Dundalk IT to host FÍS 2015 next week

Creative Media at Dundalk IT returns with its end of year student showcase, FÍS 2015, in the surroundings of the award-winning Carroll’s Building.

Housing the School of Informatics and Creative Arts, the building houses a state-of-the-art TV studio, audio and radio recording studios, a photographic darkroom, performance spaces, edit suites and a screening room.

The launch of Fís will take place on Wednesday June 3rd from 6pm -9pm and will be open to the public on Thursday June 4th from 12pm-9pm.

Fís (Irish for ‘vision’) 2015 features completely new and original work ranging from film to interactive installations and games. The work on show will highlight the relevant and diverse skills that students of creative media & film acquire over the course of their studies at DKIT. The students showcasing work are graduating from four main programmes: the BA / BA (Hons) in Communications in Creative Multimedia and the BA / BA (Hons) in Video and Film Production. In addition, for the first time, students on the one-year Springboard programme, the Certificate in 2D/3D Digital Animation Production, will also showcase their work.

New works from students completing the BA (Hons) in Communications in Creative Multimedia respond to the theme of ‘socially responsive design’. Juvenis, Metus and Level Up combine interactivity and design to explore a range of issues relevant to young people. Juvenis deals with identity issues confronting young people while Metus strives to raise awareness of GAD (Generalised Anxiety Disorder). Level Up meanwhile aims to assist second level students with identifying careers they may be interested in pursuing.

Exhibits from the BA in Communications in Creative Multimedia – including Aquatica, Drumon and DoodleBlocks – focus on the theme of ‘play’ through a series of interactive games and installations aimed at a wide range of age groups.

Visitors to the exhibition can also enjoy a programme of short films from students completing the BA in Video and Film Production. These will be on show in the purpose built screening room. The shorts on show include ‘Harry’ which takes a blackly comic look at the dangers of using the internet as a replacement for creativity and ‘The Shift’, a coming of age tale set in the Ireland of the 1980’s.

Students completing the BA (Hons) in Video and Film Production will also present screen work that draws on the results of their practice-based research projects. The subject matter of their final films includes the issue of media bias, women in the Irish film industry and the history of cinemas in Dundalk.

For further information on the large range of programmes in the Section of Creative Media currently open for Change of Mind applications through the CAO, visit www.dkit.ie/creativemedia. Also find out more on free Springboard programmes in 3D for Games and 2D/3D Digital Animation Production at www.springboardcourses.ie/.

FÍS 2015 is open to all, and will be launched at 6pm in the Carroll’s Building on Wednesday 3rd June.

Fís Exhibition to take place in Dundalk IT next month

PercepTune are one of the groups taking part in the Fís exhibition next month

The Creative Media section of Dundalk IT will be hosting the Fís Degree exhibition next month on June 4th and 5th.

The exhibition will give people in the community to see some of the work being carried out by students in the college. Students from the Creative Multimedia and Video & Film Course will be showcasing a range of installations, games, films and many forms of technology.

One of those involved is Heather Spratt of PercepTune, a third year media group that also features Fergal McCabe and Naomi Reid.

She told Talk of the Town: “We are creating a Visual Sound Creator to help aid those who are deaf. The installation allows people to experiment with discs and to create their own music, which will output visuals onto a screen.

“The project is currently in the making and will contribute to our Bachelor Degree,” she said.

Further details will be available closer to the exhibition but for now you can find out more about PercepTune’s project at www.perceptune.com

Dundalk IT student develops campus navigator app

Sean with the app he developed

A third year creative media student in Dundalk IT has developed a new app to help students, staff and visitors to navigate their way around the college.

Bellurgan man Sean McDonnell’s initial release focuses solely on the Carroll’s Building – which now houses the IT’s School of Informatics and Creative Media – but there are plans to develop it further to take in the entire campus.

He also plans to add further detail to the app to include staff offices and other facilities.

Sean has had more than 50 downloads of the free Android app already and explained to the DkITimes how it came about.

“I developed it as part of our first semester assignment,” he said.

“We were given an open brief to create something interactive and ambitious and I decided to give this app a try. My lecturer Ken Sloan is very supportive of it and I had a lot of fun and learned a lot developing it.

“After three years I am finally finding my way around so I thought a navigator app would be very handy for new students. I’ve kept it open source as I hope it could be a good learning tool for app developer students as well. That way I hope it will also be kept up to date once I graduate and remain useful in the years to come.

“Next I plan to develop one for the whole campus for both Android and iPhone users,” said Sean.

You can download the app from here.