Transforming ideas into reality: Film production at HELIX

Stuart Porteous is a Learning Technologist at the University of Leeds. When Associate Professor Dan Trowsdale from the School of Mechanical Engineering required assistance with creating a video to promote his course design and diagnostic tool, EdVee, Stuart’s team were on hand to support production. 

Why choose HELIX?  

Choosing the right location is crucial for any video project, and in the case of EdVee, the team required multiple settings to showcase different aspects of the tool. Stuart chose HELIX because Studio 2 (a dedicated space for DEE Learning Technologists), the flexible classroom, and the lobby area all presented modern, purpose-built settings that were perfect for filming. 

It’s very exciting having such a large, modern and purposefully created space available for projects such as this. We’re very lucky.

Utilising HELIX  

To bring the video to life, a small crew of Learning Technologists were assembled from across DEE in a cross-faculty collaboration. The crew's tasks included preparing the locations, setting up lighting, and operating the camera, while Dr Trowsdale presented the content, aided by a teleprompter. To enhance the video, the team used a lightboard to provide translucent markers as reference points, allowing Dr Trowsdale to interact with the EdVee model diagram dynamically. 

“One of the standout features of HELIX is its flexibility. Studio 2 is a large, secure space that allows a variety of setups and thus we were able to easily create and light our set appropriately and easily. The flexible classroom and lobby area provided attractive and suitable backdrops for the other elements. The HELIX team were helpful, accommodating and welcomed our presence.” 

HELIX’s impact 

Surprisingly, the only challenge the team faced was deciding on which of the HELIX locations to use. Stuart felt they were spoilt for choice in also having the Collab Room and Makerspaces as options available for filming, demonstrating the vast potential of HELIX for a variety of digital education endeavours.  

We’ve absolutely seen a positive impact on our work. For this project in particular, the pre-production phase of sourcing appropriate space was vastly reduced and saved a lot of time, compared to pre-HELIX times. 

Would Stuart recommend HELIX to staff and students?

Yes! I’d suggest visiting HELIX in person, speaking to the team there, exploring the spaces and giving it a go.