Hello, my name is Josh McDowell and I have just started Media Professional Studies at LJMU. I studied R.E, Media and I.T at A level and although I enjoy media the most out of those subjects I didnt enjoy it as much because a lot of it was theory based and I am more of a practical person. But even though I enjoy it as much I still knew that I wanted to do media at uni. So taking that into consideration, I actually havent made proper short films or used media equipment really at all, but i really want to! I have had experience in radio, I know a bit about that and I have been on camera before. When I was in Primary School, we had what was believed to be the first Primary School radio station in Ireland and potentially the UK but I'm not sure. It was such a good experience and I think it was the spawn of my media interest. The BBC decided to come and film like a short documentary on the radio station and it was just really cool to be 10 and have people talk to you and film you and stuff. I've also done acting on stage which is becoming a passion I think. Another passion is music, I love music probably so much. If I think about it, I am the sort of person that would rather be infront of the camera rather than behind, but I'm so glad to be on this course because I will learn to understand what goes on behind the camera and will learn to apprteciate that. I like the idea of cameras and sound and the idea of being able to create something that other people will see and hopefully enjoy. I also really love the fact that making films or shorty videos gives someone the oppurtunity to be someone completely different to themselves and for that short period of time, they are in a different world, either literally or mentally.
My main passion in media is films. Me and my mate would go to the cinema every sunday and we would call it "Sunday Cinema Club". Yea I know it sounds really weird ha, but it was kind of a joke. I could probably talk about movies for hours. I'm very open to movies I feel, in a way that I will watch any movie and generally I will like it, unless it really is bad. I am into all genres really, but I havent had as much experience with Independant movies as such, which I would be interested in exploring throughout my time here. There so much more in Liverpool compared to where I live and I think that now I'm here, I will full make use of this.
In the future I'm not actually quite sure what I'd like to be, like I said before I can see myself being infront of the camera rather than behind, it seems more fun and I like having fun ha. I want to be in the media industry for a number of reasons though. Firstly the media industry is exciting, there is a massive competative edge to the media industry and I am an extremely competative person. I'm also a bit of an adrenaline junkie and being in the media, in certain situations will be a bit insane, which sounds so good! I never wanted to have a "normal" job, in the sense that I never wanted to end up working in like a shop or something. I know that these days, getting a job in media is going to be hard, but I feel that MPS will help me to get where I want to be. I am a people person which I think helps, also I'm not a nervous person, like I said I kind of thrive on nerves. I play rugby which I actually think has helped me in a lot of ways when it comes to team work and stuff. So yea in the future, I definately want to be in the media industry, I think like presenting would be cool.
As a consumer, I love most types of media, I read the paper, I watch a lot of movies, I listen to the radio, watch TV and all of the rest. To date I havent really produced that much to be honest, but I am really keen to produce, with sound and picture. I have used music software before for example Ableton, Fruity Loops and I would mix music using software called Virtual DJ, so i guess in sense I have produced that sort of stuff but picture and film wise not that much at all. But I am looking forward to producing. Yea my blog is getting too long now so I will stop, but I'm looking forward to becoming friends with Media :)
Josh out.
