KitPlus | Articles

Bring up the bodies

by Dick Hobbs Issue 98 - February 2015 If you have even once turned on BBC television in the last couple of months, you could not fail to learn that the big blockbuster drama this winter is Wolf Hall, a television adaptation of Hilary Mantel\'s two-thirds complete trilogy about the Tudors, and Thomas Cromwell in particular. I subscribe to what seem...

Submitted by Dick Hobbs.

Published 01 March 2015

The business of University: Or lack thereof

by Ashley Golder Issue 97 - January 2015 University. Finally a time of critical thinking, training for your future career and coming out with enough knowledge to confidently acquire a job... or rather that is the plan. But what if that doesn\'t happen? When the £9,000 a year tuition fee, plus the expense of living costs rear their ugly heads and th...

Submitted by Ashley Golder

Published 01 February 2015

Seven thoughts for the New Year

by Larry Jordan Issue 97 - January 2015 It is my favorite time of year - a time of resolutions and predictions. Resolutions are fun. They showcase all the things we would like to have happen in the New Year - provided they don\'t take too much work on our part. While resolutions are personal, predictions are a group sport. So, after another year wr...

Submitted by Larry Jordan#

Published 01 February 2015

ITTP Conference

by Graham Reed Issue 96 - December 2014 Plans are coming along very well for the 2015 Conference of the Institute of Training in TV Production, ITTP. The conference held last January at Pinewood Studios was a great success with many high profile speakers and there was also much lively debate between session panel members and the delegates. Since th...

Submitted by graham reed

Published 01 January 2015

Training in the video industry

by Bob Butler Issue 95 - November 2014 I have read quite a lot recently about training in the \'Video\' industry. Whilst it is true that as a hire company we at Broadcast Services are often surprised at the lack of knowledge about equipment, we can understand it to a point, due to the ever changing digital world. Not so long ago there were only a c...

Submitted by Bob Butler

Published 01 December 2014

File-based QC systems for small and mid-sized media organ...

by Vikas Singhal Issue 95 - November 2014 Companies across the media value chain have departed the tape-based realm and migrated to file-based workflows. In making this transition, they left behind common, well-established technologies that had ensured the smooth flow of content from creation through to delivery. In their place, companies implement...

Submitted by Vikas Singhal

Published 01 December 2014

Keeping up standards

by Dick Hobbs Issue 95 - November 2014 A couple of days ago, both the esteemed editor of this magazine and I were guests at an awards ceremony, in the romantic environs of the Wembley Hilton. The evening was a tribute to the democratising effect of the dinner suit. Receiving a lifetime achievement award richly deserved was Dr David Wood, who has de...

Submitted by Dick Hobbs.

Published 01 December 2014

Training Tomorrows Technicians

by Tony Cahalane Issue 94 - October 2014 Ours is a hungry and demanding industry. It requires a constant supply of highly skilled and dedicated technicians who are willing to work hard, under often difficult circumstances, to help deliver the environment for production teams to thrive, in an ever-evolving media landscape and one where insecurity is...

Submitted by Tony Cahalane

Published 01 November 2014

Shooting Cinematically

by Ben Baldwin Issue 93 - September 2014 One Monday morning in July I headed to Pinewood Studios to spend an hour in the company of Den Lennie and Philip Bloom for a Sony Webinar - Shooting Cinematically. Both DOPs share a passion for helping aspiring filmmakers grow their skills and confidence and both have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to c...

Submitted by Ben Baldwin

Published 01 October 2014

Guaranteed Training?

by Mark Reed Issue 93 - September 2014 My dictionary says that training is “the action of teaching a person or animal a particular skill”. I’m not sure how many animals work in the TV industry but the point is, sound in the broadcast arena definitely requires taught skills. I consider myself one of the lucky ones. I went to a college recognised as...

Submitted by Mark Reed

Published 01 October 2014

Flying a Drone part 1

by Jon Pratchett Issue 93 - September 2014 Drones! The word imparts a sense of fear into the hearts of many. You immediately think of US spy planes, covert missions to attack forces deep in enemy territory. Yet it’s also the word that many now use to describe those little flying multi rotor things with GoPro’s on that seem to be popping up everywhe...

Submitted by John Pratchett

Published 01 October 2014

How I shoot those Amazing Spaces

by Chris Smith Issue 93 - September 2014 Channel 4 has just finished showing series 3 of its popular ‘Amazing Spaces’, which is all about people building unusual living spaces. Watch it, and even after one viewing it could have you looking at your back garden in a new light, ready to start building that underground family space or cinema, or maybe...

Submitted by Chris Smith

Published 01 October 2014

Making the invisible visible

by Charlie Watts Issue 92 - August 2014 September 2014 will see a brand new communication and televisual experience unleashed for University of Portsmouth students within the newly opened Eldon Building. Catherine Harper, Professor and Dean of the Creative and Cultural Industries (CCI) Faculty, and Gary Bown, Principal lecturer, have both made it t...

Submitted by Charlie Watts

Published 01 September 2014

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

UWP-D11 Review

by Kevin Cook Issue 91 - July 2014 Ever since the new regulations in the UK on radio microphone frequencies were introduced in the UK at the end of 2012, the days were numbered for my trusty old Sony UWP series radio mic system (consisting of the URX-P1 UHF dual-diversity receiver and UTX-B1 transmitter). Whilst super-reliable and excellent quality...

Submitted by Kevin Cook

Published 01 August 2014