University junk mail - claptrap, deceit and weasel words

22 July 2006

Would you like to see an example of some of the most misleading but accomplished copywriting ever produced? It’s from Lincoln university and so full of claptrap, deceit and impossible-to-verify weasel-words the University should be sued – and they are.

Every so often the media reports on the growing volume of direct marketing ‘junk mail’ that comes through peoples letter boxes only to be ‘thrown away’ without being read.

But most companies and organisations use direct marketing copy (‘junk mail’!) to bring in business, as do the media reporting on it. Why? Because direct marketing works.

But those facts are rarely mentioned in those media reports. It’s another example of the kind of formulaic, lazy writing that no serious writer would churn out.

These days, the more you know about a subject, the less reliance you put on a newspaper or broadcast report – in whatever field reported on. Do you imagine it’s only your field of knowledge they get so wrong? No. It’s almost everything.

Dig a little deeper and you’ll find the whole premise of these ‘just too much junk mail’ reports is unsound. Let’s start with the newspaper journalist. Why not ask him how he got his job?

The only reason the reporter works in the media is because he fell for some superb copywriting issued by the university he attended. He liked what he read about the course, so he invested his time and money in attending it in order to become a journalist.

Well, there are many students who just don’t think the course they decide to attend fulfils their expectations. That is why so many change courses after their first year. Some copywriters have a lot to answer for, because their description bears no relation to the truth.

There is, however, such a thing as The Trades Description Act of 1998. The act’s particular job is to ensure, as far as possible, that people tell the truth about goods, prices and services. In fact, as The Independent newspaper reported, legal action is being taken against Lincoln university for their mistake. Here is the full report:

The copywriter for Lincoln University spins his £9,000 yarn
Here’s how the gifted, but misleading copywriter for Lincoln University’s BA (Hons) Animation course (course fees: £9,000) spins his yarn. After his description of the course you can read what it was actually like and the legal action that followed:

BA (Hons) Animation course
The Animation degree course provides a programme of study within which the student can freely develop her or his creative signature as both an artist and Animation Designer.
The university’s, BA (Hons) Animation course originally based in the Hull School of Art & Design, will restart as a new course in Lincoln School of Art & Design for the 2006 intake.
Evocative and immersive, Animation is a broad and eclectic art form, and as a medium of human expression, is unsurpassed in its richness and variety. The predominance of animation on television, web and cinema is obvious, with the medium finding a place in a range of work, from historical visualisation and feature film production, to more obscure non-narrative and experimental work. The aim of the course is to facilitate a solid understanding of animation production, mechanics and methodologies, as well as a broader understanding of film language, narrative and graphic communication. Equally, the course is designed to furnish the student with solid practical animation skills and principles in order to construct compelling and convincing character performances on the screen.
Level One
The first seven weeks of the course are designed to give the student a solid foundation in classical animation principles through drawn animation exercises, including basic timing, spacing, posing, overlap etc, as well as the many other traditional principles. The second half of the semester concentrates on non-classical techniques and allows the student to experiment and play with less dominant methods of expression. Semester B includes basic narrative construction and storyboarding.
Level Two
At this point the student is able to specialise in either 2D or 3D animation (including computer animation). The focus for this year is to cover composition, visual language and art direction. The student will also be led into more advanced narrative construction and character performance.
Level Three
As you progress from level two to level three, you will become more self-sufficient and begin to self-manage your projects and your schedule. Alongside your work you will undertake theoretical components as well as development of your portfolio, show reel and CV – a vital part of your professional development.
Success stories
John Lee – a final-year Animation student specialising in Computer Generated Imagery has been offered a job as an animator at Lionhead Studios.
“When you first start out, you usually have to settle with being a runner and making the tea,” said John. “I’ve been really lucky and skipped that and gone straight into animation.
“Although I got this job straight away, it wasn’t easy. The first thing I needed was a website to get recognition and then I went on Internet forums where people gave me feedback on my work.
“I’ve already been in contact with Pixar and Weta Digital – makers of Gollum in Lord of the Rings – and they have all given me constructive criticism on my work.
“I’m really pleased with getting straight into the industry because it’s usually really competitive. There are so many people out there wanting to do it and they always say you need experience so getting this job is a dream come true.”
The winner of two BAFTA awards – Lionhead Studios is regarded as the leading videogames developer in the UK. It was founded in 1997 by Peter Molyneux and is the developer of the well-known game series Black and White. John (22), originally from Colne in Lancashire, starts his new job next month and hopes his time at Lionhead will be the start of a successful career.
“I would like to get into post-production on commercials, but in the long term it would be great to do feature length animated movies.”
You can visit John’s showreel at www.characteranimation.co.uk

“I feel I have wasted a year of my life.” — What really happened at Lincoln university

The university course students are demanding compensation for lost time and money, and for their failure to find work. If they do not receive this compensation, they are determined to sue the university. Their lawyer, Jaswinder Gill, of Ormerods Solicitors, who has specialised in higher education for 15 years, says that this is the worst case of its kind he has seen.

The university responded to the grievances with an investigation. The report of that inquiry effectively accepted the justice of their complaints on the degree of industry involvement in the course, the timetable and quality of teaching, unprofessional behaviour by staff, and lack of resources. Two members of staff left, and new ones were hired.

These are personal accounts from students on the course. Some of them have taken legal action against the university for compensation:

Jenny Martin: “Having been on the animation course (Lincoln university) campus situated in Hull, for one year now I question bothering to carry on the further two years. I feel I have wasted a year of my life. There are so many negative aspects to the course and campus. Having worked hard academically, to achieve my A levels and a foundation art course at college to get into university, I was expecting a somewhat challenging and exciting prospect from university.

.. It didn’t take long to see how poor the standard of teaching was. We had one lecturer and he struggled to recall what year anyone was in. There was one, hour-long lecture every five or so weeks and the odd tutorial was thrown in by the technicians. I would maybe understand if the amount of self directed work was high quantity, but this amount of free time was set to draw 20 mini pictures in rough on a storyboard. That’s it. 6 weeks to do a day’s work!!!

Standards are very, very low, you’d be amazed at the rubbish you can produce and get away with. One person on the course did all three projects for the whole year in a week and still passed!

I am aware that the first year of uni is fairly easy but the projects we were set were laughable. No pun intended when I say this really is a “micky mouse” degree. Other students on the course found the same problems as me and even filed complaints about the course. I can count 15 people who left the course, five being within the first 5 weeks!

Organisation was abysmal. No students, irrespective of their course were informed where to go for lectures. Last minute changes are made frequently and lectures cancelled.

When older years were asked, they tell us that the course is in this mess because of the previous lecturers introducing the past freshers with a 10 minute briefing of the term project, followed by “if you need any help, f**k off, we’ll be in the pub!”

Rebecca Clay: “I was hoping to get a good job in animation,” she says. “I am not stupid. I realise that you have to work your way up. The university promised that they would make us ‘industry-ready’. We were shown this amazing, fantastic equipment, including a motion-rig camera, and they said we would have a lot of guest speakers from industry to talk about topics relevant to our course and future careers.”

The reality was very different, according to Ms Clay and many other students in her class. Some of the equipment didn’t work, there were no industry speakers, the lecturers were nearly impossible to find, and there was no fixed timetable. “We are given a timetable, but then the lectures are cancelled, often on the day, without notice or adequate explanation,” according to the complaint that the students filed with the university. “Our total lecture hours regularly fell below an average of half-an-hour a week, if we could find out when they were.”

“Overall we have not received even a shadow of the service we were sold or that we paid for. We only expected to be given, and to need, a single ‘shot’ at university to progress with our lives in our chosen field. The University of Lincoln has ruined this single shot and we can think of no way that this can be retrieved.”

When the students made their formal complaint, they asked for an expert to be brought in to give them a crash course. They were required to make a film but were worried about how they would do so without any knowledge. So, the university arranged for Barry Purves, a well-known animator at the company Cosgrove Hall, to give them three days tuition.

He was so affected by what he saw that he posted a report on his website, which supported the students’ complaints. “I was shocked at the total lack of any tuition in animation principles, the lack of awareness of animation history, technique, films, and the lack of facilities available to them,” he said. “I had to rush out to Smiths and supply even the most basic stationery needs. I was astonished but do not blame the students for one second.”

Lincoln University course description