PRESS RELEASE
SYDNEY, 17 December 2013 – The Griffith Film School (a part of the Queensland College of Art) has been a premium education provider for film education for over 30 years with some of Brisbane's most notable filmmakers the school’s alumni. Through its Bachelor of Film, Media and Screen Production, and the Master of Screen Production, the Griffith Film School is focused on single camera work, and prepares graduates for work with feature film, documentary and commercial production. Recently The Griffith Film School was looking to upgrade its high-end cameras to compliment the newly implemented Master of Screen Production program and as such they turned to ARRI Australia for two ALEXA digital camera systems.
Griffith Film School Studio Supervisor Brett Wiltshire explained, “We have been keeping an eye on the camera market for a while. We follow industry lead, and the ALEXA has acquired a considerable following and the respect of the international and local industry.”
The Griffith Film School required a camera of proven pedigree and the ALEXA’s reputation was a big contributing factor to their decision to purchase.
Wiltshire continued, “An additional bonus is that the ALEXA also fits in with our existing post production infrastructure. Most of the competitors were 4K and our post workflow is all 2K (including our cinema, running a NEC NC1200 2K projector). The image quality of the ALEXA is excellent, so we feel we have made a wise investment.”
The ALEXA alone wasn’t the full story as Wiltshire and The Griffith Film School's Head of School, Herman van Eyken, were also particularly interested in establishing a solid relationship with ARRI Australia.
Herman van Eyken added, “ARRI Australia has been excellent. It is hard to go past a company with a century-long reputation of film engineering and they have made a smart transition into the digital realm. ARRI Australia MD Stefan Sedlmeier has a thorough engineering knowledge of his product and he knows how it fits into the filmmaking process. He thinks laterally and is able to advise how ARRI could work in with both our technical and teaching needs. ARRI Australia also helped us by training our technicians and we have a standing offer of additional training to teaching staff and students. Stefan has made a point of demonstrating how excellent ARRI's after-sales service can be and we feel confident that Griffith Film School students stand to enjoy ongoing gains from our new relationship with ARRI Australia.”
The Griffith Film School purchased two ALEXA digital camera systems, taking advantage of ARRI’s policy of special pricing for educational institutions.
Herman van Eyken continued, “ARRI Australia worked closely with us to determine how to best leverage existing gear to work in with the ALEXA. They were very mindful of budget, and were happy to suggest resourceful workarounds. We have not had any vendor give us such excellent service. One of the biggest things is that the ARRI Australia representatives really know their business. They know their technology, and they know how filmmakers use the gear. The design and service is obviously a reflection of that understanding.”
ARRI’s policy of supporting the local film industry in every way possible has proven invaluable to film schools and filmmakers across Australia.
Brett Wiltshire concluded, “ARRI Australia’s commitment to the industry combined with the image quality of the ALEXA is hard to go past. As our current and potential students are keeping an eye on what cameras are being used on films, the ALEXA's feature film pedigree is a great selling point for us. Two other big reasons for use to choose the ARRI ALEXA, as these cameras are in the hands of students it is a real bonus that the camera is easy to operate and it is a very robust build.”