The Pitmen Painters

The Pitmen Painters Review

So yesterday (03/04/13) I was lucky enough to get a press spot for the wonderful ‘The Pitmen Painters’ currently on it’s UK tour. It is a production created by the National Theatre in conjunction with the Live Theatre Newcastle, directed by Max Roberts and written by Lee Hall, who also wrote the stage and screen hit ‘Billy Elliot’. 

My review gives a summary and some of my personal favourite parts of the show. You can check it out here on the theatre’s Facebook page where it was first published and written for:

https://www.facebook.com/SouthendTheatres

Or you can read on to have a look-see of my article, since there is no direct link to it. I do, however, urge you all to check out Southend Theatres and the work they do outside of simply showing off the amazing shows they house. There are so many fun and exciting opportunities for all ages to get involved in theatre!

https://southendtheatres.org.uk/

On with the review:

The Pitmen Painters

“The Pitmen Painters is a well executed, warm, funny, intellectual and inspiring tale based on the true life story of the Pitmen Painters.

The show tells us the tale of a group of pitmen who hire an art teacher (Mr. Lyon) to learn art appreciation. Yet after the north/south divide gets in the way of Mr. Lyon’s teaching, he suggests that to understand how to appreciate art, they should make the art themselves. After a few attempts at painting and critiquing each others work, opportunities arise for the humble group of pitmen, in the shape of middle class Helen Sutherland, an art collector with a lot of money to spend. But with some of the pitmen picked from the crowd with the chance to get away from the mines of Ashington and the potential to become a fine professional artist at the expense of leaving everything you know behind, what will their decisions be?

This show is a wonderfully deep show with injections of humor and a sense of art reflecting life. They push the theory that art means something different to all and it is the individual, not the crowd, that creates it. This is exactly what comes form the show. Everyone is entertained and can come away with different thoughts and questions on an array of subjects; the message is what you make it. However, the feeling the show gives is a warm one, as The Pitmen Painters explores themes of friendship, loyalty, class, imagination and bares the question, is it just those who are well off that have talent?

The performances all around were excellent but I must single out in particular that of Philip Correia as Oliver Kilbourn, Riley Jones in both his roles as Ben Nicholson and Young Lad, Louis Hilyer as Mr. Lyon and Donald McBride as Jimmy Floyd. These performances stood out strongly in amongst an impeccable ensemble cast, and whilst they did not override anyone else’s performance, they held their own magic and finesse whether it be creating comedy or tension. The set, whilst a few issues were had, was cleverly devised and worked wonderfully and the scene transitions not only gave you the feeling of time but almost as if it were a storybook, revealing each chapter in an array of sound and light.

I think the most special part of this production was the strong link it held with the real life story and the struggle of the people it was portraying. Not only through the scripting but through the use of prints of the original art work by the real life Pitmen Painters. This brought home the reality of the story but also how good things come to those willing to try and friendship can never be broken. A funny, thoughtful and inspiring production, which is good fun for a slightly older audience, i’m not sure young children would understand some of the jokes! But for fourteen and above it is an entertaining and brilliant night out.”

I do not own the rights to the pictures used in this article. Rights belong to SouthendTheatres.

Kick Ass: take a recap of the original before the sequel takes a hold.

With Kick Ass 2 rearing it’s head, the new trailer getting it’s release, lets look back at it’s predecessor and refresh our memories of what has happened so far.

Kick Ass is a film that catapulted it’s stars to fame and generated a new kind of hero; the everyday superhero. There is a pinch and punch of a few different genres thrown in there, which is often a risky place to sit; on the fence, very easy to fall off, however this film manages to handle this uncomfortable sit between a dark comedy, action, superhero and coming of age tale. So what everybody needs to be reminded of from Kick Ass is Nicholas Cage in lyrca, a nine year old serial killer and a geek attacking gangs with bamboo canes, and that’s where the money comes in. Kick Ass doesn’t have a defined genre being funny, emotional, gory, thrilling and tense, aiming to please a hefty audience. There are a few good gags thrown in, but there is a lot of emotional baggage that comes with these characters, and it’s not as light and fluffy as it may sound.

Plot recap: Nic Cage plays a father who has trained his daughter in mortal combat just because he is still hung up over the death of his wife and swears revenge. His daughter, better known as Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz), is a serial murderer, mercilessly killing anyone who gets in her way or just judo chopping them out of the shop. Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), better known as ‘Kick Ass’, is a comic book nerd who just so happens to decide anyone can become a superhero. As Kick Ass falls into trouble, due to his inability to actually be a superhero, Hit Girl and Big Daddy (Nicholas Cage) come to the rescue, killing a few bad guys on the way. Yet the plot thickens as Johnny G and his son Chris enter the scene. With Chris masquerading as comic book hero ‘Red Mist’, he becomes some what of a double agent, befriending Kick Ass, whilst working for the bad guys. Kick Ass gets himself into some pretty grotesque and sadistic trouble, ending in a show down, where the penalty is death. Can the power less, technology reliant “superheroes” beat the bad guys with the big guns? (Umm, duh. Otherwise there wouldn’t be a sequel!?)

Kick Ass, in a perverse way, is highly entertaining and in some ways inspiring. Why can’t we all try to be superheroes? Even if you are not killing bad guys with mad ninja skills and special powers. If you don’t try you don’t get. It connects well with its audience, using its 15 rating to its full potential and using trending teen culture as it basis. Its effects, kooky characters, surprising mish mash of genres and all round good performance from all members of the cast creates an enthralling tale. Lets just hope that Kick Ass 2 can stand up to all the hype. We don’t want yet ANOTHER good film ruined by a money making sequel, that clearly is not as good as the original, and the whole series get thrown into the cash cow bin to be fished out at a later date.

This trailer shows that the star of the show this time round is seemingly, the now 15 year old, Hit-Girl. It looks like it could turn into a strange mix of Mean Girls and the Avengers. As Nicolas Cage is no longer in the picture, the star replacement seems to be that of Jim Carrey, which hopefully means it will keep the dangerous, dirty comedy (not sexual, I mean ‘gross’ dirty) and there was a fair amount of non sugar coated violence, much like the first. Take a look at the international trailer below:

I do not own the rights to the images or media used in this article

Singin’ in the Rain

Singin’ in the Rain Review

Singin’ in the Rain is one of my all time favourite films, an absolute go to for any situation. It is a film I encourage everyone to see at least once, if not for the singing but for the dancing. I have not seen anything like it in modern films. It is so full of energy and life. It is honestly spellbinding!

I wrote a review for my University Newspaper which lucky made it into the article and onto the blog!  Read it here:

http://therabbitfilm.wordpress.com/2011/12/04/singin-in-the-rain/

I do not own the right to the images used in this article

Cherrybomb: still my favourite indie flick.

Cherrybomb Review.

THE FILM FESTIVAL FLICK THAT GOT LUCKY: A NEW TAKE ON A FEW WASHED OUT GENRES.

This is the next in line of older films that I have been looking over recently. ‘Cherrybomb’ is an indie film festival flick that, with a huge push from a few fan bases, made it out into the commercial cinemas. The reason I love this film is that it not only gives you a different perspective, but I was just at the right age when I saw it and just understood the story. There is the youthful excitement about it, and exhibits perfectly the world in which the characters, and also we, live in through it’s clever use of effects that highlight young people’s reliance on technology. It is such a wonderful mixture of socially centred “Brit Flick” stylings, with all the tropes of a coming of age film, the odd action sequence and a healthy heap of realism. The characterisation is also some of the best I have seen in a film of this styling. It was an indie flick that really engaged me and has a story of it’s own to rival the characters.

 

If you like tension, a gritty storyline and a few good looking kids give the look on teen life a tip upside down then it’s for you. For an independent project it has done well with not only a killer cast but a booming soundtrack to follow it. It gives a good look on teen friendship and what really happens; we don’t just go out to play tennis and talk about school work… and what do you think we do at each others houses? Play Twister and drink orange juice?

Malachy (Rupert Grint) and Luke (Robert Sheenan) are rather brilliant buddies. Luke being a bit of an all round bum and slacker and Mal  being a bright boy with a lovely back ground and good job; well working at the local sports centre is good when your 16. But when Dave’s (the sport centre’s owner) daughter moves into town the boys suddenly begin a frenzied and dangerous fight to win her affections. With Michelle (Dave’s kid, played by Kimberly Nixon) encouraging the boys to ‘out bad’ each other, how far are they going to take it? From bar brawl, to graffiti king, to drug taking, to stealing and crashing taxi’s, the boys really have their work cut out. Taking place over a weekend, ending in the party to end all parties, as the sports centre is hijacked by Michelle to teach her dear old dad a lesson a few things go down. Who does Michelle finally choose; the sweetheart or the bad boy? What does Dave do when he finds out the kids have trashed his business? And why are the boys last seen in a police station with Luke stating “He’d do the same for me.”?

Grint’s performance is fresh as a daisy, not to mention the mastery of that Belfast accent! He really comes into his own in this film, much more than he does in his other non-potter works. I feel like his confidence has risen and shone through with the character and it fits him like a glove. With a little more in the bedroom department than you would expect, he is really showing that he’s not that fresh faced 11 year old we have all grown to know and love but is a versatile actor, who can take on that more adult role.

Robert Sheenan also gives a great show. After watching him in ‘Misfits’ and ‘The Borrowers’ you know he has some sort of charisma. He clearly has an amazing set of comedy skills and this film just has clearly given him a platform to embrace and expand those skills. His over confident on-screen persona played out impeccably well as he gave a brilliant performance as the drug taking, hard done by, womanizing best friend. Hold onto your hats Britain, the kids got it in the bag!

Nixon also did not disappoint. Michelle is a charter that can be easily over played but she managed to get the right balance of rebellion and vulnerability. I would think that everyone knows someone with a bit of Michelle in her, so Nixon had a tough job on her hands, encompassing the girl that boys want in bed and girls want in jail, but she did it with flare and unfaltering confidence; a different turn from the slag or the sweet one, yet another take on ‘the girl next door’.

All in all I would say the film was a success for the independent market with not a bad performance given, yet a few of the extras did look a little over reactive, as if they were over excited that there was a camera in one corner and a soggy celebrity in the other, but I guess we could forgive them for that. All the cast members held their own and gave thrilling and enthralling performances, but I would say that if you’re not into the indie flicks, are not a fan of any of the cast or really couldn’t give two stuffs about culture or a new twist on teen life then I would give it a miss.

Avatar: I still can’t get over all the effects.

Avatar review.

AVATAR: THE FILM THAT SUCKED THE LIFE OUT OF EVERY SPECIAL EFFECTS DEPARTMENT FROM 2009 ONWARDS. 

This maybe an “old” film but I’m still boggled by why people went absolutely crazy over this. It was a long awaited release and then… nothing. Maybe I’m just not a huge fan of James Cameron (I did not like Titanic either), but from a cinema goer and consumer’s point of view, I still, years later, do not understand the hype. Sure, they turned real people into cartoon, blue, llama-goat-human-lion-horses but they (they being technical cinema whizzes) also turned Andy Serkis into King Kong and Gollum. Maybe that was why I was not that impressed. The film seemed to be a long winded romance about nothing that only stood as a platform for the effects. I understand the technological advancements that have taken place due to this film but I just did not seem to enjoy this array of SFX. There was no heart or message to the story, just a lot of effects and a slicker, more colourful, less gory version of “Alien”.

The massive hit film that took 5 years to make, earn’t nominations for every film award going, revolutionised the way we look at special effects, almost managed to send me off to sleep with in the first half an hour. When it came out I was so excited to see Avatar. From what I had read, every reviewer gave it five stars and rave reviews and chuntered on and on about how brilliant it was. The people working the box office were ranting about it and how they have all seen it at least twice. Everyone I spoke to said it was great, but in my opinion; James Cameron, your good at your job but don’t push your luck my love.  The film relied too heavily on its wow factor effects. With out all those fancy flowers and blue people, the storyline would have been very similar to other sci-fi or fantasy films way before its time.

Ok so, they revolutionised the way we look at film, special effects will never be the same, but I honestly can not see past them. If I were to watch that film with no ‘Pandorum’ and no blue people who like to stick their plaits in weird places, it would have just been another whole lot of nothing. Well, I think I am probably being a little harsh right now and there were aspects of the film I enjoyed. The representation of diverse culture through the citizens of Pandorum did grab my attention, and the detailed look, as an outsider, into their lifestyle did draw me in. There were moments that were pretty amazing and I must admit, the tree of life was a pretty snazzy effect spectacle, as was the rainforest – the first time I saw it. I did enjoy the love story element to it and well as the threat, it got my adrenaline pumping, but it was so mystified by effects that I could not get past them, so I stopped trying to relate and just looked… and looked some more… and looked again. Not really seeing, just looking.

The only problem I found with Avatar, aside from the overuse of effects (this is the same problem I have with films like 300) is that I can not help but feel I have seen it before. It is not a specific rip off of any film in particular, but I would not call it genre defining. I mean when someone says “wizard movie” I think “Harry Potter”, when someone says “Pirate movie” I think “Pirates of the Caribbean” but when someone says “Sci-Fi movie” I still think of “Star Wars”. This film really made no impact on me and if I want to watch it again, if I ever, ever, feel the urge, I’ll borrow my parents copy. I really have no desire to watch it again as it’s three hours of predictable blue people who fly around on dragons and play two faced ‘I told you so’.  See it, but only for the effects. If effects do not bother you and you could take or leave the Sci-Fi genre, stay away – Or put it on in the background and do something else because it will get tedious.

I do not own the rights to the images used in this article

I followed my own words for once!

So, going back through my folder of articles, I re-read my post “Embrace your skills, Embrace your awesome.” I realised I had done exactly that. I also realised that I had reiterated or ‘given in to’, if you will, my qualms from my post “Saying you’ll never regret is speaking too soon”.

I have, in fact, come to terms with the idea that my talent lies within directing. Whether that be directing theatre and film, organising events, teaching… directing and working with people is where I seem to fall and where I seem to be comfortable. I have learnt this through having a go at something else: art directing. I have really struggled to come to terms with art directing since I’m a) a hermit b) useless at geography (even the area in which I live and work is a mystery) and c) terrible at bartering. I can compromise and calm but I can not barter or haggle or any of the like. Finding locations was an absolute nightmare and with no input from the director, everything went to pot… we got it back… but it definitely got dipped in the pot of despair on it’s ungainly fall.

I’m doing my best with everything else, all the set dressing and wardrobe and costume, but it’s really difficult to be prepared when no-one speaks to you until the night before when you have no time or on the day. We are bundling along as a crew and so far what we have shot looks pretty darn good. My only concern is that the actors always look to me. They want direction on how to act, where to stand, how to say a line, if that take was okay… yet they come to me and I’m not the director! I spoke to a couple of people about this and the general response I got was: “Your a natural born director. You must have this directing aura about you or something.”

So there you have it, or I suppose I have it. I have admitted that I can direct and it is what I’m good at, directing and working with people. Also I have had a go at something that I had an interest in and have found out that I really do not enjoy it and do not think I want to pursue it again. Simple pimple.

I listened to myself and it has all fallen into place in some ways. Maybe it is best to listen to our head sometimes, let it reason with our heart. It is also good to let our heart comfort the thoughts our head scares off. Trust your innate abilities, not what you think you are good at but aren’t (do not force yourself into things, it always ends up in tears for someone, more likely to be you) but do not scare yourself away from things that you love or want to try. There is always room to try. You may not get it, but you tried, and if you tried, what more can you do?

A Few Facts For Film Students

A few facts for film students.

If you are planning on becoming a film student, are a film student or want to have a little bit of extra knowledge on the film world, here are a few things you should be aware of. You may know them, you may not, but they should help you understand a few things or at least impress a few people.

 

1) A few people to bare in mind: The Lumière Brothers, George Méliès, Sergei Eisenstein, Reiner Werner Fassbinder, Richard Curtis, Jean-Luc Godard, Hayao Miyazaki, Ken Loach, Alfred Hitchcock, Agnes Varda, Gurinder Chadha (in my opinion), Quentin Tarantino (not a personal favourite but is an Auteur)… there are so many more, but this lot should keep your google busy for a while.

2) Three point lighting. This is the basic lighting set up that any film teacher will expect you to know and will reference off handedly. It is the base to every light set up. You have a key light, which often sits to the front – left of your composition and is the main light source of the image. The fill light, often sits on the right side and lights the opposite side of the composition, softening harsh lines and making the shot more natural. The back light, which sits behind the composition, lifts it from the background.

3) Auteur theory. An Auteur is film director who has a unique and distinguished style to their films that encompasses everything you see, including genres, trope, lighting, costume, narrative. They play heavily into the entire artistic style of the film from writing to sound to costume, framing, editing… everything. This involvement in everything is encompassed by the phrase “caméra-stylo” (camera-pen). There is often a personal feel to the film that only that director can bestow upon their own work. Auteurs include Hitchcock, Burton and Tarantino.

4) Montage theory was created by Soviet Russian director Sergei Eisenstein. Montage theory is a type of editing in which shots have symbolic and metaphoric meaning. Two juxtaposing images are placed next to each other to provoke feeling and emotion with in the audience. This takes influence from the Kuleshov experiment. The five different types of montage are: Metric, Rhythmic, Tonal, Overtonal and Intellectual.

5) German Expressionism film has a particular form of lighting called “chiaroscuro”. This is the sharp contrasts between the light and dark imagery. It can be seen to influence later film genres or types such as Film Noir, and I personally can see it coming into play in some of Tim Burton’s work.

6) French Nu Wave was a reaction against Hollywood films, which obviously began in France. Film makers such as Jean-Luc Godard and Agnès Varda supported this style and worked on and with it very closely. It used things such as non linear and circular plots, disregard for continuity or “classical Hollywood” editing and looked more closely at grittier and more social and political issues. André Bazin, although not a film maker, was one of the main founders of the Cahiers du Cinéma, a very influential french film magazine. He was one of main critics and theorists of film.

7) The Lumière Brothers, (Louis and Auguste) are often credited for making the first moving picture film. This is in fact wrong. “Moving pictures” were already being created with things such as Zoetropes, chinese shadow theatres and Edison’s Kinetoscope. The brothers did, however, industrialize film, showing the first projected movie in a space big enough for an audience to sit and all watch the screen at one time. This screening was at the Grand Café, Paris.

8) The Jazz Singer was not the first synch sound film or “talkie”. The first synch sound feature film was Warner Bros’ “Don Juan”, which used a Vitaphone to record and synch the entire soundtrack and sound effects with the film. It was, however, the first feature film to synch some small pieces of dialogue with the image. There were also some film clips that were created which have some synch sound to them, such as some of Edison’s early work.

9) Walt Disney is not just famous for his animations or theme parks. Disney actually created a new camera called the Multiplane Camera. The Multiplane Camera was used to create a lot of Disney animations in the thirties. It had several different layers of glass that was drawn on to create depth to the scene that was being animated instead of the designs all on one flat field. (Fun fact: For Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (she was the first Disney Princess) Walt Disney won an Oscar… and 7 little ones!)

10) The Kuleshov Experiment. This is a useful thing to know since I find, at university level, teachers reference a lot. Lev Kuleshov created an experiment in which he showed an audience the same picture of a man three times. Each time he showed it next to another picture; a bowl of soup, a child’s corpse and a woman. The audience projected their own stories onto the man, saying his face changed to suit the emotion; hunger (soup), sadness (corpse) and lust (woman). Of course, this was the same picture, so his face did not change at all.

 

I hope you find these few small things helpful or interesting. There is a whole lot more I could talk about, but these are just a few the things I found interesting, impressive or that come up a lot when you begin to learn about film.

The Little Things When Filming

The Little Things with Filming.

I openly admit that I am not yet a professional. Sure I have done some work experience in the industry, but not yet had a job in the big time, as many creative souls have not. I have however, learnt a lot from this academic process. Whilst working on several short films over several years (I’ve been playing around with film for a short while) I have learnt a few things that I’m not sure all young/student film makers think about. My last fiction project had a budget of £90 (I think). So we could not afford luxuries. We could afford to buy a few props and to feed the cast and crew on the night shoots and long old location shoots. Here are a few things to remember to bring along when your budget is that low!

First aid

Bring a long a first aid kit. I made one up myself and took it in a little plastic bag. Since we where on location in a field I had sun cream, plasters, cold and flu remedy, throat lozenges, disinfectant wipes, wet wipes, toilet paper & tissues, boiled sweets (for treats and in case of low blood sugar issues), bottled water, paracetamol, ibuprofen and few other little bits. Just forgot the after sun and I ended up with sun burn, which looked like a Batman mask, on my face. Awkward.

Sewing kit

We did not have a costume department, so I carried around a small travel sewing kit in case there were any rips or snags with the costumes. Anything to avoid having to cut a shoot short, especially on location.

Batteries & tapes.

Nothing worse than running out of tape or power. It makes everything stop, obviously. I do not even feel I have to explain this one.

Extra scripts & stationary

It’s so annoying when your script gets torn or dirty or lost whilst filming. It’s even worse when someone turns up without their shooting script. So I printed off a couple more and took some pens and spare paper, so if we made cuts, it could be written in. If we had to make “idiot boards” (big pieces of paper with the actors lines written on so they can read then whilst the cameras rolling if they do not know them), we could.

Scissors & tape.

Even when shooting in a centralised location I still carried these around. They came in handy everywhere. Fixing set, fixing props, fixing costume, fixing equipment. It was a make do and mend situation and apparently scissor and tape are all you need.

Lunch

Seems a ridiculous ting to do, but it paid off. The budget was running out, we were feeding ten actors, three times a day and we couldn’t always afford to feed the crew. Bringing my own lunch meant we saved money, I ate what I wanted and more importantly, when I wanted.

These things seem either odd or obvious, but when you have a five man crew and a tiny little budget, you do not have the luxury of a canteen, a costume department, a paramedic. I was the director as well as the costume, make up and paramedic. The producer did the Tesco runs and art director was security. When your in the process of filming with only four days to shoot and next to no help, financially or otherwise, these are little things you forget to think about. They do, however, pay off to think about.

Great Expectations (Theatre)

Great Expectations at the Vaudeville Theatre Review

On saturday (9.02.13) I went to see ‘Great Expectations’ at the Vaudeville Theatre in London, courtesy of the wonderful people at LondonTheatreDirect.com. They were also lovely enough to publish my review of the show on their website! For anyone that would like a look into the wonderful world of Dicken’s in it’s West End debut, look no further! Heres the link to my article:

http://www.londontheatredirect.com/news/1128/Great-Expectations-review-by–TicketTuesday-winner-Katie-Roostan.aspx

Snipet:  

“One of Dickens most prized works comes to life in this dynamic theatrical display.   Great Expectations is one of Charles Dickens’ most beloved yet complicated stories.   It follows the boy Pip, as he grows up from an apprentice blacksmith in the forges of Devon to a gentleman in amongst the cobble streets of London.    Along the way he runs into convicts, vengeful women, twisted lawyers and fair-weather friends, but ultimately must learn the price of true friendship and what it is like to lose what you love…”

Read the whole article:

http://www.londontheatredirect.com/news/1128/Great-Expectations-review-by–TicketTuesday-winner-Katie-Roostan.aspx

Embrace your skills, embrace your awesome

Embrace your skill set, embrace your awesome.

 

So I have just begun work on a new film project and I am taking on the role of the art director. Never been an art director before and have no idea what I’m doing. My first thoughts were ,“FAIL! Why did you sign up for this, you massive, massive fail!”

But thinking about it, I can not be that much of a fail. I love set dressing and mise-en-scene (everything you see in the camera frame and the way it looks), I really enjoy art, especially creating things on a shoe string budget (such a challenge, bring it onnnn) and i’m good at telling a story through a picture. The crew are wonderful and the actors have a lot to say when it comes to the characters and the story (blessing or a curse? It shall be revealed with time I guess).

This is just another one of those situations in which I instantly, because of the scary title or people around me, doubt my skills. It is a common occurrence that people doubt themselves or their skill set simply because someone else does. There are many reasons someone else could be trying to knock you down. It could be that they are jealous or resentful, it could be they are trying to help, it could be that they feel insecure and want to feel like they “own” someone or are above them (so lame), or it could just be that you are not doing it completely right and they have no tact or people skills.

So, here are my tips to help realise and progress the awesomeness everyone has:

 

1) Admit your awesome.

Not easy but kind of smart. You do not have to swan around like some sort of diva, thinking you are thing greatest thing since fire. In fact I actively discourage that. Just admit to yourself that you are or have the potential to be good at something. It is a difficult concept for some human beings to admit that actually, there is more to them than sorrow and contempt, but there is. Everyone is good at something, so just make sure you know and are comfortable with what you are doing and do not be afraid to do something that you know you could achieve or be good at.

2) Do your research

Look into your practice. See what it is that can further you. See if there are any tips on how to do it better, learn terminology, learn who you report to, learn what it is you actually do. If you know what you are meant to be doing, you wont miss out anything and you can keep on top of your work load.

Also, see which skills you already have that you can transfer to this new thing. Your working with people? Communicate skills. On a schedule? time keeping and organisational skills. If your good at art, use it. If you are good with maths, own it. It is like saying that you are good with horses so you can only be a jockey. But what about a equine vet or in the mounted police? If you are good with horses, what about other animals? Why not work as a zoo keeper or ordinary vet. You could own a stables or learn to be a horse riding instructor. You could work in television, theatre or film, training horses or animals. You clearly have patience, working with animals, so what about working with children? Maybe a teacher or social worker. The list goes on and on. There is so many skills that can be applied to different things and so many things that you can do, all you have to do is research.

 3) Practice

If it is something that can be practiced in any capacity, do it. Even if it is not directly involved with that precise job. For example, you want to be an architect. You do not have to make a building to practice, you could simply practice your drawing. Do anything that could help you in the long run. It will subtly add up and once you get a task that relates to what you have been practicing, it will soon enough pay off.

 4) Take on board constructive criticism (not to be confused with plain criticism)

Listening to criticism is not weak, it is a very intelligent thing to do. People give constructive criticism because they are seeing your work with a fresh pair of eyes. They are not mocking your work, simply questioning something that could be made better, stronger. Once you have stared at something for so long you become blind to its imperfections or even over protective of them. It is always good to have someone else look at your work and tell you how to improve, otherwise you will never progress. There is, however, a difference between constructive criticism and just criticism. If it is constructive it will help you to see the faults in your work and improve them, it is not meant to be rude or inconsiderate. Criticism can be challenged. If it is not constructive, make it constructive. If someone does not like something about your work, ask them why, ask them how to make it better, get them to show you. Then, if they just lack basic human emotion and common curtesy, the constructive part of the criticism will come through. If they can not answer any of your questions on their criticism, they are only making these judgements because they have nothing better to do. If they can not justify their critiques, it is not worth your time.

5) Try

There is no harm in trying. You learn something from trying, even if that is only that you are not any good at this particular thing, or that you do not enjoy or like it. You can always embrace your skill set and attempt something and if you try but fail, you have given it a go, you are not a failure if you have tried. You may learn something along the way or strengthen your skills. Not everything is for everyone. You also can not just expect your newly found skills to do the work for you, you have to work to make sure those skills shine and to assert them. Let everyone know that you are doing this job and you are fully equipped for it.

 

Everyone has a niche, whether you find it when you are 5 or 95. It is all a question of admitting that you have a talent and a passion for something and then trying to achieve, thrive or progress those skills or within that field. Know your subject, know your skills and know yourself. You can go miles if you just trust yourself.