Hints and Tips

Tech Specs

By Robert

Light meters? Lastolight shoots? Shine a Light!

Never ones to be in the dark, unless creative control calls for it we’ve invested in more of the latest Lastolite Reflectors and Soft Boxes for great soft lighting control and beauty lighting – and I reckon we’ve got the biggest Hi-Lite Screen Soft Box daddies of them all outside of London…unless of course you know better. With our portable units standing at eight foot by seven foot, or seven foot by six foot we can offer amazingly soft lighting control, and hi-lite white backdrops and we’ve also added to our portable Green Screen and Blue Screen capabilities.

With Light Meters at the ready and distinctly portable lighting solutions that allow us to set up Studio anywhere, giving that great studio look you’ll see that lighting can be everything. And for even larger shoots, we can offer you a really cool 4,000 ft square of studio facilities with catering, set building, makeup facilities, autocue, and coffees. Now who’s for a skinny latte with a shot of hazlenut?

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It’s smokin’

It’s smokin’

At Stockport Fire Service

Keeping up to speed with new procedures and gruelling training is just part of the everyday life of a fireman, but how about gourmet cooking? 4 Cheshire fire fighters have become stars as they compete in this years cookery challenge – but what can they offer head chef Marc Mattock’s and his team from the Dun Cow in return for all their teaching & advice? How about a trip into a smoke filled house to show what they do every day? The 3 Chefs were escorted into the Smoke House by the White Watch team from King Street Fire Station in Stockport in full breathing apparatus in search of a casualty giving them a full experience of a firemen’s duty and we went along to film!

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The Heat is On!!

Contestants from all over the UK gathered to compete in The Great Northern Cook Off 2010 in Cheshire’s very own Cookery School here in Manchester and had their culinary delights sampled and judged by Michelin Star Chef Michael Caines!

The heat was on this week as the Marketing Executives battled the Firemen and the Accountants battled The Brewery Experts as they all competed for a place in the Final of the Great Northern Cook Off 2010. Pots and pans at the ready the teams arrived early to prep their workstations before entering the strict 2-hour cook off where they were only allowed two phone calls to their chef mentor for advice and help if disaster struck. The teams were required to create a three-course gourmet meal with preselected ingredients to be judged by Michael Caines. Not only have the teams got to shine and produce an outstanding dish but their mentor who has been teaching them the skills and tricks of the trade since September is also being judged for the Mentor of the Year Award. The teams have been given dishes to reproduce that best represent their chef mentor and they must make them shine; Andrew Nutter’s teams V’s Simon Rimmer’s team, the pressure is on to keep their place in the competition for their team to be crowned The Greatest Northern Cook. We saw some beautiful dishes produced, our favourite being lunch! We shot some superb footage and got some great cooking tips…. for dinner I believe I will have the confit guinea fowl served with turned vegetables and jus!!

The Hilton Hotel Manchester

David Gale

We were very excited to find out that David Gale was awarded Manchester’s Chef of the Year this month.

Our very own Northern Cook Off Chef has been awarded a prestigious title for his superb cooking at The Hilton Hotel in Manchester. With both of his teams ‘GT on the Rocks’ (Grant Thornton) and ‘The Saucy Seasiders’ (Hi-Life Dining Club) through to the second round it may not be the only award he will be picking up this year if they make it through to the final. We will be venturing up the 168.87 metre high hotel in the heart of Manchester to film the master at work in his kitchen later this month, we’ll keep you posted!!

The Business End

The Business End

We love it when the delightful Katy calls us from cctwo as we know are going to be whisked off to a very organized event at a swanky hotel with some of the world’s most prestigious corporate companies discussing their new business goals and we can assist the smooth running of the shows.

We have had some great days out recently at venues including the luxurious Ramada hotel in Manchester whilst one of the UK’s largest Banking Groups descended on the city for their Autumn Roadshow, and our crews at the ready to film the prestigious events.

Fun days out with CITC – Imagine your Goals

City in the Community

This month we’ve been in the community filming for the launch of new initiative ‘Imagine Your Goals’ part of the ‘Times Change’ Campaign.

The project sponsored by MCFC is dedicated to working with people suffering from problems around mental health and to try and improve their situation by offering a physical activity, an opportunity of playing football on a regular basis. The scheme raises awareness as well as offering help and support within the community. We interviewed Paul Evans, Mental Health Practitioner for Manchester Mental Health PCT; who explained the benefits of the initiative and how research has proven that exercise is equally as useful as antidepressants. 1 in 4 people each year experience some form of mental heath issue, and the scheme wants to reach out to people as well as raise awareness. Steven Turner, Men’s Health Project Manager, CITC told us about the social advantages of getting people together and working as a team and how it impacts on the improvements of the individual suffering with Mental Heath related problems on many levels.

Ex MCFC stars Paul Lake and Jeff Whitley, ambassadors of the programme who have been very open about their experiences with Mental Health were there to highlight the issues, which is very inspirational for a lot of the men participating in the scheme. Paul Lake explained, “It is not the weak person that comes out, it is the strong person” and Jeff added “There is help out there for everyone!” Go watch the Film online

http://www.mcfc.co.uk/Video/Features/CITC-Imagine-your-goals

Tech Specs

Tech Specs

By Robert

This month we’re looking at Green Screen and Blue Screen Filming. To get the best ‘Key’ from the Blue or Green Screen setup requires a combination of accomplished lighting and accurate lighting ratios, together with a Camera record format that will deliver the best chromakey from the format signal processing. On the face of it, lighting a small or large Green Screen area might seem simple, except the lighting has to be even, preferably within a tenth of a stop and at a ratio to the subjects filmed. So why not call in the experts who know the green screen scene.

Nut’s about Nutter!

Nut’s about

Nutter!

We have been watching the master at work in his restaurant set in the stunning Lancashire countryside.

Chopping, dicing, filleting, seasoning, diamantes! We followed Andrew Nutter as he moulded his new team 'The Collander Girls' representing their company PSL Print Management in the Great Cook Off 2010.

Andrew passed down his talent as he bigged up his team to win this year – and even wrote all over the kitchen’s white boards ‘The Calendar Girls to Win’ as he thinks a saucy calendar shot in his kitchen featuring his star girls would sway this year’s judges. He created their very own chef whites later to be coated in his trademark diamantes to sport during the Cook Off here in Cheshire.

Shooting in The North or Midlands?

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Great prices and Great flexibility.

PSC Crews, Documentary Crews, Specialist Time-Lapse Filming, Multi-Camera Packages and Commercial Photography.

Please ring us for a chat and a price. Call Broadcast Television on

0161 926 9808/ 07974 15 16 17 and email info@broadcast-tv.co.uk check us out on the web at www.broadcast-tv.co.uk

We Have a New Look

We Have a New Look

Over the past few months we have been

eagerly updating our website and are now ready to reveal our all-new look!

We have transformed the Broadcast Television Facilities website and are continually improving and updating our work online. We have begun by creating an all-new showreel and have uploaded other examples of our specialist time-lapse photography skills as well as our recent corporate hospitality commercial shot at Manchester City Football Club.

Robert has been out with our shiny new Canon EOS 7D Camera and we have uploaded lots of his handiwork for your viewing online. We also have the latest Bowens Flash Units for commercial photography requirements. We are all set to become blogging and keeping you regularly updated with our work as we are travelling around on different projects.

You can download our crews CV’s as well as pick up a Rate Card for our equipment and crew all at the push of a button. We have improved everything so you can get all the information you need without fuss. But don’t forget we are only on the other end of the phone and always happy for a chat on any advice you need.

Take a look at www.broadcast-tv.co.uk

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