Creative and Media - useful websites

I found this fab index of useful websites and thought it would be good to share. You can use these sites (and share them with your students) to gain a better understanding of the creative and media industries.

BBC online training courses
The BBC has established a comprehensive list of online courses initially designed for its staff that are now free to all. These courses cover everything from the basic use of a DV camera, through glossaries of production terms, to how to approach post-production practices.
www.bbctraining.com/omlineCourses.asp

British Film Institute (BFI)
An excellent archive of film material, extracts and links to their own BFI publications, and a host of other quality material.
www.bfi.org.uk/

The UK Film Council
This website has a host of invaluable information on all aspects of the British film industry, and on areas such as film funding.
www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk

Screen International
This media magazine covers a range of film-related topics.
www.screendaily.com/

EMI
The EMI website is very useful for student investigation. The information provided enables the student to create a profile of this media institution. It is updated regularly and discusses at length the implication of digital initiatives for the music industry.
www.emimusic.co.uk
www.emigroup.com/About/Digital+music/Digital+milestones.htm

Trifle Gathering

Trifle Gathering are a Penryn based theatre group who have just completed 2 sell-out tours in Cornwall and the South West. Their act is hard to describe and impossible to forget: part pantomime, vaguely vaudeville, combining cabaret and the carnivalesque, Trifle Gathering have established themselves as masters in their field, delighting audiences young and old.



I’d just finished writing a scheme of work for year 11 diploma students on Exploring Group Performance and thought this would be an ideal opportunity for them to see a great group performance in the flesh.

So, I arranged a school trip (including the usual permission letters and risk assessment) to take the students to see the final performance on the Trifle Gathering tour.

The deputy head agreed to drive the school mini-bus (very generous considering it was the last Friday before half-term), and so we journeyed together to Callington to watch the cabaret.

The show involved audience participation, and I was called onto the stage, along with the deputy head and one of the students, to play a game that left us all with chocolate smeared across our faces. This was a great opportunity to build trust and strengthen my rapport with the students and showed them that their teachers are willing to get involved and don't mind (occasionally) making fools of themselves. After the performance I arranged for the students to go backstage and meet the actors and technicians. They were able to interview the director, writer and actors and learn more about what is involved in creating a piece of theatre and taking it on tour.

Trifle Gathering organise acting workshops and I have arranged for a full-day session with the lead actress after half-term. She will visit the school and work with the students as they plan and prepare their own group perfromance. As many of the students were nervous at the prospect of appearing onstage, meeting the company was a great way to reassure them they have nothing to worry about. They are now all excited and busy coming up with ideas for their own show. Result.

If you'd like to find out more about Trifle Gathering, or arrange a workshop for your students, then log onto: www.triflegatheringproductions.co.uk

Radio Campaign

As part of my specialist subject Tuesday session I was set the challenge of working in a small group to create a product that 'celebrates and promotes 10 years of Cornwall SCITT'. My group chose to record a radio advert (and I put on my best posh for the voice-over).

See what you think of the final results by clicking here:


Our advert uses music, sound effects and voice-overs to create a textured quality intended to grab the listener's attention. Copyright became an issue as we chose a song by Candi Staton produced by EMI. I contacted EMI to request permission to use the track, but have still had no response. We have subsequently discovered a brilliant website that has lots of music available to use in projects such as ours. If I was to teach a podcasting lesson, then I'd let my students explore this site, preventing any breach of copyright laws. Here's the link to the site: www.freeplaymusic.com

If you need to contact EMI to request clearance for using one of their songs, here's where to go: www.emimusicsample.co.uk/Sampleclearance/guide3BOD.htm

There are several websites offering free sound effects, here are some of them:
www.a1freesoundeffects.com
www.stonewashed.net/sfx.html
www.pacdv.com/sounds
www.partnersinrhyme.com

Fact: politicians are not allowed to advertise on the radio because of the subliminal nature of the medium!

If you want to find out more about anything radio, log onto Ofcom's website. Ofcom is the controlling organistaion of commercial radio, the website contains details about the industry, produces regular data updates on current developments and deals with customer complaints. It acts as a regulatory body for the radio industry:

www.ofcom.ork.uk/radio

Matt's mac training

Having no experience working with Macs, I thought it wise to get some training (especially as the students have used them in almost every creative and media diploma lesson I've observed so far.) Matt Townsend is the media technician at Mounts Bay school and agreed to spend a couple of hours teaching me how to use some of the software. I was particularly interested in learning more about the 'final cut pro' programme, as the SCITT people having given me my own digital movie camera. The idea is I film myself teaching and learn how to improve my practice by watching the video back. Horror. I need to learn how to edit the footage - it's a vanity thing. Also, I want to be able to teach my students film and editing techniques in order to help with their own diploma projects.

Here's what I learned (in bullet points):

• to import film from your camera use Mpeg streamclip to convert your footage into Dot.DV (or DV or MOV)
• open final cut pro and click on file
• click on import
• click on files (command I)
• If you've saved your work to the desktop (the easiest way apparently) then click on desktop then click on choose and it'll drop your film into the browser window.
• to cut your film - in your viewer window - press 'I' where you want your clip to start, then 'O' where you want the clip to end
• drag your clip to the timeline
• command R = render (when the red line appears on the timeline). Important, especially if you've changed something, like adding a kaleidoscope effect.
• click on file
• click on export
• click on the format you want
• save to anywhere you like

Hope this is of use to you, dear reader. I'm off to do some filming to get the ball rolling. In the meantime, you can learn more about editing in final cut pro via this clip:

How to upload music files and podcasts to your blog

I've been working on a radio show called Oddsox for the past few weeks. The programme is broadcast on The Source fm, a community radio station that serves the Falmouth & Penryn area in Cornwall. I hope to gain new skills in presenting and using broadcast equipment, and so far have made good use of my newly aquired dictaphone. You can often find me pounding the streets of falmouth, waving my voice recorder in people's faces and asking obscure questions to use in various feature slots on the show.

I'll pass my new broadcasting knowledge, skills and experience on to my students: encouraging them to explore different media technologies (and rise to new challenges).

The creative and media diploma aims to get learners involved in projects across the creative industries. So my task as a teacher is to provide opportunities that will enhance students' understanding of the creative and media world.

Today’s goal is to learn how to upload audio files to blogger. Over to YouTube to teach me (and you) how to do it.



So, by watching this video, I have learnt that in order for me to successfully upload the podcast of my radio show, I need to sign up to this website: www.divshare.com

This site allows me to upload my audio files (including music and podcasts) and transfer them to blogger. It's free to sign up and should help me to make my blog more interesting. I'm off to sign up now... so watch this space...