Discover BA (Hons) Fashion Styling and Creative Direction transcript

00:00

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Screen shows text 'BA (Hons) Fashion Styling and Creative Direction' followed by cutaways of student work showing models.

00:08

I decided to study this course at Solent because in college I was doing fashion design so I did a lot more textiles based stuff and when we ever whenever we did some more marketing stuff I enjoyed that a lot more and I found I had a lot more of a passion for that so I wanted to go down that route, I guess, more so than textiles. And when looking at Solent I really liked the range of stuff we could do, so photography, hair and makeup, all of the stuff was included on this course and it just looked really interesting.

Student, Eliza Galley is talking to the camera. Also shows cutaways to students doing practical sessions.

00:42

So for me there were three courses in the UK, in the whole of the UK, that actually did styling specific courses and I knew that I wanted to be in fashion and Solent is the perfect university when it comes to fashion and anything creative really and as soon as I visited the facilities I felt absolutely in love with the uni and the city and the feel of the city and it just felt like the right place for me and the right progression from being in sixth form and then transitioning into being a uni student and living away from home.

Student, Jodie Trott is talking to the camera. Also shows cutaways of the city of Southampton.

01:14

Well, when I was at college deciding what to go into, I knew, I was on a fashion design course, and I knew that designing and manufacturing wasn't really my strong suit, so I ended up speaking to my lecturer at the time, then, who was pushing me towards all the post side of it, so doing things like photo shoots and helping students with portfolios and that kind of thing, which is something I really took a shine to. So then she said why don't you start looking at styling courses, because I didn't know they were a thing at the time, and after looking around I decided that Solent was just ... it had the best opportunity to have the best facilities for me. It was in the best location for me and all around I just thought it was the best choice.

Student, Oli Williams is talking to the camera.

02:00

Favourite bit of the course is the fact that you can use the studios and all the photography equipment basically whenever you want - and there's so much equipment - and they teach you how to use it really well.

Screen shows 'Favourite part of the course?' then cuts to Eliza Galley talking to the camera. Cutaways to photography studios and media loans hatch.

02:13

For me i just love how free the course allows you to be. You have so much creative freedom and the lecturers are so supportive and helpful, and the briefs are industry-inspired briefs so you're really trained to do anything that you would be taught to do going into industry.

Jodie Trott is talking to the camera.

02:32

I'd have to say the access to the equipment, like the photography studios, and just having the creative freedom. But you don't have to use them just because you've got a unit to do - if you want to do a photo shoot you're more than welcome just to go in and use them, and I really like that idea of the freedom there. And just to be able to go in and be, like, well I've got an idea, I've got a concept, I want to go shoot it, and I can because I have access to the facilities to do so.

Oli Williams is talking to the camera. Cutaways to photography studio.

03:01

So for me, when I came to university I hadn't even picked up a camera properly before. I'd never really shot on anything digital and so, for me, learning how to become a photographer and a makeup artist and sort of developing skills that weren't necessarily my strong points before coming to uni ... it was difficult to start with but going into my third and final year and actually being able to say "Oh I've been trained to be a photographer, a stylist, and a make-up artist, and all of those industry roles" and yeah, it's been just an incredible experience really.

Screen shows 'Biggest challenges of the course?'. Then cuts to Jodie Trott talking to the camera.

03:34

There's a lot going on at the same time and that can feel quite different to when you're at school. So at school you maybe have a couple of things going on at the same time, whereas in this course there's, like, three things going on at the same time, so it can be a little overwhelming. But i feel like the tutors are quite good with helping me through that and they definitely understand that you're doing a lot of things at the same time.

Eliza Galley is talking to the camera.

04:00

Specifically for my course we have access to the photography studios and the cove, as well which sort of the closest thing you could get to being in industry really and you have access to that in your final year so that just kind of makes you feel like a really independent creative when you get to that stage. And then we also have access to the Mac labs where we can do all of our editing on Adobe and the other software for post-production. And then we also just have access to the overall facilities, so the general university and the library as well, where we can go and do a private study if we want to.

Screen shows 'What facilities do you use on your course?'. Cuts to Jodie Trott talking to the camera. Cutaways to students using computers, the library

04:35

The facilities I use the most are the cameras and the studios because that's what we mostly use in our course, but we also do get taught about film so we've been taught a little bit about how the different cameras can be used for film photography, and I think the most interesting thing for me was learning about all the different lighting in the studios because you never really think about that before; when you see a spread you don't think how important the lighting is but it's actually really important, so I think it's really good that they teach you about that and they provide all the different soft boxes, all the different things you'd need in the studio for a good shoot.

Eliza Galley is talking to the camera

05:10

I enjoy using the photography studios the most, and the cove as well; I feel like it's just amazing that uni has them kind of facilities on offer for free and even just being able to get hold of cameras if we don't want to use the photography studios it's just something that not every uni has on offer, that every uni can afford to have so much equipment on offer and be able to give it to students for, like, a long length of time kind of thing.

Oli Williams is talking to the camera.

05:35

I would definitely recommend the course to other people. Like I said before, there's such variety and the technical instructors are really good, all the facilities are amazing - from when I went to open days they were a lot better than any other universities I looked at and, you know, there's no pressure of having to buy really expensive cameras and all of that because you can test out all the different cameras that you could possibly want and then when you go into industry you'll be used to such a variety of different stuff.

Screen shows 'Would you recommend the course to others?'. Cuts to Eliza Galley talking to the camera.

06:07

I think for me it's been the perfect course but even if you're, say, in between studying fashion photography and fashion styling, on the course of fashion styling you do get trained to be everything from a stylist, to an editor, to a makeup artist, to a photographer; so the avenues that you can branch off into in industry ... there are so many different options

Jodie Trott is talking to the camera.

06:34

I would 100 per cent recommend the course to people. If I knew someone that was struggling to make a decision but they knew they wanted to go into the fashion industry, I think it's a great course to go into because it's so broad. So if you knew you weren't interested in manufacturing, or pattern making, or anything like that but you wanted to work in the fashion industry, I would say it's a great course because you learn how to do photography, you learn how to do the post-production, even writing articles and, like, putting together pieces, just doing layouts - there's so much you can learn just from this one course that is transferable to so many different jobs so that the job prospects are so broad once you finish the course because there's just so much you've learned.

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