We offer each of our trainees a summer bursary of up to £1,000 every summer of their degree to spend on journalism work experience or a journalism project, giving them the unique opportunity to travel and explore the areas of journalism they are passionate about.
Here, School of Journalism trainee Izabella Thornley shares how she spent her summer bursary on a week placement with Beat Media Group.
During the summer I had the privilege of joining the video department of digital content agency Beat Media Group. During the week I learnt the ins and out of the pre and post-production process. I shadowed the team at shoots, edited their footage and learnt about making call sheets, risk assessments and storyboards.
I spent the first half of the week in the office where I shadowed the head of production and post-production manager. They assigned me a series of tasks which I completed by learning their method and style by referring to examples they provided me.
I really enjoyed learning how to storyboard effectively and learning the importance of a call sheet and risk assessment prior to going on shoot.
These were elements I had not considered prior to my work experience. I realised that shoots have a lot more organisation than I had initially thought, and I really enjoyed watching the process go from a paper plan to a video production.
During my time in the office I was given the opportunity to edit a client’s video. The team provided me with footage that had been shot the week before and allowed me to edit it. I loved working in Adobe Premiere Pro and I learnt how to colour grade and how to fit a client brief. I was extremely happy when the post-production manager complimented the outcome I produced.
By mid-week I had already learnt so much but I was excited to learn more. On the Wednesday I got to shadow the camera crew for a two-day shoot at The Times Summer Academy, at the News UK building in central London.
This experience solidified my desire to become a production journalist. I learnt so much and by the end of the week I felt confident using the camera equipment.
@newsassociates_ Join us for our in-person open day on Wednesday October 25 where you’ll meet our trainees, tutors and journalists and you can ask all your questions about our BA (Hons) Multimedia Journalism degree 🤩 Head to www.schoolofjournalism.co.uk to sign up! #TheSchoolOfJournalism #NewsAssociates #NCTJCourse #UniversityOpenDay ♬ last friday night sped up full song – yes
I was challenged by members of the team throughout the week on certain compositional decisions. For example, they asked me where I would set up a camera in a restricted space, where would I position the journalist and what considerations I would have to think about in new environments.
I learnt the importance of positioning your lights for a shoot, the best place in a room to place a subject and how to structure questions to get effective answers.
Now I understand the post-production editing process, it is easier to get a good interview knowing how it will be cut and composed in post.
This was a really fun week, I enjoyed working with other creatives and it sparked my interest in video journalism even more than before. I hope to carry my new skill set into the next step of my career journey.
You can read more summer bursary blogs here.
Click here to join our free taster events to experience what it’s like to be a journalist and study on our BA (Hons) Multimedia Journalism degree.