Agtel

Agtel Nominated

Two of Agtel’s flagship productions from 2008 have been nominated for the upcoming Digital Media Awards.

Food Safety Authority of Ireland – Safe Catering Pack has been nominated in the Best eLearning Category, this is the first nomination of it’s kind for Agtel, highlighting the quality and expertise that has been used in the creation of this eLearning production.

Meanwhile ‘The Battle of the Boyne’ has been nominated in the Best Film/Animation Category. A win at the Digital Media Awards would follow on from the recent success for Boyne at the New York International Independent Film Festival where it won ‘Best International Historical Documentary’

Agtel’s Michael Parker, commented that ‘the nominations represent a further milestone for us as we move to establish Agtel as a national and international leader in communication excellence.’

The Digital Media Awards reward excellence in digital film and video technology across the country and Agtel are proud to be part of this years competition. The gala awards ceremony takes places on Feb 13th in the Crowne Plaza Hotel and the Agtel team will be in attendance on the night hoping to scoop both prizes.

For further info log on to http://www.digitalmedia.ie/2009/index.html

Agtel presents environmental tv award in London

The environment is the theme of this year’s EuroPAWS science and technology TV and new media festival and the winners will be announced in London soon.

Each year EuroPAWS runs a festival for the best TV programmes in Europe drawing on science and technology. The range of productions featured now includes New Media and promotional Video in recognition of the growing variety of audio-visual opportunities for communicating science and technology and reaching new audiences.

Taking place at the Instituition of Engineers (IET), the Awards Evening features a panel-led discussion on “Climate Change: Seeing is Believing”. There will also be a Keynote Address by Sir David King, who is currently Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and Environment, Univserity of Oxford and who was until recently the UK Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser. Diarmaid Mac Mathúna represents Agtel on the international judging panel, and on the night he will be presenting the Jury prize for “a programme / production with special qualities beyond categorisation.”

Agtel films Science Week Lecture Series in HD

Science Week Ireland is always a busy time for the Agtel team and this year was no different. Filming on behalf of the Irish Government initiative Discover Science & Engineering, Agtel filmed this year’s Science Week Lectures Series in High Definition.

Building on the success of last year’s Series which Agtel also filmed, the 2008 Lecture Series took place between Monday 10th November and Friday 14th November in the Science Gallery, Trinity College Dublin. This year there was a fantastic mix of Irish and international speakers to talk about a variety of topics such as the ‘Science Behind Hollywood Special Effects’, ‘Will Robots Ever Have Emotions’ and ‘The Future of Space Tourism.’

Using a two camera High Definition setup to capture all the action along with broadcast quality audio recording, Agtel worked with the event organisers to optimise the lighting and audio at the Science Gallery venue. Advanced post-production techniques are used to full effect to create the finished products which include video inserts from the speakers as well as smooth rostrum moves on their PowerPoint slides to illustrate key points. Motion graphics and dramatic music are also used to full effect to create an impactful opening sequence for each of the lectures.

The lectures are available for viewing on-line on the Science Week website http://www.scienceweek.ie/sw2008/lecture_2008.asp – and if you want to see any of last year’s lectures you can still watch them in the Science Week 2007 lecture series video archive!

Award for ‘Battle of the Boyne’

Agtel’s first ever big screen production ‘The Battle of the Boyne’ which was launched at an historic event by Bertie Ahern and Ian Paisley on the 6th of May this year has just scooped the award for ‘Best International Historical Documentary’ at the New York Independent Film and Video Festival.

This is a major achievement for all involved in the project. Here in Agtel, we hope it is the first of many awards for the cutting edge high-definition production which tells an engaging and action packed story of the biggest battle over fought on Irish soil. The film is also in contention for further awards and festival screenings in the coming months so watch this space!

The production is screened daily at the Battle of the Boyne visitors centre at Oldbridge in Co. Meath. DVD copies are available by contacting Lee Cronin – (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Agtel Vs The All Blacks…

Agtel’s latest High Definition production gets it’s premiere at the much anticipated Munster Vs All Blacks match on Tuesday 18th November.

‘We Are Munster’ is an exciting and emotional short film which tells the story of passionate Munster fans in the lead up to a big game.

Created though a combination of slick drama sequences and stirring archive footage ‘We Are Munster’ is Agtel’s first production shot on the RED ONE camera.

The film will form the centre-piece of the museum in the brand new Thomond Park stadium, being screened daily on the big screen.

Produced by John Keville and directed by Lee Cronin. ‘We Are Munster’ was executive produced by Michael Parker. For further details about this and other productions contact (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Launch of “The 6 Steps”

Government Chief Whip, Minister Pat Carey TD officially launched the educational awareness-raising DVD “The 6 Steps” at an event in Dublin recently.

The Second Level Support Service (SLSS) working with Trócaire commissioned Agtel to produce this DVD with the twin aims of (a) promoting cross-cultural understanding at a global and local level and (b) illustrating each of the steps in the process for delivering an Action Project. These Action Projects are a core part of the Civic, Social and Political Education (CSPE) curriculum in Ireland and are designed to engage students in the process of becoming citizens by investigation into a local, national or international issue.

The Agtel approach focussed on key global development issues such as Child Labour and used this as a powerful way of showing students how to complete Action Projects successfully. Filmed in an engaging observational documentary style, the DVD captures the excitement and energy of the Action Projects as they happen. By filming in 4 schools around Ireland over the course of three months, the production follows the process of developing and delivering an Action Project, illustrating by way of interview and case study. This material is complemented by archive footage from Nicaragua and other developing countries. The DVD features two versions of the content – one film is aimed at the students themselves and the other version of the film is aimed at teachers. The films can be watched straight through and in addition it is also possible to quickly go to any of the individual steps featured as a “quick reference” tool.

There were numerous challenges to overcome in the production of this DVD – mainly related to the complexity of the subject matter and the logistics of the long term filming process. These were overcome by close collaboration and dedication among all those taking part – in particular the students and teachers who feature prominently throughout the production.

This creative and engaging DVD has been distributed to schools throughout Ireland and is already having a significant impact on the target audience of CSPE Students and Teachers. It is motivating the students to be active citizens and to carry out their Action Projects successfully. By clearly sign-posting the steps that form an Action Project it has given students an opportunity to develop analytical and practical skills that will in turn build their capacity for perception, engagement and participation in global society. One of the most significant outcomes of the DVD has been giving students the tools and motivation to understand the background of some of the students in their own classes who have roots in developing countries. This active discussion of cross-cultural themes in a structured context will have a long-term positive impact on the students involved.

Italian Science Film Festival Showcases Agtel Productions

Encouraging people of all ages to take an interest in science is a challenge being faced in many countries, and television and on-line videos are playing a key role in engaging with these audiences. The Italian science film festival “Vedere la Scienza Festival” aims to present the best worldwide production of science films and documentaries. Films by independent producers and big production companies, short videos and TV movies, unreleased works and classic movies: different genres, technologies and disciplines all meet at Vedere la Scienza Festival with the same goal of seeing, and showing, Science.

This year’s festival in Milan featured two of Agtel’s productions. As part of Ireland’s national Science Week, Agtel produced a range of web videos aimed at young people for the Irish government initiative Discover Science & Engineering. Discover Science & Engineering (DSE) is Ireland’s national science promotion programme and it aims to increase interest in science, technology, innovation and engineering among students, teachers and members of the public.

“Kitchen Chemistry” (presented by Sue McGrath) was aimed at primary school children and demonstrated some very visual (and messy!) science experiments. It was described in the festival programme as “an invitation to have fun with science and experience firsthand what may seem distant and elusive when seen from a classroom desk.”

Another series of videos called “Star Gadgets” engaged with an older target audience of secondary school students. In these fast-paced YouTube-style video messages Irish celebrities spoke enthusiastically about their favourite technological gadgets and encouraged the audience to think about how central science and technology was to their lives.

These high-production value web videos were received positively at the festival – particularly as they were encouraging young people to take an interest in science. They demonstrate how a creative approach to science engagement from a team experienced in science communication can have a big impact.

European Commission Web Launch Event

Agtel has developed a web learning tool designed to introduce ‘Europe’ to senior students online. We were very excited that the site was launched by Margot Wallstrom (Vice President of the European Commission in charge of Institutional Relations and Communication) on February 29th at St. Andrews College in Blackrock.

We demonstrated the site – www.europack.agtel.ie – for the launch event and Margot engaged students on European issues important to them. For more information on the EC Representation in Ireland log onto www.euireland.ie