Monday 4th March
Painting Over the Cracks - Professor Paul Haywood
Professor Paul Haywood believes in 'cooperative creativity' and uses 'artistic methods as tools for social enterprise stimulation'. He would rather creativity be used to reach out to someone and help solve issues rather than simply being an individual thing, he wants to create 'dynamic economic relationships from creative activity'. Some examples of his work include Guns to Goods, which entails recycling gun metal from arms held in police custody and has been described as "A developing social enterprise relating to gun crime reduction' and the Secret Garden Festival in which he works with local people interested in gardening to create something beautiful.
How Not to be a Designer! - Robert Ball
I found this talk to be very useful as a design student, especially the hints on how to create and appropriate portfolio, such as keeping it simple and giving the client exactly what you want them to see/look at. There were also suggestions on finding inspiration offline and in different places to others, helping you to stand out, as well as asking for advice and taking 'outside influence'. I found it especially interesting that the word 'counter-intuitive' came up as something to base your work around as well as the importance of mirroring and branding.
To Imagine, to Create, to Learn - Yann Seznec
This talk opened with the 5 words 'interface, interaction, performance, audience and understanding', and then went into the idea of the relationship between the performer, the audience and the content. Yann tried to explain this relationship and how it could be applied in nearly any context, he told us that his favorite way to explore this concept is through music. He then ran through some examples of his work, which although were not relevant to my area of study, photography, I found highly interesting and he also mentioned a photographer friend and workmate of his, Patrick Hickey, who I then looked up and was very impressed by his work:(http://1x.com/photo/12736/all:user:3348).
Tuesday 5th March
Getting a Job in the Media - Phil Hirst
Phil Hirst would describe himself as a 'Heinz 57' in that he has had many different experiences in the media industry. He believes that media includes everything, such as marketing and PR, not just the physical side of things. He also mentioned technological convergence, which is the tendency for different technological systems to evolve towards performing similar tasks. This talk was much more interactive than some others, in that we were given a handout and asked questions, for example "Why do you want to work in the media?" I found this helpful as it allowed me to really focus on me and what I was getting out of the experience. He then went over some "media myths" and we found out that statistically the majority of people in the industry are graduates but it is not necessary, however marketing yourself and being determined are.
Wednesday 6th March
Working as a Freelance Photographic Artist - Alison McLean
I found this talk, although not very interactive, quite helpful. There was a lot of information but it was still easy to digest it all. We were told about certain workshops and work experience that Alison had done and what could be useful for us, such as RedEye, LightBox 2 and Look13 International Photo Festival. She used the quote "it is no longer enough for a photograph to be of something. It needs to be about something." She then gave us advice on how to make an appropriate website such as having a professional domain name, possibly working with a graphic designer, using interactive elements and keeping it up to date. As well as this, she mentioned business cards.
Designing for Mobile - Tim Makin
This talk was very interesting, he went through the 4 sectors of digital - mobile, tablet, desktop and television and how an app needs to be altered to work effectively on all 4 of these. We also learned some statistics, like the fact that web access on mobile phones is set to overtake desktop in 2013, 75% of phones in the UK being smartphones and 1 in 3 Facebook users access via mobile.
Make Your Own Damn Movie! - Jason Devitt
This was my favourite of all the talks I attended, Jason went through all the main stages of pre-production of making a film such as the concept, the script and pitching the idea. He also gave us advice on how to make a film in the cheapest way, as a freelance filmmaker himself. He emphasized the importance of a storyboard and backup plans in case of problems with actors, weather, etc. We were given information on the legalities of films too. This talk was most effective due to it giving us a lot of information but I was able to take it all in and it was all interesting to me, as well as this, he seemed to honestly wanting to give us advice and help.
Documentary Production - Anthony Masi (Skype)
This talk was a great experience in terms of finding out information, such as how Masi media was founded in 2006 and that Anthony himself makes horror film documentaries. He advised us to start off with something popular/well-known to get noticed and then move on to smaller, more niche markets. As well as this, he gave interview tips.
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