Today marks the literal end of our first week, most of the businesses here close on Sundays so its pretty quiet, its nice though. Today we mostly stayed in, we meet with Linda from GTI and had a meeting with her about how everything is going. I went for a swim and at around 9pm a friend from the campus came over and we went on to the roof of the lofts to take some drone shots and photos for our documentary. We then went back to one of the rooms and played cards. Overall today was a brilliant day. We chilled out, did some college work and got some rest before the second week starts.
-Matt
0 Comments
This time last week, we stepped foot on Scottish soil making today an important milestone for us all. Since then, we have all made many new friends, seen new places and experienced new things, most of them positive.
Today, being perhaps our most positive to date, revolved around a series of walks all across Glasgow city’s West End. We were kindly led by Albert, a media student at New College Lanarkshire, who we have all become good friends with. Overall, it was a truly wonderful experience as we got to really see Glasgow in a more intimate manner, something which many visitors can only dream of. Some of the places we explored included the many green spaces such as Glasgow’s Botanical Gardens and Kelvin Grove. These vast spaces proved to be a real breath of fresh air, something you can rarely find within a bustling city. They also had a broad range of interesting wildlife such as squirrels and ducks (I am a big animal lover just so you know). After many hours of craic in the parks, we ventured to Glasgow University, another beautiful landmark in Glasgow’s West End. Here, we found ourselves being blown away by the university’s buildings which closely resembled Hogwarts from Harry Potter. The architecture was absolutely amazing to say the least. In addition to the university, we also had a stunning view of the city’s skyline from the hill on which it was built upon. Being media students, we could not help but feel lost in the beauty which lay below us. Overall, today could not have been any better. We had the wonderful pleasure of hanging out with another like minded individual who has become a great friend to us all. We also had the amazing opportunity to see Glasgow through native eye. In short, I can confidently say that I would be quite content if we achieved only half the craic we had today this coming week. -Fionn Today concluded our first week of our Erasmus in the New College Lanarkshire in Glasgow. Today the other media students and myself spent the day in class with the colleges 2nd year Higher National Diploma media students building and designing our own websites.
The task we were given today was to work on some web designing where we would use the free website 'Word Press' to begin the rough layouts of our websites. We then began to fill our individual websites with our own film work, an 'about me' section, along with adding examples of our editing. We also added in a few other tabs with our information relating to our work. After the first few hours of class we moved onto talking about the different types of camera movements and positions and the meaning behind them in film. After this discussion we wrapped up our day at the college and spent the rest of the day exploring Glasgow city along with forming plans for what we would be doing for our first full weekend in Glasgow. -Joe We are already finishing up our first week in the Cumbernauld Campus and so far everything is going very well. We started the week by almost missing the first bus and having to sprint for it where as now I think we are finding our stride. The campus and its facilities are amazing their recording studio is brilliant and they have some great equipment which we will hopefully be able to get our hands on at some point. Today was very interesting, we had class with the HND'S taught by one of the lecturers (Michael Grant) and he was introducing us the the topic of Semiotics in relation to film and how it works, i have never come across semiotics before but i really like it and would like to learn more. We are talking with some of the class and we have arranged a trip to the Botanical Gardens with one of them this weekend. The four of us have been put together and tasked with shooting a promotional video for the Colleges Library and Learning Center, this is a great opportunity to show the lecturers what we are capable of and to show off our individual talents and how our skills and knowledge allow us to make for a great team.
Outside of College we had a quiet day in today, we got together and made dinner and then went out to see Black Panther (great movie btw) we went out for dinner with the Hairdressing and Beauty group and went for Pancakes to celebrate Pancake Tuesday earlier in the week. We also met up with John Mcloughlin today to talk about how things are going and how we are finding it here. All in all its been a great week and im looking forward to the rest of our time here. -Matt Today we began our first taste of work experience after briefings and introductions in the previously days. Huzzah! Upon arriving in the college, we were split up into groups of two. Fionn and myself were commissioned to help out with a shoot in a local town called Falkirk, where we would be travelling with Alan and two other lovely students in the HND Class (Level 6), Albert and Stephanie. Joe and Matt were given an editing assignment for an Eco friendly car promotion as we prepared for our expedition. The work itself was to do the final shoot for a local charity shop called 'Baby Steps' that re-sell everything for babies and small children at very friendly prices.
Upon arriving, we began setting up our equipment. Fionn and Albert were tasked with interviewing and shooting in the shop whilst myself and Stephanie prepared for a Vox Pop around the local town, asking for opinions regarding the store. I was Camera Operator and was working with a Canon D600, 50mm and 28mm lenses and a strange stabilization wheel, which is definitely the technical name for it, and Stephanie set up with a H5 Zoom and boom kit. At first, we didn't have much success with our interviews but as the weather started to clear on this cold and wet winter morning, people became more willing to our antics. Stephanie asked them whether they knew about the shop and would tell them about the work that it does, ie employs adults with learning disabilities, provides fair pricing for less affordable items and has a strong recycle policy. As our audience would react, I would position myself correctly and try my damned hardest to get the focus, framing, exposure, ISO and stability right. After a successful half an hour we returned, thanked the owners for their time and went back to the college. Finishing up our work at approx 1 pm, we all headed back to Glasgow. Fionn and myself popped into the GOMA (Gallery of Modern Art) and us, being the taken men that we are, returned to the apartment for the evening. Joe and Matt and the 4 Hairdressing students went out for dinner in a nearby bar. Fionn tested out the jacuzzi bath feature as I tried to reslve our internet issues! All in all, a fine day and looking forwards to the next. -Barra Today was by far the most interesting day out of all four that I have spent in Glasgow. It also marks my very first blog entry for Erasmus.
To begin, our day began with a brief visit to the college where we learned about the intricacies of film title creation, something I had previously never done. Following this, I embarked on a solo wander around the city, my only company being a DSLR. During this, I discovered the good, the bad and the ugly. This was probably the most enjoyable part of the day as I really got to explore the city, something I have been itching to do for quite some time now. Later in the day, us media students celebrated pancake Tuesday with Donall and the Hairdressing students. It marked our very first real get together, something which was great as we all got to share our own experiences so far. Overall, I hope that these new and exciting experiences with continue as we progress through the weeks ahead. -Fionn Today was our first day visiting the New College of Lanarkshire Campus the early morning consisted of an orientation meeting alongside the Beauty and Hairdressing students. Shorty after, the three other media students and I moved along to the Cumbernauld Campus.
Once at the Cumbernauld campus we were given a tour of the facilities available to the students at the campus studying media. The facilities the college has available such as their sound studios and there equipment room I found incredibly interesting and fun to be in. After the tour of the campus we were introduced to some of the first year students in the college studying media. After Donall and their lecturer Alan left us, to introduce ourselves to the students. We also did a script read of one of the students scripts. It was interesting to see the different way slang and grammar are used between them and us. After this was all done we were given a slight rundown of some of what we would be doing over the next three weeks and we wrapped up our day at the college and headed back to the lofts where we spent the rest our day exploring the city and facilities available to us. -Joe (Sunday) Today was a great day for Scotland, they bet France at the rugby and that is a big achievement, but to do so whilst simultaneously experiencing all four seasons is brilliant altogether. For someone that hasn't traveled in a long time the past two days have been a bit of a blur, but a magnificent blur. Today was a day for settling down and exploring, If I was asked to describe Glasgow in one word I would be at a loss for words to be honest. Its a vast city full of secrets and character and beautiful architecture. The city has a lot of great culture, there is so much to do, from theatres and shopping, to museums and that's not even the half of it. Today the 12 of us went exploring after a briefy on our placements from Donall. On our travels we saw things similar to what you would find at home in Ireland such as pubs filled with big burly men chanting in unison as they watched the match but we also saw bars and cafes filled to the brim with youth mingling together. We stopped of for a bite to eat at a Cafe before splitting up for the day. I have to say that its the nicest building I've seen for a Cafe, the overall atmosphere of the place was great also. Before settling down for the night we went shopping for groceries, there is no shortage of Tesco's or Aldi's so it was easy to find what we wanted. The trip so far has been a delight and we are being treated very well by both GTI and our Glasgow hosts. Now the weather... before leaving Galway I was looking around Penny's and decided for the laugh that I would bring a pair of sunglasses, just as a joke because as we all know Glasgow and the sun dont have the best relationship. To my surprise the sun did decide to show up today but I think it was just to wave goodbye and let the snow in. Like Billy Connolly once said, there are two seasons in Scotland: June and Winter. Tomorrow will be our first day in the Cumbernauld Campus and we are all very excited for it, we cant wait to meet new people and see the facilities that are there. The next three weeks are going to be amazing, but I fear that they will go by very quickly. I cant wait to explore more of Glasgow and experience all that it has to offer. - M.D Today (Saturday) was the day! Despite much disbelief and disorganisation, we gathered our belongs and eager hearts onto the bus and plane and before we knew it, had landed in Glasgow, "The City of Sparks". Matt, Joe and myself travelled with Donall and 7 other hair and beauty students and thankfully there were no incidents to report. The bus journey took close to 3 hours, as did check in and waiting around the airport, but by 6.50pm the plane was hurtling on a long stretch of tarmac, aiming towards the skies.
The flight was incredibly short, not lasting more than 50 mins and apparently, landing 15 minutes early according to the Ryanair pilot who had also joked about dimming the lights for take-off in order to create a 'romantic ambiance'! Upon a bumpy landing, and us picking up our bags, our taxi driver from the airport gave us a great insight into the strength of accents we'll have to adapt to over the next number of weeks. Yet, he also showcased the extremely warm and familial culture of the Scots, since we are their Celtic brethren. Upon reaching the Loft Apartments, we were totally in awe of the lavishness and comfort which we were not accustomed to. Rooms with full paned glass windows overlooking all of Glasgow city gave us full view to the city as we gazed around the apartments. However, we have now settled and after unpacking and going out to a wonderful bar for a meal we retired for the night, excited for what the next day will bring. - Barra |
Media 2017-18Matt Dillon Map of Glasgow |