Media Literacy Workshops 2012
We were delighted to welcome to Watershed yesterday Millbrook Academy from Gloucester – the first school from outside Bristol to participate in our annual Media Literacy Workshops with David Goldblatt and volunteers from the BBC.
The same successful format has been followed again this year with the year 9 students spending the morning in the cinema where, using archive footage, David discusses the significance of the Olympic opening ceremonies to each host country’s profile in the global media arena. From the confusion of the Paris Games in 1900 – where some competitors were unaware of winning medals until some time later - through the chillingly orchestrated and innovatively filmed 1936 Berlin Olympics, to the accidental roasting of the symbolic doves released minutes before the lighting of the Olympic flame in Seoul in 1988; much can be discovered about each country’s aspirations and desire to impress the world. The students are guided through these displays of extravagance to unpick the details of how the nations choose to represent themselves, particularly through the use of media.
In the afternoon, workshops in writing and drama take place exploring, and playing with, the themes covered in the cinema session. Writers, working with David, create an inner monologue for an athlete while the drama enthusiasts – supported by their teachers, Watershed staff and BBC volunteers – devise short performances based on the idea of an opening ceremony (of a non-sporting variety) where two of the group provide a sports-style commentary on the activity of their fellow performers. Lending itself to some humorous interpretations, one of yesterday’s groups produced a black comedy choosing as their ceremony the funeral of a well know pop idol – with suitably respectful commentators – which culminated in a zombie disturbance!
We are running five further workshops between now and July 6, with Henbury, Fairfield – both a media and a PE group, QEH and St Mary Redliffe Schools. For details and photographs of previous years’ workshops please see our Media Literacy page
Tags: BBC volunteers, David Goldblatt, Media Literacy Workshops, Olympic Games, Schools
This entry was posted
on Thu 14th Jun, 2012.
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