Image© London <strong>2012</strong> 8 | <strong>BU</strong> & <strong>Beyond</strong> “These were happy and glorious Games” IOC Chairman Jacques Rogge
Building excitement on the small screen It came as no surprise to learn that graduates from <strong>BU</strong>’s National Centre for Computer Animation worked on the BBC’s animated film promoting the Games. Just under three minutes long, the film featured athletes preparing and competing in a range of landscapes, including a BMX rider preparing at the edge of a cliff and sprinters and gymnasts going through their paces on the streets. One such graduate is Chris Dawson, a character technical director at Passion Pictures, the company who created the film to a concept devised by creative agency Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe Y&R. “My role at Passion means I design and set up the rigs and tools we use for character animation,” explained Chris. “I also get involved with simulation, i.e. cloth and sometimes fluids; basically anywhere characters have to interact with other objects. While not actually animating the characters I usually have to provide support for the animators when trying to achieve difficult poses; there were a lot of those on the Olympics spot.” The full version of the trail was first broadcast on BBC One in early July, with shorter edits used throughout the campaign in the run up to the Games. Remembering a lost teammate in film A short film by final year TV Production student Chris Butler was on show at the Olympic venues throughout the Games, after being named a winner in London <strong>2012</strong>’s short film competition, Film Nation: Shorts. Dedicated to the memory of Thomas Perrin, a fellow <strong>BU</strong> student who was tragically killed in a car crash at the beginning of <strong>2012</strong>, Pull Together is a fictional film which follows the <strong>Bournemouth</strong> <strong>University</strong> rowing team while training for their biggest race of the year. During training they lose one of their teammates, and it takes all of their strength and courage to pull together to win the race in his memory. Chris submitted his film with the Olympic themes of inspiration, courage, determination and teamwork. He said it was a “fitting memory to a great flatmate and friend.” Representing the Commonwealth Games at the Olympics Two graduates working for Glasgow 2014, the Organising Committee for the 20th Commonwealth Games, also put their very different skills to use in London this summer. Archaeology graduate Gareth Talbot, and Public Relations graduate Holly Garland (née Wheeler) both work for Glasgow 2014, the Organising Committee for the 20th Commonwealth Games. Gareth, who graduated in 1996, is the Environment & Sustainability Manager, while 2004 graduate Holly is PR Manager. Seconded to the London <strong>2012</strong> Organising Committee, Holly worked on the news desk at Olympic Park, as part of the LOCOG Media Team that served the 20,000 journalists and photographers reporting on the Games. Holly started her career in central government press offices in Whitehall, working at the Department of Health, the Ministry of Defence and then 10 Downing Street before moving to London <strong>2012</strong>. Gareth worked with the London <strong>2012</strong> Sustainability Team, providing a monitoring and auditing role in the Olympic Park. This involved keeping an eye on the closed loop waste systems, and making sure the venue operated according to its environmental management plans – you don’t want to know what would happen if this hadn’t run smoothly! This marked a departure from previous roles for Gareth, one of which was working at <strong>BU</strong> on the Monuments at Risk Survey and on the Archaeological Investigations Project. This followed a long stint as an archaeological consultant, before he moved to Glasgow City Council to prepare the Strategic Environmental Assessment for Glasgow 2014. It just goes to show how the education received at <strong>BU</strong> can result in people ending up in the most epic of circumstances! Students receive training from the Olympic Broadcasting Service <strong>Bournemouth</strong> <strong>University</strong> was one of just ten higher education institutions chosen by the Olympic Broadcasting Service for training selected students to help film Olympic events. Taking place on the Talbot Campus, specialist sessions gave students a thorough understanding of how the largest broadcasting operation in the world would be put together and what would be needed to make it a success. As well as explaining to students the part they could play, filming the trials and practices on the sports fields allowed students to try out newly-learnt professional and technical skills and gain as much experience in filming live sport as possible in preparation for the Games themselves. Successful students later had the opportunity to apply for over 1,000 paid, entry-level jobs from camera assistants to commentary systems operators. <strong>BU</strong> & <strong>Beyond</strong> | 9
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