AV for kids

[sandall]

Not strictly BR, but I've just had this call for help from a local (W London) Methodist Minister -

 

"We had a summer club for children that used AV as the central part of it. They had an editing suite with 3 computers, a studio set up with lights, cameras, screens for the technicians and a faders for mics, etc.

 

Northolt would like to run this sort of thing again; however the group that runs this is closing down this year and won't be around. Is there anyway we can duplicate this with local resources?"

 

Anyone out there involved in this sort of thing? I know some (even primary) schools have better TV facilities than some 3rd-world countries, but I haven't met anything for summer clubs.

[sleah]

You could do something relatively inexpensively. Average spec PC with Windows 7 + Movie Maker (free add on).

You can pick up studio lights inexpensively or even use 'site' type lighting for something basic (halogen or LED floods) if you don't need dimming.

Depending on how easy you want sound, you would need Pro-sumer type cameras with XLR inputs to either directly microphones or via a small mixer (a simple 4/6ch may suffice).

Another way to avoid expensive pro-sumer kit is 'dome5tic' cameras and use something like a Tascam or Zoom hand-held mp3/wav recorder and sync the sound in post-productiom, however that may be too complex for kids to figure out.

 

You really don't need to go to all the expensive of high-end editing computers and studio equipment to get pretty good very acceptable results these days. :)

[sandall]

You really don't need to go to all the expensive of high-end editing computers and studio equipment to get pretty good very acceptable results these days. :)

Indeed so. I can now do more on a £300 laptop than I used to do on £1m+ worth of broadcast kit (at least I could if I had the patience :(). Sorry, I should have left out the " Is there anyway we can duplicate this with local resources?" sentence (to which the answer would be NO - it's the people they need, not the kit). I was really wondering whether anyone had come across a group (probably media students) offering this sort of summer club.