Media Magazine conference notes

Tim Clague

How to be Creative - 7 tips from the front line

www.timclague.com

1. Volunteer, get involved
2. The circles, analogy of the creative industry
• Work with others
3. Beach combing
• Look for interesting ideas
• Keep it somewhere
• Play with it
• Don't force it
• Be ready for the BIG idea
• Discuss it
• Use it, practise it, pass it on
4. No one comes from nowhere
• Work hard all the time
• Get better
5. Put everything into everything
• Life is not a meritocracy
• Do your best in even little things
• Never shortcut everything
• Still an element of luck in the industry
6. Don't wait to be invited to the dance
• Beware the Doppler effect
• Let things brew over time
7. Think about the future
• Plan what to do after you finished

Rosie Ball

About

• Creative A Levels
• Game design and animation at university
• Worked with TomSka and Chris Bingham
• Experimented with what could be and the future
• Worked in a game competition
• Roles included branding, pitching to get into the competition
• Coding was difficult, variety of designs were included in original

Creative intern at Disney (2011)

• Met lots of connections at showcase
• Got the internship through connections
• Learnt a lot more about audiences and demographics

Chuckled Fish (2014) Small indie company

• Game design, writing, production, art, business
• Steam Early access was very useful
• Feedback, money, community
• Small team, greater communication and greater levels of involvement
• Helped with launch, building a community, testing

Leon Mann

• Interviewer, sports consultant, film-maker
• Respect the structure, respectfully challenge it
• Dresses down in interviews, makes people feel comfortable
• Sports media has a lack of diversity
• Diversity offers a greater range of perspectives and should be encouraged

About

• Worked at the Euro 2016, PFA TV
• Grew up in Harringay
• Obsessed with sport
• Decent GCSEs, fluffed A Levels
• Spent time in Kenya
• Graduated with Geography degree
• Volunteered at "Kick It Out", got a job there

What he has done

• Broadcast assistant, BBC Sports News
• Sports writer, The Voice newspaper
• Assistant Producer, BBC Sports News
• Six O'clock news feature on Usain Bolt

Advice

• Seek new information
• Be prepared
• Believe in yourself
• Be YOURSELF

Film makers panel

Hana Kesedzic

• Entered into film festivals
• University with an industry focus

Florence Winter Hill

• Industry rather than university
• Spec music videos
• Experimenting with new things
• Full time production assistant
• FutureFilm, BFI, internship

Rebecca Gosnell

• Production at BBC
• Trailer editing at Unviersal Pictures

Nathan Wilkes

• Disney

Ben Squires

• Sound at NFTS, composing
• Freelance, part time

Advice

• There are lots of different paths, find out what is best for you
• Don't accept "meh", do your best
• Love what you do, push yourself
• Shut up and make it

Dr Shakuntala Banaji

Young people, media and democracy

• Young people are generally apathetic
• There is a "crisis of engagement"
• Young people are actively changing the way that they engage
• Social media, new digital media platforms
• Young people often don't trust mainstream news
• London has many engaged young people compared to other parts of England
• Increasing control of all media by a few corporations, narrows the agenda (Paretto's Law)
• Economic crisis, vicious spending cuts
• Media narratives of scarcity
• Social, cultural, economic and institutional racism
• Right wing media rhetoric
• Educational exclusion, social fragmentation of classes

How does anyone become political?

Sites of socialisation of youth in politics

• Family
• Media
• School

Communication and styles

• Families and schools have a non tolerant standpoint of divergent viewpoints
• Encourage a wide range of media consumption and greater amount of critical debate

Issues found in engaging youth

• Jobs
• Social discrimination
• Terrorism
• Students rights
• Media stereotyping
• Employment and economic systems
• Voting age
• Engaged in community work

Are young people equally included?

• Youth voice
• Common chat, young people used for consultation
• Not for decision making

Most socio-economically deprived are often "too hard to reach"

One size of politics doesn't fit young people yet its what the government is giving

• Lack of trust in media
• Results in weaker citizenship
• Media supports power of elites
• Negative stereotypes of young people

UK mainstream media offer young people a very limited range of ideological perceptions (Goffman)

• 80% of news is negative of young people
• Criminals
• Victims
• Incapable
• Small number of news is positive
• Internet is great for young people
• But neglects youth participation
• Lack of starting campaigns
• 20% of young people get their news online
• Simple messages travel better than complex
• "Make Britain Great Again"
• Racist and right wing ideologies surface
• Most adults believe they are helping democratic participation
• Yet don't help or focus on democratic participation of young people
• Youth participation is only wanted when it is good for the government
• Civil disobedience is not
• Challenging a government is not wanted and frowned upon
• Young people can be influenced by right wing ideologies and views a lot easier

Tony Garnett

• Films about ordinary citizens
• Complexity, faults
• Reflect people back to themselves
• Reflects a truth, on a personal level
• Political, social realism
• Highly controversial
• Challenging society
• "For a fact to have meaning, it must be contextualised"
• Creating of narrative
• Cultural, political and religion beliefs are engrossed in everyday life
• Unknowingly creates bias
• Conscious or unconscious prejudice
• What is good news to some is enraging or insulting to others
• Always be sceptical. Ask WHY?
• News is not objective
• Trying to get audiences to take sides
• Humans live for stories
• Helps to make sense of ourselves and of our world through narratives
• Even religion is meta narrative
• Digital revolution
• Social media offers "post truth"
• Increase in spread of lies
• Politicians are normally subtle but no longer
• Internet is full of "Trumps"
• Make sure to check facts
• Double check them
• "The market is a religious doctrine"
• News and films are commodities
• Artists are no longer as creative
• Creativity is disciplined
• Compromise with self vision and management
• Smuggled his own creativity through demand of specific genre
• "Trojan drama"
• Acknowledge your creativity
• Nurture it
• "There's never been anyone like you in the world and there never will be"