"Being Analogue"

Our third year students are currently working on their final grad films. This is a six month project that is intense, and expected to be planned and produced professionally and with ambition. For us this has sometimes been problematic in terms of keeping in contact with students. They have been prone to disappear for weeks on end, on their shoots, keeping in touch via friends and hearsay!

When we first introduced blogging as an alternative to journals and folders a few years ago, it was partly with a view to being able to keep track remotely with what students were up to in their productions. This improved communication a little bit as each student could update their production b/log as often as they needed and from any location. However, it still didn't address 'studentship', and the students still did not attend every timetabled session whilst in their third year. The group was sometimes disjointed and some students felt quite isolated as a result. This in turn affected attendance and retention, and sometimes directly affected achievement too.

The breakthrough came when we were offered a second 'base' room to use for film students. We allowed students open access to the space, as with our first base room, and negotiated rules of practice, such as keeping noise levels to a minimum, and asking the tutor's permission to be in the space if there was a session going on with another cohort. 

Film Hub 1

Film Hub 1

Film Hub 1

Film Hub 1

As with our first base room, Macs were positioned on benching around the outside of the space, and tea and coffee making facilities, with sofa area, bookcase, film magazines, and plants were added. We built 4 large meeting tables out of reclaimed scaffolding, and plywood, to try to encourage crew collaboration and communication. 

Film Hub 2

Film Hub 2

We timetabled all the year 3 activity to take place within this second space, and they gradually began to take ownership of it. They attended all timetabled sessions and started to stay late into the evening, setting up a games club, a film club, and a hula hooping club, open to all students and supported by the SU. The dissertation module was scheduled for a Friday morning, and became a day when all students would attend, chat, write and research within the space. Tutors were in there too, available for tutorial support, and the work they have submitted for dissertations is extremely good this year.

In order to further take ownership of the space, we gave each third year student a pinboard, which they could customise as they wished, to use as a notebook for their grad film pre-production. Each one included an envelope, in which other students could make comments following formative screenings, and sharing of ideas. This did not replace the use of blog, but gave them a more visual and analogue way to present their ideas, and to engage with each other's work.

The Pinboard Wall (in development)

As a result, students are fully engaged in college activity, and are attending every session. Retention is at almost 100%, and with a cohort of 35 this is quite an achievement. It is possible that the work produced by this third year cohort will be the strongest yet, and is certainly the most collaborative. Students are generally working on 3 or 4 productions, helping each other out to achieve highly. We have three installation pieces being built and stored in this second base room. Just having this space has allowed that creativity to become realised.

Although our use of digital technologies has not decreased, the introduction of more people-centred, tactile approaches has certainly improved studentship. And interestingly, although digital communication technologies have proved really useful for keeping in contact, it was the additional space that has made the most difference in student engagement. Just having a space for contemplation, for crew meetings, to have a coffee, or to get on with some writing, has proved invaluable.