Tees Valley Community Media

Archive for the ‘News’ Category

Well it’s quite hush hush at the moment but we do indeed have plans. Take a look at the picture gallery and then enjoy this movie.

With thanks to the people who gave us permission to use these. NB click on an image to enlarge and then click at the top to see the very largest version.

The Skinningrovers

An interesting session was had by all at The BBC today. The Skinningrovers were presenting their ideas for the Ochre Trail and the Virtual Tour that would accompany it. Several Skinningrove youngsters from Whitecliffe primary school had come along. The kids were delighted to see that the grown ups were just big kids really when they were shown the movies “Tommy’s Plight” and “Skinningrove – Welcome To The Future”.

My assistant helps with the powerpoint

The Skinnigrovers told of a boat they had rescued from Whitby where it was due to be disposed of. They brought it back to Skinningrove and refurbished it.

They sited it on the seafront where it will be a monument to the fishing industry which is now sadly in decline. The picture shows an artists impression of two sculptures that have been commissioned to be added to the boat.

Remarkably the boat has ended up across the street from the house where the old fisherman’s daughter lives and today his two grandchildren were there to hear the story of their grandfathers boat.

Next it was the Adults turn to be astonished when the Head Teacher from Whitcliffe School, Mrs Shannon produced the 130 year old log book from the Skinningrove School

The beautifully written Skinningrove School Logbook

Several of the children read extracts from the book including one where the children of the day had to be evacuated from the school when a German Zeppelin arrived overhead.

It’s now planned that Tommy and Barry will take a more “executive” role at Radio Skinningrove and the children will take over producing podcasts of readings from the old book plus reporting on current events. The adults and the kids will work together on the Virtual Ochre Trail.

There was some jocularity when we realised that later editions of the Skinningrove log book would include reports of the doings of Tommy’s school career.

Tommy Evans: This is Your Life !

A new concept in Theatre and Movie Making. Well, not entirely new, the concept of making movies in games and virtual worlds, (Machinima) is not new but the Straad Players with a Second Life island and a Sky Platform Backlot to shoot movies (animations) on is new. Check the promo movie below.

Anyone wishing to become involved should email s.d.thompson@tees.ac.uk

Actors
set designers **
set builders
costume designers
script writers **
camera crew
editors **
post production **
audio technicians **
Voice characterisations **
directors
musicians **

Unfortunately because we’re using Second Life children can not engage with
it (in world) but they can look on whilst production is happening and
they can be directly involved in the activities above marked thus **

The Straad Players blog can be found here

Margrove Park Village Hall have been successful in a funding bid to develop their “Digital Village” and will sustain the Village Hall Internet connection beyond the current project and provide them with their own bank of laptops. We’re quite excited at the prospect of developing the Digital Village concept further and in the bid we spoke of creating a virtual Post Office, Corner Shop, School and Job Shop as the village has none of these things.

The saying goes that the best websites start with a piece of paper. This is just that the core team (below, minus one missing person) have been doing to design their new Digital Village website.

Virtual Post Office – All the things you can do online such as apply for a TV License, RE-tax your car. Taxing your car online for instance is far more efficient than going to a post office.

Virtual, Job Shop – job search online, pointers and advice, CV’s etc – closely connected to …………..

Virtual School – The Digital Skills Network currently in development. Online support and learning on a range of subjects including how to run your virtual post office.

Virtual Corner Shop particularly useful to older residents, they club together to form a consortium to be able to place an order sufficiently large to warrant a Tescos/Iceland – whoever Groceries delivery

Virtual Volunteering A new idea. More details later.

Read the MyWeb2@Margrove Park report

Visit the Margrove Park website

A Merry Christmas from Tees Valley Community Media, the Destinations@Saltburn Social Inclusion Demonstrators Project, The Institute of Digital Innovation, Digital City and The University of Teesside.

A Story of Christmas Past In a digital archiving session at Marske Library, 94 year old former School Teacher told students from Bydales School about the diphtheria epidemic at Markse infants school: Christmas 1934. Click here to hear Vera’s story and to view pictures from the archiving session.
Going To The Movies Christmas time is traditionally the time families go to the movies. Click here to view our latest movie and the story behind its making. We’re going big with this concept in the New Year so you can expect to see more movies produced by a whole host of community groups.
A Christmas Gift Margrove Park could not have wished for a better Christmas gift. They have just been awarded a Tees Valley delegated grant and funding from ERDF with thanks to Tees Valley Joint Strategy Unit. The funding will help to develop their digital village and to involve the whole community. Click here to read more about their exciting plans for the future. Pictured left to right, Steve Thompson, Community Media Coordinator(Santa), Margaret – Marian – Jean, Margrove Park Village Hall Asociation, Paul Davies of Destinations @ Saltburn (Social Inclusion Demonstrators project manager)
Santa Goes to Saltburn Santa and his helpers visited Destinations @ Saltburn once again for fun, mince pies and enrollment into the UCPD courses. This year the highlight was the screening of the Straad Players movie (above) and a visit to the second life backlot. Ho Ho Ho. Visit the Destinations website.
Unsilent Night For a fourth year New York composer, Phil Kline brought his “Unsilent Night” to Middlesbrough. Scores of people marched through the streets playing Phils music on massed ghetto blasters bring Christmas cheer to the streets of the town. Click here to see pictures and video.
Happy New Year It’s customary at this time of year whilst looking forward to the new year to reflect on the year gone by. Lets look at some of the highlights for TVCM in the past year. Again three major webcast events were mounted The Middlesbrough Mela, Stockton Riverside Festival and Saltburn Folk Festival. Some great animations were produced like these two from Redcar & Cleveland Mind and The Princes Trust not to mention all of these from Bedale Primary. And we have lots to look forward to for 2008. Apart from developing some of the things mentioned above we have the development of the Digital Skills Network and a major community digital arts event for March 2008 Happy New Year from everyone associated with Tees Valley Community Media.