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Passionate about Media

This project gave the chance to "learn through doing" - eighteen young people produced a range of media coverage of the biggest TV Awards outside London.

Who Took Part

Eighteen young people from Tyneside and Northumberland. They were a diverse groups including people with various abilities, cultures and backgrounds.

Purpose

To broaden participation in media to people from backgrounds which are often less well-represented in the media industry.

Project Outline

Opportunities for hands on experience of different forms of media included shooting video for a documentary and also a series of short films for an interactive DVD; creating animation; using digital photography to create blogs; and VJ performance. Advice was provided throughout by mentors and panellists, many of whom were award-winning media practitioners.

What Happened

• Workshops were held at the start of the project to cover use of video cameras and sound; storyboarding; use of digital stills cameras; blog reporting; and an introduction to the main roles in production. There were also presentations about the TV Awards to help the participants develop their ideas and plans for coverage.
• The young people had a very demanding day working in three video crews to cover the TV Awards held at The Sage Gateshead in February 2009.
• Their rushes were then logged by participants and the storyboard amended and script developed.
• A further day of shooting took place to record more interviews with industry insiders - these took place at the BBC TV studios in Newcastle, at Dene Films and on a location shoot outside the Tyneside Cinema.
• Voiceovers were then recorded by the two presenters at the studios of Lionheart Radio in Alnwick.
• The final edit was sound mixed and colour graded.

A special screening event was held at the Performance Academy, Newcastle College. Broadcaster Diana Youdale presented DVDs and certificates, and the audience provided feedback for help with evaluation. Career advice sessions were held, with a Skillset advisor and representative of Northern Film and Media.

Results

• ACCESS ALL AREAS - 30 mins documentary
• SO YOU WANT TO WORK IN MEDIA? - interactive DVD with five short films, a special animation and an Introduction.
• Blogs on BBC website with two galleries of photos.
• VJ performance sets
• Evaluation report - drew on feedback forms from audience at premiere plus comments of participants and mentors.

Sharing The Results With Others

Screening at Newcastle College; newspaper coverage; excerpts streamed on Digital Voice website; copies provided to schools, colleges and youth groups which participated in recruitment. It is planned to distribute copies to schools and youth groups once funding has been secured.

Benefits for Participants

Skills development; appreciation of the production process; chance to work with media practitioners; valuable addition to CV; DVD with record of their work.

Clients and/or Funding

Awards for All; Northern Film and Media; Royal Television Society North East and the Border Centre. Tremendous support was provided by IG Media in Newcastle which hosted the production.

Who Else Would Benefit From This Sort of Project

Hands on involvement in a real media production working with industry practitioners is the best way to find out what it's REALLY like to work in media.

How To Find Out More

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