Edinburgh College hosts training day to prepare broadcast students for Commonwealth Games work experience
Edinburgh College has been hosting training for students involving state-of-the-art outside broadcast equipment for a scheme that will give some the chance to work covering next year’s Commonwealth Games.
The training was part of the Host Broadcaster Training Initiative (HBTI), a key part of the Glasgow 2014 games’ legacy programme that will give creative industries students and lecturers from 13 education institutions across the country the opportunity to learn how to use the latest broadcast equipment. More than 200 of the best-performing students will then be chosen to take part in broadcast work experience during the games.
Telegenic, one of the chosen outside broadcast facilities companies for the Commonwealth Games, brought one of its £4.5million outside broadcast trucks and a support vehicle to the college to give students and staff training in the latest HD recording and output equipment.
Fifty nine students and staff from the college and six students from Edinburgh Napier University were given tours of the truck and hands-on training in the use of its vision, sound, VT, cameras and operations facilities. Some of the individual items of equipment were worth tens of thousands of pounds.
By giving students the chance to work at the biggest sporting event ever held in Scotland, the project aims to give the next generation of broadcasters the skills and experience to cover major sports and music events. By also including lecturers in the training, they will be better equipped to deliver training in new skills. Projects such as this, that aim to leave behind a lasting legacy following the games, are a main focus for the games’ organisers.
Fraser Mansell, lecturer in Digital Film and Television Production at Edinburgh College, said: “The students found it absolutely inspirational and I can’t emphasise enough how much they’ve gained from the experience. The Telegenic team’s enthusiasm and willingness to explain all the processes involved was fantastic, and the hands-on experience they provided our students with was a rare privilege.
“Our students did themselves proud and really impressed the professionals. Projects like this are helping them build links with industry while they’re still studying, which will make them stronger job candidates and help their transition into the professional world. Hopefully some of our students will get the chance to take what they’ve learned to the Commonwealth Games next year.”
Telegenic commercial manager Eamonn Curtin said: “Getting the time to come and see students and show them how we operate is really important to us. Outside broadcast is a really specialised area and being able to broaden the pool of talent in this niche field is vital. The students were great – really enthusiastic and they already have excellent knowledge. By giving them training now, the students who come to do work experience at the games will be better prepared, which benefits both them and us.”
HND Audio Visual Technology student Grant Kibble was one of the students given training on the outside broadcast equipment.
Grant said: “The training was brilliant. We had the chance to work with some amazing equipment, like a lens that was worth about £130,000, so we learned loads. They showed us how the different sections of the broadcast team work together and how important it is that they’re all communicating properly for it all to work. That’s the most important thing I learned and I’d love to take that forward and work at the Commonwealth Games next year.”
The Host Broadcaster Training Initiative is being jointly managed and delivered by SVGTV, the host broadcaster for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, and Creative Loop, Scotland’s talent development hub for the creative media industries.
For more information on the HBTI visit www.creativeloop.org.
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