James Bussey
MArch Architecture, 2016
When I graduated from the MArch course, I received a number of awards for my work and contribution to student life at Kent. One of the awards I received was the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) President's Medals Serjeant Award. This meant I had a very strong CV going into the world of work, and practices were approaching me to join them. However, I didn't really want to work in London and I actually wanted to return to where I grew up. Within a month of finishing university, I started a job as an architectural assistant in a local practice in my home city.
I lasted at that practice for about six months before I worked up the courage to leave and start my own business. I'd always really wanted to be a cinematographer and to be able to work in film. But when I was picking degree subjects, a film degree didn't seem like a sensible option. Unfortunately, this meant I didn't have a portfolio of work or the qualifications that would be of interest to any of the production companies I approached. So, after being rejected by every business I applied to, I decided to set up my own company.
The best thing about studying architecture (and studying it at Kent) was that the course is so multidisciplinary that I was able to study graphics, film, photography, fine art, 3D modelling, virtual reality, design for print and so on. This meant that my business naturally evolved to provide all of these services to local businesses in my area.
My success at university made me think selling my services would be easy. I thought I would have a queue of people wanting to work with me, but alas, that was about as far from the truth as it could have been. I had limited resources and to make ends meet, I would work two days per week as a university lecturer in my home city (teaching architecture to Stage 1 students) and three days per week as a labourer for my friend who ran a landscaping business. This was not glamorous work. It was poorly paid and I would come home covered head to toe in mud. Eventually, after about three to four years, my business started to win customers and I was starting to build a network and a reputation for my work. Customers could rely on me to deliver what they wanted, and my attention to detail and big picture thinking (again, skills I learnt at Kent) made me a useful creative to work with.Then COVID came along, and all the work I had vanished overnight. Combined with falling through the gaps in government support at the time (furlough, etc), I was left with no prospects and no opportunities. During this time, I reached out to The Prince's Trust and they provided me with a mentor who has helped me to build my business again from the ground up. We have spoken every month for 4 years now, and he has been an enormous help to make my business what it is today.
Because of the multidisciplinary nature of my work, every day is usually different for me.
If I am out filming somewhere, it might be an early start—say 5am. I will be travelling to the location, setting up cameras, lights, microphones and drones and will be filming until late in the evening.
If I am doing a studio day (typically editing, post-production, 3D modelling, prep work for shooting days etc.), I tend to front-load all of my important work into the early part of the day. This is when I am the most focused and the most creative.
I work in a studio at the bottom of my garden, so my commute is really short and I can enjoy the Norfolk countryside from where I work.
The day is always broken up with two very long dog walks as we have two Golden Retrievers called Herbie and Eddie. Herbie is currently a 1-year-old puppy, so his walk is typically a very arduous training walk to try and get him to learn the skills he needs to be a well-adjusted adult dog. Eddie is nearly 6 and has learnt the majority of these skills, so his walk tends to allow me to listen to a wide range of audiobooks which help to advance my knowledge in the areas I work in.
Once back from the walks, I will then continue with my work until the evening and I finish for the day.
One final thing, although I try to load most of my creative work into the morning, I do also book client meetings in during this time too. I am a really introverted person and love working in my own space and being able to focus. This means I always like to get meetings out of the way as early as possible so that they don't hang over me for the whole day.
When I had dreams of being a cinematographer, I always wanted to work with RED cinema cameras. I did get some experience on a set working with one and I absolutely loved it. So I made it my mission to save up and get one for myself.
It's a strange one really. These cameras are heavy, slow to boot up, require a crew of three to use, don't have very good autofocus, consume big batteries in no time and generate a lot of heat. Most people are going for smaller and smaller cameras and like them, I do shoot a lot of great client video on an iPhone. But that RED, plus my vintage lenses from the '60s and '70s, I just love the image it creates.
So yes, my career highlight was the day I drove back from London with my RED camera in its case on the backseat.
My time at Kent has played a huge part in making me who I am today. I had several outstanding tutors who continue to influence my thinking through the perspectives they shared. And the course's multidisciplinary approach has been crucial in enabling me to build my business and support my clients, including various charities.
But most importantly, the thing that sets me apart from my competitors (who didn't study architecture) is my attention to detail and my big picture thinking. Like understanding the multi-faceted requirements of constructing a building, I bring that same level of rigour to the work I do for my clients.
My biggest piece of advice is to be passionate and to care about what you do.
From my experience of teaching, I've seen so many students coming through with poor levels of commitment and a general disinterest in what they are doing. You really begin to question why they joined the course in the first place.
The thing about your lecturers is that they are not there to spoon-feed you like you would get at school. Think of your relationship with them as a collaboration where the more you put in, the more you will get out.
So yes, be interested, care, go the extra mile. You will stand out from 95% of your peers.
Yes, I was involved in the Kent Architectural Student Association (Now KADSA) and had the roles of Assistant Lecture Chair in Year 2, Lecture Chair in Year 3 and President in Year 5. In my role as a Lecture Chair, I organised lectures by leading architects and as President, I oversaw the entire operation of KASA including fundraising and organisation of the End of Year Show.
Outside of architecture, I have a strong interest in music and music production, so I also joined a student group for sound engineering and lighting. We were responsible for setting up and running the equipment for many of the big campus events and festivals.
In fourth year, all of the MArch students were living in Parkwood. During the summer of that year, every house would come together in the evenings for BBQs. We'd play games such as Mafia (also known as Werewolf) and would project films onto the side of a house to have our own outdoor cinema club. It was fantastic.
Yes definitely, I was actually only thinking about this the other day. One of the great things about the University of Kent is the transportation network. I know that seems a bit dull, but you can take the HS1 train into London in 40 minutes and you can get the Eurostar from Ashford into Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam. When I first went to university, I thought I was going to be traveling to all of these major European cities all the time, but other than a few trips, I didn't make the most of that opportunity.
Now I live further away, this is something that is much more challenging and costly to do.
Yes I am in contact with all of my particularly close friends and many people across different years as a result of my KASA experience.
Well interestingly, my work now seems to be fusing my love
of cinematography with my studies in architecture. So I am looking to focus the
business in this direction. I care very deeply about the clients I work with,
so my ambitions are to use all of my skills to help my clients succeed.
When they succeed, I also succeed.