My Silvertip Films Experience by Casper Austin
NOTE: Casper is a student at The Forest School in Horsham who joined us for a weeks work experience in June 2018, this is his week…
From the 25th to the 29th of June, I spent my work experience at Silvertip Films as I enjoy editing and film making and was interested to see what the industry entailed.
Throughout my week I participated in many interesting and useful activities including two shoots and was able to work on an edit from the Parkies and Townies Trail shoot.
The Monday was a shorter day where me and Geoff went through the plan for the week. This also gave me an opportunity to get to know my employer better therefore making it easier to communicate throughout the week.
The first shoot that I was part of took place on Tuesday where we filmed the next weekly episode of The District Post DPTV vlog. During the shoot I learned about lighting and camera settings used in different situations/environments. It was also interesting to learn about how we are meant to act with clients which I learned even more about later in the week. That day I also found out that a cappuccino is not the drink for me! On Tuesday I also began a multi-cam edit of a talk, which taught me how to use loads of great features Adobe Premiere has to offer.
On Wednesday I finished off this edit and was shown the steps to get a first edit to a client to receive feedback and pointers on. I also catalogued hard drives which was very useful as it is essential when dealing with so much raw footage and file management skills. Once I had completed this me and my employer went on the internet to scour the web for potential sponsors for the film festival Silvertip Films is running. My third day was coming to a close and I had very much enjoyed my experience so far and, to my surprise, got even better from there.
Thursday came and it was time for the second shoot. Before the shoot me, my employer and co-worker had a talk where they told me about past shoots, the good and the bad, and some techniques, morals and skills that would help me in the industry. Then it was time to head to the shoot where we planned the shots we would be doing and met the actors. We then began shooting during which I learnt many techniques on how to get good angles and lighting for the shots you want. After the shoot Geoff took me through the camera settings and the ability of the camera with and without the external add-ons. We then headed back to the office where I was greeted by my co-worker who showed me through the finished DPTV edit and features of the editing software used. I was then set loose with the footage from that days shoot and started my first edit at Silvertip.
I finished off the edit Friday morning after having a look around the software. After I had finished the initial edit stage Geoff showed me how to colour grade shots and time the cuts perfectly with the music to all round improve the edit and give a professional finish. Geoff also explained to me the path he took to get where he is today and explained his career path which was very useful as it will help me with future career decisions.
The week gave me many amazing experiences and a huge in-site into what this career path has in store. Thank you to Geoff and Mike at Silvertip films for making the week so interesting and useful so I can take what I have learnt and apply it in what I do. I look forward to helping out in the future.