Art, design, media and communications and sound production students from Forth Valley College really had a challenging day recently as they were tasked with using the City of Stirling as their blank canvas for creativity.
Working in groups of three or four – or Tribes - around 150 Creative industries Forth Valley College students had to make use of their filming, social media, creative and communication skills to produce a site specific work which describes their experiences of Stirling as a city, using the environment to create a work which showcased the specialisms within their team.
To complete the challenge they also had to showcase their work three times to different audiences, work out a challenge and meet back at the Stirling Campus to produce evidence of their achievements in the space of 28 hours, from 10am on Wednesday 9 November to 2pm the next day.
Well known venues around Stirling such as: The Smith Art Gallery and Museum, The Tolbooth, Stirling Castle and Stirling Train Station, were only too happy to take part in the exercise, as the students had to locate ‘agents’ (identified by wearing black clothes and sunglasses) and complete a challenge set by them to work out a password.
Only when the password had been worked out would the group be allowed to submit their work to their lecturers in the Creative Industries Department at FVC’s Stirling Campus. Their project had also to be filmed, recorded and documented and they had to accumulate as many views as possible on social media using the hashtag #FVC28.
However, all those taking part had to adhere to certain criteria which included:
- As part of their performance they had to include a homage to one of the many esteemed celebrities who died in 2016.
- Their work must have included the following:
- A print or online flyer for their performances.
- A short story written in one hundred and forty
- A credits sequence for their work created in the style of their choosing
- A member of their tribe dressed up as a lecturer from their course.
The winners were a Tribe of three students - Rossita Bateman (BA Art and Design) and Robyn Smith and Enija Zelmene (both BA Digital Media) - called ‘The Sharpies’. They asked FVC students to write down their feelings on love and home on ‘Post It Notes’. They then filmed themselves sticking these on the windows of a vacant store in Stirling City Centre.
FVC Creative Industries lecturer Fiona Milligan Rennie who developed the original 24 hour challenge along with Curriculum Manager Steph Toms, was the lead driving force behind this year’s 28 hour concept after discussion with colleagues.
She said:
“Well done to The Sharpies they produced a great, emotional piece of work which reduced many students and myself to tears, when it was shown at the end of the event. The 28 hour challenge has been designed to give students an immersive industry level experience across each discipline within the Creative Industries Department. Working together students have had total ownership of a creative process, which showcases their individual and collective skills and underpins the college ethos of Making Learning Work.”
Steph Toms, said:
“This year’s challenge was much larger in scope and scale and we feel it was a great exercise to help make our Creative Industries students industry ready. They had to adapt to a live brief at short notice, be flexible, work with people they do not know and still produce quality results and all of them have risen to the challenge. We are very proud of them all.”