Art, Photography & PD: Careers In the Curriculum
Art
At KS3 this year we have been investigating a variety of career opportunities within the creative arts. Year 9 students investigated the role of a set designer and what this entails and will be creating their own set designs as a response. They have also written a short narrative to accompany a particular set design.
Famous set designer: Sandy Reynolds-Wasco
Sandy Reynolds-Wasco is most famously known for her set design for LA LA Land. The production was $448 million worldwide on a production budget of $30 million, with musical numbers, cinematography and production design. In my opinion the design was very fitting for the movie as the characters wear softer tones. You can see this through the movie, as the colours are brighter as well. Which means the movie is move upbeat and happier. In this picture the use of lighter tones for the characters and darker tones for the sky is very clever as it highlights the character and shows that they’re the main characters. LA LA Land is a musical so I think that Sandy Reynold-Wasco captures the euphoria perfectly.
Famous set designer: Sandy Reynolds-Wasco
Sandy Reynolds-Wasco is most famously known for her set design for LA LA Land. The production was $448 million worldwide on a production budget of $30 million, with musical numbers, cinematography and production design. In my opinion the design was very fitting for the movie as the characters wear softer tones. You can see this through the movie, as the colours are brighter as well. Which means the movie is move upbeat and happier. In this picture the use of lighter tones for the characters and darker tones for the sky is very clever as it highlights the character and shows that they’re the main characters. LA LA Land is a musical so I think that Sandy Reynold-Wasco captures the euphoria perfectly.
Set designer: Melanie Ahmed
What does the role involve?
The role of a set designer is to design scenery for sets this normally sets the environment for the stage or movie. They are responsible for the world that the characters live in and set the atmosphere for the characters in a play, movie or TV show.
What training do you need?
Set designers need a lot of training before getting their job, this includes degrees in Theatre Studies, Creative Arts, Performing Arts, Drama, Fine Arts, Visual Arts, Graphic Design, Illustrations, Architecture or Landscape Architecture. These are very important as the set designer create sets using their artist skills and depending on the type of set they need 2D or 3D design depending on the environment they are trying to create.
Year 8 students have been investigating the role of artists within society and how art can be used to celebrate a person’s culture. We have been investigating the role of an exhibition curator and the students are in the process of selecting artists whose work is influenced by their own culture. The aim is to arrange a digital exhibition from their choices and then to curate an exhibition of their own paintings once finished.
Examples of students research include:
“An exhibition curator is somebody who manages an area in an art museum or gallery. Exhibition curators don’t just decide where a painting goes, they decide what cultural things are going to be displayed alongside it. Curators also decide which works of art should be on display and how they should be seen. The themes that the audience will experience would be those they chose. To be an exhibition curator you have to have a degree in various subjects. These degrees include Fine Art or Art History, Museum or Heritage Studies, Archaeology or Ancient History, Classics and many others. You usually also need to have a masters degree in a subject similar to the ones which have been stated.”
Artist Nelson Makamo:
Nelson Makamo is an artist from south africa and he draws portraits of young children from his small hometown he paints these portraits usually with charcoal and oil pastels and he doesn’t represent these children as victims of poverty however he represents them as expressive and playful children which have never experienced poverty. He draws these children with various items, some sport items like tennis balls or with footballs or he draws some children with various items of clothing and accessories like glasses, hair clips, hats and other things.
This is one of his pieces of art called Life Juggle.
Artist Asiko:
Asiko is a London based Nigerian photographer. Asiko is a photographer who does his artwork to fulfil a desire to become more self-aware, to express himself authentically, and to create a visual language that expresses new ways to comprehend the empowering potential of African cultural identity. Asiko’s models are usually seen wearing adire textiles from the african yoruba community. They are also seen wearing contemporary shoes, in a reflection of their composite heritage, stories, beliefs and pleasures.
Art Club
KS3 Art club students are involved in understanding the role of the artist highlighting social and political issues and have been creating ceramic plates to raise awareness of their own concerns.
Year 10 and 11 students have been made aware of roles within the creative industries and pathways to reach these, including art colleges and apprentices. Year 12 students attended Forma in October, which is organised by Universities and Art Colleges to offer students the opportunity to discuss the creative courses that are on offer and to offer help in creating their personal portfolios in readiness for their applications
Photography
Our Sixth Form photography students planned and shot the school reptiles. They researched how nature photographers get the best shots and learnt how to make sure the animals were safe and not scared by the equipment. Each student took nearly 1000 shots during the experience as they had learnt that it was important to get a variety of shots as the animals could not be directed in how to pose for the camera. The photographs have been published in the newsletter and the Science team will be using some of these photographs to publicise our schools exotic animals collection.
Here are some of the comments made by the students involved.
"I feel very lucky to have had this experience during my lesson at school and can’t wait to show my friends and family what I did today. "
"It is the first time I have been that close to a tarantula and at first I felt very nervous. I managed to get over 900 shots by the end of all the animals and can’t wait to look at them on the computer and edit them".
We are currently having meetings with local community sites such as Eltham Library to exhibit our students' photography to show exhibition opportunities. This will show students about the planning, organisation and how to work with a client from start to finish. We have work from our Year 7-9 photography club students being displayed in front of the teenagers section in the Library. The students did drawing with light using a slow shutter and 2 images were chosen. We will be taking local landscape shots for GP surgeries next to help the environments be more inviting. They have requested beauty shots that capture our local area. Our students are very excited to begin this next project for the community.
We are currently having meetings with local community sites such as Eltham Library to exhibit our students' photography to show exhibition opportunities. This will show students about the planning, organisation and how to work with a client from start to finish. We have work from our Year 7-9 photography club students being displayed in front of the teenagers section in the Library. The students did drawing with light using a slow shutter and 2 images were chosen. We will be taking local landscape shots for GP surgeries next to help the environments be more inviting. They have requested beauty shots that capture our local area. Our students are very excited to begin this next project for the community.
Design and Technology
For Years 7-9, every lesson of every project in DT involves students learning and practising the different roles in the design and manufacturing industries. This involves the soft skills needed across business as well as the practical knowledge. This term students in year 8 have been looking at the design and manufacture of electronic products, studying injection moulding and role played as cost engineers by using maths to calculate the economies of scale of different manufacturing methods. Students in year 7 have been looking at the role of the textile designer by researching different designers and writing design proposals for their textiles projects. Year 8 students looked at the forces that affect new product development to have a greater understanding of the role market researchers have in industry.
Our year 10 students have been completing designer research as part of their amplifier design projects, as well as studying the changing roles in the manufacturing industry due to automation. There have been ongoing conversations with our year 11s about their next educational stages and considering which industries can be considered growing and those which are likely to disappear through applying their understanding of sustainability issues. For example, gas engineering may be a shrinking industry in light of government legislation on home gas appliances, while solar and renewable engineers are a growing employment sector.
Presenting and defending design proposals from robust feedback is a key skill in the creative industries. Our year 12 and 13 students have been working towards presenting their design proposals to improve their oracy and confidence in professional presentation.