The University of Wisconsin-Platteville’s video production organization, TV5, is a finalist in the National Broadcasting Society Alpha Epsilon Rho’s annual competition.
The play-by-play video production featuring a Feb. 15, 2012, men’s basketball game between UW-Platteville and University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire is competing against a play-by-play hockey video submitted by the other finalist in the field, Bethany Lutheran College of Mankato, Minn.
According to the NBSAERho website, the National Undergraduate Student Electronic Media Competition was founded in 1962 to recognize those students who excelled in radio and television production and programming. Its purpose is to encourage and reward students for accomplishments in audio, video, scriptwriting, web development, academic research and writing.
“The video was selected based on its overall quality, visuals, etc.,” Robert Snyder, professor of video production and faculty advisor to TV5, said. “It was submitted in December and judged by media professionals in January and February.”
Universities from across the nation are allowed to submit entries to the competition.
“The competition is open to any university,” Snyder said. “There are dozens of categories. Two other schools competing are the University of Cincinnati and the University of Alabama.”
This marks the 50th year of student competition at the event. The annual convention is being held at the Crystal City Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C. Winners will be announced on Sunday, March 24, the final day of the National Broadcasting Society’s convention.
“Winners of the competitions will receive a trophy as well as national recognition” Snyder said. “We are a smaller program, but our students’ work holds up against other media programs in the country.”
The students who produced the contest entry are all recent graduates of UW-Platteville. They include Nathan Randall, Ben Higgins, Mathias Timmerman, Will Mulhak, Eric Prohaska, Brent Wetter, Craig Frederick and Courtney Ryan.
“It was kind of cool to find out it was going into the finals,” Higgins said.
The members of TV5 put a lot of time and hard work into producing the basketball game. From start to finish, a basketball game takes about six total hours to produce.
“The pregame setup usually takes about two hours,” Higgins said. “The game lasts another two hours, and an additional two hours are spent in tearing the equipment down after the game.”
The students said that producing the basketball game was a great learning experience for them.
“Working on the game provided a different opportunity to broaden my horizons. It was exciting,” Wetter said. “It was cool to branch out, try something new, and learn from the experience.”
According to its website, TV5 is a student organization open on a volunteer basis to all students on campus, regardless of their majors. Its programming includes educational shows, sports and entertainment programming, a student-produced news program, the Classic Arts Showcase on weekends, and a community calendar of events. In addition, TV5 produces the annual Christmas telethon in support of Wisconsin Badger Camp.