Working for the Phoenix Players was a great experience as it allowed me to understand how to promote and advertise a theatre production, while also allowing me to brush up on my filming and editing skills.

What we did in rehearsal video

My first project for them was to create a short social media clip highlighting what goes on during a Phoenix Players rehearsal. Firstly, I asked the client for a brief of what they want from the video. The brief they gave was for it to be fast-paced and lively. I researched about the theatre, looking through previous posts that showed off a similar concept so that I could get an idea of pacing and style. I looked at this (https://www.instagram.com/reel/DEKw9TDP45C/?igsh=cnNxZXozZHJjanBr) video on their instagram as it was closest to the brief. 

After going to a few rehearsals to watch, I was able to get a tour of the theatre and meet the cast. I also had a meeting with the publicity team to discuss how to promote the show to more people and get a better overall reach. I brought up the idea of doing a "what we did in rehearsal" video showing off some of the acting in a fun and enjoyable way.

Working alongside another film production student, we took videos of different scenes during the rehearsal, showing off the different characters to create more interest around the show to increase ticket sales, as this was a target. The main focus was to get more people interested in the show.

After filming, I edited the clip together and sent it to the social media team for review. Their first piece of feedback was that it was too slow paced, and they wanted it quicker and to remove the dialogue. I decided I should change the song to one with a quicker flow and have it fully play in the background rather then having people speaking in it aswell. In Premiere, I imported the song and cut the videos in time with the beat of the song. Due to the feedback I recieved, I had to utilise techniques to make the video shorter for social media, an example of this was cutting longer videos into smaller segments so it still lines up with cuts to the beat of the song. Due to the amount of footage, I had to come up with different ways of using shots so that I wasn't repeatedly using the same shot. A technique I used was zooming into clips to capture elements happening deeper in the scene, so that I had even more clips to work with when editing. 

The video managed to amass over 1500 views on TikTok and 200 on Instagram, with compliments coming from the publicity team.

Roleplay Trailers

Next, the publicity team asked me to assist in the filming of their production Roleplay. This is a recurring theme for the Phoenix Players, as they use it to show off their characters and their personalities. 

After talking to the publicitiy and going to the rehearsals to see the characters in the play, I was able to develop the idea, thinking about different camera shots that would portray the characters personalities the most. Julie Ann, a uptight people pleaser, and Mickey, a dumb brutish bodyguard, are two very contrasting characters so we want this to come across as much as possible when filming. 

I asked publicity if they have any examples from previous shows of trailers. I asked this because it would hone in on what has worked from previous examples. This would also help with editing style.

We went to film in a local gym in Southsea for the yoga scene. This was a small short that highlighted the type of character that Julie Ann is. I was working with publicity and providing my intrepration of the script in terms of shots. This included close ups of reactions and over the shoulder shots to connote connection between characters. 

Then, for the second trailer we went to a theatre members house to film in their kitchen. This included Julie Ann and Mickey, and was to show how different their characters are. Filming in the kitchen we had problems with finding a camera angle that wasn't too obstructed while still showing both the characters in their element. I decided on putting the camera behind the hob to show the characters in a two shot and equal parts of the screen to emphasise the fact they are opposite personalities.

I utilised this shot as a master shot, and filmed other shots from different angles to cut back to, leading to the video being quicker pace wise. My thoughts for editing the video was to have cut away shots to make the video more interesting and to develop the characters personalities more through the editing techniques. For example, one of the cutaway shots was looking through the window at the two characters fighting, adding more depth to the scene and adding comedic value to the scene too. 

Steel Magnolias Trailer

The phoenix players are also doing a show called Steel Magnolias. This is set to be filmed in a hair salon, so I plan to use lots of shots through mirrors to show characters reactions and to show off the setting. I have created a risk assessment for this shoot and am working on a shot list. This shoot is planned for the 18/05 in which we will be filming in a hair salon.  

Since January, I have been working with a small group of students to create a climbing clothing brand that is UK based, affordable and sustainable called Ascendit. We had the idea for it as there is no fashionable climbing clothing brand in the UK currently, and we have lots of different ideas for unique pieces of clothing.

Working alongside another student as founders of the brand, we decided to find people with similar interests to us and that have a passion for climbing. We have been working alongside a graphic designer, a fashion marketing student and others with business related skillsets needed to run a clothing brand. 

As we are in the idea phase and working towards a prototype for our clothes, we are holding weekly meetings in library rooms, where we can throw ideas out and build the brand together. It is a great piece to put on our portfolio as working within a startup provides a lot of experience about the innerworkings of a company. 

Our meetings

Firstly, we had meetings about what we want from different members of the team and what we need to achieve in certain timeframes, such as applying for the student startup fund, creating designs and producing a prototype. Our first meeting was getting everyone together in a room to meet each other, this is so that it is easy to talk to everyone in the group and that no one feels left out or unheard. 

After this we had meetings answering questions about the company so everyone is on the same page. We went through questions such as "what makes our brand unique compared to other brands?" and "what will be some of the key characteristics that will be recognisable across our brand?" (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Omixm2AlnKtTI3qbbdUqTjsQZLKV-WsitnVZv2nmM-g/edit?usp=sharing).

We had meetings with the Lynda from the startup team at the university to gain some more information about our startup and what we would need to do next. We gained more information about the process of applying for the startup fund. We also were recommended to attend two masterclasses, the "10 steps to start up" workshop and the "how to pitch your idea" workshop. 

Startup events

As we are working with the startup team at the University of Portsmouth, we were invited to go to two events. One of which being the "10 steps to startup" workshop. This four hour, student startup led workshop talked us through the 10 steps we should take in order to create a solid base for our company. We were surronded by other students with a similar drive to us and it allowed us to think deeper about our company and what steps we should be taking next. After the event, they provided us with the slides that they used. 

We also attended another startup event, this was "How to pitch my idea". This was very useful for our next stage in the startup application. This was hosted by Craig Willis ,the entrepreneur in residence at University of Portsmouth and CEO of Skore, and took place over two hours. This was really useful as it was delivered from someone currently in the industry and had hands on experience. I learnt how to deliver a successful pitch to a wide range of clients, which will come in useful for future endeavours. 

Logo design

Currently, we are trying to finalise a logo for our brand. This includes talking to our graphic designer and trying to hone in a design that is centered around climbing and minimalism. For the first logo drafts, we felt there was something missing and we wanted more versions. We wanted to build upon these designs rather then get rid of them, so we sat down and discussed what we wanted differently. We came to the conclusion that we shouldn't focus on the "S" and should focus on the "A" instead.

The graphic designer later came up with more minimalistic designs and focused on the "A". We discussed them and said we are getting very close to a final design. We liked these designs a lot more due to the simplicity of the logo. 

In the future, we will have a group meeting to discuss colours and font for our brand to create a consistent brand identity. This will be key for us to progress as it creates a connection with our target audience.

Obtaining the startup fund

Next, we had to go through the application process to obtain the startup fund that we will put towards prototypes, our first clothing drop, printing, etc. This includes submitting an application that asks us about our brand and how we will use the money to scale the startup.

Working through the questions allowed us to work on what we wanted from the company. It required us to breakdown costs (Adobe package, ordering tshirt blanks) and budget what we would really need for our brand. This was useful as I don't have a lot of experience with cost breakdown especially in terms of a business.

After our application has been reviewed and accepted, we go through to the pitch phase, where we once again breakdown everything to do with our company and present our idea to a board of investors.

Prototypes

Currently, we are in the process of creating our prototypes to be worn in promotional videos. This includes learning about screen printing and the process of it. We contacted the print workshop and are waiting to see when we will be able to create our prototypes.