business today
Power to the
(right) people
JOE O’HALLORAN reports.
announcement regarding the future funding of attempting to achieve this objective the BBC
TV, it was certainly a subject worth triumphed and a lot of credit is due to the on
he recent Olympics in Beijing considering. the ground post production teams.
T
provided, as they do, a panoply of But to be fair to the BBC what that column Again in fairness, post production is an
personal triumphs and didn’t really emphasise was the qualitative area in which the BBC has excelled as a rule.
disappointments on the track, in the aspect of the commitment; especially in areas For Beijing, the BBC deployed somewhat non-
pool, in the ring, on the water and on the such as post production. As the size of the surprisingly its own post production team in
pitch. They also provided a similar sense of commitment produced the expected knee jerk the form of the does-precisely-what-it-says-
triumph and disappointment for those charged reaction from the usual suspects in the UK on-the-tin BBC Post Production Media
with broadcasting them. Whatever one might media, what didn’t get discussed was where Solution Team. No surprise Sherlock you may
say about the standard of the coverage by the exactly the resources were deployed and why. think but there’s an interesting aspect to the
national broadcasters - and there’s never been For an area such as post-production this is BBC Post Production because it has an
a shortage of opinion on that subject, ever - key. The BBC took the decision, and one that intriguing status as being of the BBC but not
what has been abundantly clear is just how paid off, to have post production teams not actually part of it; existing officially as a
important it was not just to get things right just at the international broadcasting centre division of BBC Resources, itself a separate
but to get it right in high quality. but based at specific locations where a lot of entity from the BBC as a whole, and whose
Some say the two are synonymous - if all remit extends beyond working exclusively on
the bits and pieces of the broadcast are put
From an organisational
BBC projects. And of which more later.
together correctly the result has to be high
quality output. Well not exactly so. From an
standpoint, during the
But for returning to Beijing, BBC Post
Production took 40 of its staff out to China as
organisational standpoint, China had the
Olympics China had the
part of its sterling commitment to the Games.
advantages of literally being able to throw
advantages of literally
The team included core editors, operators,
manpower at any given problem. In terms of
being able to throw
maintenance and support engineers who
broadcasting though, it’s not just a question of
people power; it’s the right people power.
manpower at any given
worked on the ground with staff from BBC
Sport who were in overall control of the
And such a matter brings into focus
problem. In terms of
project. The Post Production team’s efforts
something which may influence the whole broadcasting though, it’s were vital in maintaining the workflow in the
future of the broadcasting industry as a whole,
not just a question of
tapeless environment, something which was a
especially in key areas such a post production:
people power; it’s the
definite benefit compared to Athens where a
how to make processes as cost-effective as lot of the production relied upon something
possible. Indeed, are the days of broadcasters
right people power.
like 3000 tapes to sort and log and provide
and content owners employing teams of post metadata for.
production experts the way forward or will the the coverage would be taken. That is to say This latter aspect is a crucial one. Before
industry be characterised by post production those locations where the British competitors the Games began Paul Austin, post manager at
jobbing shops offering post production as a were likely to have been in with a great BBC Post Production, told IBE that in addition
managed service? chance of winning medals such as at the to support the creative objectives of the output
In my last column I looked at the efforts velodrome, equestrian centres, the rowing and generated for BBC channels, the ambition of
and huge commitment of the BBC in its sailing centres. The strategy was to have the Post Production team was to use non-
coverage of the Beijing games. Most of the teams on the ground at those places in order linear editing to integrate server metadata and
column looked at the quantitative aspects of to be able to quickly ingest, edit and make return with not just the team’s aesthetic
the BBC’s presence. Well there was good high-quality broadcast content fit for purpose credentials enhanced but also a live archive
reason. The commitment was huge and as the in national news programmes, local news with all the metadata built-in.
future of the licence fee is again under serious programmes and other destinations in This ambition had positive business
discussion following Ofcom's latest addition to the general sports coverage. In outcomes for all concerned: the BBC as the
6IBESEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008
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