An on-air grilling from Media Students
03/08/2010
Principal Russell Strutt in the hotseat!
Second year Media students based at the College's Crawley campus, got a chance to give their tutors an on-air grilling about their musical taste, after taking part in a 'Desert Island Discs'' project. The project, which took a whole term to complete, saw students interview a selection of staff from a range of Faculties and Departments about the songs that have shaped their lives. Song choices ranged from Vivaldi to the Chemical Brothers, plus everything in between, providing the young interviewers with somewhat of a musical education!
After an appeal for volunteers went out to College staff, a shortlist of suitable candidates was drawn up. Those selected were from a wide range of age groups and backgrounds, and they were all required to condense their musical repertoire down to five favourite tracks, which they would take to a desert island if marooned. Staff taking part then had to explain the reasons behind their choices in a short sentence, and submit a biography, which the students used to tailor their interview questions.
Student, Harry Gee-Woolley, 18, from Crawley, had the daunting task of interviewing College Principal Dr Russell Strutt. As a Beatles fan, Dr Strutt had chosen several of their iconic tracks, which he said had met with his own teenage children's approval. He discussed his choices with Harry, (a fellow Beatles fan, whose favourite album is Sergeant Pepper), disclosing that his own favourite Beatles album is 'Revolver'.
Once all interviews had been carried out, the students worked on editing their twenty-minute recordings, to ensure that the final version was polished and professional, before copies were given back to the staff members who had taken part. The project formed a large part of the BTEC National Diploma in Media curriculum, as not only did it enable the group to hone their interview techniques, it also gave them a valuable insight into the workings of a professional recording studio, and the process behind recording a professional radio show.
