The live stream was watched by an estimated audience of over 6,000 school children around the UK
Television students from the University of Portsmouth live streamed acclaimed children’s author Michael Morpurgo reading his new book ‘There Once is a Queen’ to hundreds of primary schools as part of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Michael Morpurgo visited Portsmouth Central Library on Monday 23 May to read his book written about the Queen as she celebrates her Platinum Jubilee this year. Children from local Portsmouth school St Jude’s were invited to be part of a live audience for the book reading and question and answer session.
To ensure hundreds of schools around the country could join the event, students and staff from BA (Hons) Television Production and BSc (Hons) Television and Broadcasting were asked to help live stream the event to an estimated audience of over 6,000 school children.
The team of four students, two technical support staff and an academic lead from the University’s Faculty of Creative and Cultural Industries (CCI) set about installing four cameras, a mobile vision mixer and live sound system in the Portsmouth Central Library to cover the event. The event was a brilliant success with Michael providing a compelling hour of enthusiasm for reading, supporting the local libraries and Her Majesty The Queen.
Samuel Aries, first-year Television and Broadcasting student, said: “Taking part in the live broadcast for Michal Morpurgo was a fantastic experience to further develop my skills in live production. It was also a great opportunity to showcase my skills and have something that can help me stand out on my CV.”
Taking part in the live broadcast for Michal Morpurgo was a fantastic experience to further develop my skills in live production. It was also a great opportunity to showcase my skills and have something that can help me stand out on my CV.
Mike Parsons, Specialist Technician, said: “It was a privilege to support this project for the children’s celebrations of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee for the local community in Portsmouth and beyond. Our students did a fantastic job and the live stream was a great success.”
Charlie Watts, Academic Lead (Partnerships) in the School of Film, Media and Communication, said: “It was a lovely opportunity to remind people what CCI Television Production can do. I was incredibly proud of the technicians and students as they professionally broadcast live to upwards of 7,000 people.”