The document provides details about Ben Brown's academic qualifications and proposed university courses. It includes his GCSE grades, three film production courses he is considering and his rankings of their suitability, and excerpts from his personal statement discussing his experience making films, goals of becoming a film director, and how university can help him achieve this goal.
3. GCSEs
Manor Ce Academy
Year Subject Grade Awarding Body
August 12 2021 English Language 4 AQA
August 12 2021 English Literature 3 AQA
June 1 2021 Maths 2 Pearson Edexcel
June 1 2021 Combined Science 5-5 Pearson Edexcel
August 12 2021 Religious Studies 5 AQA
August 12 2021 History 6 AQA
August 12 2021 Drama 5 AQA
August 12 2021 Geography 4 AQA
5. University Course
Course Title Film Production and Professional Practice
UCAS Code F3P6
Link Film Production and Professional Practice at York College
University Centre - UCAS
Location York College
Entry
Requirements/
Qualification
GCSE
Grades
UAL Grade Pass
UCAS points 72
General
Comments/
Course Content
I think this course would be the best choice because if I join I do
a lot more filming than writing and itâs still 3 days a week.
Rating/Suitability
(0-10> 10 Being
Most Suitable)
8
6. University Course
Course Title Film and Television Production
UCAS Code W600
Link https://digital.ucas.com/coursedisplay/courses/c175a57d-9901-
8b37-bcc5-37af072400ea?academicYearId=2023
Location University of York
Entry
Requirements/
Qualification
GCSE
Grades
UAL Grade Distinction
UCAS points
General
Comments/
Course Content
Even though it has more written work than York College it
would teach me a lot about filming if I joined and half of the
time will be spent filming.
Rating/Suitability
(0-10> 10 Being
Most Suitable)
5
7. University Course
Course Title Film and Television Production
UCAS Code P3Q4
Link https://digital.ucas.com/coursedisplay/courses/f146ceeb-55c6-
fb6f-dd28-75794021e1aa?academicYearId=2023
Location York St John University
Entry
Requirements/
Qualification
GCSE
Grades
3 GCSEs at grade C/4 (or equivalent) including
English Language.
UAL Grade Merit
UCAS points 104
General
Comments/
Course Content
While this course does spend a bit of time on writing and you
have to use social media, if I were to join it does do a lot of
practical works and teaches you how equipment works though.
Rating/Suitability
(0-10> 10 Being
Most Suitable)
6
9. Academic History
âą When I was in secondary school, my
English teacher let me make a film
of my choice with the other
students. Through this year of
college I learned how to; use a
proper filming camera, have a
steady shot with a tripod, use
photoshop, edit on premier, make
proper audio and foley design. Both
facilities taught me the proper
experience on how to film to
prepare me for university.
10. Current Study
âą I made many projects in this year and they all taught me important
skills which will prepare me for university, they are; the music video,
the audio ghost story, the adventure posters and adventure
videogame. The music video was the first film I made in college and
itâs been my second best project, it taught me how to film with a
camera and make steady shots with a tripod, the audio ghost story
taught me how to make different sound effects and do the technique
of foley, but both taught me how to use adobe premiere which made
my work looked polished and professional. The adventure posters
and videogame were part of the adventure project but they both
taught me individual things, the posters taught me about designing
projects and how to use photoshop, the videogame taught me how
to animate and use photoshop to do said animating. All three
projects (four if you include the adventure projects separately) all
taught me how equipment and editing formats worked, knowing
these motor skills will prepare me for doing work in university.
âą The FMP is my best project, it had a lot of planning and preparation
put into it but then I had to remake everything when the
circumstances and my actors let me down, through such a long
production I learned important skills that will prepare me for
university. The FMP taught me not to be overly ambitious because I
planned to make a big project in college but I didnât get given enough
time and my actors were either late or they didnât try, I made a
second project which I handed in on time, I painfully learned that I
have to make a project that has limits to fit the circumstances not
make a project that stretches the limits and is impossible in the
circumstances, I also learned the different parts that makes suspense
for my own horror story with the right music and camera
movements. Overall, the FMP taught me to make projects that are
doable and what specific techniques to use to make an effective film,
these big lessons will prepare me for university.
11. The Future
âą I want to be a film director for big league corporations, being a director of big
league corporations makes you a memorable director, being part of
independent corporations puts you in the bad director books because they
make movies that are nothing but torture to watch. I want to join a corporation
that makes the best type of movies I like (action, horror, CI-FI etc), there are
many choices: Universal Studios, Warner Brothers (if they stop making bad
movies), Lionsgate, 20th Century Fox, Entertainment One, Paramount Pictures,
Dream Works, Blum House Pictures, New Line Cinema, Amblin Entertainment,
DC, Rat Pac but personally Iâd work for Disney because they own Marvel and
Lucas Films because they make the best movies.
âą University will help me join those corporations by helping me get the
qualifications and teach me the skills to make proper movies. I will learn the
different parts that make movies and how to use the different filming
equipment to help me know everything about movies and how to properly
make them so I can be a successful director. If I pass the universityâs tests then
the qualifications will give me the opportunities to join the big league
corporations and then I can join whatever big league film corporation I want.
12. Conclusion
âą I want to go to university because I want the proper
qualifications to be a director, learn how to make
professional films and make films for fun because
theyâre my main hobby. Going to university will help
me get the right qualifications to become a director
and the right qualifications will also help me join big
league corporations, not the hell spawns that are
independent film corporations. I want to learn how
to be a director because it has been what I have
wanted to achieve for a long time, learning the ways
to direct and make films will help me accomplish my
goal by going to university. Film has always been my
main hobby since 2017, Iâve always been a film
enthusiast and making films for my obsession gives
me great happiness, I always want to make movies
when the opportunity arises, university offers
constant opportunities to make films and joining
university will allow me to continue my hobby of
happiness. Iâll make a good candidate because I have
a vast imagination to make loads of interesting ideas
for movies, I have experience in movie making, I
make my work the best it can be and I get it
uploaded in time.
13. Introduction
âą I want to go to university because I want
to learn how to be a director and I want to
apply for film production. I want to join
film production because I want to learn
how to make movies and have fun making
them because filming is my hobby, and I
want to make this hobby into a profession.
University will help me become a director
and with those qualifications I will be able
to become a professional director and join
big league corporations to make the
movies I want.
15. Which projects have
you enjoyed most this
year & why?
âą I enjoyed doing the music video the most this year, and itâs
my personal favourite project I did this year. I enjoyed it the
most because it was the first project I was allowed to be in
charge of and let my imagination run wild, I got creative
control to bring my own idea to life when the opportunity
arose (I like to make movies when there's an opportunity not
my spare time). The specific elements I liked was selecting a
song I liked, coming up with and filming the kills and filming
the actions scenes, the song was used as a basis for my
project and using that to make a film that fit my artistic vision
made the whole project fun, coming up with and making the
practical effects and using them to make professional kills
gave me the fun and perfection I was looking for, I got to film
my own action scenes that were brutal and engaging and
getting to direct them and bring them to life how I wanted
gave me a lot of fun.
âą I enjoyed making the FMP video second most this year, even
though it had a troubled start of production it still looked
professional and was effective. I enjoyed it because it
succeeded in being and effective horror story and even
though it was remade from something impossible it looked
professional. The specific elements of the project I enjoyed
were the kills and the paranoia atmosphere, the kills were
brutal and imaginative and getting to make them in the best
way they could be in the exact way I wanted filled me with
happiness, the new experience of making a phycological
atmosphere with all of itâs mystery and creativity filled me
with excitement.
16. Which projects have
you least enjoyed [&
why]?
âą I least enjoyed the audio project, it wasnât the
worst I made but itâs still one that isnât my
favourite. The first problem was how many
restrictions it had, I had to make a horror ghost
story in a short time-limit, I wasn't able to use
my imagination to make an in-depth story. The
second problem was how difficult it was to
make audio, I didnât have may options to make
good sound effects which just ended up
sounding amateur or I had to reuse the audio.
âą The one project I least enjoyed the most was
the adventure project and this one is the one I
regard as the worst. The first problem was that
it was split into two parts and one of them was
making posters, it was hard enough to do parts
in a short time-limit but making posters that
never seemed to end and were very boring to
make just made that whole part of the course
pointless. The second problem was making the
second half, I had to make animation which
takes forever but having only four weeks to
make it made the project look incomplete and
amateurly rushed.
17. What is you
biggest success
âą My biggest success was the Paranoia of Edward Stanton Final
Major Project even with itâs massive past failure. My
ambitions were too high, I wanted to make a science
experiment gone wrong in college with my fellow students,
but everything had a time-limit and all the actors didnât try or
even show up when I had to film. What made this project a
success was how it rose from the ashes of my tire fire of a
past idea, everything on my power points got changed and
made better in a day and filming had no time-limit which gave
me enough time to film everything in time for the end of year
FMP deadline.
âą What was the true success was how it succeeded in horror,
for once a movie I made turned out the way it was supposed
to. Thanks to the constant planning of creative kills and me
getting the right practical effects this made brutal deaths full
of the realistic of blood and gore that left a disturbing
impression on the audience. The deaths may have helped but
the creepy atmosphere was the magnum opus, careful
planning and timing made this; a character who you
sympathise with is just trying to protect his son but
something always feels off, when more gets reviled tension
rises and the plot twist builds up to an effective massive
scare.
18. What has been your
biggest mistake in
coursework
âą As you well know by now my biggest mistake was
being overly ambitious in my FMP which lead to
everything having to be remade. I wanted to make a
science experiment that went wrong which
eventually ended with brutal and gory deaths,
everything would take place in the college and I
would use the students to be the characters. The first
part of the mistake was that everything had to be
booked which lead to it all having a short time limit
and I didnât have enough time to film everything, but
the worst thing was the actors because they dropped
out or didnât show up on time and most of them
didnât bother to try.
âą Because this lead to a metaphorical tire fire I will
learn from my mistakes in future projects so I donât
have to start again. I will learn to have smaller ideas
so it can fit into a proper time limit and I can get
everything done in time. I will learn not to set my
ideas to high so I can make a project that has a
simple story to follow and has actors who try.
19. Which skills do you think
you have develop most?
âą I three skills that I think developed the most;
filming in cinematography, editing thanks to
premier and photoshop and working in time
management. I used to only film with my iPad in
sloppy shaky cam, my skills developed when I got
to film with a real camera, I was able to hold shots
steady and do zoom in shots and turn the
brightness from light to dark. I only learned how
to edit in iMovie with my editing being simple,
learning to edit in premier and photoshop made
my skills develop, I was able to edit my footage to
look smooth and clear and professional, I also was
able to slow down and speed up footage and
zoom in on photos and footage, I was able to
make pixelmation and make clear or unaltered
images that looked polished and real. A lot of
times in my previous education years I was poor in
time management and college was the last time I
gave work in late, college helped develop my skills
and I was able to get work done on time by
filming certain things in lesson or making a certain
amount of slides in lesson (or just finish work in
my own time).
20. What area are aiming to
specialise in during Year 2?
âą There are two areaâs where I aim to specialise
in; camera work in filming and learning how
to make and use audio. Even though Iâve
become better in filming than I did, I can still
learn more camera techniques and how to
film them so I can make proper and unique
camera shots, this fits with my future goals to
go to college and be a director, if I know the
different camera techniques and make
unique camera shots I will have the proper
skills to pass the tests in university and get
the qualifications to be a director. Audio was
never my strong suit, it would be wise to
learn the different techniques to make sound
effects both physically and digitally because
audio is an important part in film, wanting to
specialise in audio fits with my future goals
because leaning audio is part of what you
need to go to university and become a
director, if I learn how audio works Iâll pass
the tests in university and achieve my goal.
