Solent at Children in Need 2016

Students from the Media Technology Programme once more helped Pudsey get on air for BBC Children in Need. The BBC used Solent’s outside broadcast vehicle and systems cameras for the BBC South opt-ins to the network broadcast. Eight students helped with the get-in and rig on Thursday 17thNovember and a further eight were on hand to make sure the rehearsals and transmissions went smoothly on Friday 18th.

Paul Bourne, Senior Lecturer on the Media Technology programme said “BBC Children in Need is a great opportunity for our undergraduates to experience the preparation and excitement that goes into a live transmission. It’s a privilege to be able to do this with a world renowned broadcaster”.

The Media Technology Programme has been involved with the broadcast for Children in Need for several years. Tony Male, Vision Supervisor said “from an engineering perspective it’s useful to speak to the students about how cameras work in a multi-camera environment; the students get to understand how often overlooked, but important, technologies such as tallies are used”.

Dan Johnston, a third year student on BSc (Hons) Broadcast Systems Engineering added “It was interesting to see how a production was put together and how the production staff pull together to stick to such tight schedules. From technical point of view it was particularly interesting to see how the cameras are aligned to maintain balance between the feeds”. The days are long but the students thoroughly enjoyed the experience and even managed to get a photograph with Pudsey himself!