Deep within the depths of the COM building (in the basement), there is a vast, magical place just waiting for you to utilize all it has to offer. It is filled with experience, potential, and most of all, equipment which most likely equals a total monetary value greater than your own house. But don’t let that intimidate you! This is simply BU’s Production Services, formerly Field Production Services (FPS), and it is one of the greatest resources open to COM students.
So what is FPS? This service provides motion picture production equipment to students in COM while also facilitating post production facilities. They have over 50 camera packages, 40 sound packages, and 40 lighting packages, so their student-to-equipment ratio is incredibly low. When students need to use this film equipment for a class or a student activity, they are able to check out whatever they need right within the COM building itself. If you are interested in Film & Television or Broadcast Journalism, you are most likely to be among those who utilize FPS, however any student may find themselves in need of the resource.
FPS does sound wonderful and simple, but there are certainly some tips to keep in mind before making your first check-out. If you take the Production 1 class, an introduction to FPS is included in the syllabus, but here is some good-to-know information about FPS from a student’s perspective.
1. Utilize the people in FPS.
To reserve equipment, visit https://wco.bu.edu/. Your professor should instruct you what exactly you need to check out if you’re not sure, but the best way to thoroughly understand the equipment you’ll be using is to ask FPS itself. Multiple people work in their offices and each person really knows their stuff. If you’re unsure about what certain packages mean or do, you can ask about them in person or over the phone. Whenever I check out anything, even if I’ve used it before, I always ask them to make sure I have everything I need and that I’m planning to use them all correctly. They’re great resources for information and they’re great people in general. Sometimes a drop-off or pick-up which could take one minute turns into a ten-minute conversation, simply because the people there are so nice and interested in what students are working on. Definitely not a bad idea to give them a friendly hello!
2. Reserve in advance.
When reserving any equipment from FPS, it is a good idea to make your reservations far in advance. Scratch that – it is imperative to make your reservations far in advance. What if every section of a class has a film project do within the same week? When this happens, every student in all of those sections will most likely look to film the weekend before. Reservations for that weekend will shoot up quickly, and although there is enough equipment for every student to finish their project, there is not enough equipment to complete them all at the same time. Be the first one to reserve and you will never run into a problem.
3. Set a reminder to tell you when your equipment is due back to FPS.
This one comes from a very personal place. Just a few weeks back, I walked into FPS with equipment in my hands, ready to return them to their home. They swiped my Student ID, looked at the computer before them, then solemnly said, “These were actually due yesterday.” My heart collapsed as I pictured my bank account dropping to $0, but I’m writing you this tip so you do not experience the same heart-drop-into-stomach feeling.
Luckily, the consequences were not as detrimental as I expected in that moment, so don’t freak out if this happens to you. FPS, which operates like a professional equipment rental service, must hold students accountable for the tools they borrow and prepare them for the deadlines and rules they must follow in the “real world.” The equipment is that which you’d find in the “real world” as well, and as you can imagine, that stuff is pricey! It is remarkable that students have access to such equipment so easily, but their high value makes their prompt return extremely important. Thus, for every 12 hours a piece of equipment is late, that student is charged $10. Not the end of the world, but still a consequence worth avoiding!
As soon as you receive a confirmation email about your reservation, set alarms on your phone for the required pick-up and drop-off times. Set a reminder. Set two reminders. You’ll thank yourself in the end.
Secondly, ask the check-out desk to confirm your return-time when you pick up the equipment in the first place. It can’t hurt to hear it another time from them!
4. Over-use FPS!
Again, it is incredible that we, from freshman year to graduate school, can utilize such advanced equipment for our films and projects. If you are interested in any sort of production, take advantage of this resource! Check out the cameras before your project is due just to get a feel for how to use them. Film for fun. Play with everything and see what you like or dislike. When resources like FPS are so readily available, it would be a shame for anyone to pass them up.
Good luck with any production work you set out to accomplish in the future and remember that Production Services are always there to help!
