Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

Back in June 2014 I, along with a few others, became barristers for the day. No, we were not asked to stand in court and defend or prosecute a client against a criminal act. Now that would be scary. No, we were asked to act instead. We became extras for the day.

This opportunity was initially posted on the University of Hertfordshire website. It mentioned that a digital creative company known as Clearhead were going to create a promotional video for the School of Law. They needed students to volunteer for the day to take part in a film which showcased the ‘real experiences’, ‘real courses’ and ‘real futures’ which the university offers.

Clearhead needed to make the film seem as realistic as possible. Some of us were asked to dress smartly as if we were members of the court, while others like me also had wear barrister outfits. As you will see in the video, the barristers were split into two ‘teams’. The defendants were made up of Summer and I, while Shivam and another member of our group were on the prosecution side.

Of course when creating professional videos like this one, you do encounter some small problems. For me this happened to be the costumes. As you can see from the photograph below, the robes and the hair wig are very much real props. As you wore them all day they would often come out of place, and a member of the Clearhead team had to fix them in place again. Also, I had some problems with my acting. When it came to my close-up, it did take quite a few shots to get the impression that I was a winning barrister, but we got there in the end. These problems are all extremely forgivable as this was my first time acting, but hopefully not the last.

Call me Barrister Jake if you wish...

I have to commend Clearhead for doing such an excellent job. Each member of their team was extremely helpful, patient and hardworking in making such a professional video for the university. They also gave us a good insight into how to produce and edit such a challenging video as this one. Hopefully I will be able to channel some of their expertise in the future if I ever decide to create some videos of my own. You can see their other projects at http://weareclearhead.com/ They are definitely worth a watch.

I would thoroughly recommend ‘extra’ opportunities to you. They gave you a good insight into the world of producing and acting, while at the same time are extremely fun to take part in. You can watch the video titled ‘Mooting – real experiences in law’ below. See if you can spot me.

Copyright © 2014- by Clearhead and UNIofHERTFORDSHIRE. All rights reserved. 

Perhaps one day you will see me acting in a big blockbuster film…Or perhaps I should stick to writing. Thanks everyone and have a great weekend.