Weekly RPJ - past weeks

WB 22/9
A very slow and tedious Week Zero. I’m surprised to find how young most of my peers are. A couple are only 17. However, several come from FE/HE background, and we all seem more competent than the lecturers are giving us credence for. The highlight was watching The Poseidon Adventure, which I very much enjoyed.

WB 29/9
First full week at RSAMD. Week 1 of Creative Beginnings. Highlight this week was the presentation by ex-graduates. The film graduate showed us a short film he had made. No doubt it was shot nicely, but in terms of the basic idea, it was just asking people what made them happy or sad. A simple idea, often done before. I’ve even been camera operator for something similar myself. So I’m not exactly blown away. I hope we as a year reach a greater height of excellence.

WB 6/10
Week 2 of Creative Beginnings. Very glad Creative Beginnings is over. It has been good to meet folk in other courses and to build up relationships, but the exercises are not conducive to fostering real bonds. Within the group of eight with which I have been placed, I have formed friendships, but there is a lot more work to get to know others outside of that. The highlight was the Creative Improvisation session, which I very much enjoyed. Many people have been complimenting me on my performance. I find it slightly awkward, especially with those who enthuse too much.

WB 13/10
Week 3. First week of the proper course. Screenwriting is very promising, with an enthusiastic lecturer and I hope to learn a lot from him over the next three years. Technical got off to a poor start. All we had was a lesson on logging into the system. Of the rest, TV was a bit dry - looking at the commercial policy of the terrestrial channels. It seems to me that the expansion of the market into a vast network of channels, coupled with a minimal increase in the number of viewers (and therefore the gross revenue) must lead inevitably to a radical downward pull on quality. This depresses me. I want to make a film. I want to get started!