Rave on Air 2009

News Release

3-4 JUNE, RAVE ON AIR 2009 – RAVENSBOURNE STUDENTS BROADCAST LIVE

London: 03 June 2009

For two days this week Ravensbourne College will be transformed into one of the country’s most exciting and innovative broadcasters, as students go ‘on air’ for their annual broadcasting event Rave on Air.

Rave on Air is an entirely student-led event with over 5 hours of live programming broadcast over the internet and local digital terrestrial television channels (800 and 801). Attended by broadcasting and creative industry professionals including BBC, Endemol and Channel 4, this graduate showcase gives Ravensbourne students the chance to gain experience of creating and delivering a range of content for broadcasting in real-time. It is also a major opportunity to showcase Ravensbourne talent and help students network and build industry contacts that prepare them for a broadcasting career after they graduate.

Rave on Air is broadcast over two channels simultaneously, mixing live magazine shows, fashion catwalks and interview spots with pre-recorded dramas, documentaries, animations and quiz shows, all written, produced, directed and masterminded by broadcast students from all levels. Students from all disciplines across the college will experiment with new technologies and new ways of interacting with their audience, both on- and off-campus.

Bringing a new level of interactivity to the event, product design and interaction students have designed a voting pod for use during a live murder mystery, Fate’s Funeral, enabling the audience to play detective as the drama unfolds. The audience votes to reveal more details about the prime suspects’ pasts, and then choose who they suspect is the guilty party – but the wrong choice could mean someone gets away with murder. Students have ensured that even the local audience watching on television can vote, by allowing viewers to log on to www.raveonair.net/pods to make their choice. Industry delegates can also use the pods to request student CVs.

Making use of the world-class equipment provided by sponsors such as SIS (formerly BBC-owned Outside Broadcast trucks), CTV, Vinten, TelegenicHD, Snell and Ascent Media, the Rave on Air crew will be providing an HD room, in which specially-shot behind-the-scenes footage can be viewed, and a virtual studio with green screen for use during the live magazine shows. As well as streaming events via a webcam, students will also be broadcasting live on “rRadio”, a digital radio show that can be accessed on www.raveonair.net/radio.

Today (3^rd June), students will be hosting a “Diversity Day” for schools and colleges both locally and from as far afield as Brighton. The day’s events will kick off with a taster course in broadcast engineering, then a tour of Rave on Air as the day’s broadcasting begins. Tomorrow (4^th June) industry visitors will be on site to watch events unfold – why not come down and join us?

Freddie Gaffney, Deputy Head of the Faculty of Communication Media said:

“This is the last Rave on Air to take place in Chislehurst, and it’s going out with a bang!  Rave on Air is a unique opportunity and a great chance for our students to stand out from thousands of other graduates across the country. The students this year have met the challenge head on – they’ve really excelled themselves and can justifiably call themselves young professionals. As always, I am very proud to be associated with them.”

Hannah Perry, Assistant Managing Director for Rave on Air, said: “Rave on Air is an amazing opportunity for students to really hone their practical abilities and test both their time management and organisational skills. It’s a fantastic chance for students to showcase their talents in front of top industry delegates whilst giving them the experience of working on a live event. I have thoroughly enjoyed this year’s Rave on Air and I am extremely excited about the prospects for future events.”

The Royal Television Society will also be visiting Ravensbourne during Rave on Air to host one of their regular public events – a conference on 360 degree broadcasting with speakers John Denton (BBC Future Media and Technology, Managing Editor TV Platforms) and Matt Millington (BBC Sport, Video Portals Editor). The delegates will then be given a tour of the proceedings and the trade stands, student exhibitions and shows.

This year’s event marks the 39^th year of Rave on Air, and the last one at the college’s current campus in Chislehurst before it relocates to Greenwich Peninsula in 2010.  The new Ravensbourne building will house two HD television studios, digital media studios and production suites, virtual environments and a postgraduate centre for enterprise and innovation. Its proximity to London will encourage even greater opportunities for Ravensbourne students to collaborate and network within the broadcast media industry.

ENDS

For more information please contact:

Leese Johnstone, Communications Officer

email: l.johnstone@rave.ac.uk

mobile: 07904 257734

www.raveonair.net

www.rave.ac.uk

Notes to Editors

About Ravensbourne

Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication is a University Sector College validated by City University London. It is currently based in Chislehurst, Kent. Ravensbourne champions the creative exploitation of digital technology through innovation and collaboration. Driven by industry standards and supported by the latest high-performance technology, it produces highly employable and enterprising graduates that fulfill the current and future skills needs of the design and communication industries.

It has a community of approximately 1,400 students that follow either pre-degree (Further Education), undergraduate or postgraduate (Higher Education) programmes, and are drawn from the UK, Europe and around ten percent from International (non-EU) destinations. Ravensbourne programmes span fashion, broadcasting, interactive product design, architecture, interior design, graphic design, animation, moving image, sound design.

In 2010 Ravensbourne is relocating to Greenwich Peninsula into a purpose built, state-of-the-art building which will offer collaborative work spaces, resources for networking, high-tech creative suites and wifi access throughout. The building is also built to the highest environmental standards as part of Ravensbourne’s strategy to minimise its carbon footprint.

The building will house a double-height HDTV studio with 6 channel capacity, moving lights, full autocue and green screen capability, alongside a second studio (4 channel) with virtual studio capability. It will also house a gallery with a studio mixer, a lighting desk and moving lights control. The building’s central Atrium can be converted into one large HD studio. Additionally there will be a digital post production studio with surround sound suites.

The design of the new Ravensbourne building is by Foreign Office Architects (architecture) and DEGW (internal space planning).

www.rave.ac.uk