What Is BTV?
How Can I Watch BTV?
What's On BTV?
How Can I Get Involved?
How Can I Use BTV To Turn My Idea Into A BTV Show / Turn My Script Into A Film / Film My Club’s Event / Produce My Video Project For Class?
Who's On the E-Board?
What Is BTV?
Brandeis Television is Brandeis University’s official student-run television station. BTV became a secured organization in 2002, and has aired original Brandeis student-produced programming 24 hours a day since 2007. BTV holds open weekly general meetings on Mondays at 8pm in its office, room 339 of the Shapiro Campus Center.
How Can I Watch BTV?
What's On BTV?
All of the videos that you see on BTV are made for and by Brandeis University students. For a current schedule, tune into IPTV (see above). For a complete list of programs with details, see our programming guide.
How Can I Get Involved?
Members of BTV are involved at some level in the production of some video project(s) that utilize the services of BTV. These services include:
- “Airwaves” (Channel 65, IPTV, BTV’s website, BTV’s YouTube page)
- Professional filming equipment (cameras, lights, microphones, etc)
- Office space and computers, including editing software (Final Cut Pro)
- General advice from knowledgeable BTV members
There are a few options for involvement:
- Join the Executive Board.
There are currently nine students on the executive board that supervise video production occurring through Brandeis Television. In general, anyone who is dedicated to BTV can join the E-board – we are always looking for help. Ideally, members of the board are ALSO involved with BTV in another way. This year in particular, the E-board is very actively looking for new members, because the majority of the board will be graduating in the spring of 2010. Just contact an existing E-board member if you’re interested!
- Be a part of a “BTV-wide” project.
Beginning in the fall of 2009, the E-board will lead the production of a series of short, relatively simple video projects ranging from scripted short films to unscripted pranks. Production on each project will span three to five weeks and will continue throughout the semester.
This is the best way for casual and new members to contribute to BTV programming; some members may only attend occasional meetings and shoots, while others may use the opportunity to develop production skills or take on a leadership role in a project.
These projects will be the main subject of weekly general meetings and general BTV emails. Come to a meeting in the BTV Office (Shapiro Campus Center, room 339) any Monday at 8pm to help plan projects and shoots; and keep an eye on your email to find out when/where the filming is happening and what opportunities (acting, filming, set design, etc) are available for any shoot.
- Join the crew of an existing project.
There are a number of groups that have already formed to produce a video or series of videos. Successful past BTV shows have included “BTV News,” “The Dumpster Kids” (an off-beat sketch comedy show), “Sex and the Suburbs” (a sex talk show), “Slice N Deis” (a scripted comedy show), and “Brandeis Got Talent” (a reality competition show). In addition, there are groups that form to produce a single short film to air on BTV, such as “A Scrogg Too Far,” “Targeted,” or “Into The Wind.” At the moment, there are no shows that are in active production, but there are a few in pre-production.
Take a look at the programming guide to see what projects are in production. Every project could use your help. Simply contact the manager of the project that interests you to join it. Be aware that some groups are more organized than others, and some groups are involved in production activities throughout the semester, while others work only on occasion or in short bursts.
- Turn your idea into a new project using BTV’s resources.
This could be an independent project, or a new “BTV show” or short film meant for the airwaves. See the next section below for more details on how to make this happen.
- Produce a video project independently of BTV, and request use of BTV airwaves.
In other words, if you’ve already produced a movie, submit it to the BTV executive board, and if we find it to be worth airing, we’ll play it daily on channel 65 and IPTV. Simply bring a DVD or video file of your movie to a general meeting, any Monday at 8pm in the Shapiro Campus Center, room 339.
How Can I Use BTV To
- Turn My Idea Into A BTV Show?
- Turn My Script Into A Film
- Film My Club's Event?
- Produce My Video Project For Class?
If you have an idea for any sort of video project – whether it be a series to air on the channel, a documentary for a class, a performance taping for a club, or simply a creative experiment – we (the members of the E-board, as well as any other volunteering BTV members) will help you produce it. We’ll give you all the training, equipment, and advice you’ll need. Of course, the rest (recruiting a crew, writing, managing production, filming, editing, marketing, etc) is completely up to you.
Why should you produce your show through BTV? We have the best, most available resources (free professional equipment as well as experienced members), and provide the best space to showcase your work for the Brandeis community.
The following is a procedure of sorts for getting your project from pre-production to post-production. Depending on the nature of your project, not all of these steps may be applicable to you.
- Recruit all the crewmembers that you will need.
No project can function without a complete, dedicated crew, and it is up to you to find other students willing to join your project. The executive board can help you recruit members up to a certain extent, at the least by sending a request to the BTV email list. But we have found that the best projects come from groups of friends that are already dedicated to each other, so we highly recommend that you find friends to form the basis of your team.
The specific crew positions that you will need to fill will vary depending on the type of show that you want to produce. Talk to the E-board for specific advice about the number/types of people you should get on your team. But in general, the more people you have on your team, the better.
- Have all members of your crew "trained" in basic filming and editing, if necessary.
I suggest sending an email to a board member; any of us would be happy to set up a time with you to teach you the basics. Also, it might help to attend a shoot or two of an actively producing BTV project, such as the current BTV-wide project.
- Email the BTV president with your crewmembers’ student ID / card numbers.
(S)he will pass your numbers along through the appropriate channels to give you card access to the BTV Office. Once your number has been registered you can come to the office at your leisure for access to the office space, television, and computers (including editing software).
- Discuss your course of action and your specific project with the E-board.
- If you are not planning on airing your finished product on the BTV channel – for example, if you simply want to borrow equipment to film a club performance, and you know how to use the equipment – this could occur via email.
- If you are planning on airing your finished product on the BTV channel, then we should meet in person to discuss the project. We will consider it a “BTV show,” and the E-board will do its best to make sure you produce something worth airing. Simply contact a board member to schedule a time to meet, or come in to the BTV Office during a weekly E-board meeting, at 7pm on any Monday.
- Before you move beyond this step, you should have a complete idea of what your project is going to be, including a script, a solid plan for filming, and a general idea of a production timeline.
- Borrow equipment.
Once you're ready to shoot, contact an E-board member to sign out equipment, or to reserve equipment for a specific day/time. Only E-board members have access to the closet in the BTV Office that stores the filming equipment, so you will need an E-board member to walk you through the sign-out process.
The first time you sign out equipment, a member of your crew will be given a Lending Card. Every time you check out equipment, it will be recorded on our database using our new bar-coding system, like a library.
Return equipment by contacting an E-board member and having him/her check the equipment back in for you. Different pieces of equipment have different rental periods, and we expect equipment to be returned by assigned due dates.
- Film
Hopefully we will have discussed how this will work in step 4. As you are making your plans, and then actually shooting, always feel free to ask E-board members any questions you have.
- Edit.
After you have filmed, you can come into the BTV Office at your leisure to edit your footage on the computers using Final Cut Pro. Again, the E-board is here to answer questions and help you through the process. You can also edit in the Getz media lab on the bottom floor of the library.
- Burn
If you want to air the video on the channel, burn it to DVD (with no menus) and leave it in the BTV Office. Write the Title and Duration on the disc. An E-board member will hand the DVD to Media Technology Services to be played on the channel. We can also upload your video onto the BTV website and the BTV YouTube page if you request it.
- Promote your show.
As always, contact the E-board for ideas. Depending on the nature of your project, you may actually want to start this step before you finish filming or editing.
- For your next project (or your show’s next episode), return to step 4.
Rinse and repeat. If the E-board notices that you’re doing some really good work, we may talk to you about the possibility of joining the E-board.
Good luck!
BTV E-Board, Fall 2009
Avi Swerdlow '10
President
swerdlow@brandeis.edu
Gdaly Berlin '10
Vice President, Finances
gberlin@brandeis.edu
Arun Narayanan '10
Director of Programming
arunn@brandeis.edu
Ted Levin '10
Equipment Manager
tedlevin@brandeis.edu
Chris Lavery '10
Training
clavery@brandeis.edu
Dan Neal '10
Training
dnealx6@brandeis.edu
Angcon Podder '10
Training
imap@brandeis.edu
Daniel Burns '12
Secretary
Dburns12@brandeis.edu
Aaron Laufer '10
Scheduling
alaufer@brandeis.edu
Alex Gaman '09
Webmaster
agaman@brandeis.edu