CHAPTER ONE: THE INTERVIEW
On Tuesday me and my OB group went to interview Wil Harris, managing director of ChannelFlip. There's not even really much to say because it went so incredibly smoothly. To be fair, we did a lot of prep, so I feel it was well-deserved. I enjoyed chatting with Wil SO much, everything he had to say was genuinely fascinating for an Internet addict such as myself. The things he does as his career are the things I love as my hobbies, so discussing this with him was invaluable to me. Some of the questions I asked him were off-script and a bit divergent from our documentary title, but I just had to say them! And anyway, that's what editing is for :p I'm very proud of myself because I didn't let any nerves get the better of me, I enjoyed every moment and I'm pleased with how I came across in the footage. I know that it will be cracking stuff for our final project. The others were incredible at teching the whole thing too, they did it PERFECTLY and the main footage couldn't have come out any better. From a job point of view, whether or not I made a good impression I have no idea. I tried to be friendly and casual and funny and nice, but who knows. I feel like torturing myself analysing every word I said is futile, because I don't know what sort of person Wil likes. I can only hope it's me. When I told him I had applied for the job he said I had the right nails to work there (sparkly with multi coloured flowers), so maybe that'll work in my favour! As I said, futile. Just hoping and hoping.

CHAPTER TWO: HOME
On Friday me and Stuart came back to my house, so did Jake, as it's my birthday on Monday (tomorrow now) and the whole family came over yesterday to celebrate. There were:
Mum
Dad
Jake
Grandparents x4
Uncles x3
First cousin
Future aunt
Future first cousin
Second cousins x2
Great aunts x2
Great aunt's boyfriend
Grandma's cousin
Stuart

It was quite something. We had a lovely time and the work mum put into everything was just incredible. I've been telling her for weeks to get it all from Costco and she works from 7.30am to 6.30pm every day, but she made so so much. She did a glorious pescetarian dinner buffet and then she served homemade sparkly cupcakes, lemon and orange Jaffa cakes, pistachio and apricot mousses, Cointreau-soaked melon balls and a personalised Costco birthday cake. That was the only thing she bought in. She even made vol au vents! She's the best mum in the world. It was all delicious. Oh and her piece de resistance was this GLORIOUS vegetarian sweetie platter that she constructed to look like a cake! It was like a dream! I had a great time with all my relatives, they're all so hilarious and barmy and generous and ridiculous. Everything you could want from a family. Genuinely no idea how Stuart copes with them all!

CHAPTER THREE: THINGS TO COME
I mentioned in a previous blog how spectacular November should be. So firstly we had the prize winning ice skating, then there was the interview, then there was my family do, Monday is my actual birthday, and my best friend Samantha's, so we are having our traditional joint meal, Tuesday my parents are taking me and Stuart to my favourite very fancy seafood restaurant, Thursday is the joint birthday meal me and Nasima are having for the media girls as her birthday is just after mine, and Saturday.... I AM GOING TO DISNEYLAND PARIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This will get its own blogpost in the next few days. And then next Wednesday Stuart is taking me for afternoon tea in a posh boutique hotel as my birthday treat! And I also have a surprise of some sort on that day that I don't find out about till Monday...wow!!!!!!!!

As it's 3.19am that is all for now, more details soon! But here's some photos of the food today first. Byeee x

5am isn't fun when you're not watching the US election coverage!

In 5 hours me and my Online Broadcasting group will be off to central London to visit the HQ of the company that I've applied for the job at to interview the CEO for our project. It's 4.36am, and my being awake is not really ideal, but I think I'd have been kidding myself if I believed I would have slept through tonight. I haven't had a good night for about a week now and it wasn't gonna fix itself now. HO HUM.

Yesterday it occurred to me that maybe I was making too much of a big deal about this because after all, it's not like I've got a job or even an interview with them at this point, it might not have even occurred to WH that meeting me today is a mitigating factor, probably NO ONE thinks this is anything other than what is is. Until my lecturer came to give us our filming kit yesterday and before he left the room he said "Isn't it scary that your whole career might ride in tomorrow Jocy!" THANKS LEE, THANKS.

Ever since I tried to DO Media as an actual legitimate career, probably when I went to the Channel 4 open day in 2010, I have been told and told that your personality and just generally how you come across is so important because its a sociable industry, it's more often than not quite laid back and not stiff and starchy. People DO care about what the people they spend time around are like, they want to know that they're going to be bold and unique and fun and generally not annoying and lazy...this is why this is important to me! When WH goes through the CVs and cover letters he will be able to put a face and persona to the words on mine, and if he just point blank didn't like me then I'm going in the bin...only 16 people work at this place, they're not gonna want someone who isn't LIKED. I just want to be liked.

This seems very relevant particularly now given the subject of Charlie's recent vlog about human nature boiling down to us wanting to be liked. With this job, I know I have the skill-set, he can see that from my application, but today I have the opportunity to make myself likeable. That's a lot of pressure, as Charlie says. I'll put a link to his video here when I'm not on my phone.

I think I will try to get a bit more sleep now as I don't want to be yawning through the interview. I made myself a nice little flash card with the questions written on it. Surprisingly I'm not nervous at all really about the actual interview side of it. I think because I have faith in my improvisation ability I kind of just think, well what's the worst that can happen? No one wants to see me do badly and if something goes wrong I can stop and do that bit again. I do love that about editing. I feel a lot less stressed than I ever did about going on stage when I acted. I feel like I have more scope to be myself, because on stage you have to get a portrayal of someone/something PERFECT, and that's really not a thing that happens in real life. On screen I can just be myself and see what happens and keep the best of me in the final cut and put the not so great parts in the recycling bin. That's more like real life in my opinion, because we do stuff wrong and have to learn from it, get over it and then try to be a better version of ourself.

Anyway, I'm sure I'll write another blog later. I wonder what the tone of that one will be!!

Xxx



By the way look at this panorama I did of the tv studio at uni! This was when we did a practise set up this afternoon. I am so ecstatic that this is where I get to do my work...I was never a sit in a lecture theatre sort of person, and this is just what I always dreamed of when I was at school. I saw things like this when I went to uni open days in 2009 and I was so envious of the students looking so in their elements and at home in creative spaces like this, and now I'm one of them! I feel truly lucky.

It's past my bedtime!

I really cannot get to sleep. My brain just will not switch off.

On Tuesday I'm off to London with my aforementioned Online Broadcasting group to interview the CEO (will refer to him as WH) of the aforementioned company that I've applied to work at. The whole thing is actually the biggest coincidence. Basically, I found this job I wanted to apply to and as it was to do with a company that is basically an online broadcaster I went to tell my lecturer Lee about it. And it just so happened that WH is the guy that Lee met up with to pitch the idea of the Online Broadcasting module to earlier in the year, as it's a brand new module and it wanted industry level advice on it before he set it up I think. So this is where the link to my OB project (a documentary about video on demand affecting normal broadcasting schedules) and the job application is. It occurred to me today that ironically, I'm going to be interviewing the CEO - I hope in the not too distant future he will be interviewing me! It's very nerve-wracking. I want us to do Lee proud, I want us to do ourselves proud, and I want to make WH want to employ me. I am so worried about not coming across as my best. But then again I'm confident in my speaking on camera ability, and my self-confidence is rising back to how it was before I started getting anxiety problems last year, and I really feel like I can do well! I just have to make sure that I have confidence on the day, as I know with me that really comes through in my persona.

I'm really worried about what to wear! The last time I was so concerned about putting an outfit together was for my first day of uni. I wanted to look nice, but to show my personality effectively, but to not come across as totally bonkers straight away. My fashion sense is very much so varied, some days I want to be kind of conventional and classic by wearing skinny jeans, pumps and a plain tshirt. But other days I want to wear spotty tights and the jumper my mum knitted my dad in the 80s and my calf high Converses and my Green Day tshirt and my Pikachu skirt. On Tuesday I want to combine these two sides of my dress sense to show that I can be professional, but also that I am unique and interesting and a hoot. I'm thinking black skinny jeans, a blazer of some sort, a colourful top (possibly my purple one with little stars all over) and my high high top bright pink Converse. And of course I'll paint something cool on my nails. Part of me thinks I'm over thinking this but I know myself well enough to know that if I feel confident in the way I look I will be more myself on the day. My self-perception often dictates how I go by day to day things. Maybe that's bad, but I think that's what style has the power to do - develop your sense of self. That's what it means to me anyway.

Maybe I'll be able to sleep now I've typed everything I've been thinking about whilst laying here.

Goodnight all x

Or I could wear this fetching poncho!

I WON A COMPETITION!!!!!!

Before the other day, the only time I've ever done well in a competition is when in year 10 me and Becca and Eleanor wrote a poem in French called Poeme de Poubelle about a wheely bin who lived in Paris. We entered it into a national competition and came runners up and got to perform it at this fancy venue in London. We took our French teacher Mr Goodman (who I also found out was my cousin by marriage in year 9, awkward) and out mums, and we wore berets and read the poem to a big group of people. I remember feeling really narked about the girls who won, because they had written this song and it wasn't even good, they only won because they made up a bloody dance routine to go with it!!!!!!!!

I digress.

The other day Starbucks tweeted a photo of a red cup in a PLACE. And they said that if you guessed the location you could win tickets to go ice skating at the Natural History Museum. GOD ALONE KNOWS (well actually, no) how I knew it was Edinburgh Castle, but by jove I knew it. I've never been to Edinburgh Castle. I've never even been to Edinburgh. I've only been to Scotland once, and that was for two hours. BUT I JUST KNEW IT WAS EDINBURGH CASTLE. I to this very day have no recollection of ever seeing a photo of it before, but I must have done, because I knew that was what it looked like. Anyway, I won the tickets! HOORAH! It's very satisfying adding ice skating tickets to your basket on ticketmaster and then entering a special code and seeing the cost go from £61.00 to £00.00 :D

So that's exciting.

Another exciting thing is that I am really starting to love Adobe Illustrator. When I first started my Advanced Digital Imaging module I DETESTED it, I just COULD NOT DO IT, it made me want to curl up and cry. But in the last couple of weeks it has CLICKED because I've been practising lots, and this is something I did yesterday that I am proud of.

I'M SO PROUD :D

It's not perfect, but I think it is very good (if I do say so myself) and I think the colours and effects I used really reflect the quote, and Einstein's persona too. LOVELY :D

November could quite possibly be spectacular

CHAPTER ONE
I really have NO IDEA what this month is going to bring, but I have a feeling it's going to be good. I started my November in McClusky's of all places (pretty grimy club that I have refused to step foot in since January 2011) dressed up as a cat with some of my friends, who were dressed up as 3 generic zombies, a swan and dead Harry Potter. So hopefully November started as it means to go on. Although I'd probably prefer that I don't have to walk for 20 minutes at 1.30am in a 6 degree torrential downpour with no sleeves again.

CHAPTER TWO
Today my Online Broadcasting group is meeting to do a practise interview for when we meet Mr CEO of the Ultimate Dream Job company IN NINE DAYS. I'm not gonna lie, I'm shitting it. But I'm also very excited because I love my group and the best thing about it is that they all know how important this is to me, and they are being so amazing and encouraging about it, and are also putting up with my incessant ramblings/panic about it. I am very lucky to have such supportive people around me, because my main fear when I have to do group work is getting lumped with people who don't care. This is definitely not the case with them.

CHAPTER ONE REPRISE
Last night in the club made me really conscious of time. Last time I was there I was a fresher and I recognised everyone in the club pretty much because my uni is tiny, you know pretty much everyone in your year at least by face if not by name. Every time I'd turn I'd see someone to say hello to. Though last night, I must have seen about 6//7 people if that. It also stood out a lot when we were queuing to get in. The main (decent) club in the town had a fatal stabbing last week so it is now shut, so McClusky's was PACKED. But whilst we queued I didn't see a single person I knew (aside from Olivia who crops up everywhere bless her) and I just felt OLD. How rubbish is that. I still had a great night, but I was pining for first year when it was all new and exciting but also so familiar. This year I just kept looking at the people I was with (Tall, New, Della, James Harry Potter Peach and Stuart) and feeling upset that in 6 months it will all be over and it's gone too fast and I'm not ready to not be around them anymore. Too many of my blogs are about this. But too much of my time is spent thinking about it.

CHAPTER TWO REPRISE
I need to email Mr CEO's PA today to make our Official Appointment to interview him. As I'm the Project Coordinator. This is a thing that I am.

CHAPTER TWO EPILOGUE
I wanted to talk about some of the other cool things I am doing in November but I just remembered that last night Della accidentally tipped a drink down the left side of my head, so I need to go and wash my hair. I feel like being tall can be problematic for that reason in a club: people tend to walk with the drink above their head when they travel from one place to another, meaning that if that person is average height then my head is very close to the drink. Ho hum.

Who'd have known tomato soup was so hilarious?

Yesterday between 4pm and 6pm has made it onto my hypothetical list of Greatest Two Hour Slots Of Time Ever.

It was my Online Broadcasting lecture, which is exciting to start with because online broadcasting is a thing that I have done for a lot of my life, in the form of blogging, vlogging, tweeting et cetera. So the fact that I have now taken this beloved hobby of mine into an academic environment, much less my Actual University Degree is basically a dream come true. Really, what more could I ask for?

Here are all the good/funny things that happened in yesterday's specifica Online Broadcasting class.

1. We found out that we are definitely interviewing the CEO of a company for the documentary we have to make and present for our final project. This company also happens to be the company that the Ultimate Dream Job I have applied to is with. I'm interviewing the man who is going to decide whether to employ me or not. Absolutely terrifying, but also an opportunity that not many people get. I just hope and pray and wish that I make a good impression. I have only 14 days till the interview, so basically AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH

2. We found out the assignment for the lesson was to take the camera, sound and lighting gear to 2 different locations in the uni and conduct 2 interviews in these places. Content wasn't too important, but the tech had to be spot on. One of the locations was a huge drawing room (our uni is also a gothic castle, casual). We struggled to find it initially (imagine 5 people traipsing around a university carrying a huge film camera, a huge tripod, 3-point lighting set up, a boom mic, powerpack and headphones) and eventually we arrived at a door that Chloe was sure was the room. She peaked in but there was just a man sitting there, so we figured it was the wrong place. There was a door next to that room that she and Aaron were sure MUST be the room, but the door wouldn't open. So we're trying to open it and it just won't budge, and suddenly I hear a CHAIN FLUSH and I'm like "GUYS THAT IS AN OCCUPIED TOILET!" and Aaron is like, "Naaaah you don't get a toilet without a sign" so starts BANGING ON THE DOOR and suddenly from the room we hear this lady say, "You do know this is a toilet right?" so we all nearly collapsed laughing, apologised profusely and then found out the original room was the correct place.

3. The interview in the drawing room went very well, except for the fact we set up in 3 different locations to accommodate the fact that the background was busy, the lighting was dodgy and we had no extension cable. We then found out that we did have an extension cable, so we went back to the original place we wanted to film but had to discard because we thought we couldn't plug the equipment in.

4. We then had to go for the second interview in a tiny office. Here we were interviewing Otis, who teaches us. Whilst the others were setting up (I was the interviewer so I got to sit) me and Otis were chatting about dried fruit (don't ask) and Simon said that he had Heinz tomato soup for lunch. So I said "I really don't like Heinz tomato soup" to which Otis looked ABSOLUTELY MORTIFIED and said "Woah now, don't tell my mother that, she would actually kill you" so I then went into hysterics and whilst I'm wheezing in the corner Otis carries on, "She's indoctrinated my daughter as well, I've never mentioned soup to her and she suddenly starts asking for tomato soup, her grandma is brainwashing her. I'll try to save you but honestly, she gets violent when people don't like tomato soup" by which point I am basically on the floor laughing, makeup all over my face, can't breathe properly, and then I have to conduct an interview. Whilst I was laughing hysterically and Otis was ranting about his mother's (rather vicious) love for tomato soup, it turns out the head of Media is standing in the doorway waiting to ask Otis a question, but neither of us notice that he's there, we're just in fits of laughter talking about tomato soup keeping him waiting. One of the most ridiculous moments of my university career.

5. The interviews themselves went quite well I feel. It was the first time I've done improvisation like that in a very long time, but I was very pleased with myself. I got compliments on improvisation and on my speaking, and Otis said he was very impressed at how I went from nearly dead on the floor to completely composed and serious as soon as I needed to be. I'm not gonna lie, that isn't always the case, but it's definitely something I've improved a lot on since A Level Theatre Studies!!

6. I absolutely love the group I have in Online Broadcasting. Bearing in mind we have to create a 30 minute documentary together, and then present it live, I feel it's important that we get on well, trust each other and are like-minded when it comes to getting work done. All these things are definitely the case, and I'm so lucky I've got them. We have so many laughs (as you may have picked up on from this blog) but we get the job done, and our finished interviews were pretty much spot on! I'm proud of us and I'm so pleased I get to work with them till April.

I know the time will go really quickly and one day I'll read this back and I'll be a graduate and I won't be able to believe it's over, but for now I'm grateful that I've got a few months left. I'm also grateful that I love my degree so much, as I know I'm lucky to have this. Third year is so much fun, I don't want it to end very soon at all ):

Six chapters

CHAPTER ONE: The Job

It has been 3 days since I applied for The Job. I sometimes forget about it and then
when I remember I can think of little else for hours. The closing date for applications isn't till October 31st so it's going to be a while yet before I hear anything, if anything. Ohgod it just occurred to me that if I don't get it they might not let me know! How long is acceptable to wait till you contact them enquiring?!?! Ohmygod I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner!!!! SO MANY WORST CASE SCENARIOS!!!!!!!!


CHAPTER TWO: Pilates

Something that I have started doing this semester is Pilates. Me and Amy wanted to do yoga ideally, but the classes at our gym coincided with lectures, so we chose Pilates instead. It's a lot harder than you'd imagine, but strangely calming. Or maybe that's just because of the zen-balancing music they play. Or the fact that a lot of it is done laying down on a comfy mat. Believe it or not, it IS exercise.

CHAPTER THREE: Geriatric Musings

It's my birthday soon. Which is utterly terrifying. I started this blog when I was 16 years old, and now I'm about to turn 21. I was re-reading old blogs the other day, seeing the transition from GCSE panic, to sixth form to starting university. It's interesting how some things haven't changed at all, and other things are a whole new kettle of fish. Ultimately though I believe I have kept at least SOME of my "essence" (how disgustingly contrived that sounds hahaha) so that's reassuring. I still wear a lot of the same clothes from when I was a lot younger, such as the Converse All Stars I got when I was 14 (7 years ago!!!!!!!!!!) and my Green Day hoodie that I got when I was 15. Some things never change.

CHAPTER FOUR: Afternoon Tea

Speaking of my birthday, Stuart has organised some sort of surprise for me the week after. He has forbidden me from asking questions, and I know nothing other than that it is in the late afternoon of November 28th. I know this because he asked me if I wanted to go for a meal as a birthday treat but I said that we often go for a meal, and could we please go for afternoon tea instead? He thought it was a lovely idea (although that might just be because I read him the patisserie list at the hotel I wanted to go to for it!) and booked it for me as a special extra treat (: How nice is that! I love afternoon tea; I love how quaint it is and I love sarnies and scones and I LOVE desserts with a burning passion. I've been to a couple of afternoon teas before (at the Ritz and the Savoy no less) so I am very excited about that. It's almost a good thing turning 21 by the look of things!

CHAPTER FIVE: Degree

I've started really getting my head down with my uni work this semester now. I've started an essay that is due in at the end of November and I'm plodding on with my huge portfolio for my Advanced Digital Imaging. Not to mention my dissertation prep, which is now underway. I felt out of my depth and panicked, but then my tutor told me that I'm actually very ahead with my development, so that was reassuring.

CHAPTER SIX:

Shower and hairwash time soon, then bed. Whilst I'm doing that, enjoy these photos from my afternoon tea at the Savoy. Me and my brother took my nana and grandpa earlier in the year to thank them for being wonderful relatives. It was a lovely afternoon. Jocy xxx