Cornell's ETV Center is back in business, after a difficult stretch

By Leslie Intemann

The year 2001 was rough for Cornell's Educational Television Center (ETV) staff. First they lost not only their physical home when Martha Van Rensselaer Hall was condemned, they lost the home of their satellite uplink dish as well. Gone were the on-campus news feeds that kept the CNNs, BBCs, and Good Morning Americas of the world up on the latest from Cornell's experts. Then came 9/11, the resulting economic downturn and the news that the state of New York couldn't afford to fund ETV any longer.

David Kushell, left, research aide in nutritional sciences, interviews Dr. Doug Lisle, psychologist and director of research at True North Health Clinic April 16 in the ETV studio for a nutritional sciences online course. Barry De Libero/University Photography

By spring 2002, however, the tide began to turn. The space adjacent to Fall Creek Pictures downtown on Tioga Street was renovated to house the ETV studio, whisper room (isolation booth for narration), sound room, camera control room, equipment repair shop and offices for four staff members. The other six temporarily set up shop in Mann Library. Fall 2003 proved to be another turning point for ETV. Cornell Information Technologies (CIT) welcomed ETV into its Distributed Learning Services division, and a week before the inauguration of Cornell President Jeffrey Lehman, ETV's satellite uplink went live once again -- this time with its dish and penthouse control room atop Rhodes Hall.

"It's nice to be part of a central unit on campus," said Dan Booth, manager of the Educational Television Center. "We had a couple of difficult years, and it's nice to feel wanted."

ETV offers a variety of services. In field production, videographers use high-end cameras to shoot video almost anywhere. Booth is currently using digital video editing to create his upcoming behind-the-scenes documentary about the Department of Theatre, Film and Dance's 2003 production of Antigone, the first Cornell play ever broadcast on public television. To prepare, ETV staff used eight field cameras to shoot Antigone twice.

Studio productions, such as the recent shoot done for the Division of Nutritional Sciences's online course for plant-based nutrition, use up to three in-house cameras at the Fall Creek location. Satellite uplink services were used during Cornell's recent presidential inauguration so people around the world with satellite connections could watch the proceedings live.

ETV uses interformat duplication and editing to take any video (including those made to international standards) and change it into any format. The creation of Web streaming clips and high-quality video for backgrounds round out ETV's offerings.

Booth oversees a talented group of men and women, who bring a broad depth of knowledge to the table. "We each do work that would be spread between two to three people in a typical production house," said Booth. And ETV staff members are flexible. With two crews on staff (each with its own videographer and audio technician), one crew is always available on short notice. The price is also right: ETV provides high-quality service for far less than the cost of purchasing the same services from New York City.

Clients say that it's obvious that ETV staff members love what they do. Producer-director Gary Ingraham, who worked with the Department of Natural Resources to film an award-winning project on bats, said: "I learn so much while I'm shooting. My next production is about cormorants, and it's a fascinating story." For videographer Joy Quigley, being on the road shooting cowboys, coyotes and rabies -- and the occasional helicopter shoot while hanging out the door of Cessna airplane -- keeps the adventure alive.

For more information, visit http://www.dls.cornell.edu/. For a rate schedule, contact Glen Palmer, accounts and production services manager, at 255-8162 or send e-mail to grp2@cornell.edu.