Sony Broadcast Holds First Competition for Students, Alumni

JULY 20, 2000  All right, who can tell the difference between Sony’s new DSR-PD150P DVCAM camcorder (a handheld digital video camera) and the DCR-VX1000E that broadcasters, education facilities (including the Adham Center) and the corporate market—attracted by the camera’s light weight, color and sharpness quality and relatively very low cost—have been using over the past few years? Besides, that is, Sony Broadcast promo writers or the editors of Digital Studio trade magazine, who reported on the new camera in this month’s special Egypt issue.

Well, the eleven cameraman-editor contestants who used the DVCAM in the first Sony competition for Adham Center students and alumni, held at the ERTU Television Festival and Exhibition 2000 at the Cairo International Conference Center (CICC) in Nasr City, and their Adham Center technical instructor Jan Sandle, who helped Sony put this competition together, certainly know their cameras. Especially the contest winner—who is now the proud owner of a DSR-PD150P.

The competition—which required the contestants, as Video Journalists, to produce (meaning to research, shoot, write voiceover and edit) a two- to three-minute video news report on any aspect of the festival—took place at the CICC from July 12 to 15. It is a reflection of the long relationship based on mutual appreciation between the Adham Center and Sony Broadcast that the competition was limited by Sony to Adham Center students and graduates. This cooperation has long been reflected in the almost exclusive use by the Adham Center of Sony cameras, both Betacam and digital, as well as video edit packs and studio equipment. The relationship is also characterized by the generous Sony Broadcast donation that was responsible for the naming of the Sony Gallery for Photography at the Center.

But Sony’s decision didn’t just express its appreciation of a good client. It also reflected, according to Hassan Ghoul, manager of Sony’s Middle East Regional Office in Dubai, a recognition that only Adham Center students and graduates have the training necessary to quickly upgrade their shooting skills to the level required to make maximum competitive use of the DSR-PD150P as well as the new Sony ES-3 Non-Linear Editor with which the contestants edited their stories.

Six of the final eight competitors (including the winner) are still students at the Adham Center. They have just completed a year of preparatory training as Video Journalists in the MA program, and this was their first actual rather than simulated field report in which they applied what they have learned to date without benefit of the critiques and coaching that is part of their coursework.

Everyone from the judges—Will Strauss, editor of Digital Studio magazine and Ahmed Assar, Senior Producer, Reuters TV Cairo—the Sony executives present including Dan Taylor, Hassan Ghoul and Ghada Ezz, to the Adham Center teaching staff—Abdallah Schleifer, who also served as a judge, and Jan Sandle—were impressed by the quality of the students’ work.

Strauss, who is ordinarily based in London and Dubai, the editorial centers for Digital Studio, was in Cairo to cover the International Festival and Exhibition, as well as to produce a special report for his magazine on the Adham Center and its television journalism graduate degree program. Strauss subsequently visited the campus and met with TBS Managing Editor Sarah Sullivan and with Jan Sandle.

The winner, Nermine Alireza, is more than a first-year student; she is also a poised and accomplished presenter and reporter at Nile TV, which was established a little more than five years ago with a core of Adham Center graduates who attempted to establish an international standard for reporting at that channel. The other student contestants were Amira Hassan Enanie, Marwa Ragaa Radwan, Mahitab Ezz el Din, Lina Abel Sadek, and Iman Adel Mosharafa.

The other two contestants whose work particularly impressed the judges are alumni: Hania Moheeb, a correspondent and producer for Nile News, and Rasha Sayed, who works as a reporter-producer for Orbit. Adham Center student Marwa Radwan, who takes over in the fall as Student Executive Producer of the center’s second-year workshop news bureau AUC News, tied with Hania and Rasha for second place in the unofficial rankings by the judges.

Indeed this competition was more than a contest; it was also an intense, hands-on training course on the Sony ES-3 and DSR-PD150P. Accordingly the Sony Broadcast and Professional Middle East operation awarded the eight contestants with Certificates of Achievement, signed by Hassan Ghoul and the Sony instructor Ghada Ezz, an Adham Center alumni (1994) on loan to Sony for the Exhibition from ART Cairo, where she has recently been promoted from senior editor to head of the Promo Production Department.

The new Sony DSR-PD150P builds on the quality of the DCR-VX1000E that the Adham Center uses, but it has DV(SP) recording and playback compatibility that makes possible emergency “long-time” recording. At the heart of this prize camera is a new 1/3 inch three CCD camera system, that when compared with the DCR-VX1000E, doubles the camcorder’s light sensitivity, improves the S/N ratio, reduces smear levels and significantly enhances low-light performance. Another new feature, “Super Steadyshot,” detects and compensates for any horizontal or vertical movement, which is of critical importance when using a lightweight video camera.

Adham Center Technical Coordinator and Instructor Jan Sandle put it this way: “Size-wise there is almost no difference, but there are some changes which are definitely advantageous. The audio inputs are now XLR and the camera microphone is detachable. There is also a line input option. There is an extra side monitor (a large-screen LCD monitor) as well as the normal viewfinder screen. This feature is especially important for Video Journalists who are in the field alone and have great difficulty framing themselves for their stand-uppers or the 2-shot when doing an interview. This monitor springs out and can be flipped over to face the reporter/operator who is in front of the camera, which is on a tripod.

“The battery compartment has been moved outside, thus not restricting the battery to one size only. There is a spotlight and backlight function plus two ND filters available—excellent features to assist the operator with a variety of lighting situations.

“The DVCAM quality is amazing. When the stories of the competition were played onto the large screen there was incredible clarity,” Sandle observed.

All of the contestants were deeply impressed by the new Sony equipment and grateful for the chance to participate in this competition. According to Sandle, the competition was “an excellent opportunity for the students to expand their training. The chance to work using the new Sony DVCAM camcorder and ES3 edit station was an instant introduction to equipment they would otherwise not yet have had the chance to use.

“Putting the students in a competitive atmosphere encouraged them to use all their shooting, writing and editing skills and at the same time introduce them to the latest technology. It worked perfectly,” Sandle said.

Competition winner Nermine Alireza said she had “a great time shooting and editing and just being in the competition. The camera is fantastic and very easy to use.” Nermine said she wanted to thank Sony for the opportunity to be in the competition and to use their latest equipment.

Adham Center graduate student Marwa Radwan saw the competition as “a chance to get a sense of the ‘real thing’ for our next year of training and for the future in the television business. I enjoyed the competition and getting to know the Sony people.”

Marwa’s fellow student Amira Enanie was particularly impressed by Sony’s new ES-3 Non-Linear Editor: “It really runs circles around everything else I have used. It’s faster and far more versatile. Its much easier to load when you are digitizing your tape before editing.” Amira also enjoyed using the new camera: “It’s like getting Betacom quality without having to have that heavy load on one’s shoulder. The best of both worlds, you could say. It’s very, very close to Betacam broadcast quality; the difference is barely noticeable. I wish we could use both the DSR-PD150P camera and the ES-3 editor at the center. Both units would definitely improve the technical quality of our work.”