Research: Portfolio Research #2

Portfolio Research #2

As l stated in my last blog post, l focused more on casting companies like Casting Collective and Universal Extra's because they are some of the big companies for casting in TV, Film and commercial shoots. But these websites are quite generalised and the individuals working for them don't have a portfolio for me to evaluate. So instead l am looking at more general photographers, editors and people within the general media production industry because although this isn't my desired career, these job roles are things l would like to get into and start gaining more experience in.

IKY 

IKY is a second year TV production student who promotes himself as a photographer, videographer and editor, so similar to how l want to promote myself on my portfolio. Although he is a 'amateur' production student l thought it would be important to use his profile as a comparison to more 'professional' individuals within the industry. When you first enter his website you can clearly see that photography is one of his main focuses, as the homepage is a 'album' page for him to showcase the different types of photography he works in. I thought this allowed clarity with each album as it's made clear what they are and the purpose of the images.

When you actually click onto the gallery page l personally found it quite over whelming, because in comparison to his 'Album' page, these images weren't organised and were spread across the page at random with no order or clear visual hierarchy. Although this style is appropriate for a 'gallery' page, l thought it was a lot to take in visually and l couldn't focus on individual images which took away the impact of the images themselves.

In my opinion, l didn't think a extra gallery was needed as the majority of these images are shown within the albums he has on his initial page.I think he could of combined these two pages together, as it feels unnecessary to repeat information. Although, l do like the simplistic style he's gone for, as visual content has a bigger impact then pages of information.

His 'About Me' section actually deviates away from the norms I've been seeing on professional portfolios as he describes himself in first person rather then third person, and discusses more about his aspirations and motives rather then any professional experiences he's had. Although, this is a aspect l am going to take inspiration from, as l don't have that much experience within the industry so will need to discuss more on my motives and enthusiasm, as enthusiasm is something that is a desire personality trait within casting.

Overall, l like the simplicity of his website as he makes it clear what he enjoys and the work he does, without having to explain it all, although l think contextualisation on some of his content would of been nice so you can understand what camera he used, why he took that photo and his motives for his individual shoots.

His website coheres onto his Instagram, as he uses similar imagery and has the same style within his content however he doesn't use his logo as his profile picture, or have it anywhere on his Instagram which l think could be a improvement.

Chris Urmstom - Editor

I discovered Chris through a connection on Linked In, he is currently the senior editor at a film company called Aspect. I decided to look into Chris' profile because l have had the most amount of experience in editing so it's the role l am most confident about within the media industry. I thought it would be interesting to see how his profile differs to someone like IKY, a photographer.

Like all the other portfolios l have researched into, his is simplistic, with only three main pages on the whole site making it easier for the user to navigate around his website and find the relevant information they are after.

His homepage is also his portfolio, so it's a collection of images which once clicked on open a new page that shows you the video content. Chris has used a simple layout to ensure the user is clear on what to click on and the purpose of each video. This also makes it more fun and interactive for the user as you get to actively see the work Chris has done.

I like this layout a lot because of how clear his logo is, it says within his logo that he is a film editor so as soon as you enter his website you are aware what he does and that it is a portfolio website for his work.

His Archive page also coheres and follows the same conventions as his homepage but this time it categorises his content so potential employers or users can see the content he's created for different industries. This makes the general user experience easier as you can easily navigate to the information you want to find out.

Finally, l found his 'About' section quite unique, as he doesn't share an extensive amount of information. He has one line describing how many years experience he has and his current job role which l found fascinating as although it's not a lot, it makes you feel intrigued and want to find out more information about him. This one line description symbolises confidence, something that you need to have in the media industry to become successful as you need to be confident in yourself and your abilities.

I also found it interesting how he uses a image of himself, as this is something I"m not sure l incorporate into my website as it might cause discrimination if people know what you look like -  which it shouldn't, but this is a concern l have about using a image of myself on my website.

My main learning points from this research:

• Keep my website simplistic, not too many pages and features.
• Don't repeat imagery or information too much as it gets receptive and boring for the user.
• Describe my motives to be within the media experience.
• Present myself with confidence and enthusiasm.