The Summer Challenge

Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication hosts an event called the Summer Challenge. Students from various schools the chance to produce a television show using professional equipment and in a professional environment. There were 15 students from The Ravensbourne School year 13 BTEC and 2 A-Level students involved in this
On the first day we were met by Ian, from Ravensbourne, he showed us around the studio, gallery, sound and lighting rooms during the tour we had a taster of each area to help us choose what we wanted to do for the show. After our roles had been arranged we rehearsed the programme to get people used to their roles within the team. During the early stages of rehearsal most of the shots used were simple, but as time progressed shots became more interesting. When the day ended we were told what time to be back the next day for final rehearsals before the show.

The rehearsals on the second day were our last chance to iron out as many bugs as we possibly could before we went live at 3:35. We had been told that some of the previous groups had been late by a few minuets so that their show was cut short. During this time the cameras had their final shots set up and everyone knew what they were doing. Unfortunately the band we were filming had pulled out so we had to get Andy, Andrew, and Jake to stand in for them. Whilst this was a setback it was only minor and didn’t disrupt the show. After the final run-throughs the 3:35 deadline was approaching. Due to our hard work and dedication we managed to start at 3:35 on the dot. The show turned out to be pretty good albeit a few errors but for only 2 days worth of practice it was excellent. The band segment turned out well due to the fact that there were a variety of shots that were used to replace the intended live footage. After the show we were de briefed and we saw an unedited version of what we made. All in all the challenge was a huge success and will be a very useful thing to put on a show reel.

By Scott Hennessy