how we test ideas
Jamie Waller
At LSA, our teaching is delivered through exciting, industry-relevant projects. For example, students might be asked to shoot an immersive documentary, create the title sequence for a Netflix comedy show, or design the set for a period drama.
In a previous post, we saw how LSA generates great project ideas for our students. But coming up with a range of exciting ideas is just the first step. In order to whittle them down and refine them, we need to test our ideas with professionals from the Film + TV industry, our students and our colleagues.
We start by pitching three ideas for each project to industry professionals. We pride ourselves on getting our students to a place where they are 'set-ready', and so it is vital that industry colleagues are involved at each stage of our project development cycle. One useful outcome of industry testing at this stage is to check whether our ideas are considered relevant by those in the industry. For example, when the head of our Technical strand shares his idea for a project based purely around lighting, it is great to hear from a film producer that "the first cinematographer I worked with told me it's all about whether you can light someone's face".
Another reason for industry testing is that we can see whether our ideas will produce original and engaging content. For example, industry colleagues loved our idea of challenging students to create a documentary based around the family dinner table. Sometimes students are instinctively drawn to dramatic scenarios for their productions, but creating extraordinary films from ordinary situations is a true test of our students’ skills.
Finally, industry testing helps us make connections and find opportunities for collaboration with industry. When our Production and Development lead pitches their music video project idea, it is great to hear that a successful music producer is willing to link us up with colleagues in the industry who can work with our students. As ever, our in-house industry team is on hand to offer further advice and act as the bridge between our teaching staff and those in the Film + TV industry.
Once we have tested the ideas with industry professionals, it is time for a much more daunting audience - the students! The ideas are refined to reflect the feedback from industry, and then they are presented to the students. The key at this stage is to limit the presentation of each idea to a quick elevator pitch - any more than that, and it becomes clear to the students which ideas the teachers already prefer. It's also important at this stage to ensure that students are presented with a number of ideas for each project so that they can tell us their preferences. We want the students' views to shine through at this stage.
And they are not shy about giving us their ideas. For example, our Craft students told us that they were not excited by a project designing costumes and sets for Victorian London, but change that to a 1920s carnival in America and it's a different story. Students told us that certain ideas were too structured and wouldn't allow them to make mistakes, whereas other ideas would help them develop skills they know they need to work on, such as time management. They asked us to expand group sizes for certain projects, and they helped us foresee where there would be issues with access to equipment. Most importantly, they told us they were excited about the projects!
The last step in our testing process is for teachers to test each others' ideas. For example, our Head of Post Production will test each of the Technical Department's ideas against a set of key questions. These include:
Will it be possible to meet the learning outcomes with this project?
Could the idea be more exciting or engaging, and if so, how?
Is the idea sufficiently challenging?
What are the opportunities for collaboration between departments?
These questions are designed to ensure that our projects are academically rigorous, industry-relevant, as engaging as possible, and encourage students from different strands to work together. Finally, we rank the projects. And with that, testing is done!
To check out the different project ideas we tested, click here.