Hello

Hi my name is Sam, I am a Creative from the Midlands in the UK and this is the story of how I became me, today.

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Leaving School

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In 2010 I left school to study Art and Design at my local college. It was here that I picked up a DSLR camera for the first time. Little did I know that doing so would change my life completely. My world had opened up to a new format of creating art. Throughout my studies I practiced and experienced the lifestyle of a beginner photographer. After a few years I had really started to build skills and techniques that really shaped my style.

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First Work Experience

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I really took to candid photography where capturing natural moments in time took me to places such as Wedding and Event photography which became my personal niche. Through these experiences I was able to get work experience at St Georges Park (The England National Football Team Training Grounds). Here I was able to experience my first real taste of work as a professional photographer. While this wasn't permanent work and was unpaid. I was able to decide that I was on the right path to a passionate career choice in photography.

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Studying Foundation Media (Photography Specializing)

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A few more years passed and I decided I needed to evolve my photography passion and delve more into the Media industry as a whole. I had applied and was accepted onto a Media Production Foundation Degree (FND) with The University of Staffordshire where I specialized in Photography and studied the business side. I successfully finished this course and planned to start a photography business. But I knew I hungered for more knowledge within the Media as it is such an open and broad industry. 

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Change of Path

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During my time studying photography, I had picked up a keen interest in watching classic movies that I would never have watched without the inspiration of the Media Production Degree I was on. I became addicted to watching classics such as Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, William Friedkin's The Exorcist, Ridley Scott's Alien, Stanley Kubricks A Clockwork Orange, Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums, Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window and more. I had watched so many wonderful movies and even started working part-time in a cinema as I was really starting to think about how I could be inspired to create my own Movies. So I went back to my studies and joined a Short course at my local college in Media Studies to learn the Theory of Film production. Here I found a new found love of documentary and short film writing. It was the Idea generation and seeing these ideas come to life that drove me as a creative. While Film making was never going to be my life career path (I wish it was). I knew the skills I would adopt would come in useful to my next adventure on my BA Hons Degree in Film Production and Media studies at The University of Worcester. This was my chance to really bring everything I had previously learnt together and aim to get a full University degree.

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University

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At the University of Worcester I studied further educational topics within the media industry. I developed new skills in broadcasting, film theory, culture and writing. It was at this time where I actually went through an even more emotionally draining life experience. This experience was the loss of my Father. A Key figure in my life who inspired me with his confidence and leadership. My BA Hons years really effected me as a creative and I went through an emotional roller coaster that lead me to curate a year long project for my final dissertation where I wrote and produced a 20 minute documentary about adapting memorable moments of my Fathers life into short recreational scenes. I was awarded a prize by the University of Worcester for this dissertation and a grant that was to help me take this project to the next level and adapt it into a fully fledged feature length documentary. I had guidance from an established local filmmaker and support from the University of Worcester. In 2019 I graduated with A First Class Honours.

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The Covid-19 Pandemic

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As you are aware, in 2020 the Covid-19 Pandemic hit the UK. The Country stood still, All potential work had halted, ( A great time to have just come out of University...not) and the UK Government told everybody to stay home unless for essential work or necessities. This year really felt like a kick in the teeth for me as I couldn't live out my plans to find work on film productions in the area. Instead I worked at the local Covid-19 test site and helped in the fight to end the pandemic. However, not everything was all bad for me as I was left with alot of time to learn new skills. While I was working on piecing together my feature documentary by myself. I was also teaching myself for fun how to Live Stream video games on Twitch, the most popular gaming live stream site there is. This experience was a whole new awakening for me as I had become enshrouded in the rabbit hole that is creating social media content.

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First Professional Job

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About a year passed and the pandemic was coming to a more manageable state. We were allowed to leave our houses and see relatives as long as we were sensible with the new government guidelines. I also at this time moved home from Worcester back closer to my hometown as it was the right time to. My view on creating media had changed, I realized I now had a dream to create content for online social media sites and businesses. I used my new experiences to find work as a creative, (Which was not easy and took around another year). I found my first real job working for an educational business in a nearby village that aimed to train aspiring doctors. This role required me to travel around the country and work as a content creator, photographer and videographer. It was an enjoyable job and I was able to really use my skills to create outstanding work. I would attend summer schools and document the week through content creation, however this role was short lived and unfortunately didn't work out. My aspiration to make content however wasn't damaged and I continued to create content, turning my attention to building my own personal gaming YouTube channel that I could be fully in charge of.

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Becoming a Content Creator

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My YouTube Channel (Named Switchbored) is a channel that focuses on Nintendo Switch gaming and building a collection of Nintendo Switch games and overall being a nintendo fan, something I have been a fan of since I was a child playing the Nintendo 64. My goal for my new channel was to earn atleast 1000 subscribers within 2 years. I smashed that goal and built a channel with over 1000 subscribers in around 1 year and was monetized by the 2nd year. My channel has gone on to receive around 200,000 views which I think is impressive for a very niche channel with lots of competition from other YouTubers. However lately my interests have somewhat changed as I feel the Switchbored Project may be less of a priority and more of a hobby that keeps me entertained when I want something creative to do.

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Current Day

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Currently I work for an Architecture firm where I am a Media Technician and Architectural Assistant and do this alongside my freelance Content Creation. I work with 3D and Computer aided design programs that I had to learn on the job, as well as professional standard media programs to create work that is aimed to help visualize designs and market architectural processes and results. So far this is where my creative skills have led me. This role is massively fulfilling when a project is completed and you see the end results, but I always strive for more creative work outside of this role.

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My future goals

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My new goals are to build a spider web of content creation for myself and for you where I can professionally collaborate, network and openly blog about my future projects in media. However to achieve this I need your help. If you've found this site and read through this entry of text talking about my life experiences as a digital media creative, Then I feel you are the perfect person I would like to work with on future projects. This could be through content creation, consultation, photography, videography or any media format you can think of that is achievable.

 

Please feel free to explore the rest of this site and go check out my Switchbored YouTube channel if you would like to see some of my more informal work. If I've convinced you and you have decided you would like to work with me, make sure you contact me with the given details below, then we can talk.

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Thanks for reading. I hope to hear from you.

Sam Creates Media.