biennialFreerunner: Last few pieces…

Monday, 12 May 2008

Last few pieces…

Hi Jo,

I have asked Adam Hamilton to work with us in FACT on the 29th as a camera operator. I believe you know each other. I have also added him as a reader to this blog so that he can get up to speed. (Hi Adam if you are reading this!)

The last few pieces I can do for now to enable the project to run from St Helens College's end are:

getting confirmation on the College's liability insurance [update: still awaiting information]
getting my students to complete a CRB form [update: crb forms will be given to students to complete]

I'll update this post ASAP as these matters are dealt with. Once I know where the College stands then it will be over to you and the lads to begin the project in June. So far, so good, feasibility wise. My line manager is excited, so that's a good sign. I'm holding off getting my Director on board until the project begins.

I'm conscious that I don't want it to seem that with all this preparation I've done I've lost sight that it is your project. So I'll be tailing off for now and I'm looking forward to supporting you and the students when the project begins.

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The Project

Traceur Tag
De La Salle School in collaboration with St Helens College

The theme for the schools project, Future, Fiction and Fantasy, seemed to instantly form a connection with our idea to produce a piece of work using Parkour and the virtual world as the concept. This film was a collaborative effort between De La Salle School and St Helens College and it was only through this collaboration that the desire to create a film based on the computer game genre was realised.

It was at the initial stages of the collaboration that contemporary artworks such as Matthew Barney’s Cremaster Cycle proved influential along with the film Jump Britain and a variety of computer games such as Halo and Unreal, which helped us to establish the kinds of environment that could form the basis for the film.

Without a doubt the vehicle which supported this project’s creative growth and encouraged clear communication throughout was this blog, instigated by Dave Wood. This blog became a hub of activity which maintained consistency in content during the six month period. Ideas, thoughts, concerns, artistic references and discussions were posted daily, hourly and often by the minute in pursuit of our collective goal.

The most interesting element of the blog, from an educational perspective, was the innovative approach to formative assessment, providing rapid responses to creative problems in a contemporary manner aiding motivation and communication. Both De La Salle School and St Helens College are now exploring ways in which blogs can impact upon student’s development and bring assessment methods into the 21st Century.

This film explores a passion for an activity that in society can be considered as subversive or anti social and channels that enthusiasm into a creative medium. From a school’s point of view the boys were given an opportunity to express themselves in a language that is comfortable to them but in a safe environment, they worked with students witnessing the creative process in action but also what vocational links art can provide.

Finally, working on the School’s Project with the Biennial team has provided us with a fantastic opportunity to investigate contemporary approaches to schemes of work, work collaboratively between different institutions and the community and develop effective forms of communication, all of which have supported our personal development for the delivery of new initiatives such as the re-launch of the Secondary Curriculum and the introduction of the Creative and Media Diploma.

Joanne Millea

Whois biennialFreerunner?

biennialFreerunner Productions is the creative collective formed out of this Biennial project. It soon became apparent to Dave and Jo that the pooled talent, the excitement and the dedication of the students and graduates had naturally formed into a "Hot Group" of multi-disciplinary creatives. As such, the project Jo had brought to Dave had evolved beyond its original scope and remit. It was therefore only natural to give this multi-disciplinary team a collective identity. The biennialFreerunner blog had actually become biennialFreerunner Productions.

There are 6 core collective members and 1 associate member of this collective: co-founders Dave Wood and Jo Millea, Adam Hamilton, Matt Frodsham, Dave Bentick and Stas Krakiewicz. Jose Flores is based in Brighton and his opening scenes were produced remotely.

Already one member of this collective has gone onto make a music video for a band as a result of his experiences as part of this collective.

See www.biennialfreerunner.com for more information or email info@biennialfreerunner.com.

Books by Dave Wood