KitPlus | Articles

Key Grip Woolf Secures the Gear for GUILLERMO DEL TOROS P...

Jonathan Woolf has gathered a wealth of trade secrets from half a century working in the motion picture industry. His recent chapters have led him to key grip the miniatures unit on Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy and act as a lighting technician on the 2022 Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio. Woolf’s big job on Pinocchio was to find reliable...

Submitted by Kathryn Ferentchak

Published 08 September 2023

Cinematographer Matt Ryan pairs ZEISS Supreme Primes and...

LA based cinematographer Matt Ryan’s enthusiasm for finding the most capable technology to support his creative process has enabled him to shoot across genres and formats. As a Director of Photography, Ryan has shot television for such networks as Disney, FOX, Warner Bros, MTV, PBS, and TruTV. Outside of narrative, Ryan has lensed high-profile comm...

Submitted by Kathryn Ferentchak

Published 08 September 2023

Sennheiser MKE 400 hands on review and test

Looking to buy? Click here. Sennheiser have just released two products aimed at simplifying audio on the move, the MKE400 shotgun microphone and the XS Lav Mic, in this review we’re looking at the MKE400. If you scroll down there is a video review where you can hear the actual MKE 400 sound so worth a watch. The MKE400 is the second generation with...

Submitted by Simon Tillyer

Published 29 April 2021

How to engage students with live projects

For many employers, how and what we teach at university is sometimes considered to be very mysterious. The responsibility for creating the structure and content within the curriculum is the responsibility of academics. In my experience, the best method for making sure that students and staff are kept up to date with current working practices is to...

Submitted by Martin Andrews

Published 26 March 2020

TVFutures My Dive in to Learning

In 2014 I had my first taste of underwater diving. I was on a family holiday and I happened across the experience of a lifetime. Within the first few minutes of that adventure I had decided that I wanted to be part of the diving world going forward. After countless dives and extensive training to become a scuba diving instructor, I made the decisio...

Submitted by Lucy Crow

Published 26 March 2020

The Business Case for Hybrid TV and AI

Video on demand (VOD) and OTT live services have come a long way since their introduction and, rather than solely competing with traditional broadcasting, they are becoming more important than ever in helping to keep broadcast TV networks popular, in particular when combining TV broadcasting with online TV into Hybrid TV models, thanks to convergen...

Submitted by Oliver Botti

Published 26 March 2020

TVFutures - Learning Editing Platforms

Long before I even started University, I knew I wanted to be a video editor. I used to spend large amounts of my time editing together my own YouTube videos (In fact, I still do- occasionally) My name is Connor Eves, and I’m now just a few months away from attempting to enter the post-production realm at a professional level, a thought that is on m...

Submitted by Connor Eves

Published 27 January 2020

From Industry to Teaching

Those that cannot do, teach… I did not enjoy typing those words, and for the most part, I do not believe it to be true. There again, I’m am now a teacher, so perhaps you would expect me to say that? I am sure many believe it to be true, that if you really cannot cut it in the ‘real world’, there might instead be a career in teaching. The following...

Submitted by Charlie Watts

Published 27 January 2020

Joanna Cuper - Demonstration Technician CVP

What is your role at CVP?I’m a demonstration technician at our Midlands office. What does that involve?My role as a demonstration technician involves a broad range of responsibilities. A large part of the job is providing integral technical advice to clients on choosing the right equipment for them and their specific project. This can vary from sim...

Submitted by Joanna Cuper

Published 03 November 2019

Making Metadata Work

I dare say that if you’re a keen reader of my column then you will be brushing up on your Dutch pronunciation and acclimatising yourself to mayonnaise on your chips rather than ketchup. If you’re really keen then you’ll also be making sure that you practise your Dutch jokes about the Flemish to ensure you don’t accidentally tell a Flemish joke abou...

Submitted by Bruce Devlin - new

Published 10 September 2019

REVIEW Canon UJ111x8_3B UHD Lens

Shooting in ultra high definition and high dynamic range has become the preferred option for all television productions with a potentially long commercial life. The hir-ing charge and indeed the outright purchase cost of cameras of this standard are not significantly greater than those of high definition standard dynamic range models. With half the...

Submitted by Andy McKenzie

Published 10 September 2019

Keeping the Show on the Road

There is long-established saying in the media business that, if something goes wrong, at least nobody dies. It is almost true unless you happen to be a TV producer suffering a cardiac arrest because your primary video feed has gone blank during a high-budget programme. First-line maintenance is usually in the hands of the user. If a device malfunct...

Submitted by Andy McKenzie

Published 10 September 2019

TV Futures - The Shadowing Experience

My name is Daniel Jones, and it is no accident that I’m currently studying BSc (Hons) Television and Broadcasting at the University of Portsmouth. Since completing GSCE media studies I have been constantly questioning what I watch with questions such as, “Wow, how was that filmed?” or “That looks amazing, I wonder how long that took?” It should com...

Submitted by Daniel Jones

Published 21 March 2019

OB999 Accelerates Hill Climb Broadcast

Over the last century, The Shelsley Walsh Speed Hill Climb has been attempted by some of the world’s most accomplished racing drivers striving to be the fastest up the 1,000 yard, 1 in 6 gradient track. Last month, in celebration of the motorsport venue’s 113th birthday, Formula E’s Mitch Evans not only added his name to that extensive list of driv...

Submitted by Nick Collier

Published 08 September 2018

What is next after University

I currently find myself in between two landmark moments. A few weeks ago I was completely immersed in producing live television content, and in a few weeks time I will become an official BSc (Hons) Television & Broadcasting graduate from the University of Portsmouth. When I look back at who I was in my first year of university, I remember a shy gir...

Submitted by Ruta Kairyte

Published 18 July 2018