UCOL BLOG

UCOL’s video students’ crime movie with the dubious title of Over and Undies was an audience favourite at the recent V48 Hour Film Festival.

The seven minute movie was the brainchild of second year UCOL Bachelor of Applied Visual Imaging (BAVI) students majoring in videography, and their entry into the iconic annual film-making event.

Over and Undies gained the Audience Favourite award for their heat in the Wellington region awards meaning the audience felt it was the best film amongst the nine other films entered in their heat.

It is the sixth year that UCOL teams have taken part in New Zealand’s largest film making contest and the second year it has been integrated as part of the second year BAVI course assessment.

The event is renowned for creating a frenetic weekend of film production by teams throughout the country. All teams are assigned a movie genre at 7.00 pm on the Friday night. They must then write their script, produce storyboards, arrange locations, costumes and props before their shoot begins on the Saturday morning.

The finished films must be received by the judges by 7.00pm on the Sunday evening.

UCOL Video Lecturer Mel Edmon says the students performed well under pressure. “We were pleased with our film,” she says. “There were some very tired people at the end of the weekend.”

Mel says she is keen to organize a screening of Over and Undies and other local V48 film entries at Downtown Cinemas.

Watch Over and Undies here

UCOL’s Atrium will be abuzz on Friday as it hosts the Kia Māia Careers Expo. Kia Māia is an Expo with a difference as it presents Maori training opportunities to the Maori community and whanau.

The careers day brings UCOL, Massey University, START Youth Transition Services, Te Wānanga-o-Raukawa and Te Wānanga-o-Aotearoa together in a unique collaborative event.

UCOL’s Liaison Officer Gloria Evans understands the Expo is the only careers event of its kind in the country where the emphasis is on programme topics.

“The layout is divided into programme topics such as business, science and health, rather than having displays for each institution,” she says. “The visitors can then go to an area of study they are interested in, and directly compare each provider’s programmes.”

Kia Māia runs at UCOL’s Princess Street campus from 10.00am to 2.00pm and features interactive displays and activities from all four tertiary institutions.

The organisers are expecting a large turnout from the Palmerston North, Tararua and Horowhenua regions. Busloads of school and mature students, and their supporters will arrive from out of town.

In its second year, Kia Māia is expected to far exceed last year’s attendance of 450 visitors.

Kapa Haka groups representing Monrad Intermediate, and Hato Paora College will perform on stage between 12.00pm and 1.00pm.

Where: UCOL Atrium, Princess Street entrance.

When: Friday 17 June from 10.00am – 2.00pm.

BAVI graduate and Marlborough Express photographer Ben Curran has been named junior newspaper photographer of the year.

His portfolio of six pictures taken during 2010 was judged the best entered in the Canon – formerly the Qantas – print media awards, announced in Auckland on Friday night.

Ben, aged 24, was also a finalist in the open section for best photo essay.

He told the Marlborough Express he was excited and happy with his success.

Ben studied photography during the three-year Bachelor of Applied Visual Imaging degree at UCOL in Palmerston North and joined the paper in Blenheim in December 2009. He says he was drawn to photography because of the opportunity to be creative and produce instant results.

Read More: “BAVI graduate is junior news photographer of the year”…

Whanganui UCOL Fine Arts graduate Tom Turner is recycling plastic water bottles into a unique and ever growing work of art.

BUILDING THE WALL: Wanganui artist Tom Turner is enlisting the community's help to build a wall of bottles and some creative conversations. Photo / Tracey Grant Whanganui Chronicle

Wailing Wall is an interactive sculpture, made from plastic water bottles, that enlists help from the public.

Tom invites anyone who wants to participate to write a message about anything, put it into an empty plastic drink bottle that has had pure New Zealand water in it, and glue it to the wall

Tom says the work has no specific theme but has generated discussion with the people who have added to the wall on issues as diverse as consumerism and the purity of water in New Zealand lakes and rivers.

“The wall has achieved my goal of ‘sculpting thoughts, speech and action’ by triggering a reaction from the participants,” he says.

Read More: “Messages flow into Wailing Wall”…

UCOL lecturer Lynn Hurst is the only Whanganui-based artist to show at The Auckland Festival of Photography.

Her exhibition, Artifacts, is open at the Sanderson Contemporary Art Gallery in Parnell Road Auckland, until 19 June. The exhibition is part of the 8th Auckland Festival of Photography which features work by local, national and international artists, invited by the curator.

Lynn holds a Masters of Fine Arts degree and is a lecturer in the bachelor, Honours, Masters and Postgraduate Diploma programmes at UCOL”s School of Computer Graphic Design.

She was born in Denver, Colorado, grew up in Kentucky and lived in New York City, Wyoming, California and Texas before moving to Whanganui in 1993. She has exhibited previously in Whanganui, Wellington, Auckland, New Plymouth and in the United States.

The notes for her Artifacts exhibition describe her work as exploring notions of colonisation and feminism in relation to emblematic objects from the domestic sphere. “Her practice questions conventional notions of representation, combining trompe l’oeil techniques with a subversive technological approach. Scanned images are digitally sewn together, referencing traditional gender-biased media. Initially, the image appears to be a faithful reproduction; further investigation, however, reveals the points of fragmentation and reconstruction.

“This serves as a metaphor for Hurst’s approach, distorting accepted ideologies to provoke a deeper analysis of our culture.”

Lynn says: “In a series of photographs and paintings, the use of traditional and digital media, I am investigating the ways in which institutional and personal memory are embedded in domestic and popular artefacts.  Through the juxtaposition of imagery, scanned games, toys, clothing and painted images the resulting photographs disrupt notions of childhood innocence by exposing adult realities.  They explore the notion of out-dated yet still active culturally constructed norms.”

A new nursing diploma is available for the first time at Whanganui UCOL starting on 1 August.  The fifteen month programme is for people who are interested in care giving but who may be unable to undertake the three year nursing degree.

Brian Gilchrist, Project manager, is managing the development of the Enrolled Nurse programme and Lesley Baylis is the Programme Leader and is responsible for the delivery in the Whanganui district. The programme is in the final stages of detailed planning for this new level 5 Enrolled Nurse Diploma.

The programme will prepare students for employment as enrolled nurses in all areas of practice including acute care, rehabilitation and mental health.

“It has received enthusiastic support from the Whanganui DHB, local rest home providers, and local iwi education organization Te Puna Matauranga.  This Enrolled Nurse Diploma is in addition to the popular Bachelor of Nursing programme already offered by UCOL.  We are thrilled to be able to increase the health qualifications on offer in Whanganui” says Lesley.

The first part of the programme includes papers that provide an excellent background into the knowledge and skills required to support the practice of nursing.  These cover topics such as the Discipline of Nursing; Structure and Function of the Human Body; Social Sciences for Enrolled Nurses; Clinical Skills for Enrolled Nurses and Foundations for Enrolled Nurse Practice.

The clinical skills paper introduces students to a wide variety of skills needed to care for patients in the clinical setting including: temperature pulse and respiration measurement, mobility, personal hygiene, wound care and the storage and dispensing of medications. The programme also includes 200 hours of simulated practice in the skills laboratory as part of the practical instruction. The level 4 clinical placement consists of 250 hours in a rest home placement.  “This is where the support of local rest homes is vital for UCOL’s students.  UCOL is very appreciative of the willingness shown to students so as they gain necessary experience in the Whanganui Region, they will be a valuable resource for the community.”

Level 5 papers include more industry placements in acute care, rehabilitation and mental health, and a further 150 hours of simulation in the laboratory.  “At the end of successfully completing this qualification, students will be able to take their place working in the local health care and supporting a very important part of the health sector,” says Lesley.

Students under 20 years of age wishing to undertake the programme should have 36 NCEA level 2 credits, 12 level 1 mathematics, and 12 level 1 English credits. Students over 20 with no formal qualification will need to provide evidence of an ability to study at this level.

For further details contact UCOL on 0800 46 8265, go to www.ucol.ac.nz or call in to the Whanganui campus information centre, Rutland Street.