Friday the 13th may not be everyone’s favourite day, but for students from A level Media Studies it meant a great day out at the BFI on London’s sunny Southbank at the Media Magazine Conference.

Arriving at Waterloo, we undertook a quick walk round the corner to the British Film Institute where we made it just in the nick of time to get our free copies of the most recent edition of the magazine and a schedule for the day. The students enjoyed the opportunity to find out more about newspapers with a talk by a team from The Guardian, followed by an in depth discussion on the themes of activism and afrofuturism in the work of Janelle Monae. A highlight from the day was hearing from Simon (Inbetweeners) Bird about his career and advice for young writers/ directors. The students also had the opportunity to find out more about the inspirational work of Alex Kayode-Kay and his new short film The Ballad of Olive Morris (currently on the long-list for a short film BAFTA).

The day ended with an exploration of the influential work of Stuart Hall.The biggest applause was saved for David Hesmondhalgh, (one of the theorists who the students have to apply in their exams) who very kindly met the students afterwards for selfies and shared recommendations for films to watch. 

First year media student Maisie said “I had so much fun at the trip on Friday and we learnt a lot that was helpful for our A levels”.

Nic Franklin, Media Curriculum Manager summarised “it is great to be back doing trips again with our fantastic students who are always such a credit to the college, Media Magazine is a resource we love to use in lessons and it was a really informative and inspiring day for us all”