KitPlus | Articles

What Directors do and dont do

by David Crossman Issue 92 - August 2014 Piers Haggard the BAFTA award-winning Director for his BBC TV work - says you can\'t teach Directing any more than you can teach Art. Piers may be right but I believe there are some directorial skills which can be passed on. Like many crew members and actors I have suffered at the hands of inexperienced Dire...

Submitted by David Crossman

Published 01 September 2014

A new age of teleprompting?

by Jon Hilton Issue 92 - August 2014 Whilst it may not be the first thing on the production agenda, one could argue it is an essential production tool today delivering at least two fundamental production values. Firstly it can save you money by reducing the time required to get that perfect take and secondly it means that your presenter will be wor...

Submitted by Jon Hilton#

Published 01 September 2014

Big hands small head

by Graham Reed Issue 91 - July 2014 A long time ago, in a place that no longer exists, BBC Television Centre, we had large cameras E.M.I. 2001, They were often referred to as the cameramans camera, as at the time they gave what was considered excellent pictures in 625 lines (SD), but of course they suffered from many problems. They needed constant...

Submitted by graham reed

Published 01 August 2014

Teletest Telesend HD LCD receiver Review

by Jon Boast Issue 90 - June 2014 It was towards the middle of last year that I reviewed my Teradek Bolt HD wireless system for TV Bay magazine. I commented then, that monitors are about the one thing that cameramen use day in day out, wireless ones particularly. Even these days you change your camera from day to day, one day you may be out shootin...

Submitted by Jon Boast

Published 01 July 2014

4K at NAB

by Bob Pank Issue 89 - May 2014 The long term NAB veterans will be well aware of just how quickly new technologies can come and go in the television industry. For instance, only a couple of years ago, 3D was still the hot topic, now it has gone quiet, but not altogether gone away. So it is good to report that 4K had another very good NAB, probably...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 June 2014

Unique additions to 4-wire/ talkback Controller

Issue 89 - May 2014In the communications world there are many ways to get audio from point A to point B and for each different application that’s arisen, suitably niche products have been developed. At Sonifex we’re a company that specialises in developing niche products for niche applications, as evidenced by the growing Redbox range, mainly devel...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 01 June 2014

Covering the Winter Games for Broadcast

by Mel Noonan Issue 86 - February 2014 This was written a few days before the opening ceremony so news arriving from the front line is of last minute angst for some of the tech teams who go out and perform daily miracles in such unuser-friendly locations year after year. Camera platforms erected in the wrong place, cables lost under a recent snowfa...

Submitted by Mel Noonan

Published 01 March 2014

Packed to Protect: What you need to know

Issue 86 - February 2014Peli Cases have become well established in the market as essential protection for broadcast and photographic equipment, offering watertight, dustproof and crushproof security. Combining durability, security and style, Peli Hardback cases have been introduced to protect iPads, tablets and laptops from drops, knocks and scratc...

Submitted by KitPlus

Published 01 March 2014

Training the next generation

by Dick Hobbs Issue 86 - February 2014 At the end of January a new body the Institute for Training in Television Production (ITTP) held its first conference, organised by the publishers of TV-Bay magazine and chaired by former broadcaster Roz Morris, MD of TV News London Ltd. A packed room debated sometimes hotly the issues. Chair of ITTP is freela...

Submitted by Dick Hobbs.

Published 01 March 2014

Supporting kids charity on the trip of a lifetime

by Phil HubertyIssue 84 - December 2013 As a warehouse technician at Procam with aspirations to become a camera operator, I was delighted to be given the chance to film a group of seriously ill and disabled children on the holiday of a lifetime hosted by the charity Dreamflight. Dreamflight is a national charity that takes 192 seriously ill and dis...

Submitted by Phil Huberty

Published 01 January 2014

Streaming Downtown Showdown

by Kate PhibbsIssue 82 - October 2013 With summer well and truly on its way out, what better way to send it off than a trip to Paris to produce and live stream the Vans Downtown Showdown 2013. After the success of producing and broadcasting the Vans Spring Classic in Italy in April, we here at 3xScreen Media knew that Downtown Showdown, Europes lar...

Submitted by Kate Phibbs

Published 01 November 2013

Ask the experts with Shotoku

by James EddershawIssue 82 - October 2013 Shotoku has been around for quite some time, but for those who may not be familiar, can you explain who you are and what you do?Shotoku Broadcast Systems is an international leader in the manufacture and marketing of a full range of camera support products including manual and robotic pedestals as well as v...

Submitted by James Eddershaw

Published 01 November 2013

Peter Savage asks: Is the 1980s vision still relevant tod...

by Peter SavageIssue 82 - October 2013 The focus of this issue of tv-bay acquisition takes me back to the very beginning of my involvement in broadcast. In the late 1980s, the whole of the broadcast world changed for what, I believe, was the better. The BBC introduced Producer Choice, which meant that commissioners of programmes were for the first...

Submitted by Dick Hobbs.

Published 01 November 2013

Could you be powerless on arrival?

by Steve EmmettIssue 82 - October 2013 PAG is now hearing more frequently of incidents where air transport rules for Lithium-Ion batteries are being enforced more rigorously by airlines. Camera crews are often unsure of the regulations and can face problems if they break these rules. We were recently informed of a cameraman, travelling from Denmark...

Submitted by Steve Emmett

Published 01 November 2013

Polecam delivers 500th rig

by Mel NoonanIssue 81 - September 2013 We in the UK should be rightly proud of Polecam and what it has achieved, with news that the 500th rig has been delivered. Extreme sports cameraman Steffan Hewitt designed the lightweight jib for his own use, as a tool to get the shots he wanted. He kept refining it as he used it. Others saw it and wanted it....

Submitted by Mel Noonan

Published 01 October 2013