GREAT COURSE! (University of Salford)

Member Name: paulyvous

Product:	University of Salford
Date:	07/08/09 (247 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: WILL GET YOU UP TO PROFESSIONAL LEVEL

Disadvantages: PROBABLY IF ANYTHING- TRAVELLING

Golly gosh......It's been such a long time. Main reason is, have started The Post Grad course now for T.V and radio scriptwriting at Salford. Been there for 5 weeks now and I have been very impressed with The course and The University itself. I'm only actually in for one day a week, but as you can guess, with it being an MA, the workload is pretty heavy, and fitting work in too doesn't leave much time to do much else.

This means I've seen less of the 'Good Woman' lately and I think personally it's brought us closer together. Abscence makes the heart......bla bla bla....... whatever! We've started to communicate again, albeit through a third party, but it's a good start. I hate the silent treatment!

Anyway, the course is great, and I'm actually enjoying the work. This semester we're studying, Structure, genre and what makes a good story.
The session lasts 4 hours and is split into 3 parts. First one with a guy called Andy Walker. He's very enthusiastic, bouncy and jolly. Reminds me of a Blue Peter - hopefully without The class A'S inside him, if you know what I mean...! His writing credits include a few of The Afternoon Plays on radio 4. He's guiding us through Genre- Romantic Comedies, Horror and thrillers so far. The second session is with course leader Colin Muir. Lots of writing experience to his name- The Bill, Doctors and other soaps!
Lived in The states for 15 years and was part of the team who wrote 'Hill Street Blues!

Third session is with an American lady called Lisa- can't remember her surname. She told us she has written for 'Married With Children' and has done a spec script for Frasier. This session involves script analysis, and splits us up into groups of about six. This is actually my favourite part were we read each others work and get the consructive feedback.

So the tutors are all very experienced and knowledgeable, which is great!
We also have industry professionals coming in throughout the course. I've mentioned Paul Abbott before, and that's goiung to be just after christmas. His advice will be invaluable!

We've got a fantastic library on our site. It covers all aspects of Media and Art and Performance. What makes it stand out is the amount of scripts they have on offer to lend out. Every possible movie and T.V programme you could imagine. Reading developed scripts is a very important part of the course. They have also got a massive DVD collection and you can take out up to 25 five of them at a time! Oh happy days! All the computers are brand new in the library and I've never connected so quickly to go online! This one I'm on now belongs to the steam age!

Lots of group activities to join. I've joined yoga- first session next week. That reminds me, must buy new leotard! Also joined a Focus Group which is very interesting. We discuss general matters to organisations who need feedback for their products and services... Been to one on car crime so far. You get paid for it too, which is nice!

Anyway if anyone of you budding writers' out there fancy writing scripts for T.V and Radio, I'd fully recommend this course. The entry requirements are a first degree in any subject and then you send in some work you have already done- has to be a T.V or Radio script. This is followed up with an interview and that's it!

Hope to be back on soon. I've got loads of stuff to put into Room 101.

Summary: GREAT COURSE, GREAT TUTORS, PEOPLE ON COURSE VERY NICE.