Old Cranbrookian Seamus Cloonan Visits IBDP English A: Language and Literature Students

Today the IBDP English A: Language and Literature students were treated to a presentation by Old Cranbrookian (1993), Seamus Cloonan, a multi-award winning creative whose work draws upon video editing, copywriting, directing and sound design.

A proud member of Chelmsford House, Seamus has previously worked across multiple brands at Foxtel and SBS, contributing to the World Movies brand alongside many of its premium drama launches and the 2022 Football World Cup.

We were delighted to hear him explain his expertise surrounding film making and TV construction to our Y11 IBDP English students. Our study of the Body of Work – Boys Will Be Boys: Gillette Advertising through the ages – explored the representation of masculinity through the construction of archetypical narratives in film and TV production, and our analysis into how archetypes shape identity and the construction of self was at the heart of analysis of these texts.

Seamus shared his love for English and how the production of ‘promos’ (TV trailers) is intrinsically linked to storytelling. He focused on the importance of audience, purpose, and context in the creation of his film texts – factors that are the root of our analysis within English Language and Literature. Seamus presented some of his award winning work and spoke about the power of connection: that emotion connects people and we create that through the use of space, music and storytelling on screen.

The IBDP students will sit the Individual Oral in November, the first Internal Assessment worth up to 30% of students’ overall English grade. Within this assessment, students will look at how connections and Global Issues are evident non-literary and literary texts. Seamus’ invaluable insights today gave students further tools to access their critical readings of the multi-modal texts studied in class.  

Caroline Usasz
Assistant Head of Department – English (Stage 6)