Officially done with University

It's been a little while since my last blog post and that's because of my hand-in. Our "final" blog post was marked (previous post) so I couldn't blog until I got that mark back, which I've got back now!! The blog and my portfolio were part of the same until called Professional Practice and I got a 2.1! If you aren't sure what that means, it's the second best mark you can get. It goes First (70%+), 2.1 (60%-69%), 2.2 (50%-59%), Third (40%-49%) and anything lower than a 40% is a fail. I'm extremely excited with that mark because in my last portfolio tutorial, my lecturer wasn't very impressed with my portfolio... I also got back my mark for my VIVA presentation. The VIVA is an oral exam where we got 7-10 minutes to talk about our work (what it's about, research we've done, experiences gained and a whole lot more). This was one of the most nerve-racking things I've done on the course as it was in front of a lecturer and another person who doesn't necessarily know anything about photography. Instead of just going straight into each artist I looked at, or talking about what style of photography I used, I first had to explain who they were or what it was.... all in 7-10 minutes! Anyway, back to the point, I also got my mark back for that and I got a first!! I am incredibly happy with it, especially because it isn't the work that is marked, but it's how much you know about your work that matters. The VIVA and the dissertation are part of the same unit called Visual Cultural Dissertation, so my final mark for that is now a solid 2.1!

I'm only waiting for two more marks, which happen to be the most important marks! The first is my practical work of my 7591 Miles project, and the second is my research mark for both my Succession work as well as my 7591 Miles work. I should be getting that back sometime this week.

Other than the marks, a lot has been happening! Firstly we had the preview night of the Portsmouth Show which was a great success. Before the show I emailed my lecturer to see if I could create a time lapse of the night. He was very enthusiastic and recommended I work with another student interested in time lapses called Will Rudman. On the preview night we ended up using 4 cameras to take time lapses and some videos. We spend four and a half hours editing it yesterday and I am so proud of what we've made. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aepp6JEchwY&feature=youtu.be.

I've also continued the weekly photo challenges, but I will create a separate post for them. I will also add some more specific posts after this one to show you in more detail what I've been up to!

Update

It's been a little quiet lately on my blog and that's because the majority of my course work has finished. Like I said in a previous post, all I have to do is hand in my portfolio and a final blog post and set up the Eldon exhibition and my VIVA presentation!

First of all, I got my dissertation mark back. I got a 2:1, which I'm obviously very happy about, although I would have wanted a slightly higher 2:1. But it's a good mark and that's all that matters. Also part of the dissertation mark is our VIVA presentation. This is basically just a chat about my work with two lecturers (one from my course and one randomer). I have decided to do it about my Succession project as I'm more confident talking about that one. It's a 7-10 minute chat about the concept, the research, how I have arrived at my final, and future plans. Squeezing that all into 10 min will probably be the hardest part. I have a practice VIVA on the 14th of May and my actual one is somewhere towards the end of May.

Last week I had a portfolio session which didn't go too well. After first recommending a box portfolio, my lecturers have now suddenly decided that a box portfolio isn't a good idea. They definitely didn't like my layout of it, so I'll have to change that.... somehow...... As for the final blog post. I literally have no idea what to write. At the moment my plan is to go to Australia for 2 years. I'm not specifically looking for a photography job to begin with, so I'm not sure how I'll get marked on that..

The eldon set up has also began! There has been a bit of drama about the fact that the people exhibiting in London have their own catalogue, while that same catalogue will also be presented at the Eldon show. Thus about 7 people who are part of the Eldon show aren't in the London catalogue! A special facebook group has been set up for the people not taking part in the London show where we have discussed the idea of making our own small catalogue to go alongside the other one. It would be about £27 each for 500 copies. We'll each have one photo in the book (I'll do my succession one, even though I do have the second project in the show too) and a little section explaining the work.
This week we've been put into groups to get Eldon ready for the show, eg. painting and setting up. I wasn't selected to be part of this weeks' work so I'll be in next week to sort things out. On the 16th and 17th we'll be hanging up our work, which will be a very interesting day.

So that's a little update from what's been happening over the past week!