Joe Van Horn
My name is Joe Van Horn and I undertook a weeks internship at Bull & Wolf Film Co, a video production company based in Falmouth, through Truro and Penwith College’s Job Shop. I knew as soon as the Head of Work experience started explaining the media business to me that I would get one of the best-suited work experience placements I will probably ever get, and I was right. The initial breakdown of the work that I would be doing there captivated me immediately.
Over the week I helped out with a variety of different tasks. At first, I re-organized all of the camera equipment and kit with new labels, then created an asset register with all of the relevant information about the equipment so that regular inventory checks are streamlined. I never realized the amount of necessary structure and organization that it took just for the use and transport the equipment from place to place.
I co-edited two videos for a school in Surrey. One is for promoting the forest school facility near the school campus, and the other was to promote the library room for studying and teaching. Both used footage that was filmed at the school by Bull & Wolf. Editing in Premiere and Photoshop are one of my favorite things I do at college, but getting to see first hand how editing professionally is done was an amazing experience and I learnt helpful tips that I will be able to take away with me for when I use Premier Pro myself. Keep an eye out on Bull & Wolf’s portfolio page to see these when they go live!
In the middle of the week, I researched the most popular images and videos from stock websites such as ShutterStock, StoryBlocks, and Adobe Stock. I then sifted through complete and incomplete projects for footage that can be used for stock footage and possibly upload to such websites. This was a great experience as it allowed me to see all of the professional footage that it takes to make adverts and promotional videos. Joe from Bull & Wolf also explained the reasoning behind certain shots, such as aerial shots. The aerial shots really create an atmosphere and a unique perspective that would normally be difficult to capture without a drone.
With the stock footage, I needed to make sure that if someone is featured in the videos that they had signed a release that allow that clip to be used as stock footage. I also researched local businesses and their website content to get a feel of what they do and see whether they might need video. This gave me an inside look at how well a company’s website really represents what they offer. Websites that are lacking videos, for example, are missing out on being able to give the potential customer a sense of the atmosphere or experience that they may not be able to get across in pictures or text alone.
I shadowed client edits and the review of feedback, seeing the edits revised accordingly. I really enjoyed this as it gave me a real-world experience of product feedback from a company that will use the edits as promotional content. After a couple of revisions, we submitted the finished edits to one of the clients. This allowed me to see how websites like Frame.io can streamline the effectiveness of being able to get feedback and amended videos to the clients fast.
Seeing how a production company works from the inside gave a unique insight and has helped me consider possible careers and lines of work. As Joe, the founder of Bulll & Wolf, used to work in TV, he shared with me his experience and advice that will certainly help me as I plan my future . This week has been extremely productive, giving me loads of opportunities to ask questions from a business and professional point of view. The placement has been extremely valuable to me and has given me a new perspective and attitude on work that I know I could never have learned any other way. Thank you Bull & Wolf Film Co.
