Our reporter takes a trip down memory lane at Wolverhampton College

Express & Star

Express & Star senior reporter James Vukmirovic takes a look around the Paget Road campus of Wolverhampton College, having been a student there on two occasions, to reminisce about his time there and what he remembers about the media department.

Transcript

00:00Hello, I'm James Viprimovic and I'm here at the Paddy Road campus of Wolverhampton College.

00:05It holds special memories for me because I'm actually a two-time graduate of this place.

00:101998 to 2000, as a callow 16-year-old, I came here to do the B.T.E.C. National Diploma in Media Studies,

00:17which over the two years I learnt about video, I learnt about radio, I learnt about writing stories and producing things like that.

00:24I had so many different skills in that time, a lot of which I actually still use today.

00:27I left, went to university, thought very little of actually ever coming back.

00:31But then in 2018, as a 36-year-old, I came back to do the NCTJ, the qualification to become a journalist.

00:38So this building holds a lot of memories for me and it's the fact that in September,

00:43this is no longer going to be where students go to learn.

00:46They'll be going to the new campus in Wolverhampton City Centre.

00:49So I've taken the time to come down here today, have a look at some of my old haunts

00:53and see what they actually look like, see if I remember what they actually look like.

00:56So let's go take a look.

00:58This right here is the video production area where I would have been in 1990, 60, 2000 doing video editing.

01:03It's changed a bit over time because that used to be the studio

01:06and that used to be just an area where we could do a bit of filming as necessary.

01:10But let's take a walk in real quick and look at what there is.

01:14This is where you've got all the technology.

01:17So you go in and you get your cameras and you get whatever other tech you needed.

01:21In here was actually a full studio where we could go in with editing suites through there.

01:26It's changed a bit over time.

01:27When I came to do my NCTJ, it's actually become a full editing suite with Premiere Pro,

01:32which is a really good editing software to work with.

01:34But it's a great space to work with.

01:36And if you see a lot of the videos for most of the time, most of them were filmed in around this area.

01:40Through here is more of the studio area now.

01:44So what you end up having is this big area where you can have the different screens up there.

01:50You can have work to do.

01:52You can film different things in here.

01:54So this is the video editing area where I learnt some of the skills over that time.

01:59I've not used a lot of them since, but they're all still pretty good so far.

02:02So this is the video area as it is.

02:05Okay, well this corridor here at the college is where I would spend most of my time doing my VTech in media.

02:15Back there are some of the classrooms that we would have done theory in with Dr Craig Spencer,

02:20which were always very interesting.

02:22Loves about film, loads about the idea behind that, semantics and everything around that.

02:26So that was always very good for learning about that.

02:28Down here is where you did more of the practical stuff.

02:30So that's the processing room where you would do photography, you would have your films,

02:34usually dark films, your black and white films.

02:36You would go in there and do the full sort of process of getting them set up.

02:39In there is the radio studio where the work would actually be done to broadcast and make things out of that.

02:46Go a bit further down, you're working yourself down towards where the dark room is.

02:50And we'll see that and we'll see everything that goes around the work there.

02:54Because that was always fascinating, going in there and doing everything to do with actually creating your photos,

03:00using media paper and everything around that.

03:02And then if you go a little bit further down, just here is the actual photo studio,

03:08where we can work and you can see some of the arts that people have done over the years.

03:12And then back here, you get to see some of the cameras that we used in the past.

03:17That was an interesting time to go in there and work in there.

03:20And it would really just bring back the memories walking around here.

03:24Plus, we would have learnt some of our media skills in this room by writing stories, learning about the process around that.

03:30And indeed, in our second year, creating our own magazine.

03:34So, a lot happened here in two years.

03:36I'm in what used to be the radio room.

03:40It's obviously just a simple classroom now, but over there is where the full radio suite was.

03:44You had the full desk, you had the analogue and digital editing software to work with.

03:50You had a full sort of space to work with that.

03:52And it was all enclosed in.

03:54You see where the carpet sort of changes?

03:57That's where the radio room used to be.

03:59You'd be here.

04:00You'd probably be sat about here.

04:02There'd be the microphone going to work with that.

04:05You'd have the editing suite there, which was the Dave software, which I got a hold of very quickly.

04:10Then, obviously, that door was locked because it was saying it's a radio studio.

04:14Don't come in unless you absolutely have to.

04:16So, again, it feels weird to be sort of student here and see that this isn't actually a radio studio any more.

04:22But, never mind, I still have some good memories of making some decent stuff in it.

04:27Okay, this is the photo processing room.

04:29This is a skill that some kids today may not know about, but it's still something they teach here at the college.

04:3425 years ago, I would have remembered coming in here when we were doing different bits of photography

04:39with my black and white film and actually processing it from here to there

04:44to actually putting it in these different areas here.

04:47It still smells as I remember it, and this is a long time ago.

04:51So, this is another thing which is fascinating to see. It's here.

04:55It's a show that's not going to be used after September, but it's still a great memorial to the art of what you do as a photographer.

05:02What we're about to do now is take a look at the darkroom, as you'll see here.

05:07This is where, if you went in, you would have to be very careful because it actually says there on the door.

05:12Remember to knock and make sure the darkroom doors are shut behind you.

05:16The number of people who actually forgot to do that is actually quite funny, but it's...

05:20First step, you would go through here. You've got this door here.

05:24And then, okay, just for the sake of argument, you would then...

05:27If you open this door, you would get shouted at.

05:29You'd have to make sure that door was closed first.

05:32Close that door, and then you step in it, and you can see the darkroom as it looks.

05:37And if you didn't know where you were, it actually says it up there.

05:40But the best bit about this is close the door, and then turn out the lights.

05:45Welcome to the darkroom, where you would obviously be working in this light the whole time,

05:54because this made sure that the photos were processed.

05:56You would go through the process of developing, stopping, fixing, and washing all of your photos.

06:02And you've got the various implements to work with there as well, to make sure your photos are looked after.

06:07The different chemicals around there. You can still smell it from that time.

06:11And then, you have this area to look at your photos, check them, and scale them on the paper that you're working with.

06:18So you could do everything to make sure these papers looked as absolutely tip-top as possible.

06:22It's a fascinating room. It's actually great to be back in here seeing this.

06:27And it brings back the memories of photos that were good, but were also an unmitigated disaster.

06:33But that was part of learning.

06:35And we come to the photo studio, where if you were doing anything on the NCTJ course,

06:40you'd have to do photography at some point, and you had this playground to work with.

06:44You've got the big white screen there, you've got the different lights, you've got the different shutters over there,

06:49you've got the abilities to work there with that, you've got this booth over there.

06:54It was a brilliant room to be able to work with.

06:56Photography wasn't always the best thing for me, but occasionally it did come out well.

07:00So you could be in it, you could be creative, you could find good up-close photos, or nice portrait photos,

07:07or anything that looked really good, and you did the work in here.

07:10So again, it's a shame that this room isn't going to be in use in a few months' time.

07:14But to be able to see it again, it brings back a lot of memories.

07:21Thank you very much.

07:34I have one.

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