3rd March 2025
Production Arts and Animation students got real-life work experience on an exciting project.
Working with organisations GRD Floor and Make Your Mark CIC, the Production Arts students supported a live music event ‘The Blueprint’ at The Union Theatre in Southwark.
GRD Floor is a new platform focusing on highlighting and upskilling new talent in music, production and digital arts; they work with young people from under-represented and under-resourced backgrounds to provide both education and access to speak their stories through music.
"The Blueprint" is the organisation’s inaugural event, creating a new avenue for artists to develop and showcase their talent, featuring exclusive, unheard music created specifically for this occasion.
The project began back in October when the students went to the venue for a 'recce' and took part in their first official production meeting. The young people revelled in the opportunity to have control of the decision-making and were supported by the founder of GRD Floor, Harvey Joseph-Muir.
Harvey said: “I couldn't ask for a better group of students! As people, they all brought positive energy and interactions while who are easy to talk to and work with. We were very impressed with both the level of professionalism and knowledge of the students. One thing that stood out was their ability to break down industry concepts/terms to a point where I would understand as someone who has no background in the field.
“We saw the confidence of the group start to show through when we were in the event space. We are all very excited to work with the students moving forward as we already see their positive impact.”
The exciting opportunity gave the students an opportunity to be involved in a live event, where they took on key technical roles, including programming the lighting desk, working as sound engineer, crew worker and helping with the stage operation, while overseen by another local Barking and Dagenham resident Conor Costelloe, a lighting designer & technician, giving the learners an industry professional they could ask questions and start to build their professional network with.
Collaborating with emerging artists from the music industry, the learners played a crucial role in ensuring a successful night. They skillfully mixed vocals with music, applied reverb to enhance the sound quality, and used their lighting expertise to create the perfect atmosphere on stage. Additionally, they were responsible for moving and setting up equipment, gaining valuable hands-on experience in a professional setting.
Bobbie-Jo Muir from Make Your Mark (the wider CIC) added: "What stood out to me was the remarkable professionalism and knowledge that the students showed during the site recce and event space evaluation, this made me think "they've got this!"
Production Arts student Jack Limani, 16, enthused: "I think this experience is helpful to me so that I have some experience of how to set up a gig. I'm excited to do this gig. The staff were very helpful and gave a good insight to the show itself and what we need.”
Student Harry Lake, 17, saw it as “Foot into the industry": "I absolutely enjoyed the Recce as that was the first one, I've ever done. I loved meeting Bobbie and Kelly from Make Your Mark Barking and Dagenham and the work they have done for and around the community. I enjoyed meeting Harvey and his idea of giving young artists a chance and a foot into the industry.”
Prior to the actual event Student Gabija Liberyte, 19, said: "I'm excited for our first event, and this will be the first gig I've ever been to!”
Inioluwa Dotun-Bankole, 18, loved the experience: "I had so much fun getting to leave the classroom and get hands-on. I learnt a lot from Harvey and Kelly and I’m looking forward to creating more and more productions.”
Junior Hall, Technician/Lecturer at Barking & Dagenham College said after the gig: “The event provided an excellent learning opportunity, allowing learners to apply their skills in a real-world environment. Their hard work and dedication were met with positive feedback from the staff at Ground Floor, making the night both educational and rewarding.”
