Film & Television Studies [MA] personal statement example

Why do you want to study this course or subject?

The first time I timed every shot in a scene, I used the stopwatch on my phone and a notebook balanced on the arm of the sofa. The scene was from Sweet Sixteen, where Liam visits his mother in prison, and I was surprised by how long Ken Loach lets each shot run. Nothing is cut to tell me what to feel; I have to watch faces and wait. Since then I have watched differently, whether it is a soap or one of the late films my dad records. I want to study film and television because I want to understand why choices like that work, where they come from, and how audiences in different places and periods have made sense of them. I am just as interested in television, which I think is often treated as the poorer relation. Reading about Raymond Williams's idea of flow, that broadcasting was planned as a continuous sequence rather than a set of separate programmes, made me think about how my gran's evening of quiz show, news and soap seems designed to keep her in her chair. Streaming has broken that sequence up, and I would like to study what has replaced it.

How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare?

I am taking Advanced Higher English and History, after Highers in English, Media, History, Modern Studies and Maths. Higher Media gave me the language to explain what I had been noticing. Using Bordwell and Thompson's Film Art alongside class notes, I learned to separate mise-en-scène, cinematography, editing and sound, and to ask how each shapes meaning. For the practical unit, my group made a two-minute trailer for an invented crime drama set in our town. I was the editor, cutting about forty takes on free software, and I learned how much rhythm depends on what you leave out. Our trailer was chosen to be shown at the school's end-of-year showcase, which was a small but satisfying moment. My Advanced Higher English dissertation compares Irvine Welsh's novel Trainspotting with Danny Boyle's film, looking at how the book's many narrators become largely one voice through Renton's voiceover, and what is gained and lost. History has been useful in a less obvious way: evaluating sources has taught me to ask who made something, for whom and why, which I now ask of every documentary I watch. Comparing the adaptation has made me ask whether voiceover replaces a narrator or creates a different relationship with the audience. I want to support an answer through close attention to particular scenes, rather than judging the film only by its faithfulness to the book.

What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences useful?

For two years I have worked Saturdays and holidays on the counter of a local bakery. The early starts taught me reliability, and I am now trusted to set up the shop with my supervisor and handle the queue on busy mornings. Talking to regulars has also been an unexpected education in audiences: on Mondays the conversation is often about weekend television, and I have heard people argue about the same drama with completely different readings of it. I belong to a photography club at our community centre, where members bring prints each month on a set theme and discuss them honestly. Learning to take criticism of framing and light, and to give it kindly, has helped my editing. Two of my prints, a series about bus shelters at dusk, were selected for the club's exhibition in the local library. Outside these I play five-a-side with friends on Wednesday nights, which keeps me sane during exam season, and I help my younger brother with his reading homework. I enjoy work that combines close attention with talking to people, and I am ready to bring that to seminars, where I hope to have my own readings challenged.