KitPlus | Articles

Heading towards brightness regulations

I like IBC in the same way that I find NAB grating. Maybe I have been living in the UK for too long, but the bright morning Amsterdam sun breaking through clouds and reflecting off the canal while fit young things on bicycles pedal to college; snapchatting with their friends and avoiding collisions with practised ease has a certain charm. You just...

Submitted by Bruce Devlin

Published 10 November 2016

Live streams versus srowing files

So, what is the difference between a stream and a file? It may seem like a dumb and obvious question, but it's crucial in the design of many file based workflows and the applications that drive them. Let's start with the basic and obvious answer. "You can random access a file but you sequentially process a stream". This used to be important back in...

Submitted by Bruce Devlin

Published 26 September 2016

Make a scifi film in the Mexican Desert

British director Nicolas Roeg once said to me that making a film is like horse racing. To start with you give the horse a nudge to get him moving, then as you gather speed there's a point where you have to trust the horse. You hold on and the horse will carry you across the finish line. I've just returned home from shooting a Sci-fi proof-of-concep...

Submitted by Edward Andrews

Published 26 September 2016

The vital role of communications in live production

Live event production is extremely challenging under the best of circumstances. Whether it be sports, concerts, theater or some other event, live production only gives you one chance to get it right. Staging, sound, lighting, cameras, video, special effects, costume, makeup and more, can all go into making a successful live production. Starting hou...

Submitted by Tom Turkington

Published 26 September 2016

The Future of LED Lighting

From the moment the LED light entered the broadcast, media and entertainment world its key differentiator was its energy efficiency compared to traditional tungsten studio lighting. LEDs use far less energy in the region of 90% less than tungsten lights and produce less heat. In addition, they are far more portable and generally have a longer lifes...

Submitted by Rod Aaron Gammons

Published 25 August 2016

Dance hall days are over for professional lighting

Photon Beard has made lights since before the days of electric power. "What\'s that, you say"? Well, it\'s true. Photon Beard started in 1882 when the founder, R.R. Beard, invented the automatic gas regulator. Yes, the thing that allows you to barbeque that steak in summer sunshine, or any time of year that you fancy grilled food. In the days befor...

Submitted by Peter Daffarn

Published 24 August 2016

TVFutures looking back at the class of 2015

In a review of the academic year, KitPlus looks back over all of the contributions from students (and staff) and asks for one last comment 'with an eye to the future'Charlie Watts - Course Leader - TV and Broadcasting#TVFutures is a brilliant way for students to evaluate their current situation and really articulate important moments of learning an...

Submitted by Charlie Watts

Published 14 June 2016

A Marathon Filming Review

Issue 113 - May 2016 A marathon filming review... 60+ interviews filmed, edited and promoted within 24 hour... A 26 mile marathon in anyone\'s world is a long way with cobbles, uneven surfaces, steps and thousands of people in your way. However I\'m not talking about the recent London Marathon but our ‘adventures\' at NAB 2016 in Las Vegas. If you...

Submitted by Simon Tillyer

Published 20 May 2016

NAB Review

by Duncan Payne Issue 113 - May 2016 As I emerge from the customary post-NAB haze and try to formulate a coherent analysis of the 2016 show, perhaps the most striking realisation is that despite pacing the halls for four long days, I barely scratched the surface. The scale of the event, much like Las Vegas itself, is simply extraordinary, with over...

Submitted by Duncan Payne

Published 13 May 2016

Sin City

by Dick Hobbs Issue 113 - May 2016 I am writing this is the immediate aftermath of yet another NAB. For me that means a week of walking around,talking to a wide variety of people and taking the temperature of the industry. This year I developed a theory that there were three sorts of companies exhibiting at NAB,or at least three sorts of spokesmen...

Submitted by Dick Hobbs.

Published 13 May 2016

TV Futures

by Jemma Davis Issue 112 - April 2016 The second year of my degree course gives a variety of options, and one of these is scuba diving and filming. It\'s something I\'ve never considered before, so when I saw it as an option choice I was delighted to be faced with the opportunity to film underwater. I can also now say it was the best thing I\'ve ev...

Submitted by Jemma Davis

Published 25 April 2016

Recreating a Masterpiece

by Stuart Harris Issue 112 - April 2016 Tell us a bit about yourself Stuart. At the moment I am the acting head of cinematography here at the National Film and Television School. I have been a cinematographer from around 1980 and I have done commercials, music videos, feature films, sort of everything really. I think a creative career was what I wa...

Submitted by Stuart Harris

Published 25 April 2016

Grading Temple - Making the future look vintage

Cineground's Simon Allard and Nguyen Anh Nguyen reveal how they used Kowa lenses and an atypical approach to grading to give their new sci-fi cyberpunk thriller, "Temple\" a unique vintage look. Created by the same indie team behind "The Akira Project,\" a viral trailer which garnered more than three million views online in 2014, "Temple\" is a new...

Submitted by Simon Allard

Published 01 April 2016

Raising the bar at BVE

Azule's Peter Savage managed to drag himself away from his countless BVE meetings (and the show bar) for long enough to discover that ˜easy-to-use' was the tipple of choice at this year's show. Trade shows are funny things. When you arrange a lot of meetings, it is quite easy to spend an entire week at an exhibition and not see any kit or attend an...

Submitted by Peter Savage 2

Published 01 April 2016

Out with the new, in with the old

by Peter Savage Issue 110 - February 2016 Out with the new, in with the oldGetting the film look with a digital camera requires the correct lens: and sometimes that means going back in time, writes Peter SavageFor consumers and professionals alike, a digital camera offers convenience and immediacy. But when youre using one to shoot a movie or TV dr...

Submitted by Peter Savage 2

Published 16 March 2016