Charlie Wall-Palmer and Kaddel Bailey recently completed two weeks work experience at Point Blank.  Here's how they got on...

Monday 1^st March

Today was our first day doing work experience at Point Blank and we were introduced to everyone in the office. Nick showed us the Young hackney website and how to use the Remix machine. It was really easy to use and in quiet a short time we had a pretty good tracks. We than had to listen to other peoples tracks on the website, and rate and comment on their mixes.  After Lunch Nick asked us to go on the internet and find some video and web links that could be used for the Point Blank twitter page.

Tuesday 2^nd March

Today we went to the YMCA studio on Old Street and joined other students that were doing a radio course. Firstly we got into groups and walked around White Cross market asking people a question to see what responses we got, that was called Vox pops. We got loads of different answers, some were funny and others were serious.  After lunch we downloaded our answers from the Zoom recorder to the computer and used the programme Audacity to edit the answers into a 40 second clip.

Wednesday 3^rd March

Today was a completely different day because we weren’t using computers. We had to sort out loads of files by putting tags on the ones that didn’t have tags and than putting the files into boxes and moving them to a different office. This was a long and tedious procedure but it helped pass the time. When we came back from lunch we had to take some packages to the post office and when we got there the line was looooong but then we realised we just had to put the packages on the side.

Thursday 4^th March

Today we got to go into the college area and make some music using Logic on the Macs until lunch. After lunch we got to go on the DJ equipment which I had wanted to do for a long time, mixing the old vinyl records.

Friday 5^th March

Today Nick showed us the ‘what’s on’ section of the Young Hackney website and showed us how to update it with activities that are happening this year in Hackney using the admin page and we did that until lunch. After lunch we started writing this work experience diary.

Monday 8^th March

Today we finished off updating the young hackney website and then continued to look for interesting video and web links  that are related to the work at Point Blank to put on the twitter page.

Tuesday 9^th March

Today we went back to the YMCA studio on Old Street and did some vox pox of our own.  We asked random people “What do you think of footballer’s salaries?” and if there answer wasn’t that good we just asked “What music do you listen to?” After we got a fair amount of answers we edited them on Audacity, added music and then put a jingle into it.

Wednesday 10^th March   

Today we were in the office with Ruth doing filing for basically the whole day and then near to the end of the day we took a parcel to the post office then went home.

Thursday 11^th March

Today was pretty much run the same as last week and we were back in the Point Blank College using Logic in the studio and after lunch we used the DJ equipment.

Friday 12^th March

Today when we came in we finished of our diary of the 2 weeks of work experience.  We were then interviewed and asked how our time was at Point Blank.

Charlie & Kaddel's interview:

How have you enjoyed your time at Point Blank?

C – Really good fun, enjoyed doing all the different activities and seeing different parts of what happens at Point Blank.

K – Yeah, it was really good except for the filing but that was only for one day. The rest was really interesting and got to learn some new skills.

C- The people in the office were really friendly and were joking with us and they made us feel welcome.

What activities have you been involved in?

C – We have done Dj’ing in the DJ rooms, learning to mix on Vinyl and CD’s. We went to one of the Radio production courses at City YMCA and learnt about ‘Audacity’ (audio software) and how to do interviews and edit them and how to do Vox pops. It was really good fun.

K – We also did some things on the Young Hackney website such as making tracks on the ‘Remix Machine’ which was great and updating parts of the site.

C – We also commented on people’s tracks as well.

What was your favourite part of working at Point Blank?

K – Making tacks on Logic in the studio. I use the software already but it’s a nice atmosphere in Point Blank and there are more plug-ins to use on the computer. I’m into different types of music but I like to make Dubstep and there were plenty of tools at Point Blank to help me do that.

C – I enjoyed using Logic but I mostly enjoyed doing the Radio Production course at City YMCA. It was about learning all the new skills such as editing, and making our vox pops and learning how to put a show together.

Would you like to work here in the future?

Both - Maybe, in the college as a technician or studio assistant but not filing in the office because that would get boring after awhile.

What are your plans for the rest of summer/next term?

Both – We have our GCSE mocks starting after Easter.

K – I’m taking Music and Performance skills, that’s why it was good to come to Point Blank.

C – I’m doing a Creative & Media Diploma which includes acting, art and I’m also doing Drama.