Starting to think about my final project….

Looking at my artefacts and the research I have done for this module, I am now starting to think about what I could do for my final dissertation project.
I have decided that I am not going to do a film project as its not one of my strongpoints. I would however like to do a photography project for my dissertation as I have four years of experience in the subject as I studied it at GCSE and A level at school, In GCSE I got graded an A* and at A level I got an A in the subject so it would be good to put my skills into practice.
I haven’t yet thought about the actual idea I would like to base my photography project around yet, but looking at my research and development on my blog I have come up with a few ideas;
* I could base my work on teenage memories- I could interview a few of my friends asking them what their favourite teenage memories where and take a selection of photographs portraying this.
* I could do a photography project on the theme of ‘the spectacle of dreams’ I did a bit of work on dreams and surrealism in my A level work so I could maybe work on this and progress the ideas further. I did a photography piece before that was based around a piece of art by Salvador Dali, I imitated the floppy clocks within my dream piece and maybe I could do this sort of thing again for my dissertation piece.

I have found a youtube video, it is just a collection of Surrealist paintings by Max Ernst and Dali with an audio track over the time, but it just gives the idea of a surrealist approach to art which I could try and achieve through my photography work.

I have briefly had a chat with my friends Charlotte Mc Cabe and Stacey Trodden who are on my course and we have said how we’d all like to do a photography project together. We discussed how we could come up with an idea and we could each focus on one theme and bring the three together in a photography project. I think in order to get a good grade for my final dissertation I feel it’ll probably be better if I produce two or more products for my final piece, maybe a photography piece as well as a moving artefact using photography as well using the technique ‘stop motion’.

Here is an example of a stop motion video that I have found I could maybe try and do something like this as a group project as well as a photography project to support it

I think this video is really good, it must have took absolutely ages to make it, this is something I would love to achieve for my final dissertation.
This is all I have came up with so far… over the christmas holiday I will start to think more about an idea I could use for my final project and use research to support this idea to post on my blog.

Reflection….

Loooking back at all the research and development of the three themes of spectacle, power and memory I have learnt a lot about how these themes are present in different types of media. I have enjoyed exploring these themes through different types of media and looking at them more in depth with the theories surrounding them.
Reflecting on all three of my artefacts I think my memory artefact which is the one I made last is my best artefact. I feel it is an artefact that portrays a little bit of me which I wanted to achieve through this artefact. I think my artefacts as progressed as I have explored the different themes but I am not 100% happy with any of them. I feel there are still areas in film making that I can improve on, I feel I didn’t really experiment with different techniques such as ‘cut ups’ or ‘stop motion’ as much as I could have for this module this was due to lack of time, by the time I had come up with a solid idea I didn’t have much time to experiment and polish up my artefacts. Film making is not my strong point as I am not very technical, I feel I excel in other areas that we study in our course such as ‘the broadcast module’, but as a media production student I have to be versatile and be able to excel in all areas of my course.
I am willing to keep practising at film making as I’d like to develop my skills in this area.

For this research and development module we are required to give feedback on other peoples artefacts to show that we are looking at other peoples artefacts and giving them fair and critical feedback on their pieces of work. I think it is important to receive constructive criticism from other peers as it helps us to develop and better our work in the future.

My Memory Artefact…

This is my finished memory artefact, I am quite pleased with it as I think it is more personal to me and is something different to my other artefacts which is what the obstruction was for this theme. I had a few problems when it came to publishing and making this artefact.
At first when it came to putting the artefact together on moviemaker, I tried to upload my videos off my phone onto moviemaker to start editing them and putting them together for my artefact but then the program wouldnt accept the format of the videos. I tried everything to try and convert them I downloaded different file converters that I found on the internet and none of them worked for me.
In the workshop with Mez I discussed this problem with some people in my group and they gave me a name of a website that I could go on which would convert my files for me. The program was called file hippo, after trying that I found that even that didn’t work. I was beginning to lose hope and thought I’d have to scrap my idea and come up with another one but then I remembered that I knew how to convert youtube files into media files for me to edit in moviemaker.
I uploaded all my videos off my phone onto youtube and then converted them as youtube files and this worked me thank god!
Another issue I came across when I’d finished my artefact and uploaded the finished piece onto youtube to publish to my blog was that Youtube decided to wipe the song I had as my audio for the piece. The song is by starstrukk featuring Katy Perry, it is a fairly new song so I’m guessing thats why youtube wiped it off my artefact it was because I didn’t have the copyrights for it. I was really gutted as I’d spent time editing the film so that it went with the music. I then found another song which I admit doesn’t go as well with the song as the other one did, but I think it works well with it, also the words to the song just about sums me n my friends up.

Putting together my idea…

My out takes
I am now starting to think about putting my idea together now,I have already got lots of video footage on my phone that I’m planning on including in my film. It is all quite good stuff, but today at university my friends and I decided to make a video to add to my artefact. I wanted to create a prank video something funny to add to my artefact along with my other footage, so my friend Adam bought along his ‘fake fart noise’ little toy and me and my friends Stacey and Charlotte decided to walk around with him to try and catch peoples reactions to the fart noise on my phone.
This attempt however failed as one- the fart noise was not heard on the video on my phone and two- the people didn’t really react to it in the way we wanted them to.

This is another attempt at a ‘staged prank’ this one, I was meant to ‘accidently’ to be filming when Adam walked past and did a big fart (using his fart toy) and then with it all being quiet it would have been funny and something to add to my film. Instead it didn’t quite work out that way instead Adam just walks past and my video doesn’t pick up the sound of the fart toy so it doesn’t end up being as funny as we initially intended it to be. Instead of using these two videos for my artefact I am posting them onto my blog as out takes to give sortof a feel for what I was trying to do here.
I think I will just stick to the videos I have on my film already, as I have enough of them for my artefact to be interesting and show my different funny memories I share with my friends.

Transactive Memory Theory…

Through looking at all the aspects surrounding the theme of memory I feel that I should also touch upon the theories that surround it. I am finding this module very interesting and really like getting stuck into researching different areas surrounding each theme. I found this information from a York University website but I think the information I have found illustrates how we can determine different memories by communicating with eachother which sparks the memory within us and brings it back to us whilst discussing the memory;

Transactive memory theory is based on the idea that individual members can serve as external memory aids to each other (Wegner, 1987). Members are able to benefit from each other’s knowledge and expertise if they develop a good, shared understanding of who knows what in the group/unit. A transactive memory system is built on the distinction between internal and external memory encoding. Often, individuals encode new knowledge internally, in their own memory. However, even more often individuals encode or use knowledge encoded externally (in diaries, in books, or even in other people’s memory). In these cases, the individual internally encodes the label (subject) of the knowledge as well as its location but not the knowledge itself.
Transactive memory systems are built on this view of individuals playing the role of external memory for other individuals who – in turn – encode meta-memories (i.e. memories about the memories of others). Wegner (1995) proposes that two types of meta-memories are maintained in people’s minds – information about the subjects of knowledge of each member (i.e. areas of expertise) and information about the locations of the knowledge. Knowledge is encoded, stored, and retrieved from the collective memory through various transactions between individuals, based on their meta-memories.

Findings of both field and laboratory research indicate that transactive memory can serve as a facilitator of group performance, where groups whose members are aware of the knowledge and expertise of other group members perform better than groups whose members do not possess such knowledge. Transactive memory systems enable groups to better utilize the knowledge that their members possess, and to reach higher levels of performance than they would have reached without such a system (for a review, see Moreland & Argote, 2003).

Members of small groups, who are co-located, can initially use surface information to infer rough estimates of “who knows what” (Wegner, 1986), and can then reach greater accuracy in the attribution of expertise to other group members through common experiences (Moreland, Argote & Krishnan, 1998), such as group training (Liang, Moreland & Argote, 1995), and group discussion (Rulke & Rao, 2000).

Nostalgia…

Researching into different types of memory I thought nostalgia would be a good thing to research. It is something that relates to my memory idea as I am planning on using memories from the past..

The term nostalgia describes a longing for the past, often in idealized form.[1] The word is a learned formation of a Greek compound, consisting of νόστος, nóstos, “returning home”, a Homeric word, and άλγος, álgos, “pain” or “ache”. It was described as a medical condition, a form of melancholy, in the Early Modern period, and came to be an important topic in Romanticism.[1]

In common, less clinical usage, nostalgia includes a general interest in past eras and their personalities and events, especially the “good old days” of a few generations back recast in an idyllic light, such as the Belle Époque, Merry England, Neo-Victorian aesthetics, the US “Antebellum” Old South, etc. Sometimes it is brought on by a sudden image, or rememberance of something from one’s childhood.

The term was coined in 1688 by Johannes Hofer (1669-1752) in his Basel dissertation. Hofer introduced nostalgia or mal du pays “homesickness” for the condition also known as mal du Suisse “Swiss illness” or Schweizerheimweh “Swiss homesickness”, because of its frequent occurrence in Swiss mercenaries who in the plains of lowlands of France or Italy were pining for their native mountain landscapes. English homesickness is a loan translation of nostalgia.

Cases resulting in death were known and soldiers were sometimes successfully treated by being discharged and sent home. Receiving a diagnosis was, however, generally regarded as an insult. In 1787 Robert Hamilton (1749-1830) described a case of a soldier suffering from nostalgia, who received sensitive and successful treatment:

“In the year 1781, while I lay in barracks at Tin mouth in the north of England, a recruit who had lately joined the regiment,…was returned in sick list, with a message from his captain, requesting I would take him into the hospital. He had only been a few months a soldier; was young, handsome, and well-made for the service; but a melancholy hung over his countenance, and wanness preyed on his cheeks. He complained of a universal weakness, but no fixed pain; a noise in his ears, and giddiness of his head….As there were little obvious symptoms of fever, I did not well know what to make of the case…Some weeks passed with little alteration…excepting that he was evidently become more meager. He scarcely took any nourishment…became indolent…He was put on a course of strengthening medicines; wine was allowed him. All proved ineffectual. He had now been in the hospital three months, and was quite emaciated, and like one in the last stage of consumption… On making my morning visit, and inquiring, as usual, of his rest at the nurse, she happened to mention the strong notions he had got in his head, she said, of home, and of his friends. What he was able to speak was constantly on this topic. This I had never heard of before…He had talked in the same style, it seems, less or more, ever since he came into the hospital. I went immediately up to him, and introduced the subject; and from the alacrity with which he resumed it.. I found it a theme which much affected him. He asked me, with earnestness, if I would let him go home. I pointed out to him how unfit he was, from his weakness to undertake such a journey [he was a Welchman] till once he was better; but promised him, assuredly, without farther hesitation, that as soon as he was able he should have six weeks to go home. He revived at the very thought of it… His apeitite soon mended; and I saw in less than a week, evident signs of recovery.”

Memory…

In the lecture today we were introduced to different techniques used by film makers called the cut ups technique, as our obstruction for our memory artefact is to do something we have never tried before, we have been introduced to this technique to give us an idea of a technique we could use. I am finding the lectures during this term very interesting as usually it is hard to concerntrate in lectures but I find by showing us more visual stuff to illustrate techniques that we could use, I am learning a lot more this way. I think it is because I am more of a visual learner I learn more by watching something being done than reading about it.
Here is a video found on the 310MC blog that illustrates the cut up technique;

The cut up technique is a way of re making your experience of the world around you of taking bits of it and reordering them to produce chance and unusual juxtapositions.

In the workshop with Mez in the afternoon, we were set a little task to test our memories. Mez read us a simple story in which we all had to carefully take in and try and remember. She then said that She’d come back to us in twenty minutes and we’ve have to write down what we’d remembered from the story.
I tried to hang on to her every word as my memory seems to be awful lately, when I was little I could remember everything now that I’m older I don’t seem to remember a lot. My friends say I have a weird memory, I remember really stupid things that have happened to us in the past that they don’t remember. I don’t seem to remember the important things that I need to like people’s names and Uni work deadlines for example

Here is the story Mez read to us;

War of the Ghosts

One night two young men from Egulac went down to the river to hunt seals and while they were there it became foggy and calm. Then they heard war-cries, and they thought: “Maybe this is a war-party”. They escaped to the shore, and hid behind a log. Now canoes came up, and they heard the noise of paddles, and saw one canoe coming up to them. There were five men in the canoe, and they said: “What do you think? We wish to take you along. We are going up the river to make war on the people.” One of the young men said,”I have no arrows.” “Arrows are in the canoe,” they said. “I will not go along. I might be killed. My relatives do not know where I have gone. But you,” he said, turning to the other, “may go with them.” So one of the young men went, but the other returned home. And the warriors went on up the river to a town on the other side of Kalama. The people came down to the water and they began to fight, and many were killed. But presently the young man heard one of the warriors say, “Quick, let us go home: that Indian has been hit.” Now he thought: “Oh, they are ghosts.” He did not feel sick, but they said he had been shot. So the canoes went back to Egulac and the young man went ashore to his house and made a fire. And he told everybody and said: “Behold I accompanied the ghosts, and we went to fight. Many of our fellows were killed, and many of those who attacked us were killed. They said I was hit, and I did not feel sick.” He told it all, and then he became quiet. When the sun rose he fell down. Something black came out of his mouth. His face became contorted. The people jumped up and cried. He was dead.

Here are the things that I remembered from this task;
* War of the Ghosts (title of story)
* Two men went fishing in ‘eggyolk’ or ‘eggnog’ for seals
* It was calm and foggy
* They heard war cries and there were lots of canoes
* The men in the canoes asked the two men to go to war with them, one man said no but said to the other you can go
* The man said ‘I have no arrows’ and the other said ‘there in the canoes’
* They began shooting with the arrows and the man got shot but didn’t feel sick
* The man then went home and said ‘I think i’ve been fighting with ghosts, I got shot and didn’t feel sick’
* When it became darker, the man started to feel sick, his mouth filled with black stuff, he was dead.

Looking at my attempt at remembering the story, I haven’t done too badly, well not as bad as I thought I would anyway. I’m really suprised I got the title right, I think the only reason I have remebered most of the story is that I listened thoroughly to the story when Mez was reading it and kept going over parts of it in my head in the twenty minutes we had to digest the information. When we all compared what we had remembered from the story afterwards it was really funny as most people remembered the location the men were from as ‘eggnog’ at least 60 percent of the group including me wrote this down. The actual name of the place that the men were from in the story is ‘egulac’, I suppose we got the ‘egg’ bit right.

My memory idea…

For my memory idea I think I am going to go with the brief idea I mentioned in a previous blog entry. I intend to use the videos I have on my phone and do a sort of ‘funny videos’ compilation artefact for my memory artefect. It fits into the theme memory very well as each short video on my phone is a memory for me (something funny I have chosen to keep on my phone to share with others).
Also by going with this idea, I am doing something different to what I have previously done for my other artefacts. In my previous artefacts I have chosen to use footage from the internet but for this artefact I will be using my own footage filmed by myself and therefore making it more personal to me.

I have decided to look at different types of research for memory to help me with my artefact, I have found a nice passage that relates to my power artefact idea, using personal memories of mine to portray within my film.

Throughout our life, we create a library of memories that we share with our friends and family, because not all of them were part of that time in our life. We share happy and sad memories for those who are close at heart, while for others won’t ever, get to know it all, for they were just fleeing through our life.

Some memories can be fun to talk about, while others can be quite embarrassing or disturbing; but our memories are what make us who we are. So whether happy or sad, hold and cherish them, they’re your personal libraries, which only you can recall.

When we were young we had many people to share all type of memories with, as time moves on the memories still in tack we make new friends; young adults just like us; so with new family and friends our library continues to expand. As we grow and life continues onward, we recall the memories, we try to remember them all. We re-tell them to new friends, while creating many more, and with new family members our library continues to grow. Memories are great to share, some with only words, while others have some photos, which help bring them alive.

Over time as our circle of family and friend grow smaller, we still have our memories to relive, and tell them when we can.

Then when the time has come and we stand before the Gates of Heaven it is there that all the sad and worrisome memories will quickly fade away. At that time we hope to stand before the lord with the happy ones engulfed within our soul, as he shows us the bigger picture. Things happen for a reason, people come and go, in and out of our lives and the Lord will show you why. He will tell us all we need to know and rejoice with us in the glory of the happy memories we cherished. found on http://socyberty.com/philanthropy/memories-created-never-forgotten/

I started to try and find videos that somehow relate to my idea of using a collection of funny memories off my phone for some inspiration for my memory artefact. I typed in ‘teenage memories’ into Youtube and found something that resembles what I want to do for my memory artefact. The video is made up off videos found on a persons phone and the people in the film are narrating over the video footage and sharing their favourite memories they have shared together with their friends.

Thinking about the theme of Memory…

Like I have done with both the other themes I have looked into the meaning of the word ‘Memory’ in order to help me get more of a grasp of the word.

Memory- In psychology, memory is an organism’s mental ability to store, retain, and recall information. Traditional studies of memory began in the fields of philosophy, including techniques of artificially enhancing the memory. The late nineteenth and early twentieth century put memory within the paradigms of cognitive psychology. In recent decades, it has become one of the principal pillars of a branch of science called cognitive neuroscience, an interdisciplinary link between cognitive psychology and neuroscience.
From an information processing perspective there are three main stages in the formation and retrieval of memory:
• Encoding or registration (receiving, processing and combining of received information)
• Storage (creation of a permanent record of the encoded information)
• Retrieval, recall or recollection (calling back the stored information in response to some cue for use in a process or activity
Sensory memory corresponds approximately to the initial 200 – 500 milliseconds after an item is perceived. The ability to look at an item, and remember what it looked like with just a second of observation, or memorization, is an example of sensory memory. With very short presentations, participants often report that they seem to “see” more than they can actually report.
The storage in sensory memory and short-term memory generally have a strictly limited capacity and duration, which means that information is available for a certain period of time, but is not retained indefinitely. By contrast, long-term memory can store much larger quantities of information for potentially unlimited duration (sometimes a whole life span). The capacity can also approach infinity (unlimited). For example, given a random seven-digit number, we may remember it for only a few seconds before forgetting, suggesting it was stored in our short-term memory. On the other hand, we can remember telephone numbers for many years through repetition; this information is said to be stored in long-term memory. (found on wikipedia.com)

After looking more into the meaning of ‘memory’ it has helped me understand about how I can relate it to certain areas of the media for my research.

Looking at Memory in relation to art

When considering ‘memory’ when discussing artists such as Pablo Picasso we should think about the idea that comes about for a piece of art.
The artist has a unique idea about what to paint, which is stored in their mind.
We, as observers use our ‘memory’ if something attracts us we like it ‘we remember it’. An artist could come up with an idea inspired by a ‘personal memory’, evolving an interest in the memory of observed and experienced events.
I was drawn to the painting ‘girl in a chemise’ at the Tate Modern as it inspired me and I remembered it, it created a story in my head which was stored in my ‘memory’.
When looking at the presence of ‘memory’ in art I came across an article which highlights this in an individuals work.

“To me photography functions as a fossilization of time,” says Tokyo-born
Hiroshi Sugimoto, who uses traditional photographic techniques to produce images that preserve memory and time. “I start feeling that this is the creation of the universe and I am witnessing it,” he says of his black-and-white seascapes. Sugimoto recalls the influence of Marcel Duchamp on his art, and especially on his own exhibition where he has mounted giant white plinths with photographs of 19th-century machines. These are juxtaposed with images of three-dimensional models that illustrate mathematical theories. “It’s not just a photography show,” he says, “It’s like a space sculpture.”

http://www.pbs.org/art21/series/seasonthree/memory.html

A transplant from New York, Susan Rothenberg produces paintings that reflect her move to an isolated home studio in New Mexico and her evolving interest in the memory of observed and experienced events. In her early career, she became noted for her series of large paintings of horses. Now, however, she does not find herself creating series. “The paintings are more of a battle to satisfy myself now and I don’t have a sense of series,” she says. Drawing on material from her daily life, she confesses that in her current work “the second painting seems to complete the series.” Sitting in her studio, Rothenberg speaks candidly about her working process and her occasional battles with artistic block.

http://www.pbs.org/art21/series/seasonthree/memory.html

Like I did with the other two themes I will now research how the theme of memory is present in television shows such as the ‘X Factor’.

Memory

The presence of ‘memory’ in television shows such as the X Factor works in many different ways. We ‘remember’ good or bad auditions as they have entertained us. The ‘theme tune’ that gets us going and is stored in our ‘memory’ so that we recognise the show when it is on and the advertising for it. At the end of each show we get a ‘taster’ of whats coming up the following week to keep us interested and store in our ‘memory’ for next week. Voice over is good tool that is used to spark our memory when previous archives of a different year are used to illustrate previous auditions.

Below is an article which defines how memory is illustrated through television.

Performing memory on television: documentary and the 1960s
Myra Macdonald
This article examines the performance of memory within British television documentaries that explore the 1960s. Taking ‘cultural memory’ as its theoretical frame, it investigates how the meaning of the sixties is negotiated in the interplay between witness memories, voice-over commentary and archive footage. The specificities of televisual codes and conventions in animating or constraining ‘memory work’ are examined through an analysis of various aspects of memory performance, including narrational style, bodily expressiveness, and physical location. These differing ways of performing memory are shown to struggle for authority against voice-over commentary and archive footage. Commentary, in addition to subordinating witness testimony, constructs an artificial distinction between forms of rebelliousness that were often interrelated in practice. The three categories of archive footage – film of music festivals and protest demonstrations, and excerpts from 1960s’ television or films – are demonstrated to exist in varying relations to individual memories. While music festival footage is largely detached from witness recollections, memories of protest demonstrations act principally as commentary on the archive film. Only the interleaving of individual memories and archive excerpts from television or fiction film grants more authority to the voices of witnesses, but even here memory work, as a process, remains bounded.

http://screen.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/47/3/327

How Memory is present in radio
Like I did with the other themes I will discuss how memory is present in radio. In radio shows the jingle in the show ‘triggers memory’. After every few songs presenters repeat earlier discussions ‘what went on earlier’. This is mainly so new listeners who have just tuned in can keep up with the show and old ones are reminded of what happened earlier.

Memory …

Yesterday we had our first lecture on ‘memory’ and were told about our obstruction for our artefact for this theme which is;
The obstruction for this theme is open:

Do something very different something that you haven’t tried before. This could be moving image, stills, audio, drawing, animation.

Also on your blog think of ten things that have been significant in your life. What makes these significant moments memorable?

Thinking about things which I could do for my memory artefact which would be different to my other artefacts, I have come up with a different idea. I am thinking that I could maybe do a compilation of videos found on my phone, illustrating how the memories we share with our friends are the memories we cherish forever. Also, going back to what Mez said in the workshop I think that by using footage found on my phone it would be more personal to me.

In the lecture we were also told to think of our top ten experiences and include them in our blog. Here is my list;
1. Swimming with Dolphins- This was one of the most memorable moments in my life. When I was eleven during a holiday in Malta my mum and dad suprised me by paying for me to swim with the dolphins in a waterpark over there I had such a fantastic time and it has always been a dream of mine to swim with them as they are my favourite animal so they made my dream come true

2. Going to New York- In April I went on a university trip to New York, it was meant to be used as part of our work experience module so we were meant to film documentaries and stuff over there, Myself and my friends however, took this great oppurtunity to use it as a holiday and shop till we dropped and see all the sights over there. Steve, our module leader didn’t mind us doing this as we’re all self confessed shoppoholics and we all had our work experience placements sorted so we didn’t need to use the trip to make a film project.

3. Dancing at the Millenium Dome- When I was eleven, I auditioned for a part in a play called ‘Coventry our town story’. It was a play that was travelling all over the west midlands and then onto the Millenium Dome basically telling coventrys story. I auditioned as a dancer and I ended up as one of the few people that got through, I loved it! especially the experience of dancing at the Millenium Dome.

4. Being on the News- Last year when I was doing my work experience at Mercia FM (a local radio station). There was lots of media hype about the fact they had a ’7 year old’ agony aunt on the breakfast show. Elaina the seven year old agony aunt had her own slot on the Monday Breakfast show and people used to phone and text in their problems and she used to answer them in her own way. One day whilst I was there, a television crew for the local news channel came down and wanted to film Elaina doing what she does best, one of the crew approached and wanted me to appear on the item for the news by proposing Elaina a question for her to solve live on the news. Of course I obliged! Love a bit of fame I do! Below is the news report, I am the first person that comes on the screen when they say they have people that want to ask her for advice. I ask her what I should do to encourage my boyfriend to tidy up.

5. Passing my Driving Test- I was really chuffed when I passed my driving test first time round because to be honest I didn’t think I would. My secret was just to chat away to the examiner and hopefully they wouldn’t notice my bad driving. But I’m so glad I did pass my test, its been a year now since I passed I wonder what I did before I learnt to drive. It is so nice to have my own independance and be able to go where I want when I want.

6. Going to Paris- As my boyfriend works at Barclays bank and is a customer sales advisor. As he got a grade A in his sales percentages for one year he got awarded an all expenses paid trip for two to paris on Barclays. He of course took me with him, we had such a great time there visiting all the sights Paris had to offer including ‘The Aiffel Tower’ which was absolutely breath taking!

7. Being in Love- The feeling of being in love is absolutely priceless, being in love with someone and knowing they love and care for you back is the best feeling in the world!

8. Getting my First Car- This felt like the best moment of my life when I bought my car, it was a brand new black Citroen C1 I thought I was the bee’s Knee’s when I drove it for the first time. Unfortunately reality has kicked in now and it has hit me that it is actually on finance and I have to pay £112 a month for it for another two years! but the feeling was good while it lasted.

9. Being a tourist in London for a few days- I spent a few days in London with my boyfriend two months ago and we had such a great time. It was a nice to be a tourist and see all the sights, we went to buckingham palace, had a go on the London Eye and went to Emirates stadium for the day as my boyfriends a huge Arsenal fan. We had such a brill time and I can’t wait to return again in the near future… this time to see a show in the west end.

10. Going to Disneyland in Florida with the family- When I was about ten years old, me and my family went on a holiday to Disneyland in Florida for two weeks. It was such an amazing holiday, seeing Mickey and Minnie mouse really turns you into a little kid again. We went to all the adventure parks and waterparks whilst we were over there and we were sad to go home!