More speakers today in the lectorial, first up Dr Adrian Miles who spoke to us about the integration of theory and practice and how that is what makes up MEDIA.

“I think, therefore I am”

Miles spoke to us about how ‘thinking’ can only become tangible through the act of ‘making’ and that what we are at university to learn is how to create from the things we see, things we think and things we feel, and create something larger than that. We were divided into small groups and given cue cards on which we had to write elements of a story or narrative that could be completely re-arranged or changed ~~ without disrupting the flow of the story. I found this activity really hard to master! I found that our short narratives were too reliant on certain elements or plot lines and without them the stories faltered.

Next Liam Ward talked to us about editing. He started his talk by showing us the opening clip from 2001: A Space Odyssey (something I still haven’t seen!) Most importantly the jump in footage from the bone being thrown into the air and the spacecraft. Two completely separate (well, relatively separate) pieces of imagery positioned next to each other in a way that the audience draws conclusions. This clip and explanation tied in really well with the editing activity we had done in the workshop.

Ward’s talk was really engaging, as he explained that editing wasn’t FIXING but more a case of pulling everything apart and creating an environment where the audience wants to and can fill in the gaps itself.

“The bits we choose, the order we put them in and the gaps used is where the magic happens.”