University for the Creative Arts: Performing Arts courses at UCA

Students from across Film, Media and Performing Arts courses in Farnham recently joined the Television Production elective in Immersive Production and were treated to a peek behind the scenes at the BBC.

They were shown around Broadcasting House in London by Farnham alumni Thomas Doukinitsas, who is now a Motion Designer for BBC News.

10.00am: Most days will start off in the base room either doing independent work or having a lecture.

The more academic lectures cover the history of music technology, such as the creation of the synthesizer and the start of experimental music such as Avant Garde, as well as the philosophical and social aspects of music, looking at Plato and questions like, ‘Can we take the word popular out of popular music?’

12.30pm: After lectures we’ll go for lunch in the refectory or to one of the many cafés around Farnham (the best ones are in the Lion and Lamb Yard!) until the next part of the day.

1.30pm: After lunch a variety of things can happen — there could be another lecture, a tutorial, workshop or guest lecture. Some days when there’s a free afternoon a few of us may have a jam session.

Afternoon lectures are usually either more practical or look into music and related industries. During these lectures we learn how music is implemented into other creative art industries and the effect/impact it has.

6.00pm: In the evening we usually go to one of the many pubs in Farnham (my favourite is the Cobbett) or an event at the Students’ Union.

When I’m not out socialising, I enjoy working on different collaborations with other students. At the moment I’m working with second year Games students, creating the sound and music for an AAA-style horror game.

I also have an ongoing project with a few members of staff at UCA called Sea of Cables, where we gather in different spaces such as the James Hockey Gallery and make ambient/experimental music by responding to what we each play.

For many creatives, adaptability is key — especially when their dream career is in something very niche.

For Jasmine Haskell, that means being not only a theatrical designer and maker, but also an illustrator and tattoo artist.

Jasmine also works as a tattoo artist, to support herself during the quiet season for theatre work or when she doesn't have any projects on.

During COVID lockdowns she turned to working on her drawing practice, got back into oil paints and used online classes to brush up on her art fundamentals and composition skills, helping her for when she could get back to tattooing.