April
- Michael Keen
- Apr 30, 2025
- 4 min read
Another month draws to a close and there are high hopes for the future. Whilst it is always full of uncertainty, that does not mean we can't set ourselves a few goals we want to succeed in. Before I tell you the plan for May, I want to take a moment to recap the past month.
Contents:
Essays
Nobody likes to write essays. Nobody likes to stress about deadlines. And once those two mix it is nothing but pure chaos 24/7. That's the life of a university student. Pure chaos, and it's one we sign up for when deciding to dedicate 3 years to studying our passion in the hopes of turning it into a career or in the very least a side hustle. This term I've had 3 essays to crack on but only 2 of them relate to my growth as a creative including:
An Independent research portfolio.
For this we had to talk about our roles in our latest project, the accompanying research we did to help us have a better understanding of our roles, our experience onset talking about the challenges we faced and how we resolved them, and the lessons we learned for future projects.
Video presentation
Our video presentations had to talk about our story so far. Where we see ourselves as a creative here in the present, our journey on what inspired us to pursue an interest in filmmaking, our plans and objectives and goals for the future.
Working on those essays this last term really helped me get a grasp on who I want to be and appreciate how far I have come since starting out in 2022 and how now in 2025 I have so many ideas and aspirations. So many plans for my future. Now I just need to start acting on the plan.
The Lamp Is Weird
We changed the name of this project from "The Lamp Looks weird" to "The Lamp Is Weird" because we realised the lamp does not actually look weird but rather it's behavior is weird. We watched the final version that was submitted as part of our unit in a screening of all our peers films on Friday 11th and the feedback and the reactions said it all. While we do have a longer version to submit to film festivals in the coming months, the screening filled us with a lot of hope and excitement to see just how far this short film will take us.
Unfortunately, we can not share the film just yet due to festival T&C's but we can not wait for the world to see it.
Starting my industry presence
The last few months have all been about Industry Presence and building our Online presence. To help us make connections and showcase our work to build a following. I rebranded my Instagram with a new name and logo, Uploaded more to my Youtube page with one video getting just over 230 views in 20 minutes. A new personal record! Additionally, i set up a LinkedIn page to reach out to more professionals in the industry and help find peers who specialice in certain areas such as lighting, cinematography, editing, ect. April 2025 marks the first month I've made an effort to expand online and I can not wait to see how far I will grow online. I have even made a table, (as seen below) that will feature in all my monthly blogs from now on, to help me keep track of my growth.
Growth
Social | Followers for March | Followers for April | +/- Difference |
44 | 50 | +6 | |
YouTube | 8 | 9 | +1 |
1 | 1 | +0 | |
Linkedln | N/A | 12 | +12 |
Plans for the future
As I mentioned earlier, the future is always uncertain but that does not mean we can't set ourselves a few goals. Over the next 3 years i want to build a strong portfolio and a wide network of connections so when I leave university I have a good handful to showcase to potential future employers. Alongside all the projects I make as part of my course during my time here at university I also have so much i wish to achieve over the next 3 years.
By the end of the 2025/26 school year is wish to achieve:
Made 3 Passion projects.
Submitted 1 Passion project to Film festivals.
Made 2 commissions in script writing.
Become a runner on a set. (external to uni. Obviously)
By the end of May 2025 I wish to achieve:
Starting and advertising a page for commissions.
Begin Pre-production of a passion project.
Grow my social pages (especially Twitter)
Final notes
Another month over and another one begins, filled with its own fresh new challenges and more chances to grow from new experiences. Thank you for reading and going on this journey with me. I can't wait for more and I hope you all feel the same. See you all next month for another monthly round up. Stay creative :)
Mickey
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