KitPlus | Articles

Lessons Learnt - Webcasting live to the web

by Larry Jordan Issue 105 - September 2015 When I first started in this industry, more than 40 years ago, live television broadcasts were plentiful and popular. In fact, I got my start as a director in live television. However, the only way to create a live broadcast was with lots of equipment, large crews and plenty of money. Today, the paradigm h...

Submitted by Larry Jordan#

Published 01 October 2015

Making multi-camera shooting faster & more affordable

by Datsa Gaile Issue 105 - September 2015 Multi-camera filming has been known for years. There was a time when shooting any production involving multiple-camera positions would require a very large studio budget. Today we have many solutions for live vision mixing and great editing platforms what offer multi-camera editing. As there are so many gre...

Submitted by Datsa Gaile

Published 01 October 2015

Three days to launch a TV station

by Neil Hutchins Issue 104 - August 2015 We go on-air in less than 100 hours is an alarming statement when the studio and control room in question contain no technical equipment whatsoever. But this was the situation that we faced upon arrival at the new Local TV channel in Manchester for the first time as we began to unload the van late on a Thurs...

Submitted by Neil Hutchins#

Published 01 September 2015

Picking the right prompter

by Jon Hilton Issue 104 - August 2015 There is so much choice available today for prompting devices. From phones and tablets to full Broadcast Studios systems and with non-word prompting techniques like Interrotrons becoming popular choosing the best prompting system for your productions needs some serious consideration. 1. The Talent comes first...

Submitted by Jon Hilton#

Published 01 September 2015

Cue Dick Barton Music

by Charlie Watts Issue 103 - July 2015 RUN VT: This time last year the University of Portsmouth course team and students of BSc Television and Broadcasting were recovering from a mammoth charity fundraising 24 hour broadcast. In hindsight this event helped to convey what the course was capable of, and it created an unforgettable milestone moment. I...

Submitted by Charlie Watts

Published 01 August 2015

Every election counts

by Charlie Watts Issue 102 - June 2015 "We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy but because they are hard.\" - JF KennedyThis may seem slightly overblown, but that is how we face things here in the University of Portsmouth. It\'s possibly because we have to try that little bit harder due to our...

Submitted by Charlie Watts

Published 01 July 2015

Hungerford and the 10 rules of making a Microbuster

by Miles Bullough Issue 101 - May 2015 On April 27th 2015 Wildseed Studios\' debut feature film, \'Hungerford\', launched on iTunes and begins what we hope will be a digital voyage around the world to success. We coined the term \'Microbuster\' to describe movies made on micro budgets but with blockbuster ambitions - and it perfectly captures what...

Submitted by Miles Bullough

Published 01 June 2015

Marketing is everything and everything is marketing

by Den Lennie Issue 101 - May 2015 Marketing for filmmakers can be very intimidating. I think it must have something to do with being creative; we seem to be more concerned with creating content than creating new business. In simple terms, marketing is simply about putting your message in front of the right customers at the right time, so that when...

Submitted by Den Lennie

Published 01 June 2015

REDucation - Real world RED camera training

by Ben Sherriff Issue 101 - May 2015 Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th March saw the REDucation training workshop arrive in London at the Met Film School in Ealing Studios West London. I\'ve used a Red One but have yet to work on a shoot where I can get my hands dirty with the newer cameras they manufacture (Epic-X, Scarlet, Dragon and now Weapon). Whe...

Submitted by Ben Sherriff

Published 01 June 2015

Outsourcing for maximum efficiency

by Den Lennie Issue 100 - April 2015 We filmmakers are very adept at wearing many hats. Producer, director, editor, cameraman, sound... it\'s the nature of boutique production. It can mean that you can make more money by doing more of the jobs yourself, but equally it can thin your resources out a little finely. There are certain jobs you will choo...

Submitted by Den Lennie

Published 01 May 2015

Fuelling productivity at BP

by Angus Mackay Issue 99 - March 2015 As one of the world\'s leading oil and gas companies, BP has a long history of producing a variety of film, video, and multimedia, and currently has an archive of over fifteen thousand films dating back over a century. The productions cover topics ranging from scientific discovery, energy exploration, community...

Submitted by Angus Mackay

Published 01 April 2015

How to charge premium prices

by Den Lennie Issue 98 - February 2015 How much should I charge? Is probably the most commonly asked question I receive here at F-Stop Academy. And the answer? As much as you can and your client is willing to pay. In business it is your duty to maximise your profit. If you are offering a premier boutique video production service then charge accordi...

Submitted by Den Lennie

Published 01 March 2015

What is the future of media creation, salaries and conten...

by Thomas Urbye Issue 97 - January 2015 Often this very question is debated by experts in our industry, but many have their own agenda, whether that be advertising creation, media buying, low budget film-making, publicly funded television, subscription based services and beyond. But what is the real future for our viewing habits, those of us workin...

Submitted by Thomas Urbye

Published 01 February 2015

The fast-moving business of providing pop-up editing suit...

by Danny Carri Issue 97 - January 2015 Video editing is moving at a fast pace, with video, software and server specifications all changing with the seasons. For production companies who know what they want, hiring an editing system for the duration of a production is an efficient alternative to hiring the services of a post production facility. We...

Submitted by Danny Carri

Published 01 February 2015

Studio furniture at the cutting edge

by Graham Buchanan Issue 97 - January 2015 Custom Consoles was established in 1996 to meet the market demand for efficient and robust studio furniture at accountant-friendly prices. That may sound trite but we were working in SI roles ourselves and knew from direct experience how difficult it was to commission third-party desks built to the high st...

Submitted by Graham Buchanan

Published 01 February 2015