KitPlus | Articles

Being a Content Creator

When I began the Television and Broadcasting course at the University of Portsmouth, I had my mind dead-set on what I wanted to do in the world of television. More than anything, I wanted to work for Children\'s BBC, ideally as a presenter, and as I come towards the end of my second year, I am still very much in pursuit of this dream. However, it h...

Submitted by Josh Round

Published 04 April 2017

Who really benefits from the Cloud?

The transition to "the cloud\" in our industry has been challenging. Why is it so important to have cloud technologies? What do customers really expect? The term "cloud\" has been used to such an extent that it has diminished the real and actual importance of what\'s really going on - off-premise compute power. With typical cloud adjectives still a...

Submitted by Jayson Tomlin - new

Published 04 April 2017

Libec TH-X Tripod review

It is worth highlighting that I am primarily an Editor. Like many of us, over the years I have regularly been involved in the entire creative process in some capacity but increasingly I am asked to go out and film the simpler corporate jobs such as exhibition stands or a \'piece to camera\' for YouTube, Vimeo etc. and embedded into the customer\'s...

Submitted by Nick Robbins

Published 15 March 2017

Polecam user review

When it comes to filming from above, drones have dominated in recent years. But restrictions on where and when they can be used means there is still a demand for traditional style jibs. Polecam has been a major player in the crane market for nearly two decades and its rigs have captured everything from interesting perspectives of major sporting eve...

Submitted by Phil Vinter

Published 15 March 2017

Smarter Branding

The past decade of multi-channel digital broadcasting has created a paradox. The addition of OTT, VoD and other online services only serves to add to it. On the one hand, the more channels there are, the more you need to market yours if it is to win and retain a healthy audience. On the other hand, the more channels there are, the more the total re...

Submitted by James Gilbert

Published 15 February 2017

Outside the fixed curriculum

If you\'re wondering whether or not to do some extracurricular work outside of your timetabled course, the answer should always be yes. The more you further your experience and skills the brighter your future will look. As a third year student, studying Television and Broadcasting, I\'m lucky enough to have hands on experience with filming equipmen...

Submitted by Emma Benson

Published 15 February 2017

5 top tips to getting the grade you want

Generally speaking, a grade session can be broken down into two distinct parts - managing the people involved and managing the grade itself. As colourists, we know that unless both of these criteria are satisfied, it is likely that the client will walk away from the project unhappy and not return to us with the next job. The first step is to manage...

Submitted by tom russell

Published 15 February 2017

Health and Safety gone mad

The first true broadcast television service started 80 years ago, on 2 November, 1936. Its home, famously, was Alexandra Palace, a vast and really rather run-down building on top of Muswell Hill in north London. Originally opened in 1873, and re-opened in 1875 after a catastrophic fire, it was built primarily as an entertainment venue. Indeed, it w...

Submitted by Dick Hobbs.

Published 13 January 2017

Where university meets universe with Tim Peake

If you had told me last year that, going into my second year at the University of Portsmouth, I would have met and interviewed Tim Peake, then I would have probably laughed and said something along the lines of "I wish". Well, turns out I didn\'t have to wish, because I did just that. As a second year in Television and Broadcasting BSc I\'ve starte...

Submitted by Georgia Thirtle

Published 13 January 2017

Trends in IP based broadcast

The momentum behind moving media operations to IP-based environments is unstoppable and to stay ahead of the competition these days, companies need to be migrating operations away from rigid, single-purpose components and towards software-based common computing resources. The good news is a well-architected IP-based production facility is now able...

Submitted by Glodina Lostanlen

Published 13 January 2017

The eye in the sky

EVENT360 specialises in production and delivery of sport presentation, entertainment and stadium ceremonies, and, as such, we\'re always looking for new, interesting, and innovative crowd engagement tools. One of those engagement tools that we\'d been using for many years was a crowd-surfing ball - basically a sponsor-branded beach ball thrown into...

Submitted by Julian Marks

Published 13 January 2017

The value of an industry placement

"Do a placement after the second year of your degree they said, it\'ll be fun they said!\" You know what, they were right! Hello there, my name is Abbie Smith and I have just returned from my placement year to conclude my third and final year studying BA Film and Television Studies. Undertaking a placement within your university degree is heavily p...

Submitted by Abbie Smith

Published 07 December 2016

Blackmagic Design URSA Mini Reviewed

The yeti finally arrived earlier this year - I call it so, because for almost twelve months until BVE 2016 we\'d only seen it in pictures! So getting my hands on one in a real word environment was an absolute no brainer, when Simon Tillyer dropped me a line offering the opportunity to review the camera for KitPlus. I\'ll cut right to the chase with...

Submitted by Ben Sherriff

Published 07 December 2016

Life through a hire lens

There are loads of differences in the requirements for say news, sport or live entertainment events, and it\'s digging a little deeper into those differences that ultimately, well, makes the difference in what cameras and lenses we hire out to customers. It\'s a bit of a cliche, but what customers want is not always what they need. Add to that all...

Submitted by Neville Fuller

Published 10 November 2016

TVFutures - The Battle of the Flowers

Studying on the BSc Television and Broadcasting course at the University of Portsmouth had given me some experience working as a camera operator, but this summer I had the chance to put what I\'d learned over the last two years into practice. Back home in the sunny island of Jersey, in what newsrooms would usually call the \'silly season\', an even...

Submitted by Alex Watson

Published 10 November 2016