New Media Mentors

After gruelling interviews by a four-person panel (including student rep Ruby) this year's media mentors have now been selected. The three Year 13s will be available to support Year 12s with their all-important Practical Productions - passing on their expertise in the fine art of editing on Adobe Premiere and providing feedback on the new Year 12 projects as they take shape.

Each is an excellent student who has already achieved top grades for practical work and they are all planning to continue to do Media Studies and video editing at university so they'll have plenty to offer. They are...

Danny

One of the driving forces behind last year's £1000 Macintyre Award winner - the powerful documentary on crime against the elderly, "Mugged".

Quite possibly the nicest young man in the whole of the Sixth Form (no, make that West London!)

He'll be working on Monday and Tuesday afternoons after school and Thursday and Friday mornings before school.

Sofia

She was part of the incredible team that produced last year's 'Best Media Studies Production' about the issue of dyslexia, called "Misunderstood".

A very patient and hard-working student, she spent hours and hours sitting at PC6 this time last year - now it's the Year 12's turn, and her job to help them.

Sofia will be working with all the 'earlybirds' - she'll be in every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning from 8 until 9am.

And don't forget all Year 12s - you must send along at least one representative (preferably two) to every editing session (before school, and after school) every day. In addition, all available frees should be spent in the edit suite until the work is finished...there's only four and a half weeks to go!

Chiraag

Made a documentary last year about learning disabilities but was also called upon at the last minute to produce the final montage sequence that was played at the end of the Media Awards Evening 2005. His work here showed his capacity to work under pressure and to meet deadlines -something all Year 12s will have to do!

He'll be in the media suite during the after school session (from 3.30 until 5.30pm) every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday afternoon.

School Documentary

For all Media students...

This is a fantastic opportunity for you to be involved in a prestigious project that will remain long after you've left GHS. Imagine your name on the end credits of a documentary that people are watching in 50 years time to see what the school was like at the start of the millennium!

As most of you should already know, Mrs Griffin has commissioned a film to be made over the course of the next year that will document our school as we prepare to leave our present accommodation and move into the new buildings.

We are hoping that this will serve as a record of a very important time in the school's history -– of the staff and students who work here and of the current environment where this happens (before it is demolished), thus preserving memories and images of GHS in 2005-2006 for future generations. It is something that we hope to show to invited audiences (like at the Media Awards Evening) and for it to appear on the new school website when it's up and running.

A number of Year 13s have already captured footage from the Prospective Parents' Evening and various other major events over the past term or so (well done to them!) Now we are moving on to the exciting second stage of the project that will involve some of you working alongside real media professionals!

During the week commencing 27-02, a top Channel 5 news reporter - Lindley Gooden (above) - will be in school for a whole day to work with a select group of Year 12 and 13 Media students who will form the main planning team of the project. Your task will be to come up with ideas about what we want to include in the film - it's your school and you know it as well as anyone!

On this day we will also be assigning roles for the remainder of the project. To get one of the key roles you must have been selected for the planning meeting. We'll need camera crews, interviewers, people to be involved in the editing etc. Some of the subsequent shoot will be filmed by you (either with or without Lindley) and we'll also be employing a professional cameraperson for a few days to work with you too. When it comes to the editing stage we will also seek to get outside involvement, so again you will get to work alongside someone with industry knowhow.

There really is no substitute for this kind of opportunity - it's a bit like getting media work experience (often really hard to come by) without having to leave the school! It will look very impressive on your CV/Personal Statement whether you choose to go on to do media in the future or not.

So if you want to be part of the team you need to email Macguffin to say why you want to be involved, what experience you already have that makes you suitable to be a member (media experience and your personal qualities) and which specific roles interest you and why. You may also like to suggest a few ideas for the film itself that might demonstrate your keen eye for documentary production and this could be the thing that sets you apart from the other candidates. The deadline is Sunday 26-02 and you will be informed by email if you are successful and when the day-long planning meeting will occur.

Good luck!

Commendations Latest

Following Interim Report 2, it's now time to total up all the commendations awarded to each student since the start of this academic year. A big well done to everyone who finds themselves on this list - you have received your commendations either for reaching five credits or for a single outstanding contribution to Media Studies.

As you can see the number of commendations individuals have achieved ranges from one to five...well done to Manjoth for the most in the whole of the sixth form. Check out her blog to see the excellent work she's been doing.

For each class there is also a figure for how many they achieved as a whole. This is divided by the number of students in the class to arrive at an average number of commendations per student. This way we can work out which are the most successful classes - the highest scores win - and it means that leading at this stage in the year are 13C. Congratulations!!

But don't forget, there are still about eleven weeks of school left until you all go on study leave (yes, only eleven weeks!) so there is still time for things to change. Who will be crowned Best Media Class 2006? Which of you will get the most commendations? Game on!

12C (29 commendations/24 students = 1.21/student...4th place)
Kiran 2, Kiranjit 1, Navdeep 1, Sam 1, Kelly 1, Jatinder 3, Alliaya 2, Alice 2, Priya 2, Ajay 1, Parampreet 4, Sukhpreet 1, Nathan 1, Ragdeep 1, Jaskeerat 3, Avinash 2, Ruby 1

12D (39 commendations/23 students = 1.70/student...2nd place)
Shreena 2, Sherish 4, Furzana 1, Balinder 3, Kavita 2, Sandeep 1, Hiba 1, Rishi 1, Sawan 2, Harpreet 1, Kiran 2, Prascilla 1, Rajan 3, Ramneet 2, Puja 1, Bushara 2, Harveen 1, Dinveer 3, Jagdish 3, Gurveer 3

13C (37 commendations/18 students = 2.10/student...1st place)
Shabaaz 1, Roohdip 1, Charanpal 2, Aanchal 2, Manjoth 5 (top score!!), Harbinder 2, Iena 2, Steven 4, John 1, Abisheik 2, Bilan 3, Danny 2, Anita 2, Mariam 1, Pardeep 1, Kristina 4, Russell 2

13D (22 commendations/14 students = 1.57/student...3rd place)
Rajpreet 2, Imroz 2, Abdullah 1, Sonia 3, Nadia 2, Sofia 1, Hari 1,Ladan 2, Chiraag 2, Renuka 2, Nisha 2, Kimberley 2

Disneyland 2006

You wouldn't believe that this bunch had just experienced 'Space Mountain 2' twice in quick succession, would you? Or is it relief that you can see on their faces? I'm kicking myself now for not shelling out the fifteen Euros it cost to buy the picture of one of your teachers with a look of terror on his face. (Ooops, given away who it was!)

What a fantastic trip and what fantastic conduct from GHS students! Everyone seemed to have a great time without breaking the rules which is, frankly, unprecedented - this is the first time we have made it back without having to issue a single red card. Well done!

So we survived 'Aerosmith: Rock and Roller Coaster', the lack of sleep and the Paris Freeze and made it back in one piece (although we had to replace the coach driver on the way, poor guy) and then what happens? Half the party - so it seems - go down with flu, including two of the teachers!

This may be the reason that the assignments have not all been completed...yet. However, most of you must be recovered by now so get to work, posting up your answers to the questions at the Macguffin Forum. There are some thoughtful and detailed responses up there already - credits for the best ones when we get back after half term; yellow cards if they're still not done!

Competition Winner!

Congratulations to Gurveer Ubhi whose newspaper article was recently selected as a winning entry in the National Newspapers Diversity Forum school journalism competition. He has won a £200 cash prize for himself and £500 for the school, along with the chance to get a week's work experience at a top national newspaper in the summer.

We reprint the excellent article here in full...

DEAD OR ALIVE?

Is the music scene dying out, where it is being slain by technology? Is the younger generation the cause of this? One thing stands to reason, that music is not the same as it used to be.

When you think of music, what is the first image or word that comes to your mind? classical; opera; piano; guitar; all things of the long forgotten past. Nowadays, the only thing that comes to one’s mind is commercial music.

Is it true? The majority of artists and bands these days are aided with one important member, the computer. The Spice Girls, whom everyone remembers, but why? They sounded more like a bunch of cats slung in a sack being hurled against a brick wall, but at the click of a button and with a few adjustments, were able to sound like heavenly angels, serenading us with their atrocious lyrics. Since that monstrosity, many have followed.

But why are they making such a success? It is the youth falling for the controversial lyrics, computerised samples and sexual iconography, but most importantly; they are following each other. There is no thought behind the song or meaning behind the lyrics, just a façade of half dressed women, flash motors and masses of jewellery.

What happened to songs that could make a tear crawl out from the corner of your eye? Songs that could change your mood in an instance? Bob Marley, Sinatra, The Jackson 5, Elvis, Stevie Wonder, The Carpenters, Marvin Gaye and Barry White all wonders of the past, yet who now is able to carry on the level of musicianship?

Nowadays, there are but a mere handful of artists that have had an effect on their fans through the quality of music, and not an incessant sample accompanied with either obnoxious, foul mouthed or ignorant lyrics. Artists that have made use of real instruments, inspiring and emotional lyrics and produced to perfection, until everything is in the correct position, at the correct level.

Musicians are now at an endless war against machines. The majority of songs produced are created or even inspired by computer samples, but there is only a certain limit to what one can accomplish. A computer cannot produce the same phenomenal yet unique guitar solos as Jimmy Hendrix, Eric Clapton or Slash, nor can it produce the same rhythm and fiery passion as the drum solos of Dave Weckl or Steve Gadd. So what is the solution?

Well, many artists these days have resorted to covering an old hit with their claptrap, desecrating what was once a piece of music, to just infernal racket. These phoneys make millions from this because of the uneducated, mindless youth and there duty to follow one another.

So what is the future of music? With just a few artists out there rebelling against commercialism, and musicians forever battling machines, what are the chances of real music surviving? The younger generations need to open their ears and hear what is actually being produced. They need a change in direction and to be educated in the ‘Greats of our Time’. After all, they are our future where the fate of the music scene lies.

Do you agree with him?? Post a comment with your views.