Showreel: Harriet Parvin

My Journey Through Film

Before I started on the Film and TV Production course at Stockton Riverside, I still never knew what I wanted to do as a future career. I had just been through a rough time with trying to adapt to my new life back here in my hometown, Stockton, as I had lived in Dubai for eleven years. I had left two different colleges as I wasn't coping well with the courses that I was taking, not being interested in them and feeling I couldn't make an enjoyable career out of them, as well as not being able to have the confidence to make friends. At this point, I felt very out of luck with not knowing what I wanted to do in the future and not knowing if I would be able to find a course that I would enjoy. It wasn't until after three months of not knowing what to do I went to an open evening at Stockton Riverside and found out about the Film and TV Production course. I signed up straight away after meeting my teacher, Kelly, and getting to know what the course entails. I have always been a huge fan of films and TV shows ever since I was little, getting into them more when I watched "Back to the Future" for the first time when I was thirteen-years-old, but I never actually thought I would ever try to make a career out of it. I had taken Media Studies and Drama at GCSE and always loved performing and being able to create my own stories and characters for people to watch, I find it really freeing and it makes me feel more confident in both myself and my work. So, hearing about the freedom we get to be able to create stories for audiences made me want to join the course even more. 

When starting the course, I was really nervous as I didn't want my experience to be the same as when I first moved back here. Luckily, it was anything other than that. I was able to make a fresh start on the course and meet really great people. Over the next few weeks, it became clear to me that I had made the right decision and started to think about the job roles I would like to do, in film, in the future. After doing a few small projects to help us improve our understanding of film, as well as getting to grips with the equipment and how to create films, I then realised that I wanted to become a Director and Writer in the future. Creative job roles are so exciting and being able to tell everyone your vision and ideas, as well as hearing feedback and advice on benefiting the project from everyone, is really fun and exciting. I also find directing and writing really interesting and freeing as you are able to control and create your own story. In those short few weeks of starting the course, I was already excited for future projects and even more excited about trying to make it into the film industry.


Through every-stage of the course, I have now learnt so much about the world of film and TV, as well as improving my skills and knowledge for the future.

Filmmaking 101 - Bootcamp

Filmmaking 101 was our introduction to what was to come in the course, allowing us to familiarise ourselves with the equipment and creation of a film.

Scene Recreation - "The Dark Knight" Interrogation Scene

The task was to find a scene from a film, particularly one we liked, and recreate it shot for shot. My group decided on the interrogation scene, between Batman (Christian Bale) and The Joker (Heath Ledger), from "The Dark Knight" (2008, directed by Christopher Nolan). Me and Amiliyah have both never watched "The Dark Knight" but thought it would be an interesting scene to try and replicate after Joe and Nathan had shown it to us. 

I think this recreation went was successful. We were able to keep looking back at the original scene during filming and moving around the set and showing the actors what they needed to do, us almost being able to completely replicate the scene. We weren't able to do the whole scene, as we ran out of time, but I think where we got up to was fine and we wouldn't be able to recreate more of the scene as it gets much more violent as it goes on.

As this was the first project we had ever worked on, there was bound to be a few mistakes. Our main mistake was when we started filming, we hadn't properly set up the camera to create clear shots and they ended up becoming grainy and quite pixelated. We were able to get help from our teacher, Danniella, as we weren't sure on how to fix the problem. After the camera was sorted out, we didn't re-shoot any of the scenes we had just done as we were running out of time and we weren't able to film the next day as this would create a continuity error in editing. But, for the rest of the scene, we had clear shots and that was good enough.

From this small project, I learnt how to become more confident in directing others. I have always struggled with telling others what to do and only just meeting and working with everyone for the first time it was quite scary. I had also never directed before so it was something very new and exciting to me. Even though I was nervous to ask people to do a certain job or act a certain way in the scene, as well as showing them what happens in the scene, I knew this was to benefit the outcome of the recreation and making sure the filming goes as successfully as possible. Though I had never watched, and still haven't watched, "The Dark Knight" I really enjoyed working with everyone and enjoyed creating this scene.

180-Degree Rule

This task was to research, understand and then create a scene that used the 180-degree rule. I had never heard of this rule before but had definitely seen it in films and TV shows before. My group decided on creating a scene where a student gets in trouble and has to go to the Head Masters office. 

We had a few issues when making this as when we filmed our scene, the first time, we lost all of the footage as the SD card stopped working and wouldn't read on the computer. So, we had to film the scene again. This time we were able to do it better as the original scene had a lot to do with drug consumption, which I found inappropriate but other members of my group liked it so we filmed it that way, and so we took anything to do with drugs for our new scene. Also, we had a bit of a mishap when filming it the first-time round as we had a few plastic bags filled with flour and they ended up going everywhere, after a group member threw it and also just decided to open the bag. 

When we filmed the scene for the second time, it went really well. Although, when our teacher watched it, she told us that we had misunderstood the rule, filming it wrong and had also broken the rule. We had listened to a member in our group who thought they knew about the rule, even when I was directing, I said to them that I didn't think the way they were doing it was right but they still persisted in doing it their way. So, there was definitely a lack of communication which caused us to mess up the scene and rule and make us do a whole new scene that showed the rule being used in the right way. We had to quickly create a whole new scene, as we had run out of time, and it became worse than what we had done before. 






Although this project didn't go as well as I hoped, my confidence grew in directing as I was getting to know my team more and was starting to understood that a lot of communication and direction was needed to try and create a successful scene.

I definitely learnt that everyone needs to understand what they are doing before they are filming something, so researching certain theories and rules. Also communicating with team members as clearly as possible so they are all on the same page and making sure everyone understands what they are meant to do. Also learning that everything isn't always going to be perfect when filming was good as I then understood how stressful it is for professionals, also thinking that they must have a lot of problems on their own films. So, even though you watch a film and it seems perfect in your eyes, it may not always be to the creator and learning about their mistakes during production shows the amount of commitment they have to keep pushing forward and create the best possible outcome for their film. 

Second Attempt

Third Attempt

Film Noir - "In the Rouge of the Night"

This was the last task that me and my group did for the Filmmaking 101. The task was to create a film noir sequence that has no dialogue, on letting visuals tell the story. I was in charge of this project, creating a story and directing it. I had never watched a film noir before, so I did a lot of research into what they are, the context of them, clichés and stereotypes that are usually outlined, as well as looking at famous film noirs. 

I think this went well as I was now becoming a lot more confident in directing. I was nervous as this was our first time working with the actors from the Performing Arts course at the college, but as soon as I got to know them more and understood more that there job is to listen to the Director and do as they say, it became easier and I felt a lot less nervous to be able to direct them in a scene. I found that communication with everyone onset was getting much better at this point, with everyone understanding that speaking to one another and asking for help will benefit the production. At this point, me and Amiliyah started to become more comfortable with working with each other and started to get along more, so this was great when it came to filming as we started to understand each other's work ethics and solved problems together easier.

I think our main issue with filming was continuity errors. Once we started our editing, we saw there were a lot of mistakes when trying to piece shots together, as actors will have moved and been in a different position than what they were in before. I would also say when editing, music and sound was a problem as well as a lot of it either didn't sound right, fit the scene or was pieced together well. There was one scene where a character gets shot and to symbolise the gunshot, the music just stopped, though when you watch it back it just seems like the audio randomly cuts out and just doesn't work well in the scene. So, there were a few minor issues, mostly in editing but this was also our first time editing as a group and most of us had never used Premiere Pro before, so I think we did a good job for our first edit on the software.




Again, I learnt that communication is key, making sure everyone understands what they are meant to be doing and getting clear directions. I also learnt how to edit footage together and then try to add effects and music to enhance the storytelling and visuals of the sequence. This is something I have always been interested in and I found it really fun to finally put all the footage together and create the sequence shot by shot.

Greggs (15 Second Advert) - "Tastier Things"

This was an introduction to our first unit which focused on advertising. We were given the task to create a 15 second advert for Greggs. I decided on creating a "Stranger Things" parody as Greggs had made posted a joke about the Netflix show on their social media platforms, it was also great to do an advert based off of the show as I am a huge "Stranger Things" fan.

I think this was a successful project as it was very independent and I was able to come up with a fun and entertaining idea. Filming was very quick, it took about twenty minutes as the advert on focuses on the main character, Eleven, including needing to put some fake blood on the actor. I was able to have help from two members of my class, Tom and Kai, who were on lighting and helped to make the Greggs product look presentable for the advert. I also had to edit on my own, this was something I was quite worried about as I had only edited the film noir and hadn't had any other experience with editing on Premiere Pro. Although, editing on my own was a bit of a struggle it made me learn how to edit better and on my own and I think I did as well as I could. I did get some help from my teacher, Danniella, and other members of my class for certain effects and problems that came up in editing but it all came out good. 



I think I probably could have improved on my editing skills in the advert, as some things did look off. Some shots that are pieced together looked strange; this wasn't due to a continuity error but trying to cut down the length of certain shots as the advert could only be 15 seconds long. I still think I did well to produce what I did and have a great outcome that meets the target of the project. 

I learnt how to be more independent on a project, but also not being afraid to ask for help and also help other members of my class in return. 

Christmas Advert - "A Trip Down Memory Lane"

This was our first big project and is definitely one of the biggest achievements and successes of my film journey on the course. This project focused on trying to create our own John Lewis style of advert that will successfully sell, not just a product but, the brand. Although I think this is a successful project it was also one of the hardest projects to work on as I had a lot of difficulties with team work.

I was left to do a lot of the work, with only one of my team members helping me out with a lot of it, but even then I was left with having to create this advert on my own. As a Director, it was difficult to have all of the job roles placed on me, which caused a lot of stress throughout the entire project. I think I am a very committed and hard-working person and to have to deal with someone who lacks that and won't comply made me take the project into my own hands and try to keep pushing on to get a great outcome. Doing all of the pre-production paperwork was hard enough, so when we came to filming I thought it would be quite smooth but I was very wrong. Filming was so stressful with trying to get everything how we, well how I, envisioned and wrote it and I also didn't like being talked down to during this project as I was the only one doing all the work. Again, the one team member not cooperating with anyone and taking my job role of directing away from me. Our last shoot day was no better with that team member not doing any work at all. Even when it came down to editing, I ended up editing the whole advert on my own which was a struggle for me and one of the reasons why the advert may have not looked at good as it possibly could. Although I do like the advert and how it turned out, I definitely didn't like the pressure and stress that was put on me during all phases of production. 


Although there are a lot of negative points, it was still a great project and came out as good as it could be. I think we could definitely improve on it, especially if we had a team member who was committed to the project. I think, from my part, is was a very well organised project, which could have been better if there was more help. This project allowed my confidence to grow in directing as I came to a point where it mostly became my own project and I knew how I wanted the advert to look, as well as the types of shots that would be included. 

So, I learnt a lot from working on this project. I learnt how to stop obstacles getting in my way and how to work around problems and issues that came up in any phase of production. I also learnt how to organise and manage a production well, just trying to keep the advert afloat as much as I possibly could. 

Music Video - "Free Falling" by Leuk

This was also another big achievement and success during my journey on the course. This project, we focused on creating a music video for an artist. My group created a music video for a song called "Free Falling" by an artist called Leuk. 

This project was done really well as everyone in the group are really hard-working and were able to help everyone out during all phases of production. Organising, filming and editing weren't a huge issue for us as we were able to get everything sorted out, together as a group, and help anyone who was having troubles or didn't understand what to do. The final cut of the music video is very professional and a really amazing job from everyone, with amazing directions and visuals. We found many great locations and settings that really benefitted and created the atmosphere for the video. I think everyones thoughts and ideas were brought up in every aspect of the video, so this benefited all of us as filmmakers. 

I learnt that it takes a really great team of hard-working and committed people to create a successful end product, with everyone working together to meet the targets of the project.

Podcast - "The Fault in Our Films"

This project was to create a successful podcast and, although this wasn't a project based on visuals, this was something I really enjoyed during my time on the course. I was partnered with Amiliyah and we created a podcast called "The Fault in Our Films" that highlights the struggles and achievements of women in the film industry. This was a great topic to do for the both of us as we are both aspiring female filmmakers and we would like the film industry to become a place where women can also feel and be involved, as well as to benefit us when we hopefully join the industry in the future.

This was a very successful project as we had organised everything really well, did a really great recording and we work really great together as a team. Me and Amiliyah have worked together on every project and this one, by far, was one of the best as it was just the two of us. We have become really good friends during our time on the course and we have always worked together really well, as we both know each other's interests, dislikes, and skills to be able to produce a great end product that meets the target of the project. We also had a really interesting podcast topic that was unique and different to and other groups in the class, it is a topic that we are very dedicated about and enjoyed speaking about in our podcast. I found it a really fun project and would possibly like to do a podcast in the future, possibly discussing the same issues as me and Amiliyah did in our own podcast. 

The only problem we had was that we were only able to record one episode, instead of three, and had to edit the episode we recorded independently, have two versions of the episode as the coronavirus pandemic had started before we were able to start recording. This was luckily a problem we got over easily as we learnt how to edit on the Adobe Audition software quickly, as we stayed in touch with each other and helped each other out on how to do certain sound effects and fix sound problems. 

I learnt how to work well as a team, especially when working with someone who you get along with and can confide in when there is a problem in the project. I also learnt 


Link to the podcast: https://soundcloud.com/harriet-p-784066030/the-fault-in-our-films-podcast



Short Film - "PRIZED OBSESSION"

This is a project that we are still yet to do as the recent events in the world have stopped us from being able to create our own short films. At the moment we are doing all of our pre-production work so that we are ready to film when we, hopefully, come back in September. This is a project I'm really excited for as it is going to challenge me as a Director and build up my confidence in my work. I have very high hopes for my film as it is a story that I'm really excited to show and share to audiences and I think it will push my creativity and Directing skills to the best of my ability. 



With all of this, I think there is still definitely a lot of room for improvement to get ready for the second and final year of the course. I need to improve on:

• Not worrying and stressing about every little thing. I get very worried that I am doing the best I can during projects, finding it hard to be able to hand in work as I feel I have done it wrong. This is something my teacher, Kelly, has spoken to me about and it is still something I definitely need to work on. Ever since the Christmas Advert, I get have felt very worried and stressed to produce really great work as that project just felt like a nightmare for me. 
• Not to be so hard on myself, as well as to not be so critical of, both, me and my work. Every project I have done, I am always told it is really great and that I am very creative but I still only see all of the flaws and deem myself to be a terrible creator. I have always been glass half empty, rather than full, and this takes a great toll on me as I then start to believe everything I create and produce is rubbish. I need to convince myself that what I am doing is great and that I am able to create something successful. This is a job I want to go into in the future and I don't want still have the mindset when I am creating films.
• Camera skills. Camera is not my strong point, so I may want to try camera next year but I also know I have great team members who are amazing at camera, Amiliyah being one of them. I think I would definitely like to learn more about camera as I think I do well with figuring out the shots I would like in a project and how they should look, but I have never actually tried to be behind the camera and operating it. 
• Editing skills. I really enjoying editing and I would definitely like to improve my skills in editing as it is really fun and is one of the most exciting parts when it comes to creating a film. So, just to be able to feel more comfortable when editing would be a great improvement for me.
• Feeling involved in a project. I always feel like I am never involved, even when I have done the most work and am very committed to a project. I have always felt everyone's needs are above my own and it's a reason why I never feel like I have been part of a project. This is a terrible mindset to have and definitely need to improve on this for next year.

Although there are a few things a need to improve on, above all of that, I have loved and enjoyed my time on the course. As I said at the beginning, I never knew what I wanted to do as a future career and now I have finally found what I want to do. This course has made me feel like I now have a purpose in the world, to create films, and that I now have something to achieve. I feel I have achieved so much during the course with working at a distinction level, creating great projects, meeting new people who I can now call my friends and becoming one of the managers for UFilms Productions next year. My teachers have also been so amazing, with helping me to reach my goals and pushing me to my full potential. I am so excited to go back next year and be able to create my short film, as well as be back with everyone to get all of our projects up on their feet, and just creating more projects with everyone. 

I am now excited for the future, with hopefully going on to university and also hopefully going on to being in the film industry, making my way up to directing and writing films.