OBS Media Academy
Being media literate, in the noisy, information-saturated world of the 21st century is vital. Watching and creating films or playing and developing computer games, certainly isn’t what many of us think of when we think of the type of schoolwork we grew up with. However, understanding media from the inside-out is critical for young people today, and creating films and games can inspire students and tap into their creative strengths, be it camera work, lighting, product and production design, sound effects, dialogue, designing story boards, coding or music.
These disciplines not only bring the arts to life, but can inspire students through rich imagery, use of various camera shots, music, sound effects, dramatic silence, and dialogue. They will enhance your child’s literacy skills and help them appreciate the creative writing process – the planning, drafting, editing and revising. Your child will also gain mathematical skills, as they create a budget for their productions, or work out the best angles and distances at which to place the cameras. In addition to these academic skills, media productions help students develop a wide range of social skills. Your child will collaborate with others and assume differing roles (e.g. actor, cameraperson, narrator, director, behind the scenes support). They will discuss, debate, and rehearse ideas with their peers, develop their speaking and listening skills, and their ability to compromise and make decisions.
Media serves as a source of information and entertainment, and as a means of communicating and sharing ideas. Being media literate is crucial, because education is now delivered via various forms of media, and not least because of the growing need to be able to differentiate between “fake news” and factual news. The best way to nourish this understanding of media is for students to actually make modern media content.
At OBS we have embed media education into the curriculum preparing your child for the digital age they live in.
