I was genuinely excited to be back in Cardiff at the beginning of the month because it meant I was starting the 2nd year of my masters at the University of South Wales. I’ve said it several times now but I’ve honestly never been as happy to be back in college (I’ve enjoyed many different courses over the years but I’ve never been excited about returning after the summer break). Lots of new faces and people to get to know over the coming year, and of course my own troupe of 2nd years (all five of us!). Missing were last years full-time students and 2nd years, no doubt already signing million dollar Hollywood contracts and being nominated at Cannes. Among the new faces was a new lecturer too. As we were being assigned our new tutors for the year (and essentially for our final project) I must admit that I was thinking “please not him, please not him”. This was solely due to a fear of change and wanting to have a familiar tutor, or even better, keep the same one from last year (the lovely Sian Summers). Sure enough, just like a scene from some high school comedy, I was assigned to the new tutor, Jesse. Groan. Within a minute of speaking to Jesse I realised “this guy isn’t so bad” and as our brief tutorial began to run over I felt that he “got” me. I left the tutorial happy but berating myself for being so pessimistic about the change in tutor earlier in the day. Later that evening we all went to Porter’s bar in Cardiff for a few drinks and it transpired that Jesse is a John Waters fan too; happy days. Maybe I can have my protagonist eat dog faeces in the final scene?
On day two of the weekend I and my fellow 2nd years had to pitch ideas for our major projects (i.e. full length script). For me, this is definitely an area I need to work on, primarily as I feel awkward and anxious when speaking about my ideas. That said, it went well and it was great to hear everyone’s ideas. Some excellent ideas were expressed and the morning was fueled by creativity, hangovers, and a box of Krispy Kremes (thanks to Stapes). Based on our pitches we had to decide on which one would be developed into a full length script and our next assignment is to write a synopsis of this which will be the basis of the treatment. Even though I had five solid ideas that I was happy enough with, I already knew which one I wanted to go with for my major project. Based on my previous tutorial with Jesse the idea had already changed a little, namely, to start the story later. Since then, while preparing the synopsis for Stapes and through my contact with Jesse, the story has shifted a few times (for me, this means something positive is happening and the story itself is coming to life). Overall I’m quite happy with the story arc and I’m eager to keep the momentum going. I’m currently awaiting feedback from Stapes regarding my synopsis, and based on that I’ll progress with my treatment (which needs to be competed for January).
I’m also trying to develop my creative CV a bit more, as I’m acutely aware that it’s lacking in some areas. In order to rectify this I’m keeping an eye on writing competitions (one of which I’ve already entered) and other opportunities that would be useful in trying to forge a career in writing.
David Keane 