For the second year, BCIT Television & Video Production will be providing volunteer live event television & video production services for the World Partnership Walk!
World Partnership Walk
We had a great time with the walk last year and both students and staff alike will be on-site in Stanley Park this Sunday, May 30th.
Come out and walk to raise money and increase awareness to fight global poverty. If you’re in the area, feel free to drop by the production tent and have a chat with us!
As promised last week, having worked our first Skype live-hit into our BCIT Magazine show, we decided to try something a little further afield…
[googleMap name=”Buenos Aires, Argentina” width=”610″ height=”300″ directions_to=”false”]Buenos Aires, Argentina[/googleMap]
Gavin Day in Argentina - Live!
So with our new Skype-ability, look for us to be anywhere and everywhere!
Inexpensive realtime video streaming over IP is giving us the ability to go anywhere – and that would’ve cost tens of thousands of dollars only a few short years ago…
Live via Skype!
Last week was the first time we have used Skype to give us the ability to do “live hits” for our BCIT Magazine live production. Utilizing two laptop computers and a Panasonic DVX-100 camera, we connected our on-air talent to the control room for an insert directly into the show.
With a successful first test, we are raising the bar again this week – for a live hit from Argentina as we cover Canada’s national soccer team playing Argentina’s national team!
A new tool appeared on the doorstep today courtesy of our own Kemp Edmonds. The iPad hasn’t been officially released in Canada yet, however with some strong international connections, Kemp was able to acquire one of the new tablets for “evaluation”.
The video quality on the unit is outstanding, and the user interface is silky smooth, for broadcasting and viewing documents.
There are possible broadcast applications for units such as these, perhaps to replace paper that gets wasted printing scripts and rundowns such as WXFL-TV in Albany, Georgia has done.
For an educational institution, being able to view textbooks and handouts on an electronic reader makes a lot of sense when laptops would be too cumbersome.
We’re not quite at the point of requiring all students to have iPads, however we’ll certainly try and make sure that people who bring advanced technology to class will be able to utilize it as part of their studies!
Zut Alors, one of our second-year production companies has just won two awards from the Broadcast Educators Association of Canada!
“Complicity” won for best Drama.
Written and Directed by Dylan Adkins, Produced by Lauren Weidel, Edited by Justin Li, Director of Photography – Jordan Lee, Assistant Director – Courtney Dunsmoor-Farley, Audio Supervisor – Denis Falardeau.
Complicity from Zut Alors on Vimeo.
Judges’ Comments:
- Initial impression- STYLISH!
- Great sequences with good composition
- Superior use of music to create tension
- Excellent editing, music transitions/fx and timing
- Lighting was very good
- While the story was slightly campy and silly, it still grabs your attention, keeps you involved and is well constructed.
And their mockumentary, “Shadow Hands” won for Best Comedy!
Written by Denis Falardeau and Dylan Adkins, Produced by Courtney Dunsmoor-Farley, Directed by Denis Falardeau, Edited by Justin Li, Director of Photography: Jordan Lee, Assistant Director: Lauren Weidel, Audio Supervisor: Dylan Adkins.
Shadow Hands: A Mockumentary from Zut Alors on Vimeo.
Judges’ Comments:
- Great delivery- were they professional actors?
- Excellent! Drew me in after the slow beginning
- Professional Actors? Well crafted and good storytelling
- Very well done, truly enjoyed it!
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.
Employers demand students and alumni trained in digital and tapeless production technology. BCIT delivers.
