Training day

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Anthony Frantzis of the SAE Institute briefs the press.

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Giorgio Ungania of the SAE takes the press on a tour of the facility.

SAE Institute takes the press through a quick audio-visual exercise at their boot camp.

Last month, the SAE Institute held a boot camp for members of the press in Dubai with the intention of opening their minds to the audio-visual world - the part that their counterparts in TV and radio are more familiar with.

For many of the print journalists, a small workshop at SAE's audio facility with the department head Peter Houtmeyers was a good opportunity to exercise their vocal chords and see how the rustle of paper could mean more than spiking an article and throwing it in the rubbish bin.

Houtmeyers took the visitors through an audio journey that showed how a dentist's drill and the rustle of paper, for instance, could evoke different sensations in the listener when merged with different levels of music.

From there, journos who had never tinkered with anything but the written word got a chance to try their dancing skills in the green screen room and watched as digital filmmaking lecturer, Areeba Hanif took the footage and applied some magic from Final Cut Pro to it to create silhouettes out of the originals with cool graphics and made it look like a recent iPod commercial.

After another session in the graphics room with Predgrag Toncev, head of the department for multimedia and degree programmes, who took each candidate through the rigours of creating their own little graphic piece and a class with Amir Jahanlou, the animation lecturer, who showed people how four people in a green screen room could be duplicated to recreate an entire battle in post against the backdrop of the mountains, journalists came back with a bit more respect for what their counterparts in television do.

More importantly, a hands-on approach to the programmes at the SAE Institute made us aware of the potential that students had to emerge with adequate training skills to join the industry.

As the demand for people with production and editing skills increases in this market, students with hands-on training on some of the industry-standards will find themselves well equipped to join the workforce.

One of the highlights of the Institute is an AMS Neve console, a piece of kit that is often seen only in Hollywood audio production studios. The fact that local students can toy with such a kit gives them undue advantage over other emerging professionals in the market.

One of the other big advantages that Anthony Frantzis, head of marketing and strategic alliances of the SAE Institute pointed out at the camp was the fact that students in any of its schools could continue their education in any of their other branches worldwide.

While this may not be of great significance to most foreign students, this is crucial for students in the UAE, who would like exposure to other audio-visual environments that are perhaps more dynamic than the local market.

No doubt, the experience was an ear and eye opener for many journalists, who I'm sure returned to their pens with greater respect for those who worked behind the small screen.

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