advice on interviews

so unimportant but i feel so embarrassed of my laptops camera quality lol i have no idea how to make it better before my uni interview..

any advice?

Reply 1

Scotland Yard

Clearing and Applications Advisor, Universities Forum Helper

Sometimes it's not so much camera quality but the lighting of the room. If you've only tested the camera indoors, with artificial life, I'd suggest you try the camera somewhere with better or natural lighting. It helps a lot.

Failing that, I guess you could buy a separate camera, but this is probably a very silly solution. I haven't seen your camera but I'd wager it actually is of decent quality and it's just your nerves making you think that it's bad. Can you be seen? Your features made out? As long as it isn't perpetually blurry or unbearably pixelated, it'll be fine, and whomever conducts the interview won't care or notice, but if they do, they'll understand that you're just using the technology available to you and you won't be penalised in any way, shape or form.

Good luck with your interview :smile:

Reply 2

WolvesRep1

Official Rep

Hi,

Great to hear you've got an interview and good luck with your journey.

Here is a number of things you can think about:

•

How you tried different lighting techniques? Even and natural lighting can make a whole lot of difference to a shot (coming from a Film production graduate - lighting is a game changer to a scene)

•

Do you possibly have another camera that could connect to your laptop? Do you know someone who does have one if so could you borrow it for the sake of the interview? No worries if not.

•

How bad is the quality? Can someone still make out your features, can they tell when you're talking a without sound and so on? If the quality is not that bad then you're still good to go.

The main thing to remember is that the interview is based on what you say not how you look on the camera, I'm sure that the University will understand this and understand your circumstances that you're only using the technology you have with you, and they wouldn't expect you to invest in anymore, again as long as they can hear you and your answers and maybe a general idea of your camera then you're good to go. Don't worry about the camera, concentrate on the interview!

When I first started university as a Film production student, I had a pretty old small laptop, that was nowhere near good enough for using editing software, I had this laptop for the first half of the first year of my studies but the lecturers were extremely supportive, they helped me look for options within my budget, they pointed me in directions of the university's financial help like bursaries and so on. Importantly though they tailored parts of the course to my needs as they knew it was an issue out of my control and did the best they can until I got a laptop suitable for editing software. I hope this example of what happened to me helps you out and helps you to understand that they will understand and will tailor to your needs.

Best wishes,
Katie (Film Graduate)
University of Wolverhampton