Filler Art

Sorry for the recent lack of updates, there hasn't really been anything to talk about. I'm working on putting together a proper website so hopefully I'll get back into blogging once that starts getting somewhere.

In the meantime here's some filler art:



It's the Many-Matt Space Exploration Team off on a voyage of discovery. This came about from one of my slightly surreal MSN conversations with Derwent a few weeks back. He created a clone of himself to do his bidding, so I created four clones of myself to defeat him, so he created ten more clones, so I created twenty. It continued escalating like this for a little while longer, until I decided it was getting silly. I destroyed half of the cloned Matts and all the Derwents except the original, then sent the remaining Matts off into space. Then I decided to draw a picture of it.

Enjoy

Further Correspondence

as it had been a week and i hadn't heard anything i sent the following email last night:

Dear Jane

With reference to the email I sent last week, I wonder if you are still looking for someone to fill the position of photographer.

I am still very interested in this job and would like the opportunity to discuss it further, particularly if the reason you have not replied is the difference between the salary you have available and the one I suggested.

Gaining experience in a job where I use the knowledge and skills I learnt at university is more important to me than the salary at present and so I would be disappointed if this was the sticking point.

Please would you let me know the current situation regarding this vacancy and the salary you would offer a suitable candidate.

Yours sincerely

this morning i received the reply:

Hi Matthew – sorry not to get back to your earlier but we had a tremendous response to our advert. Unfortunately you have not made the short list, however I will keep your CV on file should any other opportunities arise.

Thanks for your interest and every success for the future.

Jane

oh well....back to the drawing board. it would have been good to have some feedback on why i wasn't suitable and if my salary is reasonable or not, but never mind.

No Man Can Live At That Speed!

After quite a slow week of not making much progress, things are suddenly moving rather quickly indeed.

I found an ad in the paper which said:

WEB SITE PHOTOGRAPHER
Portsmouth based surf/lifestyle website requires a full time photographer to start with immediate effect. W need you to be able to hit the ground running!
If you would like to join a fast moving company and have the following qualifications and a flexible attitude then get in contact with us now!

Qualified to A Level standard in photography.

Knowledge of a digital SLR camera.

Proficient in the use of Adobe Photoshop or similar software.

Experience of a flash studio set up.

You need to be able to work using your own initiative and respond to the seasonal demands of the business. You may also be required to help out with product descriptions and web design if necessary.

Salary negotiable depending on experience.

References required.

Contact us by Email.

I thought that sounded interesting so yesterday evening I sent sent this email:

Dear Jane

I am emailing to enquire about the website photographer position you advertised last week.

I am a graduate from Staffordshire University with a BSc (Hons) in Digital film, Animation and 3D Technology.

The course included working with both digital video cameras and digital still photography, image manipulation using Adobe Photoshop, 2D animation using Adobe After Effects, 3D modelling and texturing using both Maya and 3DS Max, lighting for both photography and film and 3D rendered models, video editing and effects in both Adobe Premier Pro and Adobe After Effects and DVD authoring.

I do not have experience with a flash studio set up, but I thought my experience with lighting for film and photography would be helpful.

I have attached a copy of my CV with a more complete list of my skills and also contains a link to a showreel of my previous projects.

If you think I would be suitable for the photographer position or if you have any other positions you think I would be suitable for, please let me know.

Yours Sincerely

Now I wasn't expecting much to come from it, but when I woke up this morning I found an email in my inbox from a certain Jane.

Hi Matt – thanks for your email

Our website is: www.boardsportwarehouse.com – take a look.

All product is photographed in our studio at our base in Farlington.

We need all our products photographed and loaded onto the site which at times would also require product descriptions. We are a seasonal business so there are peaks and troughs as to when product arrives. At the start of each season i.e. Aug/Sept & Feb/Mar there is a constant flow of goods coming into the warehouse this then peters off which is why we need someone who can be flexible. At peak times it is a matter of getting as much photographed and onto the website as quickly as we can. Outside of these busy times we need design work done on the site and monitoring of other sites who we see as competitors.

Our website is fulfilled by our retail stores – currently numbered at 6 – we have partnerships with Animal & Quiksilver.

Hours are Mon to Fri 9.00 to 5.30 (with an hour for lunch).

If this interests you then please email your salary expectations.

Thanks

Jane

Now i'm slightly worried. I have no idea what sort of salary to ask for. I have no idea what they're thinking. If I ask for too much they could cast me aside and hire somone out of college with a photography a level for minimum wage, if I ask for too little they could stamp my file with a big "CHUMP" stamp, hire me for my suggestion and put however many thousands a year extra I could have been earning into their profits. Scary stuff.

Having thought about it for a bit, and discussing it with the parentals, I'm going to ask for something in the region of £17000-£20000. I suppose I'd better draft an email now....I'll come back when I'm done...

UPDATE:
It took a lot of thinking but I've finally written my demands in the form of an email:

Hi Jane

Thanks for getting back to me, the position does sound very interesting.

The salary I was thinking of was something in the region of £17000 to £20000, depending on terms and conditions. I would be interested to hear what sort of salary you had in mind.

As I said, I am interested in the position, and I would be happy to come in to discuss it and have a look around.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks

Matt

Just after I sent it I got an automatic reply saying she'll be out of the office on monday the 8th and tuesday the 9th, but thats fine by me because on sunday I'm going to Frome to visit Hogie, we're going to the Doctor Who Exhibition in Cardiff on monday and I'll be coming home tuesday, so its all good :)

I *AM* Still Alive

So i've decided to get back into blogging. Even if no one actually reads it, it might actually inspire me to do something worth blogging about.

So what have i been up to? Since I last blogged, quite a bit has changed:
I've completed and handed in many pieces of coursework with varying degrees of success.
I've completed my final year project and disertation and handed them in.
I've moved out of Stafford for (probably) the last time and back into my parents house in Portsmouth.
I've spent a couple of months trying not to worry about results while watching many DVDs.
I've received a letter telling me I have passed my course and am now a bachelor of science with third class honours, which isn't the best but it's ok, because its still a pass, and Daisy in Spaced got a third.
I've put on a silly hat and coat and shaken hands with vice-chancellor Christine King.
I've received a certificate which officially declares me a bachelor of science with third class honours.
I've watched every serial of Doctor Who from the time William Hartnell was the Doctor
I've extended the overdraft of one of my bank accounts and closed the other one completely (after two months of trying in which they took 36p interest, and 91p 'advance' interest which seemed like a desperate last grab at my money)
I've watched every serial of Doctor Who from the time Patrick Troughton was the Doctor, up to The Evil of the Daleks, which I plan to watch soon.
I've spent some time socialising with my good friends Mark and Mary-Anne.
I've met up with a friend who I've known for several years over the internet.
I've started coming to the end of my extended overdraft.
I've decided its probably about time i started trying to get a job.

Thats about it really. I have also read many books, and still have a pile of about twenty six to go after the current one, Dr No, by Ian Fleming.

I have also decided that unless it comes to having to live on the streets under a newspaper, eating out of bins, I will NEVER go back to work at McDonalds. Last summer I only returned for the money and the friends I had there. This year it seems that most of those friends had moved on, and I'd be surrounded by trainees who'd be thinking I was a trainee too, even though I'd been working there since December 2004. And they've got a new uniform so I doubt I'd still be able to get away with wearing my old uniform which was the one before the last uniform they had.
But yeah, I was enjoying it little enough last year when I still knew most of the people. If its just whoring myself out for McDonald's money, I think I'll give it a miss.

So what am I going to do instead? Ideally i'd like to get in somewhere doing graphic or motion design, working with Photoshop and After Effects, and gradually work up to becoming the next Guillermo Del Toro over many, many years.
This does seem a little far fetched however, so while I'm sending my CV and showreel (have a look ) off to whatever graphic design, or video production company I can find in Portsmouth, I will also be looking for something a little smaller, and a bit more temporary, that I will enjoy and keep the money coming in for a bit longer, just until I can get myself into the industry I got a degree for.
At the moment I'm planning on asking if theres any vacancies in the library and the shop round the corner that sells action figures and collectables, as well as considering applying for the ICT technician type vacancy which has come up in my old secondary school.
If all of that falls through I'll have to think of something else.

I also have a Plan B, which I have started already, but will kick in properly either at my birthday in 5 weeks time, or once I've managed to get myself into a temporary job and earn a bit of cash. The first part of the plan, which I have already begun, is to read The DV Rebel's Guide by Stu Maschwitz, which is "an all digital approach to making killer action movies on the cheap".
Step two is to aquire a digital video recorder of a decent quality, if not HD, for as little as possible. At the moment i'm thinking the Toshiba Gigashot K40H, which can do HD and will set me back less than £400. Hopefully I'll get one for my birthday, but if not I'll have to save up from my temporary job and get one myself.
Objective three is to follow the advice in The DV Rebel's Guide, and rope in a few friends to throw together a couple of short films. Maybe not action films, but definately done to the best of my ability on a minimum budget.
I'm not entirely sure what direction Plan B will go after this, but if nothing else it'll be something to add to my showreel, and shouldn't hurt my prospects for future industry based jobs.

Plan C is the promise from my fellow Stafford Alumni, Derwent, that if he gets a film project off the ground he will employ me as a cameraman for £4.95 an hour, plus expenses including travel and the cost of a drink.

I think thats pretty much everything up to date. As usual I'll add an update if I think of anything else, and hopefully I'll blog a bit sooner than I did this time.

I think i might genuinely wet myself with excitement

SQUEEEEEEEEEE! - Part II

Watchmen!

SQUEEEEEEEEEE!