SONAR Events will utilise £1.5 million worth of donated equipment from industry sponsors, as they broadcast a basketball double header featuring the Solent Kestrels taking on Loughborough Riders and Endeavour Ipswich.
Solent University’s film production society broadcast the Kestrels’ WNBL home games each week, but this original production named “Nothing But Net” will use a 50 plus strong crew and 10 cameras for match coverage.
The broadcast will also feature four cameras in the studio, a 10 metre wide and three metre tall virtual production screen, four bespoke feature VTs and three presenters in the stream hosted on Basketball England’s YouTube channel.
All but two of the production staff are students at Solent University too, creating a fantastic work experience opportunity for those aspiring to go into the field to learn on the job.
A wealth of equipment has been lended to the production team from sponsors which include a new EVS replay system, Tinkerlist Cuez running-order software, NDI links to send feed between two galleries, Panasonic AC160 camcorders for the gantry, a pair of Marshall lipstick cameras and more.
Former BT Sport chief engineer Andy Beale also supported the students in acquiring a Piero license, allowing the broadcast to feature the live sport analysis tool used by Sky Sports’ football coverage.
Along with Beale, a number of individuals from within industry will also travel down to Southampton to watch the broadcast from within the studio – with Sky, TNT Sports and EVS executives present.
The final broadcast will be submitted for some of the students’ final major project assessments.
Sonar Events president and director Ben Killackey, script supervisor Sophie Humphrey and match camera supervisor Fergus Daly are three of those students who will be assessed, and they feel as though they have put together the best team possible to make the most of three month’s work.
They told TVBEurope: “We are all passionate about creating the best work possible, a lot of us love the thrill and pressure of live broadcast, especially live sports.
“We knew that we all had complimentary skills in different operational areas, and we believed that bringing these assets together could make for an impressive live broadcast.
“The combination of diverse production skill sets like camera operation, directing, producing, replay, live graphics, editing will give us a strong foundation and structure for the show.”
Watch our full chat to Sonar Events below:
