Semo Mass Media Students Gain Vital Real-World Experience With Vinten Camera Support Equipment And Autocue Teleprompter

Semo Mass Media Students Gain Vital Real-World Experience With Vinten Camera Support Equipment And Autocue Teleprompter posted: 04/06/2019

Vinten and Autocue gear in use at the SEMO Department of Mass Media to support student productions and programming.

The Department of Mass Media at Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) in Cape Giradeau, Missouri, has adopted Vintens Pro-Ped pedestal and Vinten Vision 250 pan-and-tilt camera head, together with an Autocue 15-inch Starter Series teleprompter. The professional-grade studio equipment gives TV and film students invaluable hands-on experience producing a broad range of content for local broadcasters.

The SEMO Department of Mass Media has over 300 majors, 100 of which are in the TV and Film track. TV and film students can count on a very intense curriculum that gives them experience with a broad range of TV programming and hones their skills for storytelling. Ranging from news and public affairs to newsmagazine and cultural arts programs, the student-produced programming is broadcast on local CBS and Fox affiliates. Students also work on sports programming, including live Ohio Valley Conference productions for ESPN+, as well as film projects over which they have total creative control of their own story. For every program, students perform hands-on work as producers, directors, camera operators, and audio technicians.

In the SEMO studios, a Vinten Pro-Ped lightweight pedestal offers a stable and robust two-stage system with ideal balance for on-shot camera movements. Mounted on the pedestal is a Vinten Vision 250 pan-and-tilt camera head, which offers perfect balance for camera/lens combinations up to 72.8 pounds. At SEMO, these include either a Panasonic AG-HPX370 camcorder with a Fujinon XT17x4-5BRM-K14 lens, or a Hitachi HD5000 with a Fujinon XA20sx8.5-BRM K3 lens.

In addition, the Autocue 15-inch Starter Series teleprompter provides an ideal entry-level solution for the school, giving students valuable experience with the prompting equipment they are most likely to encounter in their real-world jobs following graduation.

Multicamera, in-studio productions require excellent heads and pedestal systems. With as many as 60 students each semester working on four different productions and four different sets, the wear and tear takes its toll. The Vinten Pro-Ped/Vision 250 combo offers the quality, durability, and outstanding performance our students need, semester after semester, said Jim Dufek, an SEMO professor who also serves as TV and film operations manager and SETV production director in the department of mass media.

Dufek added, We needed a teleprompter system that would fit our needs but also be compatible with multiple students working on many different productions. The Autocue teleprompter is an integral component in the success of each program. Its outstanding quality, durability, performance, and ease of use all combine to make it a great teaching tool.

The Vinten and Autocue gear puts in heavy use on student productions, every day of every term. In one recent example, the SEMO students produced Redhawks Update, a 90-second news package that was produced and broadcast during the fall NFL Thursday Night Football games via the local Fox affiliate. Another production that sees heavy use of the Vinten and Autocue gear is Cape Chronicle, a weekly public affairs program for the CBS/CW affiliate that covers a variety of issues, politics, arts, and city government.

Our Vinten camera supports and Autocue prompters are professional-grade systems that are not only dependable, reliable, and effective, but theyre also outstanding educational tools, said Paul Dudeck, vice president of sales, the Americas, Vitec Production Solutions. Were proud that our solutions are giving SEMO students invaluable experience in producing content for real-world, live broadcasts, together with a creative storytelling outlet that will inspire them throughout their professional careers.

A Snapshot of Autocue

Autocue has been the leading provider of teleprompters to the broadcast industry since their introduction in the 1950s. Today, Autocue has the broadest teleprompter range, with the leading hardware and software product at every price point. Tens of thousands of users worldwide - from schools, government facilities, corporations, and videographers to high-end broadcasters such as the BBC, NBC, MBC, Doordarshan, TF1, and CNN - rely on Autocue for their teleprompting needs. Autocues prompting solutions are compatible with all newsroom systems that support the MOS protocol (e.g., AP ENPS, AQ Broadcast, Avid iNews, Dalet News Suite, and Octopus). Most recently, Autocue released a range of iPad and iPhone teleprompter solutions.

A Snapshot of Vinten

Vinten , a Vitec Group brand, is a leading provider of manual and robotic camera support systems. Customers rely on Vintens engineering excellence and globally supported solutions for a wide range of technologies and markets. Founded over 100 years ago by William Vinten, the Vinten brand is still based on its founders guiding principles of highly innovative design and extreme precision in manufacturing. Offering a best-in-class range of products that includes manual supports, robotic heads, pedestals, and controllers, Vinten is the premium solution for studio and outside broadcast. With over 80 registered patents, Vinten frees the camera operators creativity by making camera operation effortless.

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