RMIT/ Bakehouse Studios partnership wins national ACEN Award

The Bakehouse Project has been building for five years and involves five vocational education programs, more than 120 RMIT students and a number of high-profile music industry professionals.

The initiative was nominated for the Australian Collaborative Education Network (ACEN) Local Hero award and on 30 September was announced as the winner.

The ACEN Local Hero award is given to a small-medium enterprise partner that is contributing to work-integrated learning beyond the expectations of the size of their organisation.

Students from the School of Media and Communication work together on an event that is part television broadcast program and part live music concert over six production days.

The media and events training project was developed by Elena Popa, who teaches in the RMIT Sound Production program, in collaboration with Bakehouse Studios owner Quincy McLean to give students a more active role in learning in an industry environment while still studying.

It is an ideal format for WIL for media and entertainment industries, requiring a diverse mix of students to implement their skills and knowledge in a workplace environment, and to bring together their collective abilities to complete one major production in real time, working with industry professionals (directors, camera operators, sound engineers) throughout.

Popa said that she set up a Google+ community as a central communication hub to provide an environment for more effective communication, which also acted as a learning tool.

“Communication is an important part of maintaining the project throughout all stages as there are many students, teachers and industry people involved.

"The Bakehouse Project allows us to observe our students at work, interacting with industry professionals, and allows us to supervise and assess their performance in their job allocated role. This is work-integrated learning at its best,” Popa said.

During the project, students in the Live Production and Technical Services program look after multi-camera operations, lighting and lighting control and live vision mixing while sound production students were responsible for the front-of-house sound reinforcement, stage monitor foldback and studio recording. 

Photo documentation of production was undertaken by students in the Photo Imaging program.

Production interviews were facilitated by Screen and Media students while promotional media copy was provided by students in the Professional Writing and Editing program.

Liam Freeman, Deputy Dean (Vocational Education) in the school said the Bakehouse Project presented an exciting and powerful learning and industry experience opportunity for students.

The students had to film, record, live mix, light, photograph and interview a number of emerging Melbourne music artists over six nights at the Bakehouse Studios in Richmond. 

“The most exciting and energising things about the project for students is that its success depends on collaborative effort, a high level of technical know-how, and the creative application of skills and knowledge across a range of disciplines in a 'live' setting," Freeman said.

Industry practitioners involved in the production of the events were Peter Bain-Hogg from ABC TV (Rockwiz) Aaron Cuthbert (Commoner films), Paul Drane (ABC TV; ex Countdown), Adam Russ (DOP), Quincy Mclean and Helen Marcoe (Bakehouse Studios), Milo Fischer (Bakehouse audio engineer and RMIT alumnus) and Steve Ward (4ward Productions, Melbourne City Events).

Story: Wendy Little