Jacob Grainger

Jacob Grainger is a hobbyist photographer / filmmaker on our BA (Hons) Film and Media degree, making the most of his creativity as one of our Digital Student Ambassadors.

Why did you choose to study at ARU?

I decided to study at ARU after a long period of considering my options. My best friend was going to an Open Day here and asked if I would like to come along. I agreed and wound up in the Film & Media course talks, film and video-making being a big interest for us both.

The ARU course stood out to me in a way film courses at other universities hadn’t — namely the variety of modules, which allow for a wider coverage of the Film & Media industries. My ARU degree allows me to focus on many of my interests, like filmmaking, editing, graphic design and photography. Many other universities I visited wanted me to choose between them.

What did you study before coming to ARU?

ARU isn’t my first go at university. Before this I studied on a Cybersecurity course at a university much closer to my hometown. However, I did not enjoy that one bit and ended up dropping out after about six weeks. The course and teaching style just did not work for me.

Before that, I studied Business, Economics and Computer Science as A-level and GCSE optional subjects, Looking back, these likely led to my first university choice. But I really didn't enjoy those subjects and am much happier in the creative field.

Did you always know that you would go to university?

I was always on the fence about it, even before I decided to apply for my original cybersecurity degree. I wanted to take a gap year but felt pressured by my tutors in sixth form to make a decision, which ended up being the wrong one. This resulted in me taking some time out of education to truly make my mind up.

I always knew I wanted to go to university though — just not when and where. However, as time went on I found myself leaning towards the creative industries and I thought university would be the best option for that.

What inspired you to get involved with film and media in the first place?

I discovered YouTube at a very young age and I’ve consumed a lot of content ever since. Even at that age it was always a distant dream to make videos just like they did, but as I got older the dream evolved with me — not just wanting to make YouTube videos but full films, to really stretch the creative side of my mind, push limits and experiment with equipment and filmmaking processes. Making unique pieces is something I really want to take further, and I thought the best place to get me on that journey was university.

What's the most valuable thing you will take away from your course?

The valuable skills I’ve learned, for sure. Thanks to ARU I’ve had access to plenty of industry-standard software and equipment through their Media Services team, as well as training from tutors. This has boosted my confidence, meaning I will have a gentler learning curve when it comes to working in industry post-graduation.

People-skills come naturally with the course too, collaborating and working with people I've never met before with different creative visions has taught me to be flexible and willing to come to a joint solution to tackle collaborative projects.

Which aspects of your course have most helped your career development?

Being able to try working in industry with the guidance of one of my tutors. Over the summer last year, my tutor Mary and I collaborated to produce 19 promotional films for New Meaning Training.

It was great to get an insight into how the industry itself works without having to dive headfirst into it alone, which eased the nerves a bit for sure! Plus, it’s great to have opportunities like this to add to my CV to help me stand out from others within industry.

What do you hope to do when you graduate from ARU?

In all honesty, I don’t have a solid plan at present. However, I would love to work a role in the film industry — editing, camera work, postproduction and maybe even directing. I really enjoy being on a set and seeing how it all works behind the scenes, as well as contributing and collaborating to see a project come to life.

I’m confident that I’ll have plenty of options post-graduation, as my degree has already given me plenty of industry experience thanks to my tutors,. I’ve been able to try my hand at editing videos for clients having completed the summer project with my tutor Mary. The whole process of turning scraps of raw footage into finished films has been very fulfilling. and we’re incredibly proud of the end results. I definitely want to chase that feeling more for sure.

What piece of advice would you give to other students in your field?

There’s a lot of advice I’d like to give! As someone who took two gap years before education after dropping out of their previous university, I’d say it’s okay to take a step back from education to properly consider what you’d like to study.

There’s truly no pressure to dive straight into it — you won’t be hindered in any way and your university experience won’t suffer at all, even if you’re a couple of years older than many of your peers. After all, everyone in the room with you is a university student, just like you.

Also — and this is especially true for the creative industries — just give everything a go. There is no right or wrong in the creative field so just grab a camera and begin creating!

What was your favourite thing about studying in Cambridge, and what did you learn about it that you didn’t know before?

My favourite thing about Cambridge is how unlike a city it is for a city! Whilst it’s a step up from the small town in rural England that I moved from, it still retains that feeling of community, connection and security that, as a creative, is very important for me. I find it a lot easier to realise my potential if the environment itself has fewer barriers.

The coolest thing I’ve learned about Cambridge is that the first ever game of football with the modern rules we used today was played on Parker’s Piece (just a short walk from campus).

What projects are you currently working on, both on and off the course?

At present I have a few projects in the works. One of them is a non-fiction film / documentary. There’s not much to say on that yet as it’s still in the early stages of developing the idea.

Coupled with that, as an extracurricular activity, I’m learning how to operate a colour photography darkroom to make photographic prints of film photos I have shot myself.

As far as personal projects go, I always have some YouTube videos in the works — I’ve just released a 58-minute retrospective on my gap years from university.