Middlesex University
Flexible GY-HM100 camcorders for student filmmaking
“We needed a lightweight, affordable The Digital Media Workshop has a central
camera that would give us a good image,” EditShare server, with 35 workstations
Andrew explained. “We also had to bear
attached, running a mixture of Final Cut
in mind it would be the first time that
Studio and Production Premium editing
most students had handled this sort of
systems. “As the JVC camcorders record
camcorder, so we wanted something that
in .MOV and .MP4 formats, the students
was durable – JVC’s GY-HM100 ticked
can begin editing quickly,” Andrew explains.
all the right boxes. We will be using these
“With no need to transcode the files
camcorders on a number of courses
before editing, storage requirements were
including Animation, Moving Images
reduced, allowing up to 300 streams, and in
and Film, Video and Interactive Arts.”
turn enabling over fifty edit stations to work
directly off the server at any one time.”
The Digital Media Workshop at Middlesex
University is currently undergoing major
One student who’s already well-acquainted
with the new GY-HM100 camcorders is
refurbishments and the new cameras
Ethan Race, a Middlesex student in his
were an essential part of its plans. “They
Middlesex University, first formed in
second year of the BA Film Video and
are small and great for documentary and
1992, has recently purchased forty
Interactive Arts degree. He won ‘Best
guerilla filmmaking,” Andrew continues,
JVC GY-HM100 ProHD camcorders,
Drama’ category in the ‘Blast Future Film
“yet offer all the features of a larger
Awards’ with his film, Conflict. Ethan,
along with a GY-HM700, for use on
camera, including balanced audio
pictured left and below, was awarded
various courses. Middlesex also connections, good manual controls and
a £3000 bursary to make a film with
plans to purchase another forty a nice lens. It's a very good teaching tool.
a professional crew to a professional
GY-HM100s within a year. Andrew
“We were going to stick to tape-based
standard and has been working on this
Pomphrey, Senior Technician, film for about six months now. “I have
cameras initially, as this would provide
Time-Based Media, talks about the
used a range of rented cameras during
affordable data backup for the students,
University’s plans for the future
the project,” Ethan says, “but now the
but as the SDHC cards used by the JVC
and the reasons for choosing
GY-HM100s have turned up, I’ve been
camcorders are so inexpensive, these can
JVC’s solid-state camcorders.
able to shoot the final scenes in 1080i.”
be used instead. The cameras are a good
Ethan’s film, Rapture, will be show on
price, which means we feel comfortable
BBC2 in November and BFI, Feb 2010.
n
lending them overnight, giving students the
freedom to develop their skills and ideas. www.mdx.ac.uk/arts
Photographs courtesy of William Gillingham-Sutton
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