Jeni

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9.0 Final Destination

After Week 10, we are purely focusing on the CA that is regarding business plan. However this will be the very last post. What I am truly worried about the current CA is the fact that the person that we are trying to contact with hasn’t replied us yet. Though she didn’t promise us but she mentioned about the fact that she might be able to answer us by the end of previous week. Thus we aren’t sure what to do now, to rush her or simply wait for her reply. The moment of lost is real, but we hope good things will come by the end of the week.

Though I might not have been really active on Tumblr and sometimes I would think how is this related to design, what is the point of it even? Upon closer look, it actually helps to shape us and qualifying us to enter into the business world. Business is basically the main boss of everything. Design is part of business and business is not part of design but the main of design. Without business, there won’t be any purpose for design, and design will turn into art instead. Thus look at it in this way, though CENT doesn’t provide much design-ish work but those business knowledge are essentials for us, be it to start as a self-employed or working in a company.

Basically to I would say the not so favourable part of CENT. Yup, this is simply to make sure that I say the better part so nobody will bash me up. CENT wasn’t my favourite because… it starts at 8am. 8am class can be really tiring, because this simply means that I have to wake up at 5:30am just to prepare and go to school. Urgh, the temptation of sleep more is just so tempting but of course I didn’t. However look, sometimes 8am class isn’t too bad as well. WHY? Since I live in the east, normally when I take the train at around 7am, there will be empty trains!! What does this mean!? SLEEPING TIME! Yup, you can barely get any seats for 9am classes, but 8am, yup! There are a lot of empty trains which is similar to heaven!

Then here is my favourite part of CENT!! It is the fact that we are able to explore things that is not too design-ish. Though we are design students, but yup, this cuts us some slack! Furthermore out of all the assignments I have done, the first one is still the most interesting. Though it is about us researching on certain people but I had fun researching on Akira Kurosawa. Able to learn more about his story is such a joy. Without this assignment, I doubt that I would even go research about any designers or be it directors or filmmakers. I didn’t regret it anyway. Furthermore special thanks to Yanzo and Luke for making the lesson bearable, with all the exercises simply for us to understand what we are really doing. As well as telling us stories and using numbers to teach us rather than words after words.

Furthermore, both of you didn’t really get angry with us when we begin to make too much noise or slacking. We truly appreciate it  for your understanding especially knowing that we are rushing other modules work and thus cutting us some slack. Indeed, CENT can be really fun if we truly focus on it. Though sometimes I would fall asleep due to the morning class but that doesn’t mean that I’m not interested! Hoping to use all my knowledge that I learned from CENT in my future business!

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8.0 Business Plan

Today we learned about business plan and how we should really write it down. Basically there are total of 10 items to be included in the business plan. First things first why is business plan so important? With business plan you will be able to know which route you set your company towards and how it will even improve. After all, people don’t plan to fail, people fail to plan. This is because they might not know how to plan, if business plan is very weak, they will feel weak about the company. Hence the importance of the business plan.

Business plan allows you to have:

Roadmap in the future (when you want to talk to people about what your company is going to be like in the future, what you want to do, what your company is capable of)

Focus of the company (food? service provider? design?)

Reference for reminder (when bosses quarrelling it will be a good thing, like the disagreement of how the business is being planned. If want to ensure that they are in the alignment look at the business plan if it doesn’t align, can change a bit)

Not for raising fund

Interest more investors (no man is an island, when you have friends, more hands together, you can reach out a lot more, need more man power)

10 components to identify in business plan, must be visible:

Executive Summary

Concept (Company? Business?)

Industry Review

Strategy

Implementation

Organisation

Capital Expenditure (money)

Operational & Recurring Expenses

Revenue/Income Projection (per month? per day?)

Research & References

Basically the first thing people see is the plan, and the executive summary is like the DNA of it. It is good to make the business plan interesting and to be written nicely so to have a good first impressions for the investors.

One page description of your business plan, provides a summary of the company (in sections/paragraphs). Make sure it is about 1-2 simple sentences per section, don’t go over 1 page. Must be very articulated, show the ability of the entrepreneur(s), what is it that you want to do (clarity and intent). Last piece of the document to be written is the insight to the dna of your company.

Concept:

Value proposition (USP)

Support (facts, you design something so cool? research about it, none other company have. Connection, you have worked with who? principal of designers? Are you very strong as a company.)

Remember to keep it just to one page!

Industry Review:

Break down into 2 parts, the trends and gaps.

Trends, how is the industry moving. The industry need services like yours which other company don’t have. What are the current trend people are in need of, other people still don’t have yet.

Gaps what the industry do not have and how you can fill up the gap, you have the solution and idea.

Business Strategy:

Something that is able to achieve operational advantages. For instance...

How much your company spend per month? If your company use very less money but able to do well, it will be a good selling point.

Configuration of resources, I can customise. If you ask my company to do something, I will do up more services (as a whole package), road A to D. Show something that you can provide than no other have.

Meet the needs of the customers within chosen environment, office space etc. How resourceful are you? how you can even meet their needs

Vision statement, mission statement that reflects you company, value statement.

Vision Statement:

The mental picture of how your company will be in 5 - 10 years time. If you have a lot and is very far fetch, you have to have a well rounded one, find the basic one.

Mission Statement:

Mission may not need to highlight on making money but how they want to make people life better and inspirational, creating a social change.

E.g. Starbucks allow many people have jobs.

Values:

What you stand for? make social changes? capitalism? is there humanity in it? like the human nature in you.

E.g. apple a commitment to innovation and excellence.

Short Term Objectives:

specific performance targets of WHAT you want to accomplish. It must be SMART, specific, measurable, attainable, rewarding, and timed. Market share belong to everyone in the market, and if it means i want to gain more from another company, then we aim to achieve and increase a market share of 10%, Make sure that they are measurable and also specific.

Long Term Objectives:

Connect your mission to your vision. It is important to identify the key actions, it must be directional, reasonable, inspiring, visible, and eventual.

Make sure this can be a goal and activity my stake holder of the company can grow, e.g. independent, so that old staff can be senior staff and teach the junior.

So how to write?

What business are we in?

Who will buy (write down specifically what are we providing)

What do my clients really want from us

What are we better than our competitor

Efficiency? (do logo design within 1 week, with photography, contact sheet and etc to allow easier way for client to work, push their business forward)

How can we grow

Provide our clients with more values

Organise:

Where are they now? Growing stage? hot soup stage?

Where do the company want to be

How do we get to the next stage of the goal

Not to forget, we have to make sure that what we write ties back to the vision, mission, values, and Short Term/Long Term objectives.

IMPLEMENTATION

ITEMS:

Operation (do everybody work at certain place?) [organisation behaviour]

Finances

Business Development (Research and Dev. if we want to expand it, how can we do it)

Marketing (A&P, advertising and promotion department)

Human Resources (HR) (Take care of all the MCs, your daily work, absence, want to quit, want to apply for the job etc)

Equipment and Leases (Logistics, Inventory Issues) [If no where and nowhere to place it, it is like a storage to keep your bulky equipments]

Legalities  (Copyrights, TM etc) [Come and advise you what to do if you get sued

ORGANISATION

Flowchart, or ORG chart. Defines the different roles and responsibility of the people in the company. It is the hierarchy chat, who is at the top and then break down to different people.

Then put those people whom we want inside the flowchart, though we might not have, but we can still put. The org chart allows you to know what kind of people you should hire at which point. Studio consist of photography, copywriter, and etc.

CAPITAL EXPENDITURE

How much money you have in the company. Refer to this amount that you need to require to start the company. Compile a list of items that need to be paid/bought by month zero. Include business registration fee, office security deposit, insurance, furniture, electricity, utilities, carpark, and equipment etc. Business essentials such as name cards, printing etc, are you making money?

OPERATION AND RECURRING EXPENSES

Money needed to spend to run the business. For e.g. the cleaning services, power supply, equipment, materials (mounting board, double sided tape, and etc), transport and entertainment.

INCOME & REVENUE PROJECTION

Revenue refers to the amount of sales of the month. Net income is the net profit of the company. Income projection show how much you think you are going to earn.

RESEARCH & REFERENCES

Appendix/Annex. Something that is similar to your business plan, add it in.

Basically business plan sounds like a lot of details to be included but that doesn’t budge me at all. With support of my team mates, I am sure that we will be able to do well on it. We have 4 brains after all! So get to go with it. 

As for our CA3, we have decided to work with Quirk Design as we found out that though they have years of experience but they have a lack of variety. For instance their clients seem to be repetitive, and the fact that they are working on the same thing over and over again. Thus we would like to work with them and provide our version of business plan for them. 

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7.0 To be Excel in Excel

Today we learned about bookkeeping, so what does it mean then? It simply means the record of financial affairs of a businesses. In bookkeeping, it includes annual revenue, annual cost of sales, annual operating expenses, as well as annual income statement which summarises from the former 3 parts.

Basically the revenue is the income that a business has from the activities from the company, cost of sales is the 3rd party fees, as well as the need to pay the suppliants. Cost of sales have to be paid monthly though so that it will be easier to count. Next operating expenditure is the amount needed to operate the business.

As for the annual income itself, we have to do several calculations to achieve it. For instance to get the Gross Operating Profit = Annual Revenue - Cost of Sales. Gross Profit/Loss before Tax = Gross Operating Profit - Annual Operating Expenses. Then through the exercises for the other part, I figured out a way to count the 17% in an easier way, apart from using calculator, we can simply use the formal of 17% Corporate Tax or Personal Tax = (Gross Profit)% * 17. Yup, it works well for mine and I even double checked on the calculator and the result is the same. Hence it works! Last but not least, there is the Net Profit/Loss = Gross Profit/Loss - 17% Corporate Tax or Personal Tax.

To be honest, this was a rather refreshing lesson for me, with unique formulas that I have ever used for my first time. It is indeed fun. For instance to have a continuing number in a column, all we have to do is to press “=“ then click on the box above it, and “+1” then voila, you will get a formula that is like N+1. Then select the rest of the column and copy and paste! Tada! It looks like magic actually, a magic that doesn’t require calculator. Such a convenient stuff indeed.

Then to add something simply click =SUM( then click on any of the boxes and voila! You have just added something. Indeed I love math to be honest, it is just os fun and as long as we understand what it is about, we will begin to know how to do it. As the coming CA is about business plan, well, I might not be good with details but why not give it my all and give it a try! Gambatte!

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6.0 Be an Opportunist

This week we have learned the importance of opportunities. Opportunity will not come and knock at our window or breakthrough our house just to find them as there are many choice. Opportunity is something for us to venture out about, it is a matter of luck, skills, and perhaps a little bit of network involve.

There is basically a website for us to login and search for jobs. It is called GeBIZ. In this portal, all ministries and agencies are allows to advertise the job. It even goes from one agency to another. See how convenient it is?

Well one problem is it requires singpass for us to look at the documents/requirements. They have their reasons of course. Perhaps one of the reason is because it is for Singaporeans only, ensuring that Singaporeans have enough job opportunities. Furthermore it is also more trustworthy with a Singpass that is identifiable. Moreover, sometimes the company or government might even want to check your background to see if you are up to their requirements. If you aren’t they won’t even hire you. Who would want? Let’s say for a government project or high budgeted, would you trust your work with someone who is inexperience? I bet no.

Apart from that, I also learned about the difference between invitation to tender and invitation to quote. Invitation to Tender is normally for the really high budget company that goes up to $30K and higher, whereas Invitation to Quote is for project that cost around $3K and above.

Some requirements might want to see your records, like experiences, therefore it is recommended to do get some work experiences. Several small projects are good to go. At least to show that you are “experienced” in getting jobs and trustworthy.

Normally in the document for the remark area, you might want to put down how much per hour. In case anything happens like prevent any changes. Sometimes when we work for some small agencies, the pay might come about 6months later even. However if we work with Government, they will pay you within 30 days. Yes, it is THAT reliable. Furthermore for the documents itself, if there is any queries, do call them.

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5.1 How to make a good pitch?

After the failed elevator pitch that I presented and pulled down my group, I have decided to research more about what truly makes a good pitch. To make a good pitch is not merely a good solution but something even more than that. So let’s get started. 

How to make a good elevator pitch? Basically there are many ways to start an elevator pitch, start it like a norma essay look or perhaps tell a story, like a real customer story (similar to testimony). Why does the latter one work? This is because "in the end, what people will remember after they walk away from you are the stories you tell”. Do you still remember the gathering with your friends? What did you friends tell you? Is it a story? or is it simply any talk that you remember?

With a good start, it will allow people to begin to hook to the pitch. However do note to avoid using tech talk and buzzwords. It will simply slip off the audience’s mind.

Afterwards, in an elevator pitch, we have to prioritise the most important things we want to share and stick to those pieces. It isn’t good to actually make every points the same level. There won’t be the presence of hierarchy and it is important for us to make the points that we want to deliver as concise as possible. Short and sweet would be good too.

Furthermore we have to make sure that the pitch is crystal clear to anyone. This is because sometimes when we forgot about certain part, we will tend to be more gibberish simply to pretend through the part. Not to forget several times when we tend to use our own words, perhaps only we can understand what we are trying to say, but not others. Therefore it is important to think through this important point. It is possible to ask someone to review the pitch first before going for the final one, simply to have someone apart from you to double check it.

Do not ever forget to show the product because if we don’t show, they will not be able to visualise. Hence visuals are as important as well. Without visuals, the audience will not be convinced with what we pitched and thus no matter how good the pitch will be, it will still fall short on the convincing part.

As for the structure of the elevator pitch itself, firstly we have to cover the problem and then provide a solid solution through our research and insight. Afterwards, it is important to talk about our target audience and how many people in each segment. Next, is there any competition? If there is no competition at all, then that simply means that we are not thinking properly. Of course, there are direct and indirect competition. It simply depends on how we want to explain about it. Fifthly, we have to cover a financial summary. This part is where it sets apart good ideas and bad ideas. This is also the toughest part because we have to really do research on it, to get an almost amount that we want. Last but not least, list of milestones, our goals that we want to achieve and what have we really achieved. 

Of course, all of these is not enough, to pitch a good pitch, we have to be very clear, concise, and compelling. It is also important for the pitch to be around 60s. What if one day Bill Gate appears in the elevator? How will your pitch be like? 

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5.0 Way to Convince

Basically for this week we begin our CA elevator pitch. What we need to do is to think of a solution to tackle the environment issues. This is a rather broad topic of course and we ended up with choosing transportation because we felt that it is the most relatable to students. Afterwards, we find out what type of transportation failures there are in Singapore, for instance slow transportation, constant break downs, overcrowding, as well as its high fares. 

Eventually through our further research we have decided to tackle on the problems regarding to overcrowding in Singapore and slowly link back to the environment issue.

At first we were rather stuck on what type of transportation we should truly do. However after the consultation with Luke, a lightbulb simply lighted up and we begin to move towards that solution. The solution is to introduce a new type of transportation that is similar to MRT but is more like the Japanese bullet train. One difference is the fact that this Tube System is only traveling along the district itself and not the whole Singapore.  

Though sounds short, but it is a really fast journey for people who are tired of waiting for slow buses and is only traveling for simply 1-2 stops, yes, Tube system is for them. This does not only bring convenience to people who are rushing or simply tired of waiting, it also reduces the percentage of crowd per bus. It is like an action of killing two birds with one stone, or should I say, killing N birds with one stone. 

However of course there will be some fall short behind any transportation, Tube system has a limitation for 10 people on board. The reason why is because through our research, reasons for MRT to break down so often also comprises of the weight on the transport. If it is over the limit, chances of breaking down will happen. Break down simply means slowing down of transportation. Thus we do not want to see something like this happens to Tube as what we want is convenience for commuters. 

So how does Tube System help the environment? It made use of biofuel electricity hence reduce the chances of health issues surfacing, due to the less presence of Carbon Monoxide. 

After the team work is done, here comes the pair work of presentation. No matter how well the content of the story is, it is still tough to prepare the presentation at a very last minute. This is because I’m still lacking as a presenter, especially when it has been a long time since I’ve last formally presented. Furthermore, elevator pitch is not simply any normal boring presentation. It is a pitch to convince someone, to sell your idea. Therefore words like ‘I believe’, ‘the best’, ‘most’, usage of any superlative word or even something that makes the pitch more convincing. 

Of course, we did prepare our pitch one day before but due to the panic and etc, it was too much for us, especially being the first group to go up and pitch the idea to the WHOLE CLASS, whilst standing in the middle of the room. To be honest the feeling was really nerve wrecking, even though we managed to memorise the pitch, with the lack of understanding, it was rather tough to do so. Especially when panic sets in, the mind will tend to turn blank. Yup, that’s how I basically felt during the day of pitching. I screwed up. 

Overall, I feel that this new experience with a brand new group seems to be refreshing. Though it is my first time working with my team mates, but I didn’t regret. However through this CA, I feel truly bad towards my team mate for screwing up the pitch which they trusted me so much in. One thing for us to improve on is simply time management. With better time management, there will be more chances of rehearsing and get to understand the topic better. Way to go!

Little knowledge:

Are you aware that Singapore is actually split into several districts? Total there are 28 districts in Singapore! Sounds like hunger games but ... nope. Though Singapore is a fast paced society, it is still counted as a “safe haven” for its residents.

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4.2 Assignment 4

You are to visit ACRA’s website and go through the options to create a business entity in Singapore.

Find out what are the requirements to register a business, what kind of home office scheme is available, which bank provides the best support to SMEs, what are the initial cost and etc.

Finally, present them in a creative yet simple info-graphic guide on your creative business as a sole proprietor in Singapore.

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4.1 Starting a Creative Business

After the discussion about all the students work, the lesson begin about how we start business in Singapore. To begin with, since we got the strategy and action, so what is our attitude? Let’s say, if our rental has 6K and 1K, must we start with the 6K? Can we start with asking relative to help us our as a start 20K + 5K branding?

Yes, it is indeed truly tough for us to start a business at the beginning but if we are really able to plan well the whole business and gauge the pay and etc, we will surely be able to succeed in it.

Thus what we need to do at the beginning is to go Acra and biz file. Basically what is home office is that designers can work from home. We need an address to start a business. Hence in order to work from home, we need the permit from residential and commercial address or can go to the post office box.

Firstly the Sole Proprietorship means that we are the owner. There is no separate legal identity, it is just like I run this, my personal belongings will also go up. However if the company/client want to sue you, you might end up even losing your personal belongings. Furthermore, there is the unlimited liability whereby owner are personally accountable for debts/losses. Furthermore you cannot hand over work just to anybody as ther is a lack of perpetual succession. Not to forget the taxes is all personal. It is mandatory to top-up medisave if net annual income is $6000 or more. The only advantage is actually the minimum set up cost.

At ACRA, we can find sole proprietorships under the renew business registration. Then entity to business, next we have to create a name. Apart from that they might ask about activities, and there are primary and secondary.

Indeed after knowing about this part of the business, I begin to look up to those people who set up their own business as the beginning is never smooth and the risk is rather high. Especially when the owner get sued.

Secondly there is the Limited Liability Partnership meaning a business shared among a few partner. There is the separate legal entity and if you lose, there is a limited in the investment. Furthermore there is the enduring structure beyond member’s death or retirement and the income tax is once again personal. However it is easy to transfer partial or full ownership of the company and usually $300-$400. Again this is also mandatory to top-up medisave if net annual income is $6000 or more. It is however difficult to raise capital and moderate setup costs and paperwork.

Last but not least there is the Private Limited Company whereby it has total exemption from all the media stuff and there is no tax as it is simply corporate tax rate, like the first few years without tax. However it needs a company secretariat to take charge of accounting matters and etc.

All in all, I’ve learned that it is never easy to start a business, everyone starts at the rock bottom, we will only start to succeed when we start climb up on our own with our strengths and planning.

That’s how we will feel at the beginning but afterwards everything will be fine as long as we determine till the end! 

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4.0 Mass Feedback

Before I start anything, yup, I am still in holiday mode that I barely do any work. This actually caused me to be slowly engulfed by the time itself. In fact I have to begin to really work now, time is precious right now. It is never going to wait anymore. 

Hence here it is...

At the beginning of our lesson, Luke actually showed us other class’ quotation, wipe, invoice, and etc for the previous lesson work. Some failed to do but most actually did it. As it is the first time we actually did the work, everyone’s work is somehow similar. Perhaps we ended up taking the same reference or some people actually refer to other student’s work, hence the similarity.

This actually taught me to be a self-directed learner. How so? It is actually good to look for reference online rather than ask people sometimes. This is because it will help us to become more of an individual when doing work without much help.

Basically for the QUOTATION, it is important for us to ensure that the quotation number being the second biggest apart from the title. Ensure that for the quotation, there is a terms and condition. Normally quote number should come after the number followed by the date.

It is important to let the client sign first and get the money before we actually work for them.

As for the WIP, if there is a lot of assignments from the company, we can actually send them.

Next for the INVOICE, the invoice number has to be big and clear. Then for this category do add ‘please pay invoice by cash or cheque to ___ within 30 days of the date of invoice.’ The ___ (name or company) needs to be in bold and put it PROPERLY. Either bold or put quotation over it.

For business, we have to have our business account and not private account. Not to forget in invoice, we shouldn’t appear the terms and conditions but terms of payment.

Remember to not declare the bank account unless it is overseas. Therefore make sure not to declare it if it is locally.

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3.1 My Fund Pack

Well guess what? I’m gonna be a good study today and submit my work earlier, before the 1 week is up. HEHE

Trying my best to work HARD

For the week 3, we are having HBL and whoa, the first task was to watch a video of Caine, a 9 years old boy who actually created an” arcade”. Using the arcade game’s idea to run the store. His mindset actually proves that we don’t need to be rich to create game. Technology may be advance butttttt sometimes it is the simplest way out of it that is the most fun. For your information, the video is called Caine’s Arcade.

Anyway, upon looking at Caine, I looked back at myself, him, and me again, back and forth just like the advertisement The Man Your Man Could Smell Like, ahem. Yea, it’s almost like the same situation. I simply wonder, what the heck am I doing in my life. I’m still depending on people’s guidance. A LOT. Look at Caine, he is so young, and yet he is working in a store, creating his own game already. What am I doing now? Burying my head into books laptop screen and do work. Passion is indeed hard to find. 

Some of the characteristic that I find amendable about him is his determination, curiosity, and optimism. He is determined in doing this job, entering this area of “industry” despite knowing that he had no customer due to the location. When his dad asked him whether to wrap or not, he didn’t look much dejected. Instead he had this persistent look on his face that is saying “don’t stop anything that you start without a body in it.” 

Caine has an extremely curious mind, as we heard from how he would actually detach his toys simply to see how it actually works. That actually makes him improve on his work, the way he work it.

Furthermore this enhances his optimism because he believes that he will have customer. Therefore that is the motivating factor of his determination. 

All in all, I truly respect his passion because can we really see anyone so passionate anymore? Yes we can but are there a lot? I bet not that many. We are all still fishing in the sea, waiting for the fishes to be captured in our pole. Maybe if one day we are sure on what we want to do, we will be like Caine.

Afterwards, we have another assignment, to talk about our dreams. Well that’s tough because I really have no idea what is my dream or even what was my dream. However this seems to force me into looking back into the past and yes, I do have dreams. They may sound unrealistic but that’s also the most innocent part of me.

When I was young, I wanted to be a writer, because I just had so many ideas in my mind. Lots of things simply bombarded me and I kept track of it in a file. There were some scenes like people trap in the time during the halloween event, as well as someone called reflude (I created that term to mean someone stuck in between the life and death, not ghost but something else) can only be seen through the sea bottle. Yea, can be weird, but I still love it a lot. Though I didn’t continue with the story but I still remember them both in my imagination and my laptop. 

In Secondary school, I wanted to be a musician. Basically I had great passion for my CCA, Chinese Orchestra. Playing my Erhu simply makes me happy and I would practice for hours and hours without realising the time has passed so fast.

As of now, perhaps an illustrator/photographer. This is because it brings life to our imagination!!

Well anyway, one thing that I dislike about HBL week is that it is hectic because lesson will not end like the usual time. Most of the time we will ‘OT’. Not that CENT OT much, but other module do OT as well. *sob sob* Nevertheless it was fun because I can just sit in a very comfortable position while doing my work.

Citation(s):

Nirvan Mullick (2012), Caine's Arcade. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faIFNkdq96U [Accessed 5 May 2016].

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3.0 Assignment 3

Assume you are a CREATIVE person, what creative services would you provide? What is something creative that YOU are good at? What is a creative BUSINESS that you would like to start? Do a write-up on your research and explain WHY and HOW did you identify a business that you wish to pursue.

*warning long text ahead*

Well if I am a CREATIVE person right now, I would provide graphic illustration as well as photography/videography. This is because I really want to make things alive. Something that we can only imagine in our mind might be lost within time. When it is being illustrated/photographed/filmed out, we will all be able to look at it whenever we want and remind of the beauty in our imagination.

Of course these might not be something that I am good at. In fact, I have no idea what I’m good at. However I do know that I’m passionate in these few areas. As mentioned earlier, I want to bring imagination to life and capture every moment. Hence the passion simply seeps in me.

If I were to choose what I would like to start with for a creative business, I guess filmmaking is not bad. I had this thought after Im exposed to my intern. Furthermore in film industry we do not only learn how to do those on set jobs but off set, there are also a variety of services offered. Look at the pre-production area, there consists of someone who brainstorm for some creative ideas then storyboard (illustration). Afterwards in the post production, we have the animators and edits coming in place. Look, film industry is not only about their videography but they are a lot juicer than that.

an old film, Yojimbo

HOWEVER, it might be rather hard as a start without much network at first. So maybe I will leave this for later and start off with photography studio. This is because photography studio is not solely on photography but also some illustration for those more innovative ones. Furthermore I love to take photography whether indoor or outdoor. Capturing the moment is my dream. So final decision is Photography Studio as a start.

“People are not going to take your business properly unless you take your business seriously”.

Guess what? There are a lot of people claiming to be a photographer without starting a professional business right now.

To start off in the photography business studio, we must have the budget to buy those camera lenses and other gears and equipment like the lighting, reflector and etc. In fact the total cost of starting a photography business varies, it might cost $10,000 and above. It is true that at the start, there will be some problems because a lot of people can take pictures, but who is better?

According to guardian, to start a successful photography business, firstly we have to choose a specialisation, then invest in the right equipment, so the money is worth it. Then get some insurance and other incidentals, for prevention. Then build a portfolio that builds credibility, that’s when it determine whether you are a good photographer or not. Last but not least, market it online.

As mentioned earlier, I want to go for this business because I want to capture every moment and it can actually be branched into other industries as well which is pretty useful in a way. 

Furthermore, it is my passion as well. I first started to be really interested in photography is when I get to explore different areas and mix with different people. That’s when I start to realise taking photos is a really beautiful thing. Not only am I able to see how their react but also able to save the memories that can’t be captured by eyes. Remember last time, I also love to take photos like using phone. I used to take lots of scenery view, and also my friends photo (but most of the time I was scolded by them, whoops). 

One of the photos that I took in 2012/2013

Basically every time I looked outside my house, I would find good sceneries to capture (last time). The first thing I will do is... phone out > capture. 

The type of photography my friend would kill me, pardon the shinchan and the blur face. A bit inappropriate and can’t reveal the identity ahem xD, 2013, forgot what camera did I even use xD

Therefore I would go for photography studio as a start then slowly collaborate it with other type of industry. In photography studio, though might be a small yet competitive business but I’m sure that it will be fun with the mixing of photography and illustration since it is a studio, anything is POSSIBLE.

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2.2 Uncovered Myth of Freelancer

As what I have mentioned previously, it is really tough to be a freelancer. As a freelancer, self-promo is really important. Without a good self-promo, nobody will really know that you even exist. This is very harsh but it is the truth of this world. 

After the week’s lecture, I truly salute all the freelancer. I thought they simply work for others and simply get money and bye-bye. I didn’t really know they have to do quotations and such. If I were to be a freelancer, I bet everything would be messed up and I might end up not getting my pay at all.

How is that possible? This is because I know I am very clumsy. I might be able to get things done but I’m sure there will be mistake. As a careless person, if I were to handle all of these on my own, I’m very sure that some information might be missing. Or worse, some calculation mistake or I keyed in the wrong price.

Apart from those pay related stuff, I think I can’t be a freelancer because I am a slow worker. If a task is given to me, I might need to stay up till very late or not even sleeping just to submit the particular work the next day. In other words, I might even overwork myself due to my speed. Why do I even work this slow? Well, I have no idea, perhaps I think too much sometimes and just not satisfied with some part. Then that’s when I will try to think of something to improve it until the very last minute then I will start to panic. Hmmm… and end up submitting poor work? Like there is just this kind of stress revolving so freelancing may sound very sexy and enticing but it might not be for me.

I know that I can’t manage well but if chance if given, I will still try it out. I just hope by then, I will be more confident with myself. True that, the chance is not given by others but the approval by me. I will try when I try, let the time decide! Salute to you, all the freelancers.

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2.1 Assignment 2!

Propose and design a company name, logo, letterhead complete with business information i.e. company name, address, contact; for your own creative business. At the same time create a business PROFILE. Think creatively and make it concise when creating your business profile. Create a business template for the followings: Quotation, Work-in-progress and Invoice

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2.0 Freelance Fundamentals

In this week, we actually learned about the fundamentals of freelancer. This makes me think whether to be a freelancer or not. To be honest, it looks tough to be a freelancer, with all the money that need to consider. I bet if I were a freelancer, I would go crazy. Yep, legit. C.R.A.Z.Y. However maybe if we don’t look much into those technical stuff like the quotations and etc, it is really fun.

Okay here starts the lecture that was presented on 270416.

Basically as a freelancer where and how do we exactly start? 3 possibilities, advertisement, networking, social media/blogs.

However of course, people will not hire us simply by looking at how we are being classified. The way we promote ourselves is also important. Look, it will be tough to promote ourselves through advertisement because there is a need of a VERY good self-promo.

On the other hand there is also a Word of Mouth. According to Yanzo, at first he felt like “shit”. It was very personal, the way they treat him and etc. That’s when he know that he should let down his defences. Because when we look awkward, people will start to lose confidence in you. Anyway, he faced lots of rejected and it became part of a growth for him. He mentioned about the fact that one will become hungrier and then eventually having this sudden gut in them. That’s when one feel that he/she has no more money and simply want to start to do stuff hence going all out. So, look at who he is right now, a lecturer. So the idea of this story is to say that it is normal to start out being afraid of what’s going to come towards you. One day we will succeed as long as we have the gut in us. Whereas for Luke’s case it was the total opposite, everyone actually supported him. From family to cousin then to other relative. It is like a growth in it and then the relative start to introduce him to the people around. Yea, this is the power of word of mouth. Intimidating?

As for the Social Media, we look at the google page like when we click “best author” or “top fashion designer” and etc, The author/designer will eventually appear because they paid for it and so anything related to them, their face will appear. Apart from that, we also have those stock libraries that can feature the work. E.g. pond5, shutter stock, and getty.

Afterwards we have “Network”, which is like making lots of friends and it is continuous. There are actually a lot of ways to network, for instance:

Word of Mouth (immediate and extended family)

Friends (childhood, school, religious, zouk, army, internship)

Neighbours

Mentors

Then we have this small class activity which is to write 100 names. Well, I won’t reveal it but I can barely think of even 20 names for networking. Oh no, guess I have to start socialise then, whoops. Most of the people I could think of is from my secondary school >.<

So what more do we need as a freelancer? Quotation (prospect) like proposing to you; Work in Progress is like pulling your (hair); Invoice is like a cashier chime.

Basically how do we start as a freelancer? Before anything, we have to check out our startup cost (to make one able to design something). E.g. computer $2000, apps $300; Total $2300.

Then we have to find out our monthly fix cost of course, e.g. Phone plan $60, transportation $51, and food $300, total $311.

Therefor the basic cost is approx $2611, though transportation haven’t included yet (not for bus concession, can be taxi fare).

What is Quotation then? It is a formal statement setting out the estimated cost for a particular job or service. Do remember to never start work unless client signed the quotation.

N/B: Those we can do is internal, those we can’t is external.

Basically everything has a value, therefore in the hourly rate, we have to state everything that’s being paid and need to be paid.

All in all, we have to determine the hourly rate, monthly cost, and startup cost, because these help to determine our pay. Furthermore in order to be a freelancer, we must be productive. The faster we design, the better.

There is actually a half-day rate (4hr) and full-day rate (8hr). Therefore for the opportunity part, if the work is from 1000-1300, we should charge higher. This is because this prevent us for committing to another assignment. If we were to choose between half-day and full-day, full-day is suggested.

As for the invoice, it is the money the client has to give to us. In other words it is a demand for payment.

Basically how do we quote? Decide on the hourly-rate, if there is any external fees, get a quote. Do review the deadlines (can we reach the priority). Then check for profit margin and submit for client’s approval.

How do we even profit? We simply have to deduct our monthly fix cost and external cost from the money client gave us. That will be our pay. However, how do we exactly charge our client, at least 50% from the profit margin. Before we even look at all these, we must know how to charge people, through quotation of course! Freelancers don’t have company so we simply put our name on it.

N/B: Normally people use word/excel to create quotation & invoice related!

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1.1 Welcome to Creative Entrepreneur

Ugh guess what? I have the previous lecture note for Week 1 with me and yet I never post. Oh no, what am I doing xD

Look, I had my note (ps: the note shown isn’t my lecture note of course!)

zoom in, tada! 25/4/16

Elevator Pitch

In week 1, we learned about Elevator pitch! Yea Luke joked with us about the fact that we had to go into the lift “later on” after the break. Well, the gullible me actually believed him and when he said “okay! let’s go to the lift now!” I was like huh? and almost stood up. Whoops!

Joke aside, Elevator pitch is a brief, persuasive speech that can spark the interest in what the organisation/person does. It only takes about 1-2 minutes. Just look at this, if the speech is not interesting/persuasive, nobody would even care about it. Just like a TV commercial, if the content is too draggy, nobody will really watch till the end. Second example is a manga. If a manga has a lot of fillers, people might even start to drop it. Therefore an elevator speech is just 1-2 minutes because it is to keep things fresh and allow people to focus on the main point for easy understanding.

Elevator pitch challenges how we will explain our business, and make the sale. The timing is from the bottom of the building to the top.

Anyway Luke showed us a video about Elevator pitch and tips given were:

State the Issue

Show value proposition (how you will eventually solve the problem

Must be succinct (brief)

Easy to understand (grammar and vocabulary)

Irrefutable (can’t be denied)

If we intend to propose something, we must start what can we do and what we can solve. It is important to know the consumer issue. E.g. macbook, no touchscreen and battery runs out too fast. Therefore we must be innovative!

Key Component

Basically a value proposition is what problem we can solve for the potential client. E.g. The client sell t-shirt and their t-shirt is not doing well. How can we help them solve it? Work under carousel?

For this upcoming CA, we are to focus on the sustainability of environment in Singapore. Therefore what we need to find out is what are the things we can provide to give the government that we can give a better life to Singapore.

What problem can we solve and what makes us different from others. What do we need from the client/prosper? Funding or what? So think about what can I/We do.

Value Proposition

How do we write that? There is the small business and the big business. Both also have to include ‘for’ (description of TA), ‘who’ (problems or needs of TA), ‘we offer’(name of product and service), ‘that’ (how it can be solved).

Of course this is NOT ALL. We still have reinforcement to it. The previous one was just the surface. For the reinforcement, we use ‘unlike’ (brief description of how it can be solved), ‘our product’ (short description of how it is different), ‘because’ (describe the way it works).

E.g. For small business like shop house who can’t afford to purchase CCTVs, we offer a software products that automatically track the customers walk-in.

Rather than manually looking out for customer who walk in and out to prevent shoplifting, which is distractive and ineffective, our software saves time and have higher prevention because it increases the productivity of the shopkeeper and the software is more immediate with its sensor.

Something like this but of course, this example might sound rather absurd and might not be correct as well. This is simply an attempt which helps me to understand what is value proposition all about haha!

Do remember to explain like how does the product saves money and time. Do ask ourselves, what do we need? Customers, partners, or funding employees? Then remember to check out who we are talking to. Furthermore, are we comfortable in asking for what we want?

Do you know that elevator pitch is not all? It is just something to gain the interest of the client and not something that decide whether the client will choose your idea or not (not exactly). Afterwards, they will invite you to do an investor presentation as well as executive summary and business plan. Do remember to keep it all

Concise

Clear

Powerful

Visual

Tell a Story

Targeted

Goal Oriented

Has a Hook (must provide a solution)

Ways to present well is to write down what we do, our objective/goal. Then add in 10-20 action statements, record ourselves and highlight the good stuff. Put in the best pieces together then edit all over again and dress rehearsal!

Reflection

So basically in week 1, what have I basically learned? I bet I have better understanding of elevator pitch. Yea, we had done elevator pitch before but last time was done without much knowledge. At least now I understand the importance of time in an elevator pitch. Ugh, this is rather tough because sometimes there are just so many points in a text that’s worth to be presented. If everything is to be covered, it won’t be an elevator pitch anymore, it will be like a human-wikipedia. Will you really listen to everything.

Therefore I believe elevator pitch is really important because it is really a human nature to not listen to everything. Human are actually bad multi-tasker. You can disagree with me but from observation, when one multi-task, the work that’s completed could have been better. This is all because human brains process too fast, so they are bad at multi-task. They aren’t able to focus on solely one thing at a time. What I mean to say, in every sentence, we will only pick up a few keywords. Not everyone will process in each and every word into their mind. Hence elevator pitch is able to keep the focus on certain point and keep everything concise which allows client to listen to the main point and not skip too many words and lose interest.

Furthermore, we also had this exercise about creative entrepreneur. Hmmm, to be honest I have never ever been really interested in that. Okay, not exactly not interested but didn’t really look up to them. However after that exercise, I think perhaps it was worth it. At least we get to learn about their history and how they actually climbed up from the pit.

Basically I’ve learned that no matter how poor/bad we started out, there is always a good outcome as long as we pursue it. Look at all those creative entrepreneur, many have that phase that is really down. However did we see them give up? If they never eveb go all out and start to believe in themselves, they wouldnt even be who they are right now. Look at Steve Jobs who didnt have any diploma/degree, didn't really have proper education in the past. However who is he right now? A very well known apple entrepreneur that a lot of people look up too and influenced many electronic devices.

Is it too late to have a dream right now? No, of course not. We don't need to start at young, as long as we are sure about our path. Though of course not everything is always planned so I have learned that as long as we follow what we like no matter if there is a sudden change of interest, we follow our heart and that gut feeling. When you feel that you are able to succeed in it, you will. 

This is like a reverse psychology after all, believe in yourself and everything will be find.

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1.0 Creative Entrepreneur

“It is the power of memory that gives rise to the power of imagination” 

— Akira Kurosawa

Do you believe that our mind plays a great part of the film as well? Some people watch film and have the déjà vu feel, the others will make the film to make us have the feeling of déjà vu. If the meaning is passed on to the audience with success, it simply means that we have the piece of memory with us as well. So now, do you believe that film actually makes a great importance and change in our life? Now let’s take a look at a Japanese director of the 1900s. 

Kurosawa, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg at the 1990 Academy Awards

Summary

Akira Kurosawa is a Japanese filmmaker who had won international acclaim with such films as ‘Rashomon’ (1950), ‘Ikura’ (1952) and ‘Ran’ (1985). He was born in Tokyo and was a descendant of samurai. At the first stage of his life, Akira was drawn to art but in 1936, he started to slowly venturing into the world of film starting with a director assist and blossom into one of Japan’s biggest director. He is synonymous with Japanese cinema. The first Japanese director whose films were remade in Hollywood and elsewhere. Basically he had directed 30 films in a career spanning 57 years.

The Influence of Akira Kurosawa as a Youth

There are basically 4 people who had influenced Akira Kurosawa greatly in his life path. Firstly it will be his father, Isamu Kurosawa. Due to Isamu’s openness to Western tradition and believed that theatre and motion pictures are educational, he encouraged his children to watch those films. Secondly it is his elementary school teacher, Mr. Tachikawa. Due to his progressive educational practices, it brings out the passion in his students for the love of art and interest in education. The next 2 will be Akira’s childhood friend, namely Keinosuke Uekusa (Elementary friend) and Heigo Kurosawa (older brother). Uekusa was similar to Akira since young, both of them were sensitive and their friendship lasted for a lifetime. Uekusa basically became a successful playwright and novelist, and even co-write with Akira for his first 2 works, one of them is One Wonderful Sunday (1947). Whereas for his older brother, in 1932, he took Akira to look at the destruction during the Great Kantō earthquake. Akira tried to avoid looking into the corpses and those gruesome scenes but his brother forbade him. Heigo wanted Akira to learn how to face his fear and how to confront it directly, rather than running away from it. This eventually made one of the greatest influence in Akira’s artistic career, enabling him to “confront the unpleasant truth”. In 1920s Heigo became a bench, a silent film narrator. Akira who failed in the entrance exams to art school, later moved in with his brother. That’s when Akira “gained an easy access to theatres”, learning about films, theatre and circus performances, and worked for the left wing Proletarian Artists’ League.

The Beginning of a Director

In 1936, Akira joined Photo Chemical Laboratories (PCL), known as Toho now, through his half-mocking writing for the essay required during the film studio’s search for new assistant directors. As well as the director, Kajirō Yamamoto, liking for Akira. Akira started with small tasks and slowly work his way up, his work varies from assistant producer to camera assist, grip ,voice over, and editing. 

In fact he had worked under numerous directors including Mikio Naruse, Eisuke Takizawa, Shigeo Yagura, and Osamu Fushimizu. However the most important person in Akira’s early development was the director who hired him, Kajirō Yamamoto. Basically he nurtured Akira’s talent and promoted him from a 3rd assistant director to chief assistant director within a year. 

In 1941, Akira had to take over the production of Horse as the director wasn’t present. Through the skills taught by Yamamoto, he learned that he should first and foremost need to know how to write his own screenplay. He even practiced the habit of writing at least one page a day, and that would make at least 2 full screenplays completed per year. That’s when he learn that the potential earnings gained from screenwriting were much higher than an assistant director. Thus he does not only write or co-write but also provide additional screenplays for other directors. This eventually leads him into focusing more on screenplay and planning on his directorial debut.

Akira’s directorial debut begins near the end of 1942 when he read a novel, Sanshiro Sugata, by Tsuneo Tomita, and asked Toho to secure the film rights. Everything sounds good but there was one obstacle he had to pass through, the censorship board. They saw the work as too “British-American” and it was only through the director Yasujirō Ozu that the film was allowed to release in 1943.

Afterwards, Akira went to work on a propaganda film in a semi-documentary style in 1944. For a more realistic acting performances, he told the actors and crew “live in a real factory throughout shooting period.” Meaning that they have to live the life as their character for that period of time, calling the character names and etc. This method was then use during many occasions during his career.

After war, Akira made a film called No Regrets for Our Youth, and was released in October 29, 1946. However the original script had to be rewritten due to the censorship board but it gained the audiences approval as it is similar to a post-war catchphrase. It was the first film with a “distinct directorial voice” as well as the first of his own films whereby there’s shared writing credit. For the next 40 years, he begin with the habit of collaborative writing.

In 1947, he co-write with his childhood friend Keinosuke Uekusa on a film, One Wonderful Sunday. This film had earned Akira the first major award of his directorial career and the second annual Mainichi Film Awards, awarding him as its Best Director award.

In 1947-1948, Akira directed Drunken Angel. In this film, he had to rewrite the script again due to the censorship board as of the occupation censorship. Nevertheless he was still able to express himself freely in it. This film was selected as the best film of the year by the prestigious Kinema Junpo magazine and Mainichi Film Awards too rewarded the film as the Best Film, Best Cinematography and Best Score. Little did we know, beyond the success of the film, there’s a tragedy happening behind everything. During the final weeks of shooting Drunken Angel, the health of Akira’s father deteriorated and yet Akira couldn’t be by his father’s side. After knowing about his father’s death, Akira went out to wander on the street aimlessly and heard the song “The Cuckoo Waltz”. Through this experience, he begins to understand the type of musical counterpoint he would go to and started to experiment on music with his new composer Fumio Hayasaka. Then due to some experiences and disappointment in Toho’s management and the way they handle a problem, Akira left Toho for Daiei studio.

In 1949, Akira created his first masterpiece, Stray Dog. It is an immediate post-war works, which was a great commercial success and placed number 3 on Cinema Junpo’s list of the year’s best films, and in Mainichi Film Awards, the film had gained the best cinematography, best art direction, best actor and best score.

The Bitterness

Fast forwarding his life history, in 1951, he directed The Idiot, it was disappointingly less popular and less critically acclaimed than his earlier films such as Drunken Angel and Stray Dog. At that period of time, due to the Daiei studio unhappy with his two consecutive films and his poor reception of the idiot, the company withdrew their commitment. Then, he had no studio to work on his upcoming project, he felt dejected and there was nothing to cheer him, not even fishing. Hence he had nothing but forced to give up being a director and head home.

A Turn of Event

An Italian businesswoman, Giulliana Stramigioli, suggested Kurosawa’s prior film to be included into the Venice Film Festival in September 1951. When Kurosawa reached his house, his wife greeted and informed him about a phone call regarding to his work, Rashomon in 1950, an experiment in nonlinear narrative, had just won the Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival. It was in fact a national pride because it was the "first time Japan had been viewed in a positive light by the rest of the world since the end of WWII.” The film was then reproduced and added English subtitle which made it into the international film that was seen in much of other countries. This has basically raise people’s consciousness and attention of Japanese cinema. Due to this sudden success, Toho signed a contract with Akira and produced Ikuri and Seven Samurai, the more well known works of Akira.

Rashomon (1950)

Second Fall

Due to television’s negative impact on filmmaking and an economic depression in Japan, Akira went to venture in Hollywood. He was fired by Twentieth Century Fox because he failed to gain financial backing and personal differences. Basically Akira had experienced a commercial failure in the early 1970s whereby he even tried to end his life. Even after he had recovered, he resigned and never wanted to direct anymore.

Success

Akira was approached by a Russian production company and receive a film for him. He might have greater difficulty to win backing for his projects due to his health that was deteriorating but he persevered till the end as he aims to bring vision to the screen. In 1985, he produced a film called Ran, which is one of his masterpieces. In the film, they actually destroyed a huge castle that was build to be destructed.

As we all know Star Wars but do we know that actually Star Wars was actually inspired by Akira? The first Star Wars film was indeed inspired by Akira’s 1958 film, The Hidden Fortress.

Ran (1985)

RIP

In 1995, Akira Kurosawa slipped during the period of putting in his finishing touch on The Sea is Watching at home. That led him to break the base of his spine. He was eventually confined to wheelchair and slowly his health started to deteriorate more and more. With a film, After the Rain, which he was unable to film but managed to complete the writing. In 1998, he passed away after a stroke.

Personality Traits

Akira Kurosawa was a passionate filmmaker who loved to talk about the process of making films and the fact that he was seen to be able to gain inspiration through his everyday life. This simply shows how much he actually thinks about his work. Every time when he faces with an obstacle in his life, he will turn it into a life lesson and start to relate it to films whereby it turned into an inspiration instead. Furthermore Akira Kurosawa is really determine in his work and fearless. No matter how many times some of his works became less popular than his other words, and received bad remarks, he didn’t exactly thought of giving up that easily. This is because film production is a place that is difficult to survive and yet Akira Kurosawa had survived for 57 years in this industry, this simply shows how much he actually persevered throughout the years. Especially during the post-war, due to the censorship board in the past, there was lots of reaction and Akira Kurosawa had to half at the pre-production phase. It could be dejecting for some people, yet Akira Kurosawa faced it head on and rewrote it until it was accepted. Moreover, Akira Kurosawa is actually a humble person because he is willing to do collaborative work in writing and others, this simply shows that he trust the others and willing to give credits to others rather than taking everything himself. Last but not least he is a very curious director who would begin his edit during work, unlike more of the production now, they tend to edit at the end of filming. This is because Akira Kurosawa believes that it allows him to figure out the final film while he was in the process of making it. This shows how much he anticipates for everything and it enhances his passion for filmmaking as well.

What have I learned

Basically Akira Kurosawa is a great influenced, in fact one of the most influential filmmaker. Without his films, Japan’s cinema might not even be known by the other countries, their potentiality and greatness will be overlooked by the WWII. In fact to me, Akira Kurosawa is not a simple guy. I look up to his attitude of learning when he was a director assistant and the way he actually thinks. His persistence is what makes him who he is right now and the fact that he is able to head on directly with those harsh reality of rejection was truly amazing. The world of film is never easy to live in because we will always meet with critics from others and there is always bound to be both side of the good and the bad. In the world of film, there will never be a balanced in it, be it critics or your work. When you work well, people will start to look forward to your work and if you start to falter and lose idea in it, it will be like what happened to Akira Kurosawa after the produced the film ‘The Idiots’, people will start to judge you from your recent work and you will start to feel that life has nothing anymore and start to give up. Yes, there are times when Akira Kurosawa wanted to give up, but look, it is hard to survive in the world of film and what is the ratio of him giving up is to him persevere head on with the critics.

Can you see it now? Yes, this is what I really want to learn from him. His perseverance is indeed remarkable. His willingness to learn. His braveness, not fearing rejection is impeccable as well. Till the end he still wanted to fulfil the dream of bringing vision to the screen. This simply shows how dream can actually motivate a person to live on. Without a dream, we will lose the track of our life and overtime a task given is completed, we will feel lost. Indeed, having a dream is important.

“There is nothing that says more about its creator than the work itself.” — Akira Kurosawa

In conclusion, Akira Kurosawa is not just influential for the filmmakers but also me. He has taught me to not to fear what is coming towards me because this is just the beginning. Persevere till the end to see the result because there will be many surprises ahead. He has also taught me that having a dream is really important because we will have the tendency to fulfil it no matter what. That’s when we can see how strong our willpower and determination is. Last but not least he actually taught me to be more confident with myself and do what I like.

Sources

Robert Moore (2010). A Giant Shadow: The Continuing Influence of Akira Kurosawa on World Cinema. [online] Available at: http://www.popmatters.com/feature/131971-a-giant-shadow/ [Accessed 22 Apr. 2016].

Biography.com editors (unknown year), Akira Kurosawa Biography [online] Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/akira-kurosawa-9370236#synopsis [Accessed 22 Apr. 2016]

Unknown Author (2006-2016), The Life of Akira Kurosawa [online] Available at:  http://akirakurosawa.info/biography [Accessed 23 Apr. 2016]