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I hope you don't mind me asking, but I don't know that much about the video industry & I have a neighbour who is worried about her 15 year-old grandson. He's done some course through school which sounds like linear editing (she mentioned Betacam - I'm trying to find out more) & now would like to do a college course. So I'd like to ask if anyone knows any good college courses in the London (North East) area (I can only find vague film & media studies) or whether he'd be better off trying to get something tied into a post production company.

Many thanks...

Cynic, College courses have got worse and worse recently. Media Studies et al are fashionable subjects and every college jumps on the cash bandwagon.
They get an Avid, a camera and 300 hundred students, then employ someone who failed in the industry to teach a halfbaked course to some unsuspecting kids.

I went to Bournemouth Film School and then Ravensbourne TV operations, both renowned as among the best in the world at the time. I studies HND courses, now all replaced by BAs and such. The people who leave the courses now have no where near the skills I learned. Due to the lack of focus of the courses, they spend month learning pointless aspects of New media, Web design, Media Law etc.

It he wants to edit, get lots of work experience in a small post houses in London, (large companies have a real pecking order) Or better still small production companies who edit their own work.

duncancraig,

Thanks for your reply. I used to work in a college a few years ago as a photography technician & tutor. Even then, the appropriateness of the courses to industry was poor. Although the failed in the industry & half-baked course didn't quite apply, what the courses thought was important wasn't what industry thought, but the was no leeway for those teaching it. The best way came from having a job & being sent on day release. The courses have now been rolled-in with media & performing arts & it's become a fruit salad. I'm glad I'm out of it.

Hence my post. I think I'll suggest that, while he can look around for a course, he should think of it as a stop-gap while he approaches the small post houses & production companies trying to get work experience.

Thanks again - it's much appreciated

Cynic,

I agree with colleges jumping on the media course bandwagon without any real thought about what is really involved in media. Any practical courses basically follow the lines of "make a documentary, there is a camera, of you go." The teachers we have on our courses are all english teachers, which is fine for teaching narrative and the like, but they have no practical experience in making videos. Our students don't even know what a showreel is let alone a shot list !!!

The exam board does not help much either, one examiner wanted to see more special effects in the students videos, without a thought for the content or production style of the video.

To be fair to the teachers they need proper training in professional media techniques. They have limited time to have training (even free training with me) and so muddle through as best they can, unfortuantly relying on me for teaching the students any practiacl skills, which begs the question, what happens if I get run over by a bus !!!

Other than my being quished their practical work will suffer because no teacher knows how to use the equipment (the kids pick it up very quickly though), and short of hiring an editor who would not work for my salary theres not a lot that can be done.

Oh well, rant over

Ashley

Ashley,

Thanks for your reply. Again, you confirm my thoughts. When I worked at an FE college, one of the reasons I was employed was because I had 'industrial experience', but my experience was in computers & telecomms, not photography. I assessed NVQ lab practice for a while, but it was more a job placement scheme than a worthwhile qualification & my role was more to check that the students were OK.

I've dropped off a load of pages to this lad's gran & they'll sit there until he or one of his parents drop round. Unfortunately, I'm at a distance on this one, unless his parents come to see me. If I can, I'll certainly steer him in the direction of getting a job in a post house, perhaps on the pretext of doing an NVQ if he can.

He's an intelligent lad, although lacking in confidence because he's dyslexic & his reading is a bit poor. I was worried that a college course would knock his confidence even more. If video editing is anything like I think it is, the main thing is to get the finished edit in your head & then work out how to do it.

Thanks again for your reply.

Cynic,

I know virtually nothing about dyslexia but understand it involves getting words and letters mixed up. I would think editing with a mouse with few keyboard commands should not be too difficult, especially if you use a keyboard with multi-coloured keys, (obviuosly inputting text for credits might be a problem).

As long as he can understand the concept of arranging images and creating a story he should be fine. Perhaps he should try an evening class or club first, so he can get his feet wet first without any academic pressures, that way he will have more confidence when enroling in an full time course.

Ashley

Ashley,

You're right about dyslexia - I'm also dyslexic & I tend to mix up 5 & F &, oddly, S & T. I used to program in hexadecimal & mixing up 5 & F is not good. However, I know those weaknesses & so am careful about them. I'm sure he can do the same & keyboard skills tend to become spacial. I suspect text & credits will be typed up & so comparison is easy.

I think what's happened is the typical thing these days of 'after school it's college'. I'm told he's already done a little course through school doing what sounds like editing with Betacam, so with any luck he's already got an idea of what goes on. Really, i need to speak to him & not get everything through his gran.

Thanks again.

Cynic,

The only college i have had experience with in the 'Arts' is Middlesex University, Faculty of Arts at Cat Hill, North London. They also have connections with the SAE Institute in Central london.
I don't know much about the degree courses at Cat Hill, but the 'Lansdown Centre for Electronic Arts' turns out Bafta and Milia award winning MA students every year (slight plug there!).
I think Middlesex Uni also run HNC/HND courses. The SAE Inst may be more suitable.

http://www.saeuk.com/
http://www.mdx.ac.uk/subjects/adea/

PS.

The SAE Institute probably run courses that are more directly linked to industry and possibly less academic.

Try:

www.saeuk.com/courses/digital_film.htm

Trans-Meta,

Yeah SAE have quite a good set-up. It's more expensive than a 'normal uni' course but pretty intense so you don't get a summer. You get the degree in 2yrs though not 3. The first year is very hands on and the second is more theory etc as you can gather from the site and it's pdf's I'm sure.

For all the options check out the ucas site and search for various multimedia type courses.

http://www.ucas.com/search/index.html

There is a quite indepth list of all types of courses here:

http://www.bfi.org.uk/education/courses/mediacourses/
http://www.skillset.org/

HTH

Jake

Thanks everyone, I'll pass on the info to his gran to pass on. He's only 15 years-old, so degree etc. courses are probably something for the future. His gran has spoken to another neighbour, who it turns out works for a small production company with their own post house, & it looks like he'll get some work experience there.

Again, many thanks.

Cynic,

A Media Studies course is a complete waste of time but a decent degree or other in video production, documentary making, etc., is well worth the effort. I have a degree in Time Based Media (video, multimedia and sound) and I loved every minute of it (UWE Bristol).

Barnet College is very well equiped and the staff are well informed - one can do non degree courses there and then transfer to Middlesex to do a degree.

Most people with dyslexia, in higher education, are entitled to grants for computers and cameras.

I hope this helps.

Mad Dog.

mad dog,

Thanks, it does help. I managed to speak to the guy's mother today & she cleared up a few questions. He's only 15 years-old & has just finished a 'reintegration' course, so there's a query about his age for FE college courses this year. I also spoke to a friend who is a tutor at one college which does a media course & a teacher friend about his dyslexia. Whilst I think this guy is more than intelligent enough to do a degree, his confidence is badly hit because of him perceiving his dyslexia to be a huge problem. It's not, but i think that neither he nor his parents have really been given that much info about it or what help they can get. His mother said that, until this came up, they were thinking that all he'd be able to do was a manual job & it seems to have given her a big boost to find out that not only am I dyslexic, but another neighbour who actually works for a small production house is too.