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IMAGES FORM LEFT TO RIGHT:
[1] Michael Calia, Associate Director of the Ed McMahon Mass
Communications Center, in the new HDTV studio with
Jeffrey DeHaan, a junior communications major from
Framingham, Mass., and Ben Shapiro, a sophomore
communications major from Upper Saddle River, N.J.
Photo courtesy of Quinnipiac University Office of
Publications and Design. [2] Dr. David Donnelly, Dean of the College of
Communications at Quinnipiac University. Photo courtesy of Quinnipiac University Office of
Publications and Design. [3] HB designed a comprehensive solution that would
integrate analog, digital and high definition into one
seamless operation for Quinnipiac University. Photo courtesy of HB Communications.
[4] A combination of high definition studio cameras and
standard definition outputs were chosen for Quinnipiac
University's studio and production room. Photo courtesy of HB Communications. |
The door opens onto tomorrow
everyday at Quinnipiac University.
“It’s a real door, very
tangible, that undergraduate and graduate students now
have access to,” observes Dr. David Donnelly, Dean
of the QU School of Communications, “a door to the
real future of broadcast media.”
Quinnipiac’s
new studio, the Ed McMahon Center, which opened in
December, features three
Sony HDC-910 studio cameras, an HDW-730S HDCAM
camcorder for field acquisition, an MVS-8000A, 2 M/E
video production switchers with 4 channels of digital
video effects, an HDSX-3600 HD routing switcher, and a
DMX-R100 digital audio mixing board. Additionally,
supporting the studio are 36 stations of Macintosh G-5
editing suites equipped with Final Cut Pro HD and
three Avid editing suites.
Mike
Calia, Associate Director of the McMahon Center,
agrees. “The best thing about this opportunity is
that it makes our students adept at learning the
newest technologies.
We don’t want our students to be hung up on
specific platforms, and by being in a university
setting while learning to navigate the uncharted and
unlimited territories of HD makes them comfortable
with the bells and whistles so that they can hone the
skills that really count: writing, producing,
directing . . . telling a story intelligently and
captivatingly.”
“There’s
a whole new creative challenge in meeting the demands
of the new technology,” agrees David Donnelly.
“If our students know how to move in and out
of the newest platforms, they can easily concentrate
on the important things, including how to accommodate
the new look of high end video.”
Peter
Sumby, assistant director of the McMahon Center,
points out that the real advantage that having a
center like theirs to work and learn in is the fact
that HD and the newest innovations will never be
exotic but will rather seem commonplace to QU
graduates.
Before
they leave school, students need to know intimately
the requirements for lighting, focus, make-up. “The
real difference in working in High Def is the artistic
side: how to look at lighting, how to do the
makeup.”
“Yes.”
Donnelly agrees. “They’re lighting for
portraiture, and they need to create makeup that works
in High Def.”
Adds
Calia, “The HD is so much more unforgiving than any
other medium. All of a sudden students have to see the
frame in16.9 aspect ratio; it’s a whole new world
from the mindset of 4.3. And when they leave here, QU
people are well equipped to face those challenges.”
Donnelly
continues. “We’re living in a time that in some
ways mirrors what happened in film in the 50’s with
the widescreen options. Filmmakers had to learn a
different way to frame their work to accommodate the
new aspect ratio, and they had to scramble to keep up
with the advancing technology.”
In
addition to the academic requirements, Quinnipiac
students and staff are continually engaged in a number
of practical applications, thanks in large part to the
large number of projects that the McMahon Center
brings to the university. “We really involve the
kids in every aspect of production,” remarks Michael
Calia. “We have the street smarts you get in real
world production, and everyone benefits from that.”
Sumby
hires the students to do the shows we produce (at the
McMahon Center), and they don’t work for credit but
for real salaries. The idea, he points out, is to
provide a measure of credibility for their resumes
coursework alone cannot provide. “’Real world’
experience with legitimate media production carries
more weight than academic courses.”
Sumby
adds that it’s all about “things that air”
giving substance to the students’ curriculum vitae
as they leave the university setting. “We do lots of
commercials for NBC 4, for the QU President John L.
Lahey’s Office, for the Office of Public Affairs.
Our stuff is aired on real world television all the
time.”
Because
of its proximity to the University, ESPN is delighted
to have students trained in the use of the cutting
edge technology. "That you're doing this is going to give your students
a leg up, when they look for jobs in the industry,”
he said. "This is a very important step you're
taking," Bryan
Burns, vice president of business strategy development
at ESPN, said at the center’s grand opening. He told
the audience that the sports network is retraining its
entire workforce in the use of HDTV equipment. Nearly
30 Quinnipiac alumni are currently employed at ESPN,
and the University also has a number of interns there.
Calia
and Sumby are quick to point out that it is the
foresight of the powers that be at Quinnipiac that
make the McMahon Center viable. Donnelly’s expertise
in forecasting and capitalizing on trends in the
industry, President Lahey’s willingness to lead the
University into the 21st century, and
Hamden’s proximity to some of the best technological
equipment and know-how in the country. “HB
Communications, in North Haven, won the bid for this
center because they knew what they were doing both in
making the sale and following through,” says Calia.
Sumby
adds, “HB’s been great! They are still with us.
And we know we can depend on them always.”
Of
course, Donnelly is proud of the academic preparation
Quinnipiac offers its students.
“Nothing beats a good liberal arts education
for giving young people the tools of good
storytelling, for learning how to discern the
characteristics of people and events that should be
told, for learning how to be lifelong, versatile
learners. Then again, our partner- ship with ESPN and
other media providers give us a special ability to
offer practical applications for every aspect of their
learning.
When
Donnelly arrived two years ago, he found an
eleven-year-old facility with what he calls great
analog equipment that “served us well and needed to
be transitioned out. It was great timing, actually,”
he says. “HB Communications was in the middle of
escalating their Sony solutions. Their prices had come
down. There was an extra premium to go to HD, but it
was lowered by taking it on as a complete overhaul.
Emerson did theirs sooner, but they didn’t do it as
completely – they went to digital, but not to High
Def. We were fortunate that HB was so willing to work
with us and make the changes so do-able.”
Quinnipiac
Professor Rebecca Abbott, who shot her narrative short
film Herbert
III on High Definition two years ago, took advantage
of the studio conversion at Quinnipiac.
She reedited the film editing directly on the
high definition tapes rather than on a conversion to a
lower platform such as digi-beta.
Having the 36 Macintosh G-5’s with Final Cut
Pro IV-High Def made that desirable; earlier, the cost
of editing the High Def masters directly was
prohibitive, but now Prof. Abbott has a High Def
Master which enables her to enter the film in a whole
new array of festivals and exhibition venues.
Like
the other instructors at QU, Abbot often engages
outside media professionals to enhance the experiences
the University is able to provide. Later this month
she will host an HD work shop taught by a professional
DP. As Dean Donnelly points out, “We are very keen
on forging tighter ties to the media experts in our
field.”
Mike
Calia likes to remind his staff that this is not 1973
anymore. “We can’t expect kids to point themselves
toward a single-skill career in television. We must
train writers, producers, and directors. Reliance on
any technology is less important that reliance on
one’s own ability to move with the flow, to be open
to whatever the industry requires them to learn and
adapt to.”
Dean
Donnelly believes that there are a number of advances
to having made the investment in the HD Lab now. He
explains that, “Not only can we give our students
this competitive edge, but it gives us an environment
for our faculty and staff to acquire the latest skills
and stay up to date.
It is an expensive studio with a hefty price
tag: but our well trained faculty and staff, who are
learning to exploit this equipment, comprise a
significant payoff that is hard to quantify. In the
end, it’s just this kind of immediate and direct
access to skilled people that makes this place a great
learning environment.
Donnelly
goes on, “It’s about far more teaching students
how to make pretty pictures. It’s about creating a
learning environment that encourages innovation and
experimentation, one that builds upon a solid
foundation of the critical fundamentals of writing and
storytelling, a high tech setting that encourages
connections with media professionals and media
organizations going through a similar learning curve.
Ultimately, it’s about producing more effective and
more marketable communicators. That’s what we do.
That’s what we do well and that’s why people come
here.”
Professor
Liam O’Brien, who teaches production, directing and
screenwriting, is exuberant about the changes at
Quinnipiac. “I’d like to invite teachers from
other schools to come take a look. This is literally
thinking outside the 4.3 box; this will change the way
students look at production. Instructors too! C’mon
down.”
Carla
Stockton is a frequent contributor to IMAGINE and
IMAGINE’S Associate Publisher for Southwestern
Connecticut.
You
can email her: carlaatimagine@yahoo.com
