Performance arts personal statement

Performance arts have long been my main interest in life and it is now six years since I completed a BTEC First Diploma in Media and a BTEC National Diploma in Performing Arts. I also hold a competition certificate for the Full-time Professional Actor Training Programme. At present I am a student at the Central School of Speech and Drama on the BA Acting course, and my ambition was to be an actor in front of the camera.  Poor health has made it impossible for me to continue with this course (I suffer from a disability which subjects me to extreme anxiety problems), but I am equally interested in the process of producing film and television, and I am keen to give vent to my creativity through directing and understanding the way films are made and shown, before, during and after production.  I recently read Jean Pierre Guens’ Film Production Theory which inspired me and filled me with ideas about the possibilities of the medium, particularly in the way he argues for an approach which avoids or goes beyond the Hollywood model and allows the film producer and director to use his or her imagination and give a real artistic authority to film, in the way it has been done by the great directors of the past.  I am well aware of the constraints on the present-day film maker, specifically those of budget and the need for financial return to offset the immense costs some films can involve, but I feel sure that there is still room for the original and independent mind and vision.  What is certain is that there is no shortage of demand for new work, either for television or the big screen, and I should like to make my contribution to this great industry. I am working at the moment as a runner in the production of a short film titled 51 Degrees for a company called Director & Co, which is giving me useful and very interesting experience of working behind the camera instead of in front of it as much of my previous role has been.  I have been struck by the importance of teamwork in film production and the diverse range of experts who work together. In a degree course I should like to explore the practical processes involved and the various stages of production, such as pre-production measures, storyboarding and the construction of narrative leading to script development, and the conventions of the way the narrative is developed in the course of the film.  I am interested too in the way the HD camera operates and the techniques of lighting.  Editing is another complex area of the business, and sometimes seems more important than anything else in establishing what the work ends up like. The new post-production software looks very interesting. I should like to learn much more about finding locations, recording and the control of sound, the nature of the expected audience and indeed the commercial necessities of marketing and business models.  The range of audio-visual work is exciting, with traditional cinema and television material as well as new forms such as interactive, mobile and online material.

I feel that I have the maturity to undertake this course and make a career in this field.  I work hard, have good self-discipline and a lot of creative energy, and I feel strongly the need to express myself through the medium.  I enjoy working in a team, which is essential in the film business, though I am not afraid to strike out for myself and let my imagination fly.  I can offer my full commitment to this goal, both in terms of personal energy and time, and I believe I have the necessary qualities to become a very successful undergraduate..