Virginia Heath

Senior lecturer in film directing and screen writing

Virginia is a multi award-winning writer, director and cross platform producer. She has an established academic research profile and specialises in teaching film directing and screen writing across both fiction and documentary. 

Her short film Relativity (10’) won ‘Best Short Film’ at the Berlin International Film Festival 2002 and was nominated for the European Film Academy Awards. She then directed Point Annihilation (30’) in her native New Zealand starring Bruce Hopkins (Gamling, ‘Lord of the Rings’) co-produced with Peter Jackson’s company, Weta Digital. Point Annihilation screened at the Cannes Film Festival 2005 in ‘Cinema des Antipodes’ and was selected as one of the first 12 shorts to pilot the i-Tunes film download site.

Virginia won an award from the National Film Board of Canada in 2009 to develop ‘My Dangerous Loverboy’, an innovative cross platform project including a fiction film, music video and online content to inspire a creative and artistic campaign against the sex trafficking of teenagers (http://www.mydangerousloverboy.com/).

Virginia’s experimental documentary about the singer songwriter ‘Little Lost David’ screened on Channel 4 Television and at Sheffield Doc/Fest, 2009.
 
She currently has two feature film projects in advanced development; Mystery Ride, a contemporary neo noir psychological thriller set in New Zealand, with development funding from the New Zealand Film Commission and Creative Scotland; the noir thriller, Pania, a New Zealand-UK co-production, developed with funding from the NZFC and the MEDIA programme of the European Union. Her first short Deep Freeze (15’) was screened on Channel 4 TV and in festivals including London, The Hamptons, Foyle, and New Zealand. 

Virginia began her filmmaking career directing a series of international arts documentaries for Channel Four TV with a strongly authored stamp, including Songs from the Golden City on South African jazz heroes, The Manhattan Brothers. In the course of her career, Virginia has run master classes for Channel 4 Talent using her expertise in working with actors from script readings, to casting sessions, to rehearsals, to performance on screen.
http://www.virginiaheath.com/

Debbie Ballin

Joint course leader, film and media production

I am joint course leader for the BA/MArt Film and Media Production and a senior lecturer in digital filmmaking. I teach professional practice study, documentary production and creative project development. I have a particular interest in embedding work-based learning in the course curriculum, exploring methods of fostering creativity in teaching and developing new approaches to enquiry-based learning.

I am a documentary filmmaker, producer and educator and have worked in the UK independent film sector for more than 15 years. My career has encompassed independent production and film training and education; I developed The Skill at Sheffield Independent Film, a training and production scheme for new entrant filmmakers. I have also delivered film training for a varied client base from engagement projects with young people to CPD for industry professionals with partners such as the Learning Skills Council, Skillset and the UK Film Council's First Light scheme.

I was formerly head of production at Intermedia (Nottingham) where I produced and executive produced a range of new entrant development schemes such as the Digital Shorts scheme for the UK Film Council and First Cut for Carlton Television. I have also worked as independent producer of fiction, documentary and artist  film and video and my production credits include the BAFTA nominated short film ‘Knitting A Love Song’ and the critically acclaimed documentary ‘Teenland’ for BBC 4.

In addition to this I have maintained a practice as a documentary filmmaker and made work commissioned by Channel 4, Mersey Film and Video, the Millennium Festival Awards and Screen Yorkshire. My documentary practice is concerned with exploring memory and identity and often look at the significance of personal rituals or ordinary life events and how they reveal wider social and philosophical concerns.

Jeremy Lee

Course leader, BA Film and Visual Effects

Jeremy Lee is a senior lecturer and course leader in film and visual effects/animation at Sheffield Hallam University.

He originally trained and practised as a fine art painter at Cardiff University and then went on to complete a Masters in animation and special effects at the National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA) Bournemouth.

He now is established as a practicing digital artist integrating a fine art practice with freelance and industrial work alongside teaching and lecturing in digital media.

Esther Johnson

Senior lecturer, film and media

Esther Johnson (MA Royal College of Art, BA Hons University of London) is an artist, filmmaker and photographer who takes a poetic approach to documentary and narrative through moving image, audio, photography and writing. She unearths extraordinary, resonant stories that would otherwise remain hidden or ignored, often focusing on the underdog in contemporary culture. Recurring themes include personal histories, heritage, tradition, folklore, regeneration and precarious futures.

Her films and photography explore architectural vernaculars and the inhabited environment, intimately conveying the often uneasy relationship between her protagonists and their respective surroundings. Her recent works have questioned the parameters of documentary form and its attendant fact/fiction and sound/image boundaries. Minutely composed and paced imagery is juxtaposed with soundscapes that mix voiceovers with field recordings.

Esther has been commissioned to make several acclaimed film and video works, including • Hinterland (2002) • A Street Named Humber (2004) • Lenox (2004) • Playback (2005) • Tune In (2006) • Yalda (2007) • Celestial (2007) • Highway Home (2008) • Elevation (2009) • Mono No Aware (2010) • Analogue (2010) • Form and Function (2010).

Esther's work has been supported by • Arts Council England • BBC • The British Council • Film London • London Artists' Film and Video Awards (LAFVA) • the National Endowment for the Arts • the National Lottery • Skillset • Screen Yorkshire • Sheffield Contemporary Art Forum • Sheffield Children's Festival • Yorkshire Arts.

Esther's award-winning work has also been exhibited internationally in galleries and film festivals including • Tate Modern • Tate Britain • British Film Institute • Institute of Contemporary Arts, London • Science Museum, London • Foundation for Art and Creative Technology (FACT), Liverpool • Cornerhouse, Manchester • Site Gallery, Sheffield • Zoo Art Fair, London • Istanbul Biennial • Sotherby's, New York • NASA, California • the BBC • London Film Festival • MadCat Film Festival, San Francisco • Raindance, London.

She has written for several arts publications and is a member of the advisory board for Filmwaves, is an independent film/video curator, and is former director and curator of Hull Film and the Hull International Short Film Festival. She was nominated for the 2008 Northern Art Prize.

Susannah Gent

Lecturer

I have 20 years experience in film making. My most significant project is the feature film 'Jelly Dolly' which I wrote, directed and co-produced with Barry Ryan (now head of production at Warp Films). The film gained the best film award at the Britspotting Festival, a British Council showcase in Berlin 2004. It is now distributed by Cornerstone Media International and is available on DVD.

I have also directed over 12 short films, many of which are festival award winners. These include 'Thread' (1994 Fuji Film Scholarship) winner of the silver plaque at the Chicago International Film Festival and 'Melvyn's Pencils' (1994 '10x10' series for BBC2) winner of the Silver Hugo at the Chicago International Film Festival.

Other credits include 'Bedhead', and 'Planet Arse', both half hour dramas for C4.

Alongside drama work, I have made a number of experimental films including the 'Arts for Everyone' lottery funded short 'Bun', made in collaboration with performance artist Lisa Watts and the Regional Arts Board funded short 'Blue Movie', both of which have enjoyed a festival circuit lifespan of over a decade.

In addition to drama and short film work, I have directed music videos and commercials represented by Red River Films and Picardy.

More recently I have ventured into sculpture and installation work, primarily working in fine art taxidermy.

Mark Parkin

Senior lecturer

I have been a lighting cameraman, and often producer/director, in television, film, commerce, education, arts and music video since 1989. I have over 250 broadcast credits and have worked across all genres but primarily in observational documentary, often with unique access especially in the areas of sport (two series Close Up Sky1, David Beckham Story ITV, Frankie Dettori BBC1) and crime (Hooligans BBC2, Hells Angels C5, The Tzar’s Bones Discovery).

I am experienced in children’s drama (Own Goal BB1, BAFTA nominee for best drama), comedy drama (Comedy Lab C4), arts programming (Jazz in Britain BBC4) together with factual entertainment (Traffic Cops, Car Wars) and presenter-led programmes (Time Team).

I wrote and shot From Fluffy to Bunny, the first short film for the cinema to receive funding from the National Lottery.

My current funded research makes use of original stereo/3D production in performance spaces to construct ‘xenotopias'.

Oksana Fedotova

Senior lecturer, critical theory and computer games

Having graduated in media studies from Sheffield Hallam University, Oksana taught as a Russian language assistant at the University of Bradford and a seminar tutor at the University of Sheffield, whilst researching into popular media, culture and ideology in Stalinist Russia.

She returned to Sheffield Hallam University in 2001, leading a number of undergraduate and postgraduate modules in media studies before joining the film and media production teaching team in 2006.

Since 2006, she has been teaching on the contextual studies and research skills modules across film, animation and games areas. During the same time, as part of her continuous professional development she undertook a postgraduate study of cultural policy and management, with a particular interest in the impact of voluntary arts and government policy on urban regeneration and their role in combating social exclusion.

Her research interests include participatory media cultures, game narrative and the history of animation. She is currently studying for a Professional Doctorate in Education, focusing on the role of theoretical and contextual studies in media practice education and researching relevant pedagogic innovations and examples of best practice.

Annie Watson

Senior lecturer, scriptwriting

Annie Watson is a BAFTA nominated writer and director who is currently developing her debut feature film. She is signed as a feature film director with London based agency Independent (formerly ICM). After her degree in creative arts, and her postgraduate degree in experimental film, video and audio, Annie worked as an editor, mostly on short fiction films, which included BFI and Film Four funded productions.

Annie began her directing career by making a video for 'Daydream in blue' by Sheffield band 'I Monster', which subsequently became a huge MTV hit, and Annie was nominated for Video of the Year by QAwards. Annie signed up with promo agencies QT and Independent, and directed a number of successful and industry-recognized promos over the following years. She continued to write and direct short fiction films, and one of these, 'Knitting a love song' was nominated for a BAFTA for Best British Short in 2004. Annie was selected as one of the 'people to watch' in the 'Class of 2005' by industry magazine Screen International.

Annie is interested in communicating stories (primarily in the romantic comedy genre) to the broadest audience. She is very interested in finding new visual and aural techniques to convey emotional intensity in its most simple and direct form.

Annie has written four feature film screenplays and enjoys researching characters, stories and locations, as well as new and established writing techniques as part of her professional development. She has taken part in a number of highly regarded training sessions run by professional bodies including the British Film Institute, FilmFour, Channel 4, The Script Factory, and the BBC.

Annie is increasingly inspired by the various ways that we can create and convey ideas for 'stories', other than the traditional format of scriptwriting, such as pictorial, photographic and storyboarding. She is keen, in her role as a lecturer, to explore and develop these possibilities.

Ron Wright

Senior lecturer, sound design

Ron is a senior lecturer in sound. He has created several specialist modules covering all aspects of sound design for film animation, gaming, visual effects and digital media as well as sound art, which now form specialisms in the undergraduate film and media subject area.

Ron was a founder member of an experimental multimedia band producing eight LPs and ten singles released worldwide, alongside several radio sessions and live broadcasts, TV features (The Tube, The Chart Show, Snub TV) and performances at several prestigious European festivals.

Ron is also an active freelance sound designer and sound artist. His film work is focused on the independent and experimental film sector. His sound design in film work includes 'Jelly Dolly' directed by Susannah Gent which won the Best British Feature award at Berlin Film festival 'Britspotting' event 2004, and was sound designer for 'Exhibit A' directed by Dom Rotheroe which won the Best UK Feature Award at the 15th Raindance Film Festival.

Ron also designed the sound for all of 2008 BAFTA winning cinematographer Rob Hardy’s directorial work including 'You Are My Favourite Chair' which won best experimental film at ION Festival California and Best Short at the Raindance festival, London 2004. Ron’s work has been broadcast on the major terrestrial channels particularly Channel 4 where on two earlier films he sound designed 'Dish' by Meloni Poole and 'Love Over Goldfish' which were both screened over 30 times.

As a sound artist Ron has recently released tracks for CDs and sound installations. He also collaborates with a variety of screen, visual and performance artists such as Charlotte Ginsborg, Ruth Parker, and Lisa Watts/Alice Maud Roxby.

Ron’s most known work is with lens-based artist, Andy Eccleston. Their collaborative work explores the 'Sci-art' and culminated in a mini tour, 'Hylo' which included, 'Requiem', a commission for the centenary of Verdi featuring a French horn being dissolved in a clear tank of nitric acid, 'Acousma' a quasi paranormal opera generated from MRI brain scans and 'Spindrift' which uses borocope technology to journey through the inside of orchestral instruments. These pieces are constantly evolving to respond to different spaces and playback possibilities. Requiem and Spindrift were last performed as a live AV surround sound experience at Consortium gallery in Amsterdam.

Ron is currently researching the nature and implications of physical and psychological landscapes and urban wildscapes in multidimensional media. He is developing further work with fellow sound lecturer Neil Webb following their AV installation 'the Breach' for Consortium Gallery, Amsterdam.

Steve Sprung

Course leader, MA International Documentary Production

Steve graduated from St Martin's School of Art. He was a member of Cinema Action, a leading independent film group, which became one of Channel 4's first 'independent sector' workshops. He was a founder member of Faction Films which has produced over 30 documentaries for Channel4, BBC2, LWT and Arte/La Sept. He also collaborated with Lusia Films on several experimental documentaries/fictions for the BBC and Channel 4.

He has worked as a director, editor and cameraman on films which have grappled with major social/political/cultural/philosophical themes, often crossing the borders of documentary and fiction in order to find their film voice. As a director, 'The Year of the Beaver', an 80min innovative documentary and 'Men's Madness', a 60min experimental documentary for Channel 4, are his best known works.

Amongst his most recent works as an editor are 'The Outrage', awarded the most innovative documentary prize and 'Relativity', awarded best short fiction film at the Berlin International Film Festival.

David Williams

Course leader, BA Photography

David completed his Masters degree in 1990 through a fellowship with Concordia University, Montreal, Canada. David has a fine art background with an international exhibition record. Before relocating to the UK he spent nine years in Paris working with photography in the fashion and advertising industries. At Sheffield Hallam University, he continues to build upon his exhibition record as both an artist and curator.

David heads 'The SI Project' (Shifting Image) which is a global project structuring a database aiming to facilitate autonomous self-representation and horizontal dialogue through the use of digital technologies.

His current personal research interests include an examination of fast-food culture in Britain looking at the power of fast food to cross cultural boundaries in concurrence with the capacity to reinforce colonialist attitudes. He also continues to build upon a longstanding investigation into the photographic sensualisation of unfixed time.

Neil Webb

Senior lecturer, sound design

Neil Webb is a practising artist based in Sheffield, working predominantly with sound. His practice includes sound installation, video, performance, curation, CD releases (under the name 'bocman'), and he is a founder member of Host Artists Group. He is now a senior lecturer in sound at Sheffield Hallam University.

2003 saw performances by bocman at Sheffield Hallam University, The MAXIS Festival, Leeds, the annual Sonic Artists Network Conference in Sheffield and the release of the CD 'Somewhere Nowhere'. He also curated the events 'Sounds Recorded for an Empty Nightclub' as part of Sheffield 03 and Host 4: Cinema in 2004.

In 2004 Neil's work continued to develop through collaboration, including his work with Host Artists Group. He has produced a range of audio and audio-visual installations, including 'Scramble', a collaboration with artist Michael Day.

In 2005 Neil undertook a residency at Hull Time Based Arts creating the installation and CD, 'The Inside Underneath'. He also completed a long-standing project, 'Solaristics' inspired by Stanislaw Lem's book and Andrei Tarkovsky's film Solaris.

He was selected for an artist's residency, Signal-to-Noise Ratio at the Tower Atelier in Neuhausen Germany. During the residency he created two new works, a multi-channel sound installation titled 'Across the Field' and a video installation titled 'Heaven up Here'.

During 2006 Neil created a new sound installation 'Invisible Resonance 2' for the Consortium Gallery in Amsterdam, screened two video works, 'Slow Motion Static' and 'Tide Time' at the Sound Practice conference at Goldsmith's University London. The video work 'Enter the Underworld' has also been screened in Liverpool as part of the 37 Seconds BBC big screen project. The bocman project continued with performances at the Cultural Embassy in Amsterdam and in England. The CD 'Motion Static' was also released.

2007 saw the making of a multi-channel audio visual installation in collaboration with Ron Wright titled 'The Breach' and making the multi-channel sound installation 'The Stars in Us All' for Bloc Space in Sheffield. He was also commissioned to contribute a visual work and tie in sound piece, 'Sheffield's New Steel Dream' for the publication The Sheffield Pavilion which was launched at the Venice Biennale. Other commissions included a podcast titled 'Radio Stars' for the Sound Network and Folly Gallery.

In 2008 Neil was commissioned to create a new audio installation in Sheffield's Winter Gardens. Titled 'Adrift' this was part of the city wide event Sheffield 08 Yes, No Other Options.

Chrissie Stansfield

Joint course leader, film and media production

Chrissie began her career as a professional film and video maker with the all-women production company, Sheffield Film Co-Op, and has since worked in a number of production companies in a variety of roles including producer, director, researcher, production manager and camerawoman. Ten of her documentaries on political and social issues have been shown on Channel 4 or BBC2 and many have been distributed internationally.

Chrissie was a member of the board of Sheffield International Documentary Festival and is active in local organisations which support and promote new film makers in the Yorkshire region. Her main interests lie in using film and video to communicate ideas and points of view which are under-represented in the mainstream media.

John Hayes

Course leader, BA Digital Media Production

John is a senior lecturer and course leader for the BA Digital Media Production at Sheffield Hallam University. His research interests lie in digital media and he has a number of publications exploring games, graphics and web technologies in higher education.

John has worked in industry and education at Desq, Compal, Nortel, as a lecturer at the University of Derby, a senior lecturer at Leeds Metropolitan University and a senior lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire.

John studied software engineering at the University of Sheffield and an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) sponsored MSc in Networked Information Engineering at Sheffield Hallam University. He has a Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Dr Linda Moss

Course leader, MA Cultural Policy and Management

After an MA in Russian/Latin at Edinburgh University, and a PhD in Cultural Imperialism at Cambridge, Linda worked as a literacy tutor and an artist in hospitals. She held a research fellowship in health care arts, then became arts advisor to the NHS, which led to senior posts in the Arts Council for 10 years. She returned to academia to establish the MA Cultural Policy and Management in 1995.

Linda's main research interests include health care arts, the creative industries, and cultural diversity policy. She has published extensively and internationally in all three fields. Currently she is investigating the impact of Russian cultural policy on the growth of creative industries in Karelia, northern Russia.

Linda also runs her own small creative business, Art-felt.

Greg Boulton

Course leader, BA Animation

Greg was trained as a traditional classical sculptor before gaining a first class honours degree in three dimensional design.

His introduction to animation in the mid 1980s was initially as a model maker / art director.

Involved with many award winning productions, he went on to set up his own animation studio directing numerous recognisable TV commercials, titles, idents, pop promos and computer games related projects.

He has been guest speaker and lecturer at many colleges, universities and film festivals.

Reuben Fleming

Senior lecturer in animation

Reuben currently teaches computer animation across the undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. Coming from an art background, his interests lie in character modelling, rigging and animation.

He holds a BA and MA in Computer Animation and has worked in the games industry for several years. As well as teaching he continues to work as a freelance animator in his spare time.

Recent projects include web commercials, in-game animations and 3D designs.

Dr Geff Green

Lecturer

Before joining the communication team in 1997, Geff taught English in Indonesia for 2 years and later designed, programmed and maintained professional multimedia applications, eventually joining Epic Media Group PLC in Brighton.

Since joining Sheffield Hallam, Geff has taught professional and technical communication mainly at masters level and supervised PhDs ranging from art and design to technical communication.

Geff has been involved with teaching multimedia and communication design to undergraduate students and teaches modules specialising in • research methods • hypermedia design • online journalism • visual communication. He is currently involved in knowledge transfer and international business development work for the University. His research work (including his PhD) has focused mainly on South East Asian cultural history with a specific focus on visual culture, film and identity.

Dean Summers

Senior lecturer, critical theory

Dean's main responsibilities are teaching critical and theoretical modules on the film and media production course, as well as helping develop innovative approaches to the integration of theory and practice in curriculum design this area.

Prior to this, Dean lectured at the University of Central Lancashire, where he also co-organised the international conference on Experimental Film Today in 2003. His main interests include philosophical forms of cinema, and the value of deconstruction in education.

Alan Robinson

Subject group leader, media arts

Alan studied at University College London for a degree in architecture, after which he worked at Cablevision, one of the original local TV channels, where a team of six produced one hour of live TV per day. He then worked for 14 years at Sheffield Independent Film, a Channel 4 funded independent TV/film facility.

Since 2001 he has worked at Sheffield Hallam University, firstly in the Materials and Engineering Research Institute (MERI) and then as a senior lecturer in animation and computer graphics.

His research area is 3D scanning, where he completed his PhD and has a number of patents, and he has a strong record of collaboration with media and industrial partners. Current research topics include 3D face animation for multimedia use in animation and computer games, and on a more theoretical level, the critical analysis of computer games.

Christopher Hall

Senior lecturer, film/TV editing

An award-winning editor, filmmaker and artist, Chris has over 100 broadcast television credits and has worked on many award winning features and shorts.

His television credits include Time Team, British Film Forever, York Minster, Turner Prize, Destination D-Day, Shipwrecked, Madonna: Naked Ambition, Lonely Planet, The South Bank Show, The Mrs Merton Show, Everyman and The Heart Of The Matter.

He is also an associate artist with theatre company Third Angel ('Consistently innovative and challenging', The Times) whose theatre and film work has toured internationally.

He is half of the artistic partnership Christopher Hall and Alexander Kelly (‘installations that are simple but hugely effective at provoking an emotional response from the viewer’, Metro) whose work have been shown at screenings in Europe and America, and who also create installation work for galleries and museums. The partnerships are currently involved in the post-production of a documentary feature.

At Sheffield Hallam University, Chris lectures mainly in post-production. He also runs the FMP Intern Scheme and has developed collaborative relationships with many outside organisations. He has a wide range of interests including the social impact of digital media, transmedia narratives, convergent media, experimental documentary, contemporary dance and radical education theory and praxis.

He also likes watching and making films.

Rose Cooper

Portfolio director, media arts

Rose studied fine art before taking postgraduate degrees in art history and in film studies respectively. She was a founder member of the Design History Society, has taught and examined aspects of visual culture studies at undergraduate and postgraduate level throughout her working life and is now undergraduate portfolio director for media and film production.

Rose's research in visual culture studies addresses the role of the visual in the construction of personal and national cultural memory and identity. The focus of current research is the impact of dominant western visual culture on the 'peripheral', 'non western' cultures of the indigenous peoples of the 'Fourth World'.