Where pictures learn to walk

The demand cannot be overlooked: More and more moving images are in demand. Today, you can find a movie on every attractive website. Technical developments are making it possible: more and more bandwidth, better end devices and increasingly smarter ways of receiving moving images, even on mobile devices. However, these must also be produced. "Just because there are more ways to distribute these films every day doesn't mean that there are suddenly more people who understand the craft of film," says Stefan Tüscher. Together with marketing consultant Manfred Hager, the cameraman and trainer at Swiss television therefore sees "great potential" for a new type of film school.

The duo was pregnant with their idea for a year. Studio 1 in Schlieren has now opened for business. Workshops, courses and seminars are offered in the former Sony building. Schweizer, one of the best-known, brand-independent system and accessory suppliers, now offers its equipment for professional video in the building. Studio 1 and Schweizer are independent. However, a synergy cannot be overlooked. Studio 1 will always have the latest equipment from Schweizer available in the classroom. Conversely, the dealer can recommend Studio 1 to its customers for training. "Modern video technology is available at a price like never before. Semi-professionals or ambitious amateurs are increasingly working with the same equipment as real professionals. This makes it tempting to quickly stock up on sophisticated technology. But you don't know how to use it," Tüscher has observed in practice. "When I look at web videos, I find interesting things among them, but often the technical know-how and even more so the design skills are missing," says Hager, a communications specialist. In addition: "If someone knows where to switch on the camera, they are far from being a videographer."

Special attention is therefore also paid to design in the Studio 1 courses. The cameraman Stefan Tüscher, who trained in London, has been involved in training for over ten years. He works as a trainer at SRF and continues to oversee the entire specialist training program at the TPC. His idea for his own school matured when he received more and more inquiries from local broadcasters and, in some cases, from dealers. "It slowly came to the point where I had the feeling that there was a lack of training opportunities in Switzerland." Studio 1's target audience is not only the next generation of local broadcasters, but also print journalists who need to understand moving images in order to work for the online editions of their media. The same goes for advertisers who want to create their own films for their viral campaigns on social media channels, or communication professionals at companies who want to enrich their websites with video messages.

The training level of Studio 1 is somewhere between the Migros Club School and the elite schools of film artists. There are classes for beginners, advanced students and masters. A number of proven specialists have been engaged as lecturers, such as cameraman Peter Indergand, who has already won an Emmy for his camera work in "War Photographer". Andrea Rüd is a lecturer at the Cologne Filmhaus and the ARD. ZDF Media Academy in Germany. The courses at Studio 1 are said to be "very practice-oriented". Teaching takes place in small groups. In video editing, for example, there is a maximum of ten people, each of whom has their own practice editing suite. The aim of the comprehensive VJ workshops for beginners is for participants to be able to present a completely independently filmed, edited and dubbed VJ contribution after one week. Andreas Panzeri

The initiator of Studio 1 is Stefan Tüscher (left), a graduate of the London Film School with a degree in directing and cinematography. Until 2008, he was chief cameraman at Swiss Television and deputy head of the ENG department. In addition to managing Studio 1, he continues to work as a course instructor for the internal training departments of SRF and TPC. Manfred Hager worked for many years in management positions for leading advertising and communications agencies such as AY&R, Wirz and Optimedia and publishes regularly on communications and marketing topics.