From global trips to visits to local media institutions, we’re always on the move to make sure you can experience as much of the media industry as you can before you graduate.
So far this year our students have had the chance to go to the U.S.A, visit specialist media agencies and attend masterclasses at BBC Mailbox. See where else students have been and the types of places you could be going if you join us in September.
Berlin
At the start of the year students were given the chance to explore Berlin and attend transmediale, a media festival for art and digital culture. The festival brings together international artists, researchers, activists, and thinkers with the goal of developing new outlooks on our technological era, through exhibitions, performances, screenings, and workshops.
New York City
A group of students and staff from across the School of Media flew out to the big apple to take part in an exciting variety of media-focused activities and explore the city together. Destinations included: Times Square, Grand Central Terminal, Carlo’s (TLC’s ‘Cake Boss’) Bakery, ABC Studios and Central Park. The students were also lucky enough to sit in the production of ‘The View’ as live studio audience members.
I’m A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here
Hosted by Royal Television Society Midlands, the event allowed Media Production students to be given the inside scoop on the making of the hit ITV show I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here. They were given details on how the production team keep the series fresh and innovative, and even got to hear about some of the producers’ favourite filming moments!
Magical Mystery Tour
Each year third-year students are taken on our ‘Magical Mystery Tour’, where they are given the opportunity to explore new locations, focusing on media industries of interest and how they operate outside of Birmingham.
The location remains a secret until they arrive and the destinations this year included Leeds and Oxford. In Oxford students explored locations from famous films such as the Hogwarts dining room and library at Christ Church College and Bodleian Library, as well as cultural sites and museums. In Leeds students were able to see BBC Yorkshire and cultural institutions like the Henry Moore Institute.
Stephen Knight Masterclass
Stephen Knight, creator of popular BBC TV show ‘Peaky Blinders’, hosted a masterclass at the BBC Mailbox. The event, which was supported by the Royal Television Society and the BBC, was attended by a group of our Media, English and Film students. They sat in for the discussions of Stephen Knight’s adaptation of A Christmas Carol, an insight into Peaky Blinders and his proposed studio complex in Digbeth – a stone’s throw away from our City Centre Campus .
PR in London
As part of their module project brief with Ocean Revival 2020, a group of first-year and second-year PR students travelled down to central London to see media relations in practice. Students were given a chance to attend a press visit, and for some their first media photo-call, where they got to see the Marines, who will be taking on the world’s most dangerous row, train along the River Thames.
On the same trip they also visited the Daily Star office where they met Chloe Stewart, Showbiz and TV Deputy Editor, to find out more about what guides the news agenda and the relationship between the press and PRs. This was followed by an opportunity to meet with CIPR UK and finally a trip to IPR - a stunning showroom where designers showcase their brands to influencers, press and VIPs.
Music industries in Birmingham
To kick off their first year Music Industries students were given an introduction to Birmingham’s vibrant music landscape on a three-hour walking tour around the city centre. The practical exploration included visits to Minerva Works; Digbrew; The Ruin, Digbeth; Blotto Studio; The Custard Factory; Mama Roux’s; Quantum; The Mill, Digbeth; The Wagon and Horses, The Old Crown; The Crossing, Digbeth; O2 Institute, The Electric Cinema, The Crown, John Bright Street, Town Hall Birmingham and Symphony Hall Birmingham. The tour gave students a chance to learn about the city’s unique position within UK music industries and its world-renowned venues.
