Bishop Wand C of E Sixth Form - A Levels/A2

Bishop Wand C of E Sixth Form - A Levels/A2

Performing Arts (B), Theatre Studies (C), Media Studies (B)

Performing Arts Festival

Media Studies Final Project

Media Studies Final Project Outtakes

Performing Arts Festival Contemporary

Performing Arts Festival Street Jazz

MTV Work Experience

In January 2014 I was fortunate to be offered a two week work experience slot at MTV UK and Ireland studios in Camden Town, London. Upon organising the work experience there were many different procedures that had to be done including filling out an application form and getting in contact with the head of the creative department in order to find the most suitable and beneficial time to complete the two weeks.
At the beginning of the work experience it was also important to know about the health and safety rules and procedures as well as knowing the building layout in case of any emergencies.
Throughout the two week period at MTV I got to experience many different elements within the creative department including a photoshoot for a new series of a television programme. Before this I was sent out as a runner to collect a list of props needed for the shoot, it was important to be briefed on the objects and the importance of each and also budgeting the petty cash was something I had to consider while travelling around Central London collecting the objects.
Once on the photoshoot I worked closely with the coordinator and was sent on many small jobs while also being allowed to watch the photographer at work. This was a great opportunity to witness the dynamics of a photoshoot on this large scale and the setting up of each scene.

In my time at MTV I was also able to extend my knowledge of using Adobe Photoshop by following MTV's guide of rules and requirements for print media. Having only used Photoshop for casual use before this was quite a challenge, but after several attempts I was able to create something that may be suitable for advertising within the company
Much of my time was spent researching for both internal and external projects within the company. This involved knowing the brief of the advert/programme and knowing what I was looking for, as well as thinking outside the box and pushing the ideas even further, then pitching the ideas to colleagues.
One main part of the work experience that I found extremely useful was being able to see the MTV news being recorded; by sitting in the studio I was able to see the process of going between the presenter reading the news and then doing a voiceover for a different part of the news.

Bishop Wand C of E School - GCSE

Bishop Wand C of E School - GCSE

Maths (C), English (B), Science (C), Religious Studies (C), Dance (A), Drama (B), Art (B)

Performing Arts Festival

The Performing Arts Festival held is an annual show held at Bishop Wand which includes a mix of drama, dance and music where students of each year build a performance piece which fits the theme of the show.

Throughout my years in school I took part in several of these shows including dance pieces from Austin Powers to Street dance pieces which were choreographed and taught by a dancer from Pineapple Dance Studios. By participating in these shows I was able to see the extent of work it takes to organise such a large scale show with many different students ranging from year 7 to the student in their final year of sixth form.

Roehampton Players Showcase

Back to Skidrow

I recently took part in a showcase performance of Back to Skidrow with the Roehampton Players theatre society and Roehampton University. The piece was a variety of different song, dance and acting within a school setting, with the intertwining of different stories from various musicals.

The piece was student based and created by drama students which gave the opportunity to work with a set of young directors and choreographers as well as a group of students performing in the show ranging from first year to third.

Throughout the creation process we as the cast took part in various character building exercises to develop our own character and carry this throughout the entire piece. This was very improvisation based and allowed us to bounce off different cast members and characters. These exercises included moving throughout our whole body to place that body part how you character would and moving through the space in this way. This is something I found very useful for this performance and future performances as I was able to shape every aspect of my character.

My part is the piece was dance chorus based which allowed me to explore some musical theatre pieces within dance as well as contemporary pieces.

Employment

CLINTONS CARDS

March 2010

For Mother’s Day in 2010 I did a few shifts at Clintons Cards in Staines, this was my first real experience of work where I was expected to use the tills as a sales assistant and also to make sure the shop was neat and presentable. I enjoyed working here as there was a calm atmosphere and I got a chance to be till trained and work with money.

PICSOLVE INTERNATIONAL AT THORPE PARK (Seasonal)

April 2010 – November 2010

March 2011 – November 2011

March 2012 – September 2012

I worked for Picsolve International, providing ride photography at Thorpe Park, for three seasons/years where my main job roles included sales assistant and promotions; these job roles include serving the public and upselling products in order to boost sales whilst also giving great deals. The job requirements also include being enthusiastic, outgoing and friendly, following all the mystery shopping tasks in every sale. Throughout the season the hours I would work would change so I am used to working long hours with a variety of different colleagues and groups of people, as well as serving hundreds of people daily in a fast paced, exciting job. I thoroughly enjoyed my time working at Thorpe Park and feel that it’s given me a great start into the working world where I hope to continue a high level of work for next employers.

THE WHITE HART HOTEL – HAMPTON WICK

September 2012 – April 2013

I worked in a hotel owned by Fullers Smith and Turner in Hampton Wick where I was a receptionist. My main job roles included taking bookings for rooms, checking people into the hotel, dealing with customer queries, telling them about the local area and checking them out of the hotel. Throughout my days work in this role I was expected to be polite, friendly and helpful and to make the guests feel comfortable during their stay. This job has taught me about hospitality and dealing with different members of the public than my previous job roles, it has also re-iterated the importance of common courtesy to make people enjoy their time away from home and I feel I fitted into this job role well.

VIRGIN ACTIVE – SUNBURY

April 2013 - Present

I currently work on reception at Virgin Active health club in Sunbury where my main job roles are to greet members as they enter the gym, give general information about swimming and fitness classes amongst other things, make payments, deal with customer queries and complaints and distribute information to the relevant departments inside the club. This job has taught me a lot about the importance of health and safety procedures within a company to ensure the wellbeing of members and visiting guests so everyone can get the best experience possible while visiting the gym.

Sixth Form Senior Student

Events Coordinator

In my second year of sixth form I ran a campaign to become a senior student and to organise social events within our college. Fortunately I was voted in, not only by the sixth form students but also by the lower school years after campaigning to them in their assembly about why I should be a Bishop Wand senior student.
My roles mainly included conversing with the students and finding out what type of events they would like to see happen, then making the events happen from booking the venue to selling the tickets. This taught me a lot about budgeting money as I was responsible for making the bookings while covering the cost with the tickets which also had to be a reasonable price to attract the students to come along.
I organised some successful events along with some not so successful, but from this I took the experience of being organised and attentive. We would also check back with other senior students in weekly meetings where we would compare our student findings and act upon what the students wanted.
I feel that with my experience of performing I was able to confidently deliver a campaign to hundreds of students.

Roehampton University

Roehampton University

After studying Drama, Theatre and Performance studies at Roehampton University, the last three years have taught me both academically and to work within groups and with different types of people. Many of the modules have involved  building and shaping a performance and I feel that these modules have been extremely beneficial by using teamwork, creativity and following the process until the final performance. 

The course has also taught me academically in terms of writing about performance and analysing instead of just enjoying the piece aesthetically. 

Modules

First Year

Thinking Through Theatre
Within the TTT module this was the first chance to work as a group and create a final performance. This was the also the first time I was able to explore the facilities the university has to offer. I feel the development of the piece and the documentation was something important within the process and the depth in which it needed to be in order to transfer this into essay form is something that I learnt well from this module and have kept this throughout other modules within each year.

Stages & Staging
Contemporary Performance Practice
Engaging Performance

Second Year

New Media in Performance
Representing Women
Studio Theatre Performance
Just as in the Thinking Through Theatre module from the previous year, this module also gave the opportunity to work within a larger group on a larger scale piece. This piece consisted of being given a stimulus of the story of Beatrice and Virgil and working with the idea of puppets. As this is something I have never explored before it was a great opportunity to find out how in depth and meaningful each part of the creation and performing with puppets means. This piece was also very physical theatre based which is something I have touched on many times within previous education and performance but in this piece we explored a very animalistic piece. The documentation and final essay of this piece was something which I found easier having completed this within the previous year.

Riots, Censorship & Offence

Third Year

Playwriting
Group Performance Production
I am currently taking part in the GPP module in which we are building up to a final performance piece, just as the previous modules. The groups are smaller and the route in which we can take the performance in wider. We are currently exploring live art and post-modernism pieces within a site specific location which is something I have never explored before. The setting of the performance is something we are focusing on as a group to create an abstract piece.
Performance, Gender  Sexuality
Theatre Image
Work Placement