Showcasing Creative Work to Professionals
Explore
Jack's
Creative
Profolio
My Portfolio
Welcome to my portfolio. Here you’ll find a selection of my work. Explore my projects to learn more about what I do. Starting out with my favourite creations, working all the way down to where I started. Ranging from short films and documentaries to scripts and behind the scenes. Most of this work has come from college projects, however outside of college I have pursued 2 years of work experience in this industry. To gain experience of what working in the film sector is like first hand. I hope you enjoy some of my work!
Some of my stand out pieces
Behind the scenes and Camera work
About Me
My name is Jack Gill
I am a Media student with over 2 years of experience in the film industry. I have done everything from multi cam productions, short film making, audio dramas, graphic effects, even dabbling in photography and so much more. I have found myself being a leader in my class and a friend people come to for a helping hand. I have also found my passion and these past two years have shown me where and what I want to pursue. With going to University being the first step. Take your time watching some of my work and I hope you see my fascination with the art of film.
( This photo was taken on a film camera and developed into a photograph for a project )
Lets Keep Going
Sedgefield Choirs Documentary
Sedgefield Choir came to us to create a video to record and capture their 50 year anniversary as a choir together. This is a powerful piece of work that collects and pools together a collective of nearly 100 members emotions of this memorable event and sets in stone a significant milestone for this community with interviews from members that have stayed/developed with this choir since the very beginning and ones who have just started joining in. This event lasted for three hours with an overflowing capacity of listeners in the church enjoying every song sang by the 4 choir groups. Ending with the powerful newly written song just for this occasion, which you can hear bellowed through the churches arches. This event was an absolute pleasure to film as we got an amazing free performance as well as a very grateful community who’s gratitude and feedback made us want to come back. I gained lots of valuable experience from this job not only technical skills but also life skills that will rub off on all my projects. Teamwork and communication practices were key as this whole process plucked these skills in every shape and form. Spanning from communicating with the director on the other side of the building to talking with new people in front of a camera, which they might not feel comfortable on. Setting up interviews and managing the sound was a highlight from this trip as this is something that I have done in excess of now; the confidence which I have gained comes from this evening.
More on These
Monologue + Multicam
As I am learning in a college, there are always opportunities to use the recourses around us. In this scenario, a final year preforming arts student asked around, searching for someone to come up with an ideas and film their final piece of work. While doing my other tasks, I offered to help. This was the first time that I have ever filmed a monologue, meaning I had to do some learning to grasp what I was being asked to film. She came to me with only a script and desire to act. From my research I did and reviewing the initial script, I came up with a few ideas on how we could film this. But to be able to communicate this better, I arranged for us to meet in person. From this meeting we came up with a few designs on how the set would be and what props she would like. in addition to get the feeling of this monologue and how she wants her environment to be set as that is her expertise. Being adventurous, I came up with the idea of using a multi cam setup. Utilising the tv studio to hold 3 sets in one room. I tested 3 layouts until coming to the final conclusion. This is not everything that was adventurous as we also included a clothes change mid recording. This image we had for her was very ambitious, but that is what pushes me to create the best result. We had under 2 weeks to film and finalise everything for her, so time was of the essence. The planning was all done by me doing all the paperwork, lighting plans and etc. Overall, as you can see by the outcome, it went amazing. She acted brilliantly and as a director and videographer I couldn't have asked for much more. The experience and learning that I gained from this side project is something that is very valuable. Not only did I utilise a multicam setup, I also had to vision mix and come up with ideas that will lead to her getting a high grade and hopefully work in the acting world.
A Look Into Award Winning Film Making
This is the film that got 8 nominations in the NE Youth Impact Awards. This was my first step into professional film making. This film was a paid film, created with the children in the youth group in collaboration with a local script writer. They created it to share some of the emotions and feelings that some of them have faced in their tough childhoods. This film was based in Horden, which is around a 45 minute drive from where I am based, meaning having a drivers license was a life saver. We had to do 2 days of filming due to the film containing so much and not a lot of daylight to film in the winter nights. On this film I was in charge of a second camera, providing a second angle at all times even if it was not used. Some of the shots were instructed by Carl ( the person I was working with ) but some of them were my own ideas. On this shoot there was lots of learning and absorbing information as we worked with a built up black magic camera which was new to me ( especially as it can go up to 8k ). The cameras were top of the line, which you can see above in the behind the scenes photos, and they gave me a sense of accomplishing my dreams. I also saw in person how a professional director and script writer work hand in hand to create a piece which they both pictured. This includes being able to take charge and command the actors while still encouraging them and letting them have fun. This event was a dream and has gave me an insight to what I could potentially be doing in my future. We also had a premier were we all sat down to watch it together and celebrate the creation of the video. And to my surprise we got 8 nominations to the NE Youth Impact Awards. Overall this was an amazing experience as I took a deep dive into paid film making. As well as getting my name out and making connections in the industry as well as the producing and script writing side of film. Due to the film being such a hit, we have recently got asked to come back and create more films with the group, so that will be coming up in the future. Look out for it! From this experience I enhanced the technical ability to work on new equipment and ability to thrive in a new environment that I have never been in, as I was far from my local area. As well as the practical side of how to frame my shots to give meaning and effect in a professional manner. Carl is someone who inspires me and who I look up to, as we have sat down and talked about where he came from and where his career started and led to. He said as a film student he wishes he had the experience of working in a professional manner and thats why he responded to me and agreed to let me work with him. So a massive thanks to him as this would have never happened without him.
Some More Pieces I'm Proud Of
My first full short film
This was my first full short film. This came together by my college assigning us a brief in collaboration with Fearless ( which is a part of CrimeStoppers ). In short, we had to come up with a creative way to show and spread the message of Fearless, who just launched a new campaign. If you haven't heard of them, they are a big team that specialises in stopping crime and antisocial behaviour by the use of information from phone calls and messages given to them from the public; this can be given anonymously. This is what their new campaign was all about. The stigma around reporting crimes and antisocial behaviour in the UK is a touchy subject, this is due to people being classed as snitches and pushed away from friends to worse issues that could follow. This is why it was important to make a detailed video that clearly highlights these themes from common film conventions as well as some deeper subtle meanings. We researched and planned how we can do this. And this is what I came up with. A story of a boy who was doing very well in school, but made the wrong decision which led to his death. We rewind time to where he says no to the party and follows this new path in which he reports the illegal party- this clearly indicates that being peer pressured into a party with drugs and alcohol is not the right decision to make and that you should make the right choice and report it. The short film came out well but looking back to it now, it has a lot to improve upon. This can clearly be seen in the school scene as I didn't use the correct lighting and it is heavily affected by this. But despite this there was a lot learned from this experience such as how to get permissions to use copyrighted music as well as high level organisational skills. As this film was shot over a weeks worth of days so keeping the continuity throughout was a fun, challenging experience. This film is what really got me hooked on making short films as we did every process behind it starting from research to directing to editing. This is the main reason I have chosen to make a short film for my final project. More on that later in the website.
Visual effects / Motion Graphics
This is a piece of work that I made when we were focusing on Visual Effects and Motion Graphics. Naming some of the effects: cloning and masking, day and night, green screens, the Fischer effect, VHS, scribble doodle and many more to name. We were challenged to create a video that included a variety of each of these new editing techniques using The Ring as our inspiration ( as well as having to finish on the shot of the well ). Creating an idea for this project was a very fun process. We firstly had to research the Ring and I came up with ways to recreate some of the shots, such as the mirror scene and some more horror/gory scenes. The idea came to me to create limbs severed from the body in dark and creepy environments. This can be seen with the leg and also the fingers. But as you can see they were not plain legs, we borrowed some makeup from my sisters and we created a rotting bloody look by making fake bruises and blood. This was very fun to do ( apart from the cleanup ) and is something I would love to try again for future projects. But this did come with complications such as body parts are difficult to work with. As even the slightest movement is detected on camera and falls out of the mask. Meaning next time that I try this, which might be in my upcoming film, I will have that in the back of my mind and shoot more than I need to cover for any movement. This piece while it was a learning project still had lots of valuable and necessary skills that I use even to this day, such as the cloning and masking and the VHS effect. It was also an interactive task, putting our newly learned skills into use. Telling people about my ideas they were keen to join in, having my family helping me cover people in makeup and fake blood and staring in the film. Overall there wouldn't be much to change about the final outcome other than at the start. The video was shot in the day and turned to night, however the blue is way to harsh and needs to be reduced. Despite this I am very happy with how it was graded as it got me full marks.
Adapting A Short Intro
Adapting existing intros. Similarly to the last video shown, we were set a task in which we had to adapt any intro from any film or Tv series. But instead of The Ring, I chose to do the Black Mirror intro. The main reason to why I chose this intro is because the series is a drama/ phycological thriller with hints of horror. As you could have seen, this is something that I have taken interest into making and I have great experience creating these. I knew in the short space of time allotted to this project I could create a very high level piece of work. On a different level, the Black Mirror intro is a very short intro and I have total creative freedom to expand the intro. This will tell us more information about the episode than the original does. I went through the episodes and chose White Bear. This was one that I had recently watched and I could remember all of the key elements and characteristics that I could swipe and expand upon. Some are listed below: the use of recording on phones; a teddy bear; mental torture; being tied down; the iconic glitch effect; don't forget about their animation of Black Mirror. Because the original is so short, the more ideas I came up with the better. If you haven’t already watched the video sorry for spoiling but I heavily utilise the recorded aspect of this episode. The camera flashes and the use of the security camera were grabbed to portray that they are always being watched if they like it or not. This had the main body of the video but took the least amount of time to record and edit. As I had underestimated how long it would take to animate shapes into the words Black Mirror as well as custom make the glitch effect. Despite the time and multiple versions of making these, I got to the ones you can see in the video. I chose the simpler route editing the Black Mirror text. This is because it flashes fast and the stretching acts as a mask to the transition of the text. This is where having extensive hours on programs like Premier Pro and After Effects played crucial, as I was confident in my ability to edit and create animations that I can be proud of. Overall this project came out very well was heavy on the post production side of things, it pushed me to go out of my comfort zone. Instead of taking things from the internet, it forced my hand to create them from scratch. This gave me a new goal to reach for which led to me having so much motivation to get it edited to the best of my ability which I strive to have in every project I work on.
A Look Into Audio Production
This is the last piece of work you will see today, this is a special one for me as this was my first ever project made in college. To start of the first year we had 4 major segments, which some you may have seen above. Audio, Photography, Motion Graphics, Videography. This was off the first segment audio. We were tasked to create an audio drama from scratch, with the only restraints being that it had to be within 1 minute to 1 minute 30s. This was a very exciting task as it was the first time using the new softwares and equipment that I would be using nearly every day now. We recorded in our sound proof radio room, using adobe audition to edit and create the drama which there is a photo of in the behind the scenes section. This was the first time in which we researched, learned what comprises a good audio drama and came up with new ideas that would turn into a engaging listen. This is where I found the fun in creating a suspenseful dark story. After generating ideas it was time to create a plan of action, a script, paperwork and book out equipment and rooms. This was my first time creating a script, this script is in the script making box below. Because I am creating an audio drama, at first I didn't think that I would need to add lots of detail. But that was not the case as even though there is not any visuals, other people from around the world would need to be able to grasp the emotions and environment which I have set the character in. I made around 7 variations of this script developing it each time until I was ready to record. With my new friends we recorded the lines and had the backbone of my drama. It was then back to post production adding in music which worked in hand with foley from the internet. However we also learned how sound effects are made specifically for films in foley studios and gave it a go creating our own. Overall this is the experience that got me hooked on film and film production as I put a lot of effort in to create this outstanding piece. Whilst this is only behind the scenes work ( what the listener/viewer doesn't see ) it led perfectly onto the next section videography ( which is what the listener/viewer does see ) and it gave me a sense of purpose and joy that I had found where I wanted to be.
Script Making
Above are some examples of scripts that I have made / wrote on. These scripts above are all from videos that you have seen or heard in the website. In my college, we are lucky enough to have a teacher whom worked as a professional script writer for major film companies. This was very good for me as I was able to get constant feedback on my scripts as I developed them. This made it into a readable engaging story that anyone could copy or recreate with their own ideas using my work as a backbone. I find creating a script / shot plan one of my favourite things to do when creating a short film. This is because they work hand in hand with each other and you can grasp all emotions that you want to convey such as groans, sighs or even if it is echoey with the script which can be taken and made into a close up of the face to display the emotion or the opposite a wide shot to show they are alone or powerless in my case. The emotions you are capable to display is one of the reasons film is what I want to pursue. These are just a select couple of scripts that I am proud of as well as my most recent which I edited from Little Gems.
What I'm Making Now
As we speak, I am in the process of making a short film. This will be a horror short film called in the shadows wake. It is going to be set in the 1930s and using this time zone, I will be able to display my themes in a cinematic and engaging way. My main themes are going to be horror and also the difference/divide between upper and lower class. This is an idea that I have pitched to peers and have also received some feedback based upon what I have already come up with. How will my film go will you ask: We will see 2 main protagonists who have just turned 18 on a journey to the town centre flicking between the two contrasting journeys. The first shots we will see will be opening up calendars, the upper class character will be birthday and the lower class will be shadows wake. The upper class character will be taking a tram and their family will be showering them with money and items to take. Meanwhile the lower class will be shoved out their house and shouted to leave while having to walk the long journey on foot. We will see the difference in friends and happiness and the hardship they go through on a morning basis. They will arrive in town one in front of the other showing who is on top and in front. But all this time, the antagonist will be coming for them. Unknown by the upper class character as they have been shielded from this their whole life. We will see his fire lit journey as he moves in the cover of night wielding an axe, until he gets close to their whereabouts. They will be running around, enjoying their life and time alive unaware of what is around the corner. They bring a picnic but the upper class protagonist says pay for your own food. Until they go to take a shortcut to get to the bus stop. The lower class character is hesitant to follow as they know what will happen despite the other characters encouraging words. They go silent. Screams, crawling and trying to escape they get dragged back into the shadows. The lower class character doesn’t help, but walks the other way. This film will be starting production in the new year and will be filmed/edited around the end of March. I have also put the most time and effort into planning this film, therefore this film will become my best and one you should be looking out for as we plan to put it in some film festivals, ultimately to see how other people think of it and to see if my efforts make an impact in the world of film.
Gladys Mante-Nyadu
Durham County Council
“Jack has attended several events this year to photograph, record and edit content to help us capture precious moments.
He is always very organised, friendly and puts people at ease. The images and films he has created are beautiful."
Carl Joyce
Carl Joyce - Films & Photography
"Jack has been working with me for around six months now, and in that time, he’s proven to have a great eye for filmmaking and a really creative approach to his work. He’s been involved in some large-scale projects with me, taking on the role of second cameraman and assisting with direction. Jack is very comfortable in these roles and handles them with ease. He’s worked on a variety of subjects, including young people, live music, and festivals. Jack is also skilled in lighting and audio, and he switches between roles effortlessly. He’s always full of helpful suggestions on set, keeping things running smoothly while also contributing creatively. I’d highly recommend Jack for any film work, and I feel lucky to have him on my team."