The Wesleyan School is a private K-12 school with nearly 1,200 students located in Peachtree Corners, Georgia. Wesleyan offers a college prep curriculum with a wide range of elective courses and extracurriculars, including WWTV, its broadcast journalism program for middle school students.
According to Brad Williams, Director of AV Operations at the Wesleyan School: “We were using some old gear, an old set-up, in a less-than-ideal space that we wanted to retrofit with new equipment closer to the 21st century.” dB Sales Consultant John Hogg was invited to devise a system—lighting, cameras, and a production suite—that was tailored to both the constrained space and its young users.
Wesleyan’s middle school (grades 5-8) features a live morning news program, broadcast throughout campus and streamed directly to YouTube. It serves as a great way for kids to get involved in technology, as students run the entire production on both the talent and technical sides.
The school wanted a set-up that would run very much like a typical news studio. The room available, however, had significant limitations that challenged dB to find a workable solution. A small, oddly shaped space hindered the ability to create more than one set and prevented cameras from being placed ideally. John Hogg was able to design the studio to accommodate two small sets—a news desk and a blue screen—as well as the ability for camera operators to switch between the two reasonably.
A drop-tile ceiling prevented the use of light grids, so dB employed PrimeTime Lighting products specially designed for use with low ceilings, along with some creative lighting placement within the limited space. Open architecture means that the production booth and set occupy the same open air space, requiring crew to be very careful about noise levels. A glass wall now provides some separation between the two studio spaces to alleviate that issue.
After overcoming the challenges of the space itself, dB had to create a professional quality system that could be operated by middle school students. Said Brad Williams, “It needed to be a system that was robust in features but user-friendly from an age standpoint.”
The student volunteers are in the studio for just thirty minutes each morning; this includes all rehearsal as well as the actual live program. Wesleyan needed technology that was designed to optimize what the students could accomplish in such a short period of time.
The studio’s set-up now includes Panasonic 4K cameras, BlackMagic Design video switcher, Prompter People teleprompters, and PrePresenter software. A portable field kit allows students to go anywhere on the expansive suburban campus and film a live, multi-camera shoot.
With the technology and design provided by dB Integrations, students are able to experience the responsibility and thrill of a live broadcast—reading off teleprompters, switching from Camera 1 to Camera 2, etc.—all with no second takes.
Wesleyan’s middle school students now have a 21st-century studio that maximizes their limited space and allows them to gain first-hand experience with top-of-the-line technology, practicing broadcast journalism to the benefit of the entire school community.
When you work with dB Integrations we listen, measure, survey – and then design the ultimate solution to your audio, LED, lighting, and control needs. And our versatile, experienced engineers deliver on service, reliability, and the utmost quality. We appreciate the trust you place in our team, so we are always willing to work to meet your needs.