Our Industry Week 2017 Highlights

Well what a week that was! From 6 – 10 March we welcomed over 70 guests from across Film, TV, Music and Games for Industry Week 2017! Timetables were replaced with insightful workshops, lectures and masterclasses giving you tips, tricks and insider knowledge of the industries you aspire to join. Check out our highlights from the week…

Acting with Roxy Shahidi & Sammy Winward

For many of you, Industry Week started early as we welcomed Emmerdale favourites Roxy Shahidi & Sammy Winward on Friday 3 March. Not only did they hold a Q&A session on getting into acting, but they also gave tips during a once-in-a-lifetime acting masterclass. The actors spoke about starting a career, having an agent and auditions, before moving on to teach screen acting techniques in their workshop.

Level 3 Acting & Film Production student Ellie Kemp loved the session: “There was something surreal about getting to perform in front of two soap actresses; it was just as exciting as it was nerve-racking, but it was an amazing opportunity! “

Our Confetti Alumni Panels

On the first official day of Industry Week our Confetti graduates gave talks and workshops aimed to give you insight into the industry you want to join. The day started with our Do It For Real Games panel which saw our FdSc Games Technology graduates Lee Fox, Sam Cotton & Rhianne Murphy return to discuss their career journey in the games industry. Many of you will want to follow in their footsteps so it was a great to hear how their careers have developed.

The day ended with another Do It For Real panel featuring Sky Camera Operator Sam Dovaston, Head Sound Engineer George Patchett, Camera Operator Louis Vella, Ubisoft Games Tester Nick Starkey and Producer Gaz Frost from music duo Congi. They all answered questions on their career path after leaving Confetti, highlighting the importance of not being put off by rejection. Overall it was a fantastic opportunity to hear from industry professionals who were students just like you only a few years ago!

A Masterclass from a World-Renowned Filmmaker

Director of Photography Philip Bloom stopped by Industry Week on Tuesday to not only share his experiences & tips, but to give you the opportunity to work alongside him, creating a cinematic zombie film without ever leaving Space2’s S05! Using our filming equipment, he demonstrated the techniques he uses on a daily basis, and the outcome was fantastic (above)…there were quite a few inspired filmmakers after this workshop!

“The important thing is to know how to tell the story. At the end of the day you can have the greatest kit ever, but if you don’t connect with the audience you haven’t accomplished anything.”

Hollie Bennet’s Top 7 Tips for YouTube!

Playstation Access Channel Manager and Industry Week favourite Hollie Bennett stopped by on Wednesday for an animated and insightful talk on what it takes to make a successful Youtube channel. If you had the chance to be in the audience you would’ve heard all about what it takes to get started with streaming. From how to style your video thumbnail, to how to avoid getting into copyright trouble or why the first 15 seconds of your video are the most crucial – by the end of Hollie’s talk everyone was on their way to building the next successful gaming YouTube channel.

Social Virtual Reality

This year we welcomed two full days of virtual reality fun hosted by games developers Triangular Pixels. This was an incredibly popular event – evident from the huge waiting times – but well worth watching Robot Wars patiently before testing their social VR games. You got past many exciting puzzles and epic challenges, looking cool but not so elegant outside the headset!

Guitar Heroes

Back by huge demand was one of the most popular sessions from last year which featured guitar legends Aziz Ibrahim, Andy James & Mikey Demus. Host Mark Packham asked questions about their first memories with a guitar, their passion, and their journey to where they are now – mixed in with some amazing solo performances showcasing an array of foot pedals they use to create their wicked sounds. Many of you went home with souvenir photos and signatures to look back on. We hope you were inspired to take your guitar skills to the next level!

Jobs For The Girls

Hot off the back of International Women’s Day, Frances Finn hosted a Notts TV special in front of a live audience, which celebrated females working in the creative industries. The panel was made up of TV star Vicky McClure, musician Harleighblu, NTU pro vice-chancellor Barbara Matthews MBE & Legendary Games’ CEO Ewan Lamont. From discussions about sexism in the industry, to women being judged on their appearance, it was uplifting to hear the thoughts of the role models many young girls and women look up to.

Watch Jobs For The Girls on Notts TV.

The Art of DJ’ing

DJ & Producer DJ Yoda gave an inspiring talk covering how he got into DJ’ing and demonstrating on stage many of the techniques he uses daily. Not only did he talk about his accomplishments, but he also focused on what he failed at, but learnt from. He also explained the art of scratching by first showing the incorrect technique he used when he was a teenager. Many of you who’re aspiring to be DJ’s will have learnt a lot of new skills – maybe some of you were scratching incorrect this whole time?

A Life in Documentary Filmmaking

Those lucky enough to have been at one of Nick Broomfield’s talks will have come away with a lot of knowledge. During the day he gave small groups the chance to learn his documentary process, from finding a story you want to tell, to convincing someone to fund it. In the afternoon you were treated to a once in a lifetime opportunity to hear Nick talk about his career – he even premiered an unfinished trailer for his new documentary on Whitney Houston, making those in the room the first to see it! He spoke about many amazing experiences, including when Aileen Carol Wuornos admitted to him while on death row her reasons behind killing six men.

Keep up with all of our social channels for more on Industry Week and look out for the Industry Week special WIRE magazine next month – it features interviews with DJ Yoda, Nick Broomfield and much more!

Want to be part of Industry Week 2018? Find out more about our creative college courses and degree courses and book an open day.