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Cornwall College lecturer arrested by Star Wars Stormtrooper in London!

Students from the Extended Diploma Media Production course have recently visited London for four days for the annual Arts & Media trip and lecturer Mat Warner got more than he bargained for.

The trip is arranged every year for media students to visit different locations and get a taste of what they will eventually have as a career. The itinerary saw the students take part in an official tour of the BBC Television Centre, eating out at Planet Hollywood, spending an afternoon as part of the audience at ITV's Southbank studios for The Alan Titchmarsh Show.

The students also enjoyed a trip to the London Eye and got caught up in a promotional stunt at the same time. Staff and students alike found themselves surrounded by Stormtroopers and one of cinemas most iconic villains; Darth Maul. Media lecturer Mat was soon arrested by the Stormtroopers as part of the publicity stunt after being mistaken for ‘rebel scum'! The promotion around London was to encourage people to go and see the re-release of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace in 3D. Mat said: "The annual media trip to London gives our students a chance to see the skills they are developing being used in a professional context. Being arrested by Stormtroopers was the icing on the cake for a self-confessed Star Wars fanatic like myself!"

As part of the four day excursion the media students were also invited to be part of the audience at Sky Atlantic's new TV success; ‘Morgan Spurlock's New Britannia'. Not a name that springs to mind but famous for the fast food documentary phenomenon ‘Super Size Me' in 2004 which was equally acclaimed and criticised by critics around the world. This gave the students the opportunity to see a difference in media culture as it is aimed at a different target audience than Alan Titchmarsh.

Media Production course manager, Rory Mason, said: "Trips like this are invaluable to the students; having the opportunity to see the production processes involved in such big television shows like Morgan Spurlock's New Britannia and going behind the scenes at the BBC gives them real insight into the industry they are aiming to work within."

The West End was the last destination of the trip for the media students as they were treated to a production of the incredibly successful Queen musical ‘We Will Rock You' - produced by Queen legends Roger Taylor and Brian May.

Rachael Megahey, 19 from Falmouth, said: "I really enjoyed the four days that we were in London, especially ‘We Will Rock You' at the Dominion Theatre. I haven't stopped listening to Queen since!"

Dave Linnell, Principal of Cornwall College, said: "This is a fantastic trip for our Arts & Media department and every year they have a great time and see some of the places that they could end up working in throughout their career."

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