FIX IT IN POST: Placement in social media editing

As an avid filmmaker with a goal of making a career out of editing, I would not have originally expected to be completing my placement with a cosmetics brand, however, that is exactly where I ended up. As Gregory, Healy, and Mazierksa write, “There is no point getting yourself work experience in something that isn’t going to give you added value, you must go for something that is meaningful to you” (2008) and while I do not have a huge interest in male cosmetics, this placement is meaningful to me as I am able to gain experience in my preferred field by shooting and editing content for Humanity Cosmetics’ social media. 

Gibb’s Reflective Cycle

To reflect on the process of finding, securing, and beginning my placement with Humanity Cosmetics I will employ Gibb’s Reflective Cycle (Gibbs, 1988), as I believe it will best help me to evaluate and learn from my experiences, as well as getting in touch with the emotions I felt during it all. The six stages of the cycle are Description, Feelings, Evaluation, Analysis, Conclusion, and Action Plan.

Description

“The description of the experience should be clear of any judgements as these tend to cloud our recollections”

(Boud, Keogh and Walker, 1985)

As I sent off my CV to numerous editing studios and post-production houses, I was met with either rejections or no replies whatsoever. That was until I came across the opportunity to shoot and edit video and photographic content for Humanity Cosmetics’ social media pages. The first task given to the other students on placement here and I was to produce; iPhone-quality videos for Instagram Reels, professional-quality videos, and photographs of the company’s products. I took up the role of the photographs, shooting and then editing out any imperfections in them myself before sending them off to be reviewed by Humanity Cosmetics’ Chris, who oversees my work.

Feelings

When watching rejection after rejection filling up my inbox, I did begin to feel quite disheartened. The fact that no editing house was willing to take me on really made me feel like I wasn’t good enough for that career, and since it is my dream to work in that field, it was quite a blow to my confidence and made me begin to reconsider my career path. The relief I felt when I finally secured the placement with Humanity Cosmetics was enormous. Not only had I finally completed my search for somewhere to take me, but they are a highly successful and lucrative company, so being taken on by them was a great boost to my confidence.

Evaluation

The experience of searching for placement was a negative one, however, I learned a great lesson in perseverance as I kept looking regardless of the failures and eventually found what I was looking for. I made a good impression on Chris during my interview and secured myself the role. In addition, I was able to work to achieve the brief I was given, as well as complete it within the deadline given.

While I completed the work on time, I misjudged my timeframe and found myself low on time, leaving me open to stress and needing to rush the completion of the project.

Analysis

On reflection, I recognise that I would have been more successful in securing a placement in an editing studio had I begun my search earlier, as many had already taken students on leaving me without much hope of a place. Similarly, the problems faced in the completion of the assigned tasks were also due to poor time management as I spent too much time planning out what shots I wanted to get and not leaving myself enough time to photograph and edit them.

Conclusion

From my experience of searching for, securing, and starting my placement I’ve learned a great deal about perseverance in the face of failure, from receiving rejection email after rejection email to failing to give myself enough time to edit, I was able to power through and eventually reach the outcome I had strived for. Furthermore, I have gained first-hand insight into just how competitive it is in the field of filmmaking and editing and know not to let rejection bring me down so much, if I keep trying and don’t give up, I will be able to reach my goals.

Action Plan

In the future, I plan to manage my time a lot better, giving myself plenty of room to make mistakes and still have time to go back and fix them as well as just not having to be anxious and stressed the whole time while doing it. For projects I will complete for Humanity Cosmetics going forward, I will aim to complete them a full day before the deadline, giving me time to receive feedback and make amendments. In addition, I plan to ask Chris more about what he wants so that I can have the clearest understanding of his vision.