Joseph Madden BA Philosophy, 2012

Video Communication Lead at B & Q

Hi, I'm Joseph Madden and I studied BA Philosophy within Humanities at the University of Southampton.

After a long time of dabbling in different things, it was a great feeling to have that sense of direction. Amongst the chaos of a typical film set that I realised this was what I wanted to do as a job.

It was the enthusiasm of everyone he met at the Open Day that won Joseph over and inspired him to apply to the University of Southampton.

Following a fulfilling first year both academically and socially, Joseph began to take an active interest in the many opportunities the University had to offer beyond his core studies. This resulted in him becoming the Media and Publicity Officer for the Student Union’s Societies Committee.

This role had strong connections to the Student Union’s TV channel, SUSUtv, where he worked closely with Wessex Films, the University’s film-making society. It was during a location shoot for their ambitious drama 'A Game of Sport' set in a Victorian-era B&B, that Joseph realised he had a passion for audio-visual production.

As he recalls: “After a long time of dabbling in different things, it was a great feeling to have that sense of direction. Amongst the chaos of a typical film set that I realised this was what I wanted to do as a job.” He later became Vice President of Wessex Films.

During Joseph’s third year he took part in the University’s Excel Southampton Placement Programme where, during his Easter break, he secured a placement as a marketing intern and then a longer three-month summer placement at B&Q. He was subsequently offered the role of Video Communication Lead, responsible for the production of all internal multimedia content.

Joseph adds: “Without a doubt my extra curricular activities have provided me with skills I have used since leaving Southampton. The core roles of my job rely on technical knowledge of cameras and video production software, which I had no experience of at all before becoming involved with Wessex Films and SUSUtv.”