Street fashion VT

As part of our television module at university, myself and two other girls created a VT about street fashion. 

We spoke to people around Birmingham about what they choose to wear and why, as well as asking them where they get their inspiration from. 

The VT was really fun to make, as luckily the weather was quite nice and we found a good range of people to ask about their fashion sense.

I loved presenting the VT and talking to people around Birmingham, especially as a lot of them were students therefore we could relate with them when they mentioned affordable fashion and where they get their inspiration from.

A lot of the people we asked said they got their inspiration from magazines, celebrities, or from looking at other people around Birmingham; something I think we can all relate to as there are so many different trends around at the moment.

Have a watch and let me know what you think!

Gemma x

Filming/Editing - Monica Pruselaityte

Director - Becky Windmill

Presenter - Gemma Brown

My first football game experience - Aston Villa vs. Sunderland (6-1)

On the 29th April 2013 I experienced going to my first football game!

Ever since I moved to Birmingham last year, me and my friends have said that we HAVE to go and watch Villa play as we walk or drive past the stadium every day. 

I'm not a huge football fan... I'll watch it if it's on and join in with whatever team the majority are supporting, but I have no clue about Premier Leagues and other leagues and who is in what. Plus, I think everyone should go to a football game at least once in their life, even if their not a fan, because the experience so good!

Waiting for the game to start

We were seated in the Upper Holte end, therefore we had a good overall view of the pitch. We sat down about 40 minutes before the game started so we were able to have a look around, take some photos, learn the rules... (!) and start to get excited! Both teams were warming up so that was also fun to watch. 

The game started at 20:00, and the stadium went wild as Aston Villa ran out of the tunnel and took their places on the pitch. I was already over excited and started to pick up the chants and songs that the Villa supporters were singing... often laughing my head off at what they were saying before joining in....

Not long in to the game, Villa scored! Now... I expected everyone to cheer loudly, a few hands in the air, maybe a high five to a friend. But no. Every Villa supporter was on their feet, jumping in the air, screaming, shouting, cheering, hugging anybody around them. So obviously we joined in...

After the excitement died down, the Villa suporters were hyped up at the fact we were ahead so early in the game, and it became clear that we were in the rowdy end of the stadium. Sunderland was next to score making it 1-1, and everyone in the stadium booed them... which I felt a bit mean for at first but then I remembered how much they get paid for kicking a ball around so joined in ;)

Aston Villa stadium

Before half time, Villa scored twice more bringing the score to 3-1! Every time they scored, the whole stadium (minus the Sunderland supporters) erupted with cheers and jumped up and down!

The second half began and so did the songs. Vile names were sung at the Sunderland manager, fingers pointed, and other random chants, that we slowly began to (unfortunately) pick up. However, we all found it hilarious and it got us even more excitable for when Villa scored again twice!

With the score at 5-1 to Aston Villa, our rowdy lot were chanting "we want six" and after about 10 minutes, we got six! 6-1 to Villa and everybody was screaming, shouting, cheering, jumping, and we even had a group hug with the guys in front who looked like they were almost in tears of joy!

My first experience at a football match was definitely one I'll never forget. The actual game was great, and there were loads of goals which made it a lot more interesting, especially as "our team" won. Looking back, the whole thing was so funny. I always comment on how 'in to the game' guys get when they watch football, but actually, I'll have to admit that being there amongst that many people who have so much passion for the team really makes you get involved and join in with the enthusiasm

Let me know if you were at the game if you've been to any similar!

Gemma x

Portfolio website

As part of our university media course, we had to make a portfolio website showcasing our skills and work experience. I'm not great with technology but I actually found this quite a fun assignment to do!

I used the website creator Wix, something that I would advise anyone wanting to make a website to use. It was so easy to pick up and allowed me to make anything I wanted on the site, including pictures, shapes, text and using lots of colours to make my website stand out.

Here's a link to my website if you would like to have a look...

http://gemmabrownmedia.wix.com/gemmabrown

As you can see, I chose to use lots of pictures of myself doing work experience as I felt this made it look more interesting and would make it more appealing for employers. This way, they didn't necessarily have to read all the ramble I had written about myself! and they could look at the pictures to see exactly what I had done :)

Have a look around and let me know what you think!
If you've also made anything similar, post it in the comments box and I'll have a look at yours too :) 

Gemma x

HeartFM - Race for Life

Earlier today I worked with Heart FM and Cancer Research to promote the up and coming events, Race for Life. 

There are over 230 fundraising events around the UK in which women and girls, from six years old and up, can take part by running, walking, skipping or however else around a 5k or 10k course all to raise money for Cancer Research UK.

Today I worked as a Heart Angel in the Watford Harlequin Shopping Centre where, along with a team from Cancer Research, we raised awareness about the events and encouraged the public to get involved. This could be by taking part in Race for Life, supporting a loved one who is taking part, or even just donating a bit of extra change towards the charity. 

We handed out flags and balloons to children as well as sign up forms and flyers to women to try and get as many people signing up as possible. There were also some cheerleaders from Hertstoppers Cheerleading Club who performed the Cancer Slam dance every 15 minutes. The Cancer Slam is the dance that will be performed as part of the warm up at every Race for Life event around the UK, so if you're participating, get practicing so you can join in the fun on the day!

I really enjoyed working with the Cancer Research team and raising awareness for such a good cause. I took part in Race for Life last year and not only was it great fun, it was also a really good way to exercise and also raise money for Cancer Research; a charity that is close to a lot of people's hearts.

I also loved talking to the public about the events, as well as taking pictures of them with our Heart frame for the HeartFM website. Even the regular outbreaks of snow couldn't bring down the good mood we were all in!

Have a look on the Cancer Research page or try and learn the Cancer Slam!
Also, sign up for Race for Life and let me know how you do :)

Gemma x

NAIL OBSESSION (a girly post)

For the last year I seem to have had a bit of an obsession with painting my nails and experimenting with nail art. Glitter, colours, patterns... you name it, I LOVE it!
Youtubing 'nail art' is a great way to find loads of amazing ideas. A lot of them definitely need a very steady hand, but most of them are actually pretty easy when you watch the tutorial :) 
Over Christmas, my ten year old cousin spent hours showing me nail art tutorials, which made us want to try out our own...


The picture above is of my nails on Christmas Day 2012... a simple red base coat, with red dots on the thumb and ring finger. We found that making dots with a toothpick gave great results, and also didn't cost a thing as we already had them in the house!

Snowguins?

The second picture (nice and messy as you can see!) were our own creation of penguins/snowmen. Due to a lack of black nail varnish, we couldn't go for the penguins we originally wanted so we sort of created our own funny blob creatures which vaguely resembled snowmen or penguins....

I find painting my nails really relaxing and sort of therapeutic  therefore I find myself painting at least three or four times a week! They chip so easily as well so that is just another excuse to paint them more I guess....

Last night, my housemate and I spent a good few hours (we are so cool) painting our nails and trying out new designs. We used a pencil dipped in white nail varnish instead of toothpicks as we didn't have any handy, however this worked just as well!

I love having multicoloured nails and I think pastel colours work really well!

Glitter is also a great way to make your nails festive or stand out for special occasions 

She showed me a website http://weheartit.com/ which has loads of amazing nail designs that we looked at for ages. I'll definitely be getting some more inspiration from that website in the future



Below are some nail art ideas from the website that I love...

Let me know what you think and post some of your own nail art below!

Gemma x