Communication is Key…
I had always thought of myself as an organised individual, which is most of the reason I would consider myself a pretty good (if I do say so myself) producer. So, when I turned up to one of my first days of placement without the security of being organised and a gut wrenching feeling due to being left in the unknown, I was entirely out of my comfort zone.
The Gibbs Model.
I will be utilizing the Gibbs’ reflective cycle in order to reflect on my experience of the first talent lab of 2023 ran by Cinemagic. I hope that in employing this cycle as a structure for my work will allow me to effectively review my choices made during my time at Cinemagic, while learning from flaws which may been present.
Description and Feelings.
However, I had been asked to help out at the Cinemagic Talent Labs which took place in W5 in Belfast. I will be honest; the first line of this paragraph was about the height of the information that I had been given for this day, and to my mistake I didn’t ask for anymore. I arrived at W5 and the first problem of the day occurred, I didn’t know where or how to get into the building. I had been asked to arrive before W5 had opened to the public, and therefore the door was locked, I began walking around the building and searched for more doors. My heart was beating out of my chest at this point as I didn’t want anyone thinking I had arrived late; I had actually arrived early, just to the wrong door… that still counts? Right?… I eventually found the staff door, buzzed in, explained my situation and made my way up to the fifth floor where a W5 staff member told me we would be setting up for guests to arrive – to my delight I had still managed to arrive slightly ahead of schedule.
The day ran smoothly enough, however at times I was left feeling slightly unorganised, so much so that I found it difficult to present myself as professional to guests that I looked up to. The first of my tasks was a familiar one, signing in guests as they entered W5, however I was faced with a list containing a mix of people who had bought tickets after the names had been typed and printed, meaning my list was essentially out of date… I began writing the names of the people who weren’t on the first list beside those who were, I felt embarrassed as I visibly scanned through the list for the individuals name which quite clearly wasn’t there. I felt like my job at this point was essentially pointless, that I wasn’t showing anyone what I was capable of. I put this aside and carried on welcoming guests… and welcoming guests… and sitting around… and waiting… to… welcome more guests?
It was now 30 minutes after the first event was due to begin, and I sat alone at the sign in desk not sure how much longer I was expected to do so after being left to my own devices.
Evaluation and Analysis.
I began wishing I had a run-down of the day, or knew what was coming next, after all, as someone with the mindset of a producer, it was a frightening prospect for me to not have the schedule for the day memorised. I suppose if anything, the day however unorganised it felt, forced me to use my own initiative. I knew how busy the senior Cinemagic staff were, and so I tried my best to independently make the most informed decisions that I could. Although I felt as though I was worth more than the generally simplistic tasks I had been given, upon reflection, this article supports my eventual findings that ‘teamwork, being given responsibility, and collaborative learning emerged as the most important factors for effective learning […]’.
Conclusion and Action Plan.
Upon reflection and since this event took place, I have been much more involved in the planning of the events. I took it upon myself to ask to be included in emails and am now CC’d in important emails which depict both how the events are arranged, as well as what will happen on the day. This has not only allowed me to feel much more included and not so much an ‘outsider’, but it has enhanced my skills as a producer as I have picked up tips on how these events are managed, rather than turning up with no prior knowledge on how they will play out. Although this is great and I’m happy that since this event I have become much more involved, it is true that if I were to do this day again, I would make sure to email beforehand, without any expectation of being kept in the loop. I believe that if I show a keen interest and show that I want to be kept updated, my supervisors have no problem in doing so. (Lindenfield 2001) States that ‘[…students who do not develop communication skills are ‘dead in the water’, and communication is an important skill in all areas of employability […]’, if perhaps I would have taken more note of communication skills in the workplace which we discussed during class, I would have made sure both myself and my supervisors were clear of what exactly my tasks were that day. This is something I hope to apply more seriously in the future, as it is true, I was ‘dead in the water’ that day…