Critical Report

Alice Shone 10016244

Work Related Learning in Film LMD09151

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Critical Report

During the period between April 7th - July 1st 2014 I was the Programme

Planning Placement for the Edinburgh International Film Festival. The Film and

English and Film students at Napier University in Edinburgh were given the

opportunity to apply for this position along with the role of Guest List Placement.

Both of these positions were incredibly attractive to me, so I filled in the application

forms and sent my C.V and subsequently was interviewed for both. I was absolutely

thrilled to be accepted into the programming team and knew that although it was

going to be an exhausting few months I would endeavour to take on any challenge

that was set.

I was also very grateful to the university because I was able to get funding

due to the placement being unpaid. It would have been a long duration to work for

no pay and would have been incredibly difficult to pay the rent and bills at a time

when one does not receive bursary or any student loan. This required me, after

some confusion and e-mails back and forth with Payroll (who were very helpful),

filling in a Casual Hours form for April, May and June. I do feel incredibly lucky to

have gained the invaluable experience at the EIFF while also earning money. Many

people are requested to work for free within their field of interest which is a great

shame because not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to afford to do that.

Whilst working at the EIFF I kept up my weekend position at HMV and also

juggled university work during April and the beginning of May. I only had three days

off in those few months but other than almost falling asleep at my desk a couple of

times, I loved it. I was required to take the weekends of the festival as a holiday from

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HMV as it was a very busy time at EIFF. I have been employed at HMV for over fives

years and take great pride in the work I do while I am there. It is pleasurable to work

amongst things I am passionate about with like minded people. Now that the festival

is over many of the films which screened have found distributers and I find it very

exciting to seeing them on the shelves in HMV. Many of the skills I have gained from

working at HMV and in previous employment were transferable to EIFF and I believe

this, along with my passion, helped to secure my position in the programming team.

These skills include an eye for detail, effective communication, time management

and initiative. All of these were put into practice on a daily basis whether that was

communicating with filmmakers or carrying out admin based tasks.

During the first few days at EIFF I familiarised myself with the File

Management Program (FMP) and my the folders in my Mac. I don't think there was a

part of my computer I did not investigate! Later on I also came to know the software

for the Filmhouse. This was incredibly useful to me as I have never had admin

experience before and believe this will help me in office-based jobs in the future.

The FMP is where all of the information about the films that were potentially going

to be screened was kept. When I arrived there was so little information that some of

the titles were yet to even be confirmed, but it was amazing to me how quickly

everything came together. It was only after a film was confirmed that time was spent

making sure all of the required information was present and correct. I made sure all

spelling and grammar was correct such as capitalisation and looking out for spaces

where they shouldn't be, i.e. "USA , Canada". This was incredibly important because

what was in the FMP got printed directly in to the official publications and not only

would it make us look unprofessional but the filmmakers may be upset at such a

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mistake. For the sake of continuity I made sure countries where the films were from

were all written out in the same way, for instance there would be many versions of

USA such as, "U.S.A", "u.s", "America" etc. Making these the same was also useful for

searching in the FMP so if one wanted to find all of the films from the USA they could

do so with ease and without the worry that they are missing any out due to spelling

differences. It is this sort of attention to detail which I find quite natural and take

enjoyment from. Getting the opportunity to develop this and for it to be recognised

as a skill essential to a film festival as apposed to just one useful for working in a

shop will give me confidence in any interviews or jobs to come.

Within the FMP I also filled in any missing information that I could find online

including checking whether the film had a British Board of Film Classification (BBFC),

most of which did not. Nearer the end of the planning for the festival the

programmers who were in charge of each film without a BBFC would make an

informed decision and select one as a guide for the audience. I spent a great deal of

time Googling all of the films in the FMP which enabled me to bring interesting

information which was unknown to other members of staff. When Snowpiercer

(Joon-ho Bong, 2013) was in deliberation I found out that it had been released in

France on DVD and BluRay which was months even before the USA release. Another

film which was screened was Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy (Michele Gondry, 2013)

but through having the version of Netflix from the USA legally accessible through my

laptop I noticed the moment the film was put on it. Again, this wasn't an issue but

could have affected ticket sales if potential audience members noticed. I found it

incredibly interesting to familiarise myself with all of the films that would be

screened. It meant I knew if it had been shown at any other festival and what other

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films the filmmaker may have directed. This has actually come in useful at HMV

because I have had customers who have described films to me that screened at the

festival and I have been able to recognise and help them, much to their surprise. The

feature length films were mainly looked after by the senior programmers even

though I still learned as much as I could about them, and I spent a lot of my time

focused on the shorts, in particular the experimental films.

From early on I was given lists of films to invite to be screened at the festival,

which made me feel incredibly proud and I found it thrilling. I would imagine how

excited they may get and it was wonderful to see that in their responses. These lists

were from submissions which means the festival team didn't seek these films out,

they were sent to us. Most of the short filmmakers I was in touch with had me as

their only point of contact within the festival team. It was brilliant to go from

changing the status on the FMP to 'confirmed' to seeing that it had arrived at the

Filmhouse. I was treated like a professional in these e-mails, the filmmakers trusted

me and didn't know I had only been working there for a few weeks. I tried my best to

help them and if there were questions I didn't fully know the answer to, I always

made sure to confirm my replies with more senior members of staff. There were a

few instances where people wouldn't reply and this meant having to try to prompt

them without harassing. Some of the time it was due to my e-mail going straight to

their junk mail and after the second one they would realise. One filmmaker who did

not respond for some time had not signed the contract as she was filming on

location but ended up taking a photograph of her signature with her mobile phone

and sending it to me for me to paste on to the document. I found this very funny but

have actually taken inspiration from it and have signed documents myself this way

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but by using a digital camera and not a phone. Due to a lot of the films I focused my

time on being rather unknown it was quite difficult to find any missing information

online so it was very important to try to encourage the filmmakers to reply. If we did

not have vital information such as what format their film was or the running time

then it would make programming incredibly difficult. If their film was being sent to

us as 16mm we would have to make sure it was being screened in a cinema which

has a 16mm projection so for this reason alone it was of utmost importance we had

all of the details. I had to answer a few questions regarding formats we accepted

which was interesting for me because I went from not having any understanding to

being able to answer any questions without having to ask another member of staff.

This has given me great insight into the cinema and film festival industry and is also

beneficial if I had a film in a film festival.

There were some special cases of questions and concerns regarding the

screening of films. A filmmaker e-mailed me concerning the signing of the embargo

because within their film there was a different film on a screen for which they did

not have permission to use. When it comes to using peoples' sound or image within

a film it is vital to get signed permissions otherwise it is possible for them and the

festival to be sued. I mentioned the problem to my manager and he was happy to

write a letter removing any responsibility from the EIFF which I then got the

filmmaker to sign. This way it was their prerogative to agree for us to screen the film

without them having the correct permissions. When researching these smaller, more

independent films there were a couple of times when I would find them already

online and available to the public. In these cases the filmmaker would be politely

asked to make it private it or remove it as it does not adhere to the festival's

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embargo. I was rather fortunate because this was the only problem like it that I had

to deal with. It was a lot more straight forward than I imagined it was. I believe that

my doing research into many of the films showed foresight and I was able to point

out things others may not. I was happy that my eagerness to learn paid off and like

to think that I made a difference, however small.

There were some menial jobs which I was asked to perform but I had no

problem with this, it was all important and went toward the smooth running of the

festival. One job in particular took a long time to complete. This was the printing and

cutting of the cards used to programme which film would be shown at what time

and in what location. The cards contained the film title, the running time and the

format. Each film had to be printed out twice, once in the colour of which strand it

will be in and once in one set colour which is for the Press and Industry screenings.

The strands were separated in to colours so as if an audience member wanted to see

all of the Focus on Iran section of the programme there would not be two films of

this strand on at the same time. All of the cards were cut out using scissors as the

guillotine was quite blunt and because the pieces of cards were small the cuts would

have been less precise. Although this task may not have taken much thought, I took

great care with each cut I made and seeing them all pinned to the board gave me a

great sense of satisfaction and pride. It is important in circumstances such as the

organisation of festivals to remember the bigger picture but I managed to try and

give everything I did my full attention.

I was also able to have the opportunity to get to do some jobs relating to the

Filmhouse's non-festival films. This was due to the Filmhouse programmer having to

spend a lot of her time on the festival as it drew closer. I helped by making sure films

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were on their way and sending out chaser e-mails if not. This lead me being in

contact with distributers over the phone which made me very nervous as I avoid

using the phone in my day-to-day life, and talking to a strangers as a professional

seemed very daunting. I was incredibly glad of the experience as I believe it has

made me less anxious and will definitely help me in the long term. While working for

the Filmhouse as apposed to the EIFF I helped to programme a Chaplin season for

the first two weeks of July. This involved me being in correspondence through e-mail

with MK2 who are the distributers of the Charlie Chaplin films we wished to screen. I

had to make sure the prints of the films we required while available on the days we

wanted them and negotiate a price. I had guidance from my manager as to what to

suggest when it came to the price. This was very interesting because it had never

occurred to me before that the price would change depending on how many times

each film would be screened. This seems like common sense to me now because the

Filmhouse would make more money if each film was screened as many times as

possible and MK2 would not benefit. This season was also quite special because the

Chaplin shorts that were screened had recently been remastered and it was the first

time they were being shown which impacted on the price. To be depended on to

organise such events was a wonderful feeling as it showed I was trusted.

As the festival neared its end I began to check again to make sure we would

receive the films in time for regular Filmhouse programming. Along with this, it

conspired that in the midst of the festival several Iranian films did not have subtitles

or the subtitles were in another language. This meant having to get them translated

and then put into the form of a Powerpoint presentation and for that to be

projected against the film. I spent many hours copying text from the document and

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transferring it in to Powerpoint. It was important to make sure that the dialogue

didn't get confused between more that one character and that there wasn't too

much writing on each slide. I found this whole process rather rewarding and knowing

something I did was enabling the audience to understand what was being said was

very fulfilling. It was also commented on that I managed to do it with speed as well

as precision and this meant a lot to me.

As well as generally being a part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival,

a highlight for me was getting the opportunity to meet filmmakers I have a lot of

admiration for. I noticed that Tim Walker, a photographer whose work I adore had a

short film in the programme. Although I took the Blu-Ray screener home to watch, I

made sure I attended the shorts programmed it screened in as its beauty would have

been all the more on the big screen. When I found out that he was going to be doing

a Q&A after the programme I was beyond excited and although I was so nervous I

made sure I had questions in mind to ask if I got the chance. Not only did I get to ask

my questions but he and his producer went to the Cameo bar afterwards and I was

able to converse with him and get a photograph. I felt like I had to seize the

opportunity and not be shy while also keeping a professional demeanour even

though I was overwhelmingly star struck. I think this encounter helped develop some

confidence ever so slightly. My second highlight my incredibly brief chat with Robert

Kondo who directed The Dam Keeper with Dice Tsutsumi. This film is an animated

short and my favourite film of the whole festival. I like to believe I had some

contribution in him being at the festival because after seeing his film and falling in

love with it, I e-mailed the industry team and suggested inviting Robert Kondo to do

an animation lab or something similar. I was overwhelmed when I heard that he was

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going to be doing a talk along with some other animators and was delighted to get

the opportunity to talk to him before the screening of his film. I was encouraged by

members of the programming team to make my suggestion and the fact it was

listened to and taken seriously gave me affirmation and belief in myself.

Throughout my time at the Edinburgh International Film Festival I have

learned to trust myself and believe that I will be taken seriously. The manoeuvre

from jobs in retail and being a student to helping run a festival gave me the belief

that I am a capable person and although I am still not very confident, my confidence

certainly improved. I am incredibly proud that I kept up a full time and part time job

while continuing with university deadlines and believe being that busy suited me. All

of the admin based tasks I did will stay with me and benefit any office jobs I do in the

future, along with gaining experience in conducting myself in a professional manner.

Most of all, my time at EIFF has made me realise that working with film in that

manner is something I would like to base my career on. An ideal job for me would be

either in distribution or starting as a production assistant in an established

production company. Throughout my time at university I hadn't know what it was I

wanted to do once my studies had ended but this placement has changed that. I am

so thankful to everyone who made my experience there possible and I am proud

that I was chosen and that I deserved it.

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Photographs from my time at EIFF

The force behind the festival. I'm in the second row fourth from the right.

Opening night in such a wonderful venue! (The National Muesum)

I'm in the bottom right hand corner (with the pink hair).

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This is the first film I received (Into the Innards) from the ones I invited.

A small selection of the cards I cut out...

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I am responsible!

This is a photograph of the Filmhouse database. I particularly wanted to document this because I love Locke and was incredibly excited to see The Wind Rises.

I thought this was cute. Also, I have

a lot of admiration for Ainslie Henderson

One day mainly consisted of laminating.

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I got to do some research for Chris Fujiwara which meant going through ALL of the old programmes and catalogues. I absolutely loved it.

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These are some gifts Robert Kondo brought for me. I was so overwhelmed.

The much sought after brochure which we had to keep hidden until the announcement.