Students underneath the Big Screen in Guildhall Square
The BBC selected twice the number of students from the University of Portsmouth than it intended to be involved in producing content for the UK’s ‘Big Screens’ during the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The team from the BBC was so impressed with the quality of work produced by film students at the University, they chose 18 students instead of the nine they originally had in mind.
During 2012 the Big Screens will be used for live coverage, local content, news and events related to the Olympic and Paralympic games. The students have undertaken specialist training in preparation for video, IT and media duties.
Charlie Watts, Course leader for the BSc (Hons) Television and Broadcasting, said: “We’ve been nurturing a collaborative relationship with the BBC for nearly two years and it’s really starting to provide fantastic opportunities for our students and the University.
“The students’ formal applications to the BBC were so good the television broadcaster recruited an additional nine which says a great deal about the quality of the specialist courses we run here. It is a brilliant industry endorsement.”
Charlie said he is was also thankful to Portsmouth City Council for successfully lobbying to get one of the 22 Big Screens installed in the city: “The Big Screen has become a real focus for artists and filmmakers everywhere, and it has helped the BBC discover what we are doing at the University.”
BBC Big Screen Producer Dave Battcock said: “The University of Portsmouth has impressed me and colleagues at the BBC; we like what they do and how they do it.
“They are producing professional broadcast standards for their own CCi TV channel, and this complements what the BBC is doing with the Big Screens around the country.
“The whole point of the screens is to give everybody the opportunity to see this historic Olympics games. We have agreed to take almost double the amount of students from Portsmouth simply because of their enthusiasm and ability.”
Students have been selected from two courses: BSc (Hons) Television and Broadcasting and BA (Hons) Television and Film Production. Both courses are run by the School of Creative Technologies.
