• Ask a few people about whether they would prefer living in a city or countryside in the country park. 
• Possibly film someone our age in London - use question examples
• Still shot of the a train station 
• Cinematic moving and still shots in London, experiment with ending the clip with a movement to the ' next clip  ' to make dramatic cuts in editing - moving from one location to the other. 
• Film a central London shop compared to the shop in the country park
• People in a hurry vs those walking casually
• Shot between being in a car and being on a train
• Shot between walking on road and concrete compared to on grass
• Shots of people walking - only their feet compared to one or two people walking in a field
• Contrast voice over thoughts e.g is someone says they don't like busy roads to footage of busy roads. Contrast audio with what's on screen

Filmmaker examples - 

Looking at examples of filmmakers has broadened my understanding of themes surrounding my documentary, for example, the whole travel theme 

Question examples -

• What's your view on the central city life within London? ( mostly positive, negative etc. )
• Do you prefer the city life or countryside life?
• Do you like living in a city, if so, why?
• What part of the city do you like the most?
• Do you prefer more social things around you or a a more quiet atmosphere?
• Did you grow up in the city or country?
• Do you like the idea of living in the countryside, if so, why?
• If you grew up in a different environment, do you feel that your life would be different, e.g the norms you've learnt?
• Where's the trendiest area you know of? 
• If you could live in any area, where would you live?

Edit -

• Sound effects through cutting movements
• Voice over facts about prices, quality of life and standard of living from both areas
• Fade both music and shot when interview footage approaches
• Music in the background over some cinematic shots, in times of no voice over or dialogue and attempt to cut on beat.
• Starts with the aesthetic shots, music goes quiet and information about both places is given. Interview shots included here etc

Music -
- ' words ' by pools
-  Petit Biscuit - Problems instrumental

Treatment -
The outline of my film idea includes the following -
I would like to create a documentary showing the differences between living in the city and in a quiter, country place. I would like to get public views of this by asking people how they feel in both places and comparing these with each other, along with comparing things such as house pricing and quality of life. The end message should be in the audiences head of whether they think living in a city is better than maybe the countryside rather than the filmmaker, myself, having an input. I will therefore make sure that footage, statistics, answers to questions etc are balanced on both ends, giving some advantages to city life and disadvantages, vice versa, 
The target audience includes any age, with a slightly younger vibe to it as the typical age for these documentaries would be older. 
The length of the film will aim around 4/5mins.
Techniques will be explored in the cinematography, as there will be various cinematic shots of both the city and countryside locations contrasting with each other. The pace of the documentary will vary between having fast pace cuts on beat with music showing a location, to other shots just showing the environment and voiceovers of myself giving information and voices of those i'm asking questions to. 
The people involved will be those present and willing to answer questions when in central London and in the Essex area, hopefully asking as many people as possible to gain some audio voice footage and visual footage so the documentary does not seem boring from only location shots. The production schedule includes filming when dark in the city to make the footage more visually footage, therefore any day in the evening and the country park / Essex to be filmed on the weekend during the day. So the visuals match, there will also be shots of London during the day as the sun sets and shots of Essex whilst the sun rises.

Shot list -

Planning final photography ideas

Themes in which I would like to explore for final projects are listed, along with initial ideas on any specific moods I am trying to create. As part of progressing in photography, I have brainstormed ideas around themes that are different to my preference, along with ideas labelled under themes I partake in so far and would like to develop in with some self and web examples.

Landscape - the world through an object -

• Landscape themed images but a smaller focused object in the frame
• Experimentation with composition 
• Objects such as focusing on a text in a book, using a lensball, prism, smaller phone, etc
• Collide landscape with human aspect - capture a human's hand in the frame - ( Connor Franta inspired photography )
• Person whos facial expressions trigger the audience. 
• Continue adding a small human part of the body, such as hands, just eyes, half of face. never show the full model. Intentions of this - difference and power of human subjects vs the physical world. 



My photography

• Object and landscape relevant to each other. 

Creative intention:

The genre of photography I would like to explore is landscape, with an interrupting subject always in the frame. The theme will include some portraiture or objects as part of interrupting the landscape, for example by using a lensball to flip an environment or a small quote within a book, along with human hands as inspired by Connor Franta's photography. I have chosen to do this as I enjoy the stories that are capable of being told behind landscape photos and making thes even more meaningful by adding human subjects, such as a model or their hands, eyes etc - a small part of them. The concept of human vs nature is introduced here.

Target audience and intentions:
The target audience for my exhibited work would be young adults, as I feel there are many people in this audience who are creatively active and enjoy viewing art forms that may have stories. I have chosen this idea for that specific reason, as I am passionate about telling somewhat of a story behind a collection of photos to give meaning to my photography and not only intreguie the audience, but take time out of their day to think and consider something they've seen in a deeper manner.

Output and layout:
Initial ideas I have on the layout of the collection includes using a mix of A2 and A3, as I feel the horizontal and vertical composition creates some creative vibe and composition wise may be frustratingly aesthetic, the vertical/horizontal compositions contrasting each other yet also fitting in neatly with another.  One thing I would like to experiment with is continuing one photo on one print onto the next print, then having these close together when exhibited on the poly boards and other photos far in equal length from each other. The separation could have the human subject onto some parts of the first print and continued onto the next properly, this could indicate the separation that both humans and physical subjects have.

Constraints: 
As the project is on location, there may be ethical issues in terms of who or what may get in the shot, for example, an ethical issue of a person in the background who may have personal constraints of getting in photographs, or using a location in which photography is prohibited. There may be issues and careful consideration required when moving the camera around, along with other equipment such as lens' , a possible tripod, etc.


Visual language:
My project will consist of various aesthetical and technical qualities, ranging from lighting techniques and experimentation between camera settings allowing things such as shallow depth of field to be created or grainy / noise photos. Lighting will be an important aspect as I am using natural light, and the time of day can affect things such as compositions of shadows & highlights, the difference in a few minutes at a sunrise or sunset, etc.

Practises and influences:
As part of developing my idea and understand professionally how it can be done, I have researched some photographers. The photographers listed have had an impact on the aesthetical qualities of my work and have helped me visualise more ways in which my work can be taken. (examples below)

Inspired photographers for my idea:

Connor Franta hand photography

Connor franta:
Connor Franta is an online influencer apart of various art forms including own clothing merch, creating videos on youtube as a vlogger and photography. The lighting in which Franta takes his photographs intrigues me the most, as the time mostly involves sunrise or sunset. His photographs catch my attention due to the angles they're taken at, capturing a sight of nature in the fore/background and a human hand or man made building in the back/foreground etc.
The sections of work and images I am focusing on are the photographs including his hand. As researched from his book, Franta's intentions behind doing this is to capture a glimpse of his body in the moment. " I just take a photo of my hand pointing at the scene I wish to remember" His hand intertwines with the environment. However, there are some critics I have behind the concepts - Franta's reasoning contradicts the intentions behind my reasoning of choosing a theme of human vs nature - my idea includes the power that nature or human aspects can have and the difference between these rather than actually combining the both.
Areas of his work intertwine both a human aspect and landscape, from photographs of the sun setting at ' golden hour 'intertwining the sunset and half of the top of buildings. I therefore enjoy viewing the aesthetical light settings of the photographs.


Karl Shakur:

Karl Shakur photography

As researched previously, Karl Shakur is an adventure photographer who mostly includes subjects in his landscapes photos and portrays the idea of the smaller character and human traces being insignificant to the outside wider world by framing the human aspect smaller to the physical surrounding. The intentions and messages behind his work is one thing I am also aiming to show, following a similar human vs nature conflict. The suggested audiences of this photographer may include young to middle aged adults with desires to travel or those already travelling, along with audiences including storytellers or writers, possibly searching for a source of inspiration, using the photographs as a beginning of a story or by setting a scene. His work is mostly captured in natural light, as shown in the example. Researching his work will benefit me as I aim to have the same audience with the overall intentions of telling a story.




Chris Bukard:

Chris Bukard photography

Chris Bukard is a creative figure involving being an author, photographer, explorer and creative director. His work focuses on stories that allow humans to connect or build a relationship with the physical features of the world & appreciating this. The angle in which Bukard takes his photographs makes the natural features look more intriguing. Visual aesthetics are created in photos where the horizon line rule is used (example)
One thing that has influenced my trail of thinking is the idea that adding a human aspect to the landscape photography allows a space for audiences to relate - the audience could view the landscape as extravagant, but further imagining more when viewing a similar subject - this being a piece of the body (human subject in general) - the audience subconsciously relates to seeing a human subject, it involves them as part of who they physically are. The idea of making sure that the audience viewing the photograph feel captivated to visit the landscape or think deeper into messages behind the collection of photos is something I aspire to show in my work, considering all research.

Jim Zuckerman:

Jim zuckerman explained example.

Jim zuckerman is a photographer and author who has a different approach to the mainstream view of using a human subject -  the human subject in a small composition is seen as making the landscape  look bigger and overall holding more significance to the wider world, overall including the concept of size. Zuckerman's approach on this is different, his idea goes against size, e.g in a photographed example of a person in front of sunlight. (example) His words - " the truth is it doesn’t matter how big they are. What matters in fine art landscape work is the composition, the light, and the graphic design. That’s why I asked him to stand in such a way to make a strong and bold silhouette with a graphically pleasing form. This is how the human element can work well in a landscape photograph. "
The audiences of Zuckerman may include those who enjoy travelling and constantly seek for new places to go or more to explore. The desired audience of my photography links to this, with the whole idea of captivating someone as to where the photo was taken- landscape / place wise etc.


Bibliography:
Connor Franta: Book - A work in progress
Chris Bukard: 
https://fstoppers.com/originals/human-element-landscape-photography-151841
https://visualwilderness.com/composition-creativity/human-element-landscape-photography
Jim Zuckerman: 
https://www.photovideoedu.com/Learn/Articles/jim-zuckerman-on-landscape-photography-the-human-element.aspx

Further ideas - 

Night photography, creating a distractive different world - 

Brandon Woelfel photography.

• Bright colours
• Portraiture and landscape 
• Bokeh
• Intentions of an overall uplifting and distractive mood when viewed as a collection
• Experiment with long exposure photography
• Possible collaboration between the world through an object theme with this theme.
• Inspired by Rob - rbrgss photography. 

Web image

Landscape places or potratruitre photos, aesthetic pastel theme - editorial

Web image

• Based around colours
• Filters and grain
• Visually pleasing places /  clothing / lighting
• Photoshop