Hello!
First off let me apologise for not posting in erm well pretty much three weeks.The world of Miss Pontin has been rather hectic what with The Tom Hiddleston Fanbook,Uni Offers and The Empire Awards. .
So for those interested a bit of a refresh and catch up.
Valentines Day-Moulin Rouge, Moving House
My last post was before I went to go and see Moulin Rouge on the big screen. Let me tell you it`s so much better watching it on the big screen, in a cinema with barely any people. You notice different things when you watch it on a big screen rather than the countles times I`ve watched it on DVD.
I never knew that Satine was talking to her bird when she says `We`re going to fly away from here, oh yes we are`. Funny the different things you notice. It still didn`t stop me from mouthing every single line and getting a few strange looks. I was expecting it to be one big Moulin Rouge sing song which I was rather disappointed about, either way it was still a great Valentines day well spent. Seeing the film and then coming back to Dover for dinner at Weatherspoons.
I then came home to find some lovely comments about the latest chapter of Moving House which was nice. I have a general idea of where I want things to go with it it`s just having the time at the moment as my life seems to have been taken over by Tom Hiddleston and the fanbook.
I suppose in a way it`s quite like putting together a magazine. As though I`m the editor and chief of it. Pretty cool considering that`s what I want to do with my life. A career as an editor and chief at a magazine, preferably a film magazine. Empire or Total Film. I don`t mind which. This brings me on perfectly to the next part of the blog post.
Uni Offers
Back in January I sent off my uni application and got emails within those next few days that all had received my application. It was just a case of waiting. I didn`t have to wait long as on February 28th I got my first email from UCAS. You know, the dreaded `Something has been changed on your UCAS application. Please log in to Track`. I dread those emails, still do, even though I`ve received 4 out of my 5 offers.
Anyway my first thought? I feel sick. The second, this can go either way. It will either be good news or bad news. It turned out to be good news as when I logged in to track I got the email I so wanted. An invitation to an interview at Southampton Uni on the 6th March. I couln`t stop shaking. My first choice of uni and my first interview invitation. This must have been fate. Luckily enough mum was at home so we shared the news together. I couldn`t stop shaking.
The only problem was, a few days prior to this email I got an email from Paul, the man who runs `The People`s Movies` the blog I write for offering me the chance to go to the Press Junket of The Host and interview Saorise Ronan, Max Irons and Stephanie Meyer.
There shouldn`t have been a thought about making the decision but in the back of my mind i did think it through and wondered what would have happened if id have gone to the press junket rather than my interview.
I need not worried as I accepted my uni offer to get an email a few days later saying it had been reschudeled to the following week. I`m also glad I didnt accept the press junket as that got cancelled a few days before due to their schedule being changed.
A few weeks after that I got offers from Twickenham and Winchester plus an applicant open day for Luton.
University of Bedfordshire:Luton Campus:
Luton was great. I felt like i belonged there like i did at Southampton. I got the impression that the course at Luton that all the journalism students worked together. I did like their Newsroom though. It was nice to experience what a lecturer was like. You dont quite realise how big the screens are until your sitting in the middle of that lecturer theatre.
The lecturer, Kate Ironside asked us to come and sit in the front few rows. She asked u why we thought that and it turned out it was so you can hear better and at press junkets your more likely to get questions answered and if your boss is watching it on the news and sees you at the front then he knows you`re doing your job properly.
We then took part in an excersise about what makes a breaking story. Why do magazine journo students need to know what makes a breaking news story? Kate used the example of Richard Hammond`s car accident.
I`d never really thought about it but its true! We then got a guided tour of the facilities and got the chance to have a one on one chat with her once the day was over if we wanted it. I did and thought I would benefit from it, especially as id lugged my portfolio around with me all day. I just wanted to make sure I was on the right page and wavelength. Kate seemed impressed with what I had done and told me to keep it up. This reassured me for my interview at Southampton.
Southampton Solent University:
Southampton was slightly different however. My interview was on Wednesday 13th March(that just proves how long I havent written on this blog for.) Me and mum went up the night before as we ddnt thik we would have been able to do the three and a half train journey the same morning to get to the university for 12.
Instead we went up the Tuesday afternoon once mum had finished work and spent the evening eating Domino`s Pizza and flicking through the channels on the hotel tv. Very Gilmore Girls to say the least. The next morning I woke up in sunny Southampton a nervous wreck.
We had our hotel breakfast of crossaints, orange juice and a muffin delivered to our room before going for a wonder around the area, coming back to the hotel to get ready and check out before getting a taxi to the university.
As soon as I walked in I had the familiar feeling of belonging and seeing myself there like I did on the open day back in October of last year. The wait seemed to take forever. It wasnt long before I recognised Rachel Lamb-the course leader of Magazine Journalism and Feature Writing who I remembered from the open day. She remembered me too as she said that id come to one before. We then waited for the other two students(I was expecting more) before going down to the Journalism part of the uni. We were taken in to a room full of Macs and asked to write 250 words about why we wanted to be on this particular course while Rachel came round to have a one on one chat with each of us.
I was the only one who bought my portfolio which I was surprised about. She flicked through it and told me that there was certainly no underestimating my passion for film. I smiled at this and told her about the Downton Fanbook I made and talked her a bit through my articles. I also told her about this blog. I got in with the task in hand whilst she finished flicking through it. Rachel then asked if Id finished. I said no and she said that she wanted 250 words, not 6000. I guess she was pleased with my enthusiasm. We then met the third years of film magazine `Pulse` which id get to work on. Rachel then said that I was the film fan and would fit in well here. We then met our lecturers. I had a bonus there too. One of the lecturers asked if any of us was familiar with InDesign. I raised my hand. He seemed impressed and said `Its not that hard to use when you get used to is it?` I shook my head. I came out feeling like I had done my best but that it wasnt enough.
Rachel must have thought different as I arrived home to find an email with a conditional offer from Southampton Solent. I just needed to send them my grades. I sent them the next day and then recieved this a few days ago. I`m now an official Solent student, if I want it. I think I do but a few weeks ago I got an offer from Middlesex(my second choice). My dad cant see why I want to go and have a look round when Ive got Southampton, the uni ive wanted since I was fourteen. I cant either really but I didnt think i was going to get southampton so id kind of set my sights on Middlesex just incase so i think i want to go and have a look around for my own piece of mind. We`ll see what happens.
Why we love Tom Hiddleston-Messages from the Hiddlestoners:A Fanbook:
As many of you were aware from previous blog posts since July last year I`ve been creating a fanbook for the amazing actor Tom Hiddleston to let him know how much we love him. Submissions came in in there hundreds. 251 emails in my inbox plus messages on social networking sites Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. I was overwhelmed by the amount of submissions I recieved.
Once the deadline closed on Sunday 10th March and once my Sothampton interview was out the way I spent every waking minute thinking or working on the fanbook. I gathered everything into a word document before copy and pasting it to another word document to be converted into a PDF. As mentioned from my previous post the PDF got finished and was firstly put up online on March 21st. It then got put up another 6 times because things weren`t added or pages were missing etc. The final and finshed edition was put up on 25th March-A REALLY GREAT DAY! Which I`ll go into later on in this post.
Anyway so the PDF got put up online, nice comments recieved about it etc. The Friday before the event I go to start printing everything off only to find that there was No wayyyy it was going to print all 236 pages of the PDF. It got to 30 pages and the ink run out and it would have cost another £200 to print it all off!! I looked at my mum hopeful, her look said it all- there was no way she going to let me spend that much on ink and for someone I dont even know. Bugger! What to do now. Upset was an understatement. Fuming,Pissed Off were how I felt. The book and idea I had been working on for a year wasnt going to go to plan. Now what do you do? I went to bed.
The next morning I woke up to a text from my friend Brittany who I was going to meet the next day at the Empire Awards saying that it had been confirmed that Tom was going due to a tweet he had been sent by Edith Bowman. Crap! I woke up that morning even more upset. I cried.
Mum then suggested I do the next best thing. Write him a letter. Write him a letter explaining what you had planned to do and that its avaliable to view online and that a physical copy will be sent to him.
People had warned me that Tom probably wouldnt have been able to accept the gift bag with the book and many other gifts inside it which was proved in the email I recieved from Luke Windsor(Tom`s Publicist) the Saturday before the Empire Awards. He replied saying that events were possibly the worst time to hand over gifts and it would be better to send it to Hamilton Hodell(his agency) for it to the be forwarded onto his home address.
Either way, I wrote the letter explaining my idea and plan with my Twitter name and went to meet my friend Sophie who was coming with me the next day. We spent the evening watching Girls in Love and Mamma Mia before going to bed at 11 as we were up at 4 for the early morning the next day.
Jameson Empire Awards 2013:
Waking up at 4 to be on the 5 o clock coach to London was difficult to say the least. Why I get pleasure out of standing in the cold for hours waiting for my fav celebs I`ve no idea. Needless to say we done it and with my letter to Tom in my bag we got on the coach to London. Me and Sophie arrived in London at 7:30am and then went and met Brittany and her friend Elliott to make our way to the venue. Two tubes later we arrived at Marble Arch and made our way to Grosvenor House Hotel. We found it about half an hour later arriving at 9am. Then the waiting began.
There wasn`t many people there when we arrived but more people began to arrive as the time past. At around 11 me and Sophie decided to take a walk and stretch our legs and go in search of a loo. That proved difficult than I thought as with it being a Sunday all the shops on Oxford Street were closed till atleast 12. We finally found a KFC and got some lunch while we were at it before heading back to the hotel just in time to be put in the pens. It was so squished. Far more squished than any of the previous events anyway.
It was fun watching them set everything up needless to say. Saw Chris Hewiit,Empire Journo who I got a few tweets from a few days earlier as I asked him whether Tom was going to the event or not. Also saw Alex Zane which was a huge deal for me as he`s been my journo inspiration for ages. Really want his job! As soon as Sophie saw him she said how she recognised him. I told her it was Alex Zane and that he was famous for doing things for Sky Movies and that he was also a ambasador for the 60 Second Film Award along with Tom and Joanne Froggatt.
She immediately said she wanted his autograph, I on the other hand wanted his job. One of the men setting up heard her as we were right by the carpet as you can tell from the photo below. He then said that he was busy and thats it difficult for them to come over and chat when there working. Just as he said that Alex looked like he had a spare moment so we called him over. Sophiegot an autograph whilst I got a photo. Pretty cool if I say so myself. It`s not everyday you can say you met Alex Zane!
Before all this I began to get to the moaning point, the point where I moan about why I do this and cant feel my legs. My legs literally wouldnt move the whole entire day it was that cold!
I have to admit I was surprised about how young some of the journalists were but it turned out they were uni students who got the guest list and briefing before going inside to see the show. To say I was jealous was an understatent. But to also say `hey that could be me in a few years` is pretty cool too.
Everything was set up around half three and all the journalists, photographers, press etc all began to arrive. That only means one thing. The celebs will arrive soon.
Around 4 they began to arrive. That was when it turned manic. Being in such a small pen isnt a good idea in the first place, even more so when the autograph hunters that havent been there that long start pushing and shoving you to get autographs its gets annoying.
Tom was among one of the first to arrive. My mission was to hand him the letter. I knew as soon as he arrived that wasnt going to happen. Everyone went mental. I could, in that moment certainly see what Luke meant. Tom signed autographs and took a few photos with fans before going onto the red carpet. I was lucky enough to see him do his first interview and got these amazing photos of him.
I then ended up having to get Luke`s attention to hand over the letter. He finally saw me and turned around and got Tom`s PA to come over to me and take the letter. My mission was done. The letter had been handed to someone in his team. Now I could enjoy myself, not that I wasnt before.
The event continued and more celebrities arrived including Daniel Radcliffe, Dame Helen Mirren, Dexter Flechter, Danny Boyle, Martin Freeman and Joanne Froggatt who I got really excited about seeing as I`m a huge Downton fan. Got some gorgeous pictures of her and her autograph. Also saw Jonathon Ross, Douglas Booth and Jodie Whittaker.
It was all over by 6 but I had successfully handed over my letter and got some gorgeous pictures of Tom Hiddleston and Joanne Froggatt. I got on the tube and coach that night a very tired but happy girl.
The next morning I woke up around 8 as Sophie had to get to uni for 10. She left about 8:45 and I spent the morning uploading my pictures and catching up on all the new photos and interviews from the previous day. I have to admit I woke up on a bit of a low that day because everything I had been working on was over. I also worried that Tom wouldn`t recieve my letter. I was proved wrong at 5:00 that day. I had just got back from picking up mums prescription from the Chemist. I didnt take my phone or Ipod with me as I was only going down the rode. You should know thats unusual for me. In a way I`m glad I didnt because I dont know how I would have reacted.
I came back from the chemist and checked my phone. 6 new messages. Brittany, Laura and Hannah. Two from Twitter. Thinking that the ones from Twitter wouldnt be interesting I checked the others first.
Brittany: Be prepared to die at your Twitter.
Laura:Have you died yet?
Hannah: OMGOMGOMGEMILYEMILYEMILY!!
My Ipod was going crazy at the time but I didnt twig why until I saw the Twitter texts and logged onto Twitter to see the following Tweets from one Tom Hiddleston:
Needless to say I screamed, cried and I swear my heart stopped for a good five minnutes. It still hasnt sunk in and I dont think I ever will.
My twitter and facebook were going crazy with congratulations tweets and messages. I never in a million years expected for him to recieve that letter. I mean yes, i had handed it to one of his team but it didnt necessarily mean that he would recieve it. I also never expected to see his Twitter icon and name in my mentions. A bad day turned into an AMAZING day!!
I ordered the physical copy of the book the next day and should arrive any day now. So excited to see the final product and I cant believe I`m behind the whole thing. I dont think ive ever worked on anything that hard in my whole entire life.
For those who wish to view the final PDF version of the Why We Love Tom Hiddleston Fanbook you can do here:
http://issuu.com/search?q=emily%20pontin
Since March 25th the fanbook has been read by 2058 people with 7886 impressions and 102 downloads. Madness!!
19:
I cant believe I turned 19 yesterday! It was a lovely day spent with my family and friends. I recieved some lovely gifts and then went for lunch at Prezzo in Canterbury with my college friends Lucy, Sophie and Megan. It was lovely to catch up over a lovely meal of Spaghetti Bolognaise and this beaut of a pudding!
We then went for a drink at Weatherspoons before going our seperate ways. I came home to a few more cards and presents-my Wendy bag from my mum and nan. Apparently my nan saw it and exclaimed Wendy when she saw it! Haha aww i love my nan!
Also came home to this lovely chocolate birthday cake topped with melted mint areo chocolate and malteasers. Lush!
Entertainment Journo:
A few days ago I treated my nan to a bacon roll and cup of tea at a small restaurant in town. As we were waiting for our lunch I had a look at the Dover Express on the table. I had a days work experience there last year so it wasnt out of the ordinary for me to turn straight to the entertainment section of the paper that I had wrote whilst I was there to see that it wasnt there anymore. I wasnt happy to say the least.
When I done my day at the Dover I got asked to the Go Entertainment Section or the `sod it section` as nobody liked doing in. I was in my element and had great fun researching the latest film, book, tv and music releases and writing a bit about each one.
After me and nan had had our lunch I went home and told mum about it not being in there anymore. She suggested I email Kathy, the lady who chaperoned me whilst on work experience letting her know that it wasnt in there and to see if she needed someone to do it. She replied saying that she no longer worked there but said she had forwarded my email to the newsdesk.
They got back to me today and you are now looking at the Entertainment Journo for the Dover Express! Unfortunately its just work experience and I wont get paid but its a start, a foot in the door and a contact and its something i`ll enjoy doing.
So yeah! Thats my past few weeks summed up in a rather long post. Apologise. For those who stuck with it Thankyou. I wil now get back to updating everyday.
Lots of love
Emily
<3
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