BU & Beyond 2012 - Bournemouth University

Building
excitement on
the small screen
It came as no surprise
to learn that graduates
from BU’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 2012’s short film
competition, Film Nation:
Shorts.
Dedicated to the memory of
Thomas Perrin, a fellow BU
student who was tragically
killed in a car crash at the
beginning of 2012, Pull
Together is a fictional
film which follows the
Bournemouth University
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
2012 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
2012.
Gareth worked with the
London 2012 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 BU 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
BU can result in people
ending up in the most epic
of circumstances!
Students receive
training from
the Olympic
Broadcasting
Service
Bournemouth University
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.
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