The regular semester has finished, and our Broadcast students are current involved in Practicum, where the Broadcast Center turns into a leaving, breathing Television station.
Television & Video Production students perform the roles of:
- News Camera (aka “Shooters”)
- News Editors
- Graphics and Animation production
- Newscast production (Director, Assistant Director, Technical Director, Audio, Floor Director, etc.)
Our Broadcast Journalism students are responsible for the stories and interviews that make up the content of our weekly BCIT Magazine production.
Practicum is an intensive 4-week process that ensures that all students get exposure to all aspects of Television & Video Production in a live environment, with the challenges and deadlines that exists in a real station.
Practicum begins another first this year, as BCIT Broadcast has installed two video servers as we move closer to gracefully retiring our tape infrastructure.
Our Facilis server is an 18 terrabyte storage server that provides us with almost 1400 hours of storage for our edit bays. The Omneon server is a play-to-air server which takes the final edited stories and allows playback through our control rooms.
Most of our aquisition and editing facilities are currently using digital tape formats, however we’re moving towards a totally tapeless workflow that allows us to go from acquisition to broadcast without any physical media (aside from memory cards) involved in the process.
Tape, old and busted...
Our Television & Video Production advisory committee, composed of broadcast and film professionals from Western Canada are very supportive of us making these changes.
Memory cards - new hotness...
Employers demand students and alumni trained in digital and tapeless production technology. BCIT delivers.
All of our new commercial productions from our Term 2 Television & Video Production class have been uploaded to YouTube.
We’ll have the HD versions of these commercials coming to Vimeo in the near future as well (they’re uploaded in standard-def 16:9 widescreen on YouTube for the time being).
Standard Def Commercials ( January 19 to March 11 )
Hi-Def Commercials ( March 16 to April 8 )
Hi-Def on Vimeo
Delta Community Animal Shelter from BCIT Television on Vimeo.
Running Room from BCIT Television on Vimeo.
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(Note: No students were blinded in the making of this science, but it was the best title I could come up with … The only other option was trying to find something that rhymed with “Bill Nye the Science Guy”)
Day 1 - Telus World of Science - Centre Stage
So what’s this about Science? We had the opportunity to take our production on the road and head down to the Telus World of Science to do a live production of their Centre Stage science education show.
This was our first live event production using the new Broadcast Pix production flypack that we’ve been introducing the students to this semester (check the blog history for info on our practise events back at the school).
We are actively looking for projects that students can produce with our equipment to get additional production experience. If you have a project you’d like to submit, please feel free to contact us.
Day 2 - Our "Control Room"
Details:
- 4 camera shoot (2 x Sony DSR 370, 1 x Sony DSR 400, 1 x Panasonic AG-DVX100BP)
- Broadcast Pix Slate 100 Flypack
- Crew (15 students, 3 Instructors)
- Load-in 10:30, Full Facs 12:45, Showtime 15:20, Wrap 16:00
I have linked a copy of our SW Technical Production Manual that includes some project planning details for aspiring production staff out there (some contact information has been removed for privacy reasons).
We expect students to provide this type of documentation (and more!) when planning their projects.
Our last two productions for this term took place this week – it would have been nice to have a bit more warm weather in the forecast (considering both productions had exterior components), however rain or shine, we got it done!
First off on Tuesday was a spot for helping asthma sufferers using the “Buteyko Breathing Method“, where a couple spending a nice warm summer day in the park deals with an asthma attack using a special breathing technique.
On Thursday we made our way to Tsawwassen and onto the Boundary Bay beach to shoot a commercial for Kayotics Skimboards. Our actor made a fairly quick transition from his day-to-day work in a cubicle to a more exciting work locale.
Our two HD commercial shoots this week kicked-off with a spot for Neptoon Records, which caters to all musical tastes. Check out the image gallery for a couple of the more unusual examples you can find in the store.
Also this week was a commercial spot for ZipCar, a short-term car rental service available in the metro-Vancouver area. In this case, it’s particularly useful for short shopping trips, especially when your hands are full!
Well, we don’t usually treat our own students this way, however we have no problems putting other kids in cages. Particularly if we’re working to create a Public Service Announcement!
First up this week, and a first for our new P2-HD production cameras is a PSA for the Delta Community Animal Shelter.
Some people are unwilling or unable to deal with troublesome pets, and their first choice is to get rid of them – but you wouldn’t do that to your own children… Would you?
